CHAMP ELECTRONICS -" THE VALVE AMP
HOSPITAL"
NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND
SERVICING OF A PROAMPLIFIERS VSQ 65
AMPLIFIER HEAD
Front view, and yes…..it does have a clear “see-through” Perspex panel.
Rear
view - The KT88 retaining hammocks were a necessary addition by myself.
When first removing her from the packaging, I found that both the
original (replaced) Svetlana KT88’s had fallen out of their
sockets during shipping, and one of them had to fall onto the concrete
part of my workshop floor. And…….yes it smashed!
Out…..and ready to make a start.
Oh
no…..PCB’s again! Now, not only do I dislike PCB’s
in tube/valve amps but……this one really does take the
****! The small tube bases are fitted to the chassis from the top, and
then the main PCB is laid/fitted over the bases with holes in the board
for them to protrude through. Now, all nine pins of each tube base are
soldered with short “fly leads” to nine small turret tags.
This means that not only does the top board have to be removed in order
to gain full access to the bottom board but……..all thirty
six bloody wire links have to be removed too, before the bottom board
can be withdrawn from the chassis!.......what a heap of crap!
As above…..left-hand side of the chassis.
Close-up, everything out and all cleaned up ready for re-fitting.
Just look at the state of this thing….an engineer’s nightmare!!
Virtually finished….at last! Just the knobs to do and,
she’s now looking and sounding pretty good too! This amp had been
worked on many-a-time before, leaving all the wiring really butchered
and untidy. I sorted this issue out too as can be seen in this photo.
My advice to anyone contemplating buying one of these is….stay
clear of them! But to be fair, now she is all back to rights, and it
does sound pretty good.
Chris, the owner, has since re-covered the amp as he didn’t like
the “croc skin look” plus, it now matches his home-made
speaker cab. I think he has made a very good job of both of them. Below
is his testimonial e-mail and a photo of the amp….as she is now.
"Hi
John. I finally got the opportunity to plug her in yesterday evening and was
quite literally blown away! I thought I would try things easy to start with so
set the master volume at about 4 with the gain full up. F**k me John, you
have created an ANIMAL!;-) I simply can't get the volume past 4 for fear of
structural damage and a possible lynching from the neighbours! My face was
acheing from grinning! I never thought for a second that the amp that had
caused me so much heartache, and you so much headache could sound so good! A
thousand thank you's.
I have since re-called our experiences to a bass playing friend who has
a 100watt Hiwatt or Ampeg bass head (I can't remember which) He will contact
you soon for some of your "magic" too.
I got a small refund from the guy who sold the amp to me on
EBay, thanks for your help in that. A bit more would have been nice but to be
honest; after hearing the amp, I really couldn't care now;-) The amp's a keeper
for sure! Look after yourself and keep doing what you do best!
Best regards, Chris."
