The Next Quarter Challenge perhaps, to rebuild my disassembled Champ clone

Rocker

The story of my Vyse Boxer (Champ clone)

I bought a Boxer kit (Champ clone) from Vyse many years ago.  Despite having only limited amplifier building experience, I followed the instructions carefully and it worked.

I built a speaker cabinet from MDF, fitted a 12” speaker and the amp chassis and used it as a combo.  Hum was not a problem but I modified the circuitry by changing the heater supply to DC (this modification was mentioned prominently in a book I had about building valve amplifiers).  This modification did little good and no harm so I left it in place.  I had planned to add a tone stack and an extra pre-amp valve to provide additional gain (most of which I thought would be lost by the tone stack).

Life got in the way, the MDF cabinet was heavy and did not look great so the combo got relegated to spare spare spare.  Sometime last year I looked at the amp again.  It still worked but the wiring and general layout of everything looked a total mess.  Embarrassingly so, when compared to DIY amps built by members here.  So I decided to rebuild the kit completely from scratch.  My eyesight is nowhere near as good as it was back then, I had trouble desoldering components.  You have to be able to see the thing first before you can solder it or desolder it.

So I asked myself “Did I need another amp?”  The answer, of course, is that I did not as there are already too many amps cluttering up our music room.  I had almost decided to throw the lot into the recycling centre in town when the idea to have three monthly challenges on theFretboard was mooted.

My challenge for this quarter, and the next and probably the one after that, is to learn to read music.  This is proving to be a lot more difficult than I thought.  Nobody wants to teach reading music on a one to one basis, they prefer to teach classes.  Classes of children!  I am 62 years old; I don’t think I would fit in with a class of 10 year olds!  It hardly bears thinking about.

I think I will complete the disassembly of the amp, scrap the chassis and the fascia plate (additional holes drilled and other damage means these parts are unsalvageable) and sell the traffos and usable parts to any forum member here who is up to the challenge.  I used tag strips in the build, the re-builder might prefer a turret board.  Original valves, valve bases etc. are included.  The manual has disappeared but Vyse can supply a replacement if it is needed but there are lots of Champ circuit diagrams on the internet.  When the disassembly is complete, I will upload a photo or two and a list of the usable parts.  Some components will have deteriorated, mainly PSU caps, and it might be better to use new resistors and caps in the build/rebuild.

What do you guys think - is this a doable project?  Does anyone feel up to the task?  PM if you are interested, indicate what you think is a fair price for the salvageable parts.  And remember that they will be posted from ROI.

It could be a few weeks before the disassembly is complete and photos are up so consider this a feeler, an interest gauge before I proceed any further.

Winny_Pooh

Make part of the challenge a nice cab. You will be much more satisfied. 

Rocker

The purpose of my post is to encourage someone to buy a box of parts, parts that worked in a Champ clone I built, and to re-build it to a higher standard than I did.  I am already up to my eyes in trying to learn music notation....

Chalky

Rocker said:

The purpose of my post is to encourage someone to buy a box of parts, parts that worked in a Champ clone I built, and to re-build it to a higher standard than I did.  I am already up to my eyes in trying to learn music notation....

Probably best to take a picture that shows everything you're selling, so folks can see whats on offer and how much of a bargain it is?

Rocker

Good suggestion @Chalky. That is exactly my plan, the purpose of this post is to alert potential amp builders that there is a project in the pipeline..