Building a tweed champ head

I would like a tweed champ head to run through the speakers I have which are mainly 12 inch.
I am going to buy a kit the best I can get from a UK company.

Who should I buy from and where will I get the head box

How do i select the very best components

@Modulus_Amps ?

Modulus

Define ‘best’

Modulus, great kits, there are options for "better" components on the order page ,think they can supply a head box for some of the kits as well (I built my own head shell for the princetown clone)

If Leo had used "better" components for the original Champ, it would sound ... the same.

Except, of course, for changing to a cab with a 12in speaker. That will make a far bigger difference than if you swapped every other component.

AJS said:

How do i select the very best components

A big part of the champ sound is the small cabinet and small speaker. The combination removes a lot of bass from the amp that when you plug into a larger 12" cabinet will show it self. So you may have to change a couple caps in the amp to tame the bass. Easy to do and better than having no bass at all, which brings up the next point.

There were two output transformers used on Tweed champs and Tweed Princeton's, Most kits and Fender recreations use the really small one. We use the larger one which we wind in house. The larger transformer handles the bass frequencies better.
But to be honest Champ output transformers and most Fender type small output transformers are very basic winds and nothing to write home about.

There are so few components in this amp that they don't really have a big role in how the amp sounds. i.e. I don't think swapping out the coupling caps with different types is going to make much of a difference.
Swapping resistors types won't make a big difference
Swapping filter cap brands won't make a big difference in tone - F&T Filter caps are an upgrade as they have a 5000hr life compared to other general duty axial caps are typically rated at 2000hr. In this amp both those caps will last a very long time. 10's of years.

So why pay more for more expensive parts? Most of my customers do and then they build the amp with great attention to detail and end up with a product that could be mistaken for some "Boutique" product. If you are just going to slap the amp together then there really is no point paying for high grade anything. How you wire the amp up will affect the noise floor of the amp and that will be noticeable.

What is the reason you have settled on the Champ circuit? is it just because it is a simple first project? 
Unless you are specifically going for the champ thing, I normally suggest people look at the Tweed Princeton circuit. It is a champ with a tone control.

The other thing I often tell people is build the amp, try a few mods if you want to but don't get trapped into years of modding the amp hoping to make it something it isn't. Moving onto something like a Tweed deluxe or low watt plexi amp would probably progress your skills and knowledge faster.

Anyway, that's just my 2c. hopefully it helpful.

Thanks for your help.
I was thinking of the tweed Princeton
as a new year project but just a head

AJS said:

Thanks for your help.
I was thinking of the tweed Princeton
as a new year project but just a head

It's worth bearing in mind what @Modulus_Amps said about changing the values of some caps to account for the different speaker sizes, but ignoring that for a second*, I wonder if you'd be better to just make the combo version and fit it with extension speaker jacks so you can also plug into a bigger cabinet? The 8" speaker the tweed Princeton uses, and especially the 6" one some models of the Champ used, don't really add very much to the size or weight of the thing, and give you another option. They're also (if you're looking at Jensens) not super-loud, which lets you crank them a bit more easily. (Still will be very loud, especially if you share walls with neighbours, but it does help a bit!)

It's up to you of course, you may well have some reason I haven't thought of why you need a head- or just have your heart set on it, which is absolutely fair enough!

* Probably best not to ignore it, lol, @Modulus_Amps obviously knows what he's talking about! I haven't built any amps, but I've got a tweed Princeton clone and I've tried it with several different speakers, and I felt the Jensen P8R (i.e. the closest thing I have to what would've been fitted stock) suited it the best... which does suggest he's onto something. I get the feeling Leo Fender designed the amps holistically, looking at everything (amp, speaker, cabinet size etc.) when deciding on the circuits and component values...

goldtop said:

If Leo had used "better" components for the original Champ, it would sound ... the same.

Actually it wouldn’t - and they don't, if you use “upgraded” parts, especially the OT which is by far the most important (apart from the speaker). Fender used a rather cheap and small OT which has more of an ‘old radio’ sound than if you use a larger and higher quality one. Whether the “upgraded” version sounds better is open to question/personal taste.

Most of the other components have very little impact though.

goldtop said:

Except, of course, for changing to a cab with a 12in speaker. That will make a far bigger difference than if you swapped every other component.

That is certainly true. A 5F1 in a 5E3-size 1x12” cabinet sounds like a completely different amp from the original 1x8” version.

I had an original ‘59 5F1 which I sometimes ran through a 4-ohm-wired Marshall 4x12” too… it sounded absolutely huge, more like a quieter tweed Bassman than like the combo by itself.

ICBM said:

goldtop said:

Except, of course, for changing to a cab with a 12in speaker. That will make a far bigger difference than if you swapped every other component.

That is certainly true. A 5F1 in a 5E3-size 1x12” cabinet sounds like a completely different amp from the original 1x8” version.

I can vouch for this. This is my 5F2a tweed Princeton clone, for which I built a 5E3 Deluxe-size cabinet with a Jensen P12R. It sounds very different to the same chassis amp in a smaller cabinet with an 8" speaker.

Thanks a lot guys
Btw That tweed Princeton clone looks great 

I would just like to add my support for ModulusAmps, I've built a couple of his kits (and another one or two planned) and would wholeheartedly recommend him. Excellent aftersales too.
Adam (another AJS)

I too would just like to add my support for Modulus Amps . . . . . Awesome Service & Advice :-)