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Post subject: Determining age of amp
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 10:28 am
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I never considered my little Champ "vintage". Now I'm curious, how do I determine when my amp was made? I purchased it from a pawn shop well before 1985. Any suggestions would be appreciated.


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Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:31 pm
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The Fender site has links for dating amps, based on chassis, tube chart, transformer, potentiometer and other numbers on various parts. The speakers have a date code, too. If they're Jensen, the 220xxx number will tell you that 220 is the part manufacturer number, the next two are the week of teh year and the last number is the last digit of the year. The pots have similar numbering so, if it shows 137217, it was a 137 (maker-I thonk Stackpole), 21st week of '57. In the '60s, they used a four digit number after the manufacturer code.


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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 10:49 am
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Look inside the amp at the chart that tells you what tubes to put where. There should be two letters stamped on it. If you post those two letters, we can date the amp from that. Also, there is a number on the top of power transformer that can tell you when the amp is from. If you post that, we can date the amp from it also.


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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 11:14 am
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Thanks for the helpful suggestions. The tube chart did not have any letters stamped on it. I don't know what the parts are that I'm looking at inside the amp so I hope you can figure this out. The Fender plate has a number running along the left side. 023242. There are two other parts (other than tubes) that have numbers on them. One has two numbers that I can barely make out. 77A34555 and 022905 (maybe). The other part has 60620 on it. Any info is greatly appreciated. And thanks for your patience with this newby.


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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 1:40 pm
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The 60620 number is what we are looking for, but are you sure that that number is correct? These codes are usually one or two digits longer than the one you provided. Guessing from this number, I would say that transformer was made in one of the first 9 weeks of 1962, and that means that your amp was probably made in 1962. If you could post a picture of the front of the amp, or just describe what it looks like (ie tweed covered, brown faceplate, black faceplate, or silver faceplate), that would allow me to verify the age of the amp. Here is a link to a website that has pictures of the various Champs and when they were made. You could look at it and see which amp yours looks like. http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/


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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 4:29 pm
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Of course you're right. A closer look at the transformer reveals a very faint 9 at the end of the number. I checked out the link you offered. My amp looks almost exactly like the picture of the Silver Face Champ. Silver face plate, blue threads through the grille cloth. The only difference is on the pictured amp it says Champ-Amp on two lines in the "name" area of the face plate. My amp just says Champ taking up the entire space in that area.

Now for a more pressing concern. Ever since I turned the amp upside down to look for the numbers it sounds really dirty, like I'm using my distortion pedal. I'm sure the timing is just coincidental (I hadn't played it in several months prior) but what do you think is going on.


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Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 4:27 pm
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This color scheme and the 9 mean that the amp was made in 1972. As for the sudden change in sound of the amp, it could be that one of the tubes has a short in it (probably one of the smaller tubes if it is a tube), or it could be that a piece of dust or wire or something inside the amp on the tag board that was just sitting there was jostled around when you turned the amp upside down, and has now fallen back into a position where it is causing a short. To check if there is anything causing the short, and you are comfortable opening your amp, first make sure it is unplugged and let it sit for a little while to let it cool down. Then take out the tubes so that you don't damage them (make note of which one goes where). Then remove the top back panel by undoing the screws that hold it in. Unplug the speaker. On top of the amp, there are two metal strips on either side. There is a screw at each end of both of these strips. Remove these four screws. You can now slide out the chassis. Look inside, and see if there is any dust or dirt or foreign matter in there that could be causing a short. If there is, carefully clean it out. If not, reassemble the amp. You could try new tubes if this is the case. If this doesn't do anything, let someone who know electronics look the amp over and see if they can't fix it for you.


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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:00 am
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Hi guys
I'm new to the Forum, in fact only signed up yesterday and am very
interested in this thread. I have a silver faced Pro-Reverb amp that
is in complete s--t order cosmetically and have decided to strip it
down and give it a new look. Now looking at the valve chart, like
ricemouse,there is no stamps or letters to date this amp ,however,
the I.D. letters on the transformer are EIA 606 -750 and the pots
R13778447 . Also on the reverb unit stamped like the guitar neck
dates is 040662, is this also a date ? Any help will be greatfully
recieved.

_________________
"The problem doing nothing is not knowing when you've finished !"


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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 7:46 am
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Cool!


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