Let me introduce you to the first amp in Tablebeast's "Silverface Sleeper Series" or "SSS". The SSS is a collection of fully restored and modified amps made out of the last great 70s Fender Tube Amps (affectionately known as the "Silverface" era). The amps in this series are transformed from factory "nerfed" into optimally modified, fire breathing Beasts! Transformed on the INSIDE, that is... on the OUTSIDE? Well, besides the speaker swap, you can't even tell that anything is amiss. This aspect is what makes it a "Sleeper".

Fender made a great amp in the Vibro Champ, as it was nerfed much less than their other designs of the era. But it was still made to fit a certain production cost and price point. So, some corners were unavoidably cut, EVEN in the earlier and most prized circuit variations. You see, simply turning the clock back to the 60's original wasn't enough here. The goal was to look at the design with fresh eyes and eliminate all of the cost cutting, WITHOUT sacrificing the TONE.

Just about any tech worth a dang can rewire one of these things and simply parts bomb it with fresh caps. Several important steps further than that were taken here. Selective parts were replaced with modern versions where they were a worthwhile upgrade and left alone where they weren't. The amp was made safer with reduced hum, hiss, and noise. There are added circuit changes where it benefits the overall amp health and performance. For example, Fender ran the power tubes at a REALLY high plate voltage in these later Silverface models, well outside the factory 6V6 spec, potentially shortening the power tube's lifespan. There is little to no benefit to doing this, aside from making the amp the tiniest bit louder. They also used a lower than optimal value on the cathode resistor, biasing the tube even further into dangerous territory. The original RCA tubes could handle the abuse up to a point, but modern glass? Not so much. New manufacture 6V6 tubes can't handle a potential 450+ volts on the plate, not for long anyway!

So what all has been done to your new amp? The modified schematic and layout will be publicly available if you wanted to modify your own Champ.

Here are the specifics of the full restomod:

• 1. The heaters were converted from unbalanced (with one side grounded) to a balanced type with an artificial center tap added, using a pair of tightly matched 100 ohm resistors. This center tap is then referenced above ground at the cathode of the 6V6. The result is a serious reduction in hum over the course of the entire circuit.

• 2. The original AC cord was removed and replaced it with a properly grounded, 3 prong type. The fuse was moved from the neutral AC leg of the power transformer's primary to instead be in series with the power switch on the hot leg. Also removed is the the notorious "death cap", which was never safe and is simply no longer needed. The result is a proper chassis ground, more effective fuse placement and vastly improved overall safety. (Wanna guess why its called the death cap?)

• 3. The power supply filter caps were replaced with fresh electrolytics and had two additional filter stages added. An additional Capacitor/Resistor @ 20uf, 475v / 250ohm, 5W was added in between the tube rectifier and the B+ source for the 6V6 power tube. This lowers the voltage a bit and the added filtering makes the DC voltage even cleaner by further reducing ripple. Another Resistor / Capacitor @ 27k, 2W / 16uf, 475v was added at the other end of the power supply, this one feeding both stages of the first preamp tube. It was also physically placed as close to the tube as possible. This lowers the voltage to V1 a bit more. The extra filtering and local grounding makes everything rock solid. The result is an amp with way less ripple and a superior supply of clean, high voltage DC.

• 4. ALL of the resistors in the B+ supply have been replaced with higher rated, metal film types. The series resistors in between the filter stages were increased to 2W and 3W. The plate resistors were all replaced with 1W and the first stage was changed to a 220K. The result is less thermal noise and hiss coming from the power supply.

• 5. All cathode bypass caps were replaced. And, though it may seem counter intuitive to some amp guys, most of their values were LOWERED. Larger value caps here can pass more bass frequencies, in theory. But in the Champ, you can hardly hear the difference and its not for the better. The output transformer can't pass most of those frequencies and even if it could, you're not pushing any of it out of that tiny 8" speaker. That "extra" low end is then mostly wasted. Even worse than just being superfluous, it also blurs the rest of the signal. By shrinking these values, the tone becomes more focused and better matches the flow of the circuit. The result is a tighter sound overall.

