Any suggestions on how to get more treble out of a 57 champ reissue amp?

[kelsodeez]

Little update to this thread:

I've been using the mxr ten band eq for a little while now and it was just what the amp needed.

After fiddling around with it for a bit, I came to the conclusion that the mids on the Champ are just way too pronounced and that was the source of the boxy, wet blanket sound I was getting out of it.

But I'm still not happy...

I bought this amp to plug straight into it, maybe with a tuner and a reverb pedal, but that's it. I really want to have the sound closer to what I want it to be without any help from pedals, so I'm going to try out a jupiter 8" ceramic speaker.

From all accounts, these increase the highs and mids, but allow for more headroom, which I will remedy eventually when 12ax7 tubes aren't being sold at a 200% premium.

Another thing I've been doing lately is plugging into the input jack #2 and it's helped calm the tone of my les paul down a ton.
I am enjoying my quest for tone and keep reminding myself that it's the journey and not the destination, but it will be nice to have a compact little powerhouse of an amp at my disposal

 

[kelsodeez]

I threw in the jupiter 8sc and it's night and day. It feels like a bigger amp now, more clean headroom, better treble response and great harmonics. It is now in the ballpark of the tone I envisioned when I bought it. Once this speaker breaks in, I think I have a keeper.

Now I have to decide if I want to throw a 12ax7 in there now because I am happy with the sound now but a little earlier breakup would be nice. I think in its current form, it's a great pedal platform and I am okay with that at the moment.

 

[kelsodeez]

Finally got a 12ax7 preamp tube in it. The amp sounds perfect now. I don't even need the 10 band eq for it anymore. Sounds awesome plugged straight in, using just the volume knob on the guitar to switch between clean and dirty tones. It is now the tweed experience that I was looking for. Now I am wondering how it would sound with the stock alnico speaker.

 

[Dilver]

Glad the 12ax7 is working better for you. I also found that different 12ax7s can impact the highs. I do prefer vintage RCAs work as they sound best for me, in addition to GE and Sylvania. I still question fender’s choice to spec a 12ay7 in there as the stock preamp tube. I love my little overpriced Fender 57 Custom Champ. Try the original Weber alnico speaker again. It does need to be broken in for it to sound its best, but you may like it.

 

[bzzt]

Adding a 120-160 uF bright cap on the volume control is a must on this amp. It adds a lot of treble at lower volumes, and it is a really easy mod to do. Anyone who is comfortable with a soldering iron can do this easily. If you also like to play with distortion, I recommend putting it on a switch, because then you'd most likely not want that extra treble.

I've done this on my 57 custom champ, and I even keep the bright switch on when I play my Tele and Strat, and just roll back the tone slightly on the guitar, because it makes the amp sound so much better.

 

[kelsodeez]

Glad the 12ax7 is working better for you. I also found that different 12ax7s can impact the highs. I do prefer vintage RCAs work as they sound best for me, in addition to GE and Sylvania. I still question fender’s choice to spec a 12ay7 in there as the stock preamp tube. I love my little overpriced Fender 57 Custom Champ. Try the original Weber alnico speaker again. It does need to be broken in for it to sound its best, but you may like it.

I might be just looking for some nos tubes. I've noticed with the increased treble/gain, there seems to be a rattle in my power tube when I play a C#/D note on my low E string. From what I hear, old tubes were built better and are less likely to rattle. I changed my preamp back to the 12ay7, that wasn't it. Took the chassis out and checked every nut and bolt, put the stock weber back in to see if it was the speaker and I am almost positive it's coming from the power tube

Adding a 120-160 uF bright cap on the volume control is a must on this amp. It adds a lot of treble at lower volumes, and it is a really easy mod to do. Anyone who is comfortable with a soldering iron can do this easily. If you also like to play with distortion, I recommend putting it on a switch, because then you'd most likely not want that extra treble.

I've done this on my 57 custom champ, and I even keep the bright switch on when I play my Tele and Strat, and just roll back the tone slightly on the guitar, because it makes the amp sound so much better.

I've been kinda getting that treble soaked tone with my 10 band eq. Just scoop them mids and add gain to it and I am where I need to be when playing my humbucker guitars.