Fender Super Champ X2: Tube Swapping

[lawson-stone]

I was talking type of tube, not brand name.

Don't get me wrong, I like my Super Champ. But I'm an explorer and always wonder "what else" can possibly be done to the amp or guitar or whatever. If there is only a 1-2% improvement, then to me that's a waste of time.

Cheers

Doug

yep. Me too. I like fiddling with stuff, mainly because it's how I learn how things work. I feel like if I know how things work, I can work more competently with them.

[Doug B]

yep. Me too. I like fiddling with stuff, mainly because it's how I learn how things work. I feel like if I know how things work, I can work more competently with them.

Well put, L-S; my sentiments exactly.

Doug

[Longways to Go]

yep. Me too. I like fiddling with stuff, mainly because it's how I learn how things work. I feel like if I know how things work, I can work more competently with them.

Sorry guys, but I don't think this is your twiddly tube-rolling kinda amp. I had one, and I've also had a handful of amps that are great for tube rolling . . .

Those 5 watters work great for this kind of exploration, if you want to dig into that rabbit hole.

Anything with a true "V1" can benefit from from tube changes. And then there are always the speakers . . .

[teeps]

... I may eventually upgrade my Win7 to W10 so that I can use the Fuse software, but I am really not looking forward ...

[OT] Virtualbox is nice tool if you want a different system handy. It is able also to pass the USB port to the host system for such tasks as using Fuse or most firmware tools (like Zoom's)[/OT]

[Thumpalumpacus]

I was talking type of tube, not brand name.

No sweat, I post on a couple of other guitar forums, and there are many who ask this question with brand in mind. I just wanted to be clear that I have no real opinion regarding brands. My experience is that bigger glass gives cleaner headroom. Again, a pair of 6L6s would deliver higher headroom from the SC chassis, but that's assuming the transformer is up to the task. Further to the point, I doubt the difference would merit replacing an expensive transformer.

Don't get me wrong, I like my Super Champ. But I'm an explorer and always wonder "what else" can possibly be done to the amp or guitar or whatever. If there is only a 1-2% improvement, then to me that's a waste of time.

Cheers

Doug

Agreed, a 1 or 2% change is something I can do for free by twisting the knobs on the damned thing

[lammie200]

I was talking type of tube, not brand name.

Don't get me wrong, I like my Super Champ. But I'm an explorer and always wonder "what else" can possibly be done to the amp or guitar or whatever. If there is only a 1-2% improvement, then to me that's a waste of time.

Cheers

Doug

yep. Me too. I like fiddling with stuff, mainly because it's how I learn how things work. I feel like if I know how things work, I can work more competently with them.

It's impossible to put a percentage on improving it, but you can change the speaker easily and fairly inexpensively. I put a vintage Fender alnico in mine. More of a fuller well balanced sound is the best way that I can describe it.

[Albanian57]

I purchased a new in the box FSCX2 and it came with Groove Tubes 6V6S (JJ) tubes rated (Blue)“3” which is early breakup. Fender calls for 40 mV bias at test point R20 which was set very close to that from the factory, just slightly under by maybe 1 mV. I like very late breakup for a clean sound at high volume so I ordered a matched pair of JJ 6V6S from EuroTubes out of Portland, OR requesting the “hottest” tubes they had. I ordered the standard Fender Super Champ x2 full retube set. The tubes they send for any combo amp have double mica spacers for a more stable mounting for the inner parts of the tubes where the speaker vibrating near the tubes can possibly cause problems with the single mica spacers. The tubes came a couple days later and I installed them in the tube sockets and tested the mV reading at test point R20 and I had to increase the bias quite a bit to get the new tubes to the specified 40 mVs. The tube box had “DM=44” which is double mica and plate current measurement I believe. The amp did not break up at all even when cranked (but the speaker farted out at the higher volume). This is exactly what I wanted from the tubes, and after much research on speaker upgrades, I had Ted Weber Speakers build me a 10F150T 50 Watt, standard dust cap, light dope speaker and had them break it in for me. I play a Gibson Les Paul with 2 humbuckers and the amp sounded too mid range heavy to my ears, so I downloaded the RemudaSC app to an Android tablet and connected it with a USB 2 Go adapter to the USB port on the amp. I opened the app and checked the settings and almost ALL of the “voices” had the mid range turned WAY up. I adjusted the mid range down on the voices I decided I wanted to use first including the clean channel and voila! Perfection! The combination of the late breakup tubes and the very high efficiency speaker gave me exactly what I was looking for. The JJ tubes are the choice of many players in this amp and I had experience with them in a couple other amps, so that’s what I elected to use. The Tung Sol reissue 6V6 tubes are another highly recommended power tube set for this amp, but you can’t run them as hot as you can the JJ’s. I also tried a couple of different 12AX7/ Ecc83 tubes and they seemed to have an effect on the overall loudness of the amp and a slight difference in the high frequencies such as the Groove Tubes Russian 12AX7 R that came stock in the amp sounded very close to the new JJ Ecc83 from EuroTubes, but an old Zenith 12AX7 tube had a noticeably lower output, and a Chinese 12AX7 tube sounded crisper and brighter (and clearer) to me (the Chinese 12AX7 C is preferred by many players in V1 and other preamp locations in many amps).