• 6. The much-hated RCA jacks for the speaker output and vibrato footswitch have been replaced with switched-type, 1/4" jacks. This allows you to easily plug in any 4 ohm speaker load to a normal jack, if you were wanting to augment the internal speaker. The switch on the jack shorts the output to ground with nothing plugged in, protecting the power tube and output transformer from the damage caused by no load. With the vibrato jack, now you can use any ordinary 1/4" type footswitch. The jack switch here again shorts the jack to ground with nothing plugged in. When it is shorted, the vibrato does not work, something the original amp could only do with the footswitch engaged. A 1/4" dummy plug is included to lift that switch when plugged in, thus engaging the vibrato. The result here is safety for your circuits and way more convenience.

• 7. Some ceramic caps were swapped out for better sounding types. The 250pf cap on the treble side of the tone stack was swapped for a silver mica type. The second .01uf cap in series with the vibrato oscillator was swapped for a film type in the same value. The third .01uf cap was swapped with a .02uf in order to increase the speed time of the vibrato for increased length. Who doesn't like more length? The result here is better tone in the EQ section and a broader range of vibrato speed, making it more useful.

• 8. The 6V6 power tube circuit has been modified for reliability and performance in a number of ways. The cathode resistor is changed to a 1K, 3w metal film type. This biases the power tube in a way that significantly reduces power tube current and plate dissipation, cooling the amp and extending tube life. A 470 ohm, 3W resistor is added in series with the B+ feed for the screen. This protects the screen from excessive current draw and helps stabilize the screen voltage. A 2.2K resistor is added in series with the grid, acting as a grid stopper. This prevents parasitic oscillations and blocking distortion (the bad kind). The 330pf ceramic cap from grid to cathode is removed, but instead a 500pf, 1600v film cap is added across the output transformer primary. This "snubber cap" is in a much better position and serves to prevent high-frequency oscillation / RF interference. The cumulative result here is that the power tube is both maximized for sonic efficiency AND for maintaining a long service life. Effectively, you're only losing unwanted noise while maintaining the much desired Fender TONE. The best of both worlds!

• 9. A Weber Signature Series 8", 4 ohm speaker was swapped in for the original AlNiCo. This is just a personal preference as the original speaker worked fine, though the paper cone was sagging a bit. This Weber speaker is just louder and more robust with a lot more guts. The Fender original will be included with the sale if you want to swap it back. That way you can audition both yourself to see which you prefer.

• 10. All fresh wiring was installed and the ground scheme was improved drastically. The result of this is, again, less noise! It also future proofs this amp as even the best old wiring corrodes over time. Rewiring it hits the reset button on all that, just like the recap job does.

You can relax if you were worried about this amp losing it's mojo to mods. For example, all the carbon comp resistors remain in the audio path, where they matter. All the original blue coupling caps are still in place, where they matter. This amp even has what looks like its ORIGINAL set of RCA, Made in USA tubes! They all test within spec and sound amazing, so they were cleaned and reinstalled. How about that, the tubes outlasted the caps! Think about that the next time some tech tells you that you need a new set of glass.

The amp comes ready to rock, right out of the box, with a 1 year warranty on my mods and lifetime support beyond that. SSS buyers will also be invited to an exclusive group reserved exclusively for new Tablebeast patrons. However, there are no returns or refunds. Alternatively, you can pick it up in person in Forest City, NC ZIP 28043.

This Champ is in great shape for its age, but it's not perfect. Even though it has been electronically restored and is truly excellent in that regard, it does have some cosmetic flaws, which is why it is listed in "very good" condition. It does come with both the original speaker and the new Weber. It does come with the dummy plug for the vibrato's 1/4" jack, but no footswitch is included. There are some scratches on the faceplate and a single non-original hole in the grill cloth. The speaker cover has the slightest of warps to one corner.