Conversion of a PCB Amp Circuit to Point-to-Point: Fender Champ 600 to 5F1 

Wowzers!! That SM57 has completely transformed the sound quality of these demos exponentially! Well done, God bless!

The demos are sounding so good with the new mic! Bit of T-Rex in there, my first ever 45 single. Sometimes nice to reflect on the really positive side of life - we've never met, but thanks to the Internet I can sit here on a wet evening in England and enjoy music and electronics that we have in common from opposite sides of the Atlantic!

You are somebody who my father, who passed away many years would have loved to talked to or watched this. Thanks.

At first I thought it was a stupid idea, replacing the PCB with point to point wiring. But I was surprised how simple it looked after the conversion. All connectors for the peripherals disappear, and it is as if you look trough the old PCB, and see top and bottom in one overview. A well done idea. And thanks for pointing out the right way to wire the heaters.

As someone who is planning a 5F1 build I find this tremendously helpful. Thanks so very much for sharing Uncle Doug

I get the feeling Uncle Doug greatly improved the reliability of this amp. What a nice thing to have it is now!

I wish your RU-vid channel existed during my late ‘80s engineering college days. This is just beautiful!

Thank You for taking the time to explain to everyone the finer points of basic tube amp construction once again!

I own a Champ 600, and have considered doing a p2p. You have given me the courage to move forward with that project. Thanks for always blazing the trail, Uncle Doug!

I am really loving the how much more acurate the tone is from the SM57 compared to the camera mic in past video's ... great build! ... now I want one

"D shaped" drill bit. Doesn't get any better than that.I had an electronics professor at Rock Valley College who would pull stuff like that & never say it was a joke. I talked to guys 15 years later who had missed much of his humor, and were stunned to realize that they had thought it was true for all those years. I