Champ arrives

I just started learning to play the guitar, and decided that getting a tube amp was the way to go. Not that I have a golden ear, or worship the dulcet tones of a classic tube amplifier being pushed ever so slightly over the edge into euphonic distortion... I just wanted a toy. And although a number of perfectly good sounding low-power tube amplifiers are available these days (it's a new golden era for small tube guitar amps -- the Epiphone Valve Jr., the Fender Champ 600, the Peavy Valve King Royal 8, and the Palomino v8/Crate v5 [*] are all great five-watt guitar amps for under $200), I thought I'd get a "classic" tube amp, bring it up to spec as a project, and end up with an amp with some history, some spirit, some... soul.

As it turns out I'm not the only one to have these yearnings. So even Fender "silver face" Champ amps from the 1970s, which were built by the thousands, are highly desirable. Which means (a) the good ones are expensive (north of $300), and (b) anything that says "Fender Champ" on it can be put up on eBay and sold for more than you might expect.

I thought to myself "hey, I'm looking for a project, let's go for (b)." So I bid on and "won" a 1973 "silver face" Fender Champ for $151. Great price. Shipping added $30. Still a great price. Seller said "needs new tubes and speaker." I thought "OK, I'll upgrade the tubes and speaker after I give it a listen."

It showed up today.

It smells like the wettest, mustiest basement you've ever been in. I am suspicious that it's even been submerged at some point.

It doesn't only need new tubes and a new speaker, it doesn't have tubes and a speaker. Or even a fuse. Why take out a 10 cent fuse?

Anyway, I got it apart. The components inside look pretty rotten.

I'll need to get

• a speaker ($20-$75, depending on what I pick),
  
• tubes ($30-$3000, ditto -- although I'm leaning more toward the $30),
  
• at least some of the capacitors ($10-$40).

Hey, this is supposed to be fun, right?

[*] The Palomino v8 is built by Crate for Guitar Center/Musician's Friend/Music 123 (they're all the same company). It's the Crate v5 board in a white box instead of a black box, and it has a 10" speaker instead of an 8" speaker. The v5 appears to be the basic amp as the Crate v58, the Crate V508, and any number of previous Crate amps.