# Fender Champ 600 Volume Pot fix-help needed



## shagz (Apr 17, 2009)

My first post - Hopefully someone can steer me in the right direction.

I bought a Fender Champ 600 off of eBay and it got knocked in transport. Both the on/off and volume switches took damage. I replaced the on/off and the amp lights up, hums, and the tubes get hot, but the volume just clicks and scratches. I get no response from either jack. My problem is that the plastic volume pot is attached to the circuit board and I can't find a replacement anywhere. I've done some soldering with guitars, but I am clueless what to do regarding the circuit board in terms of installing a different switch (the original was very cheaply made). I have no papers for the amp. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


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## Rugburn (Jan 14, 2009)

Man, your the second guy to post about these amps in less than a month. They are really cheaply made. You could fix the volume pot, but I might be concerned at this point about other damages that are less obvious. An authorized Fender tech will be able to get the right part and poke around and see if there are other issues. I'm all for saving some cash and learning a thing or two, but this may just give you more headaches with this amp. Hope this helps.

Shawn :smile:


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## shagz (Apr 17, 2009)

Thanks Shawn. That is probably most sound advice.

Still, if anyone has a hands on volume pot solution to suggest, I would love to jump at it. The broken pot has 4 pins leading into the circuit board and I can only find 3 pin models. Fender does not sell this part. If I could bypass the whole initial plastic jack and volume circuit board, that could be desirable as well. I`m pretty handy and do my research so I rarely make things worse. Knock on wood.:smile:

Also, does anyone know the resistance of the original pot? I`ve read mods with 1M pot installs, but I don`t know if I want to go there. Just want to narrow down my search.


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## Fader (Mar 10, 2009)

Pots or potentiometers only have three pins. I would guess the fourth to be for shielding if it has a metal case. If you measure across the the two outside pins with a ohmmeter, it will tell you what value it is. But it should be stamped on it somewhere. 5K 10K something like that. Just make sure you specify an audio taper when you order it.

But first... get a good light and a big magnifying glass and look very closely at all the solder connections and circuit traces. The impact may have lifted a solder joint or cracked the circuit board.

Good luck.


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## Adicted to Tubes (Mar 5, 2006)

The schematic shows a 1meg pot.Last time I looked inside a 600 it has the normal PC mount with stabilizing legs to keep it from flopping around.
The toggle switch is available at any electronics store.


www.claramps.com


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## shagz (Apr 17, 2009)

Fader - Thanks. I'll take a reading tomorrow. I already scanned over the board, but I'll use the big glass this time.

Adicted to Tubes - I looked at the schematic but did not see a 1meg indicator for the volume pot (just V1-A 5V6GT 5, if I read it correctly). I am out of element here. Can you please show me where you found your schematic? I already fixed the on/off so I don't need a toggle, just a volume pot.

Thanks for the help so far!


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## Balou (Apr 1, 2008)

Look at http://www.fender.com/support/amp_schematics/pdfs/Champion 600 Schematic.pdf


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## Adicted to Tubes (Mar 5, 2006)

It's a 1meg pot.Follow the schematic on the left side and you'll see a '1meg' beside a pot symbol. It has three lugs.Each of those lugs goes somewhere.One end goes to ground.
It is a common pot in a few fender amp models.



www.claramps.com


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## shagz (Apr 17, 2009)

Brilliant! That schematic is much better. Now I just need some play time to get this done.

Thanks everyone!!


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