Fender Champ 12 'Black Knob', details and potential mods??????

[Erich]

Howdy, gents! I have recently acquired a 1986 Fender Champ 12. It's in pretty good shape and, after I replaced the tubes, it sounds pretty good. NOW, I've read about the Torres mod kit, and I've read as many bad reviews as good ones and I'm looking for more of a sure thing. I know I have to replace the 1/4" jacks (too easy) but I've heeard you can move a couple of caps and replace a couple and wind up with a less brittle overdriven tone.

While I'm working on it I'm going to replace the 12" Eminence with a vintage Jensen 12" that I have. I'm also going to add an interrupting 1/4" jack for an external speaker cab (I have several and it sounds pretty good through the 4 X 12).

Any of you guys have any suggested mods for this old gal I'd sure appreciate it. I really like this little amp (LOUD for 12 watts!) and just want the OD to be a bit more usable. I'd also appreciate knowing if the Black Knob and Red Knob are identical except for the knobs.

Thanks in advance and rock on!

[ac427v]

Oh Erich, I'm so sorry to hear that.  A Fender Champ 12 red knob was the second phase of my addiction. It had a broken input jack and hummmmmmmmmmmed. I put in a metal switchcraft jack--had to use little wires to the circuit board traces where the plastic one had been attached. New factory spec 47uf power supply caps did not solve the hum. So I replaced them with 100uf caps (modern made--same physical size) and the hum was gone. The clean sound was decent though not much bass. The OD was as ratty as I've ever heard. Played it for two years and sold it for what I paid. I never tried any mods because the circuit board was so fragile. Thought about scrapping it and building something else in the chassis but decided the cost of new transformers and mini pots alone would not be worth it. I kinda regret that now.  I was really confused by the voltage-doubled power supply and thought it would have to be replaced with a more conventional one. If I still had it I might build a Marshall 2204 preamp and a Champ output circuit. That could be a lot of fun. Anyhow, have fun what ever you choose!
--Craig

[Erich]

Thanks for the reply. Mine only has a VERY tiny circuit board just where the tone stack is. The rest is hand wired. I've read that the red knob and black knobs are actually different but can't verify it!

[Willabe]

I'm also going to add an interrupting 1/4" jack for an external speaker cab

Do you mean a second jack with a switch that has the switch wired to ground with no plug inserted? 

[sluckey]

I think he means wire the jack so the internal speaker is disconnected when he plugs an ext. cab into the jack. IE, OT connects to tip, internal speaker connects to tip switch. With nothing plugged in, the internal speaker will be connected thru the switch, but inserting a plug will 'interrupt' (disconnect) the internal speaker.

[Willabe]

but inserting a plug will 'interrupt' (disconnect) the internal speaker.

Oh, Ok, just wanted to make sure. 

[Erich]

Sluckey & Willabe: Yes, I want the internal speaker to 'disconnect' when I plug into a cab........
I've had issues with Fender stuff trying to 'stack' speakerk, even when I made sure the impedance was correct so my idea was to just interrupt the internal speaker wire and have it diverted to another cab when plugged in /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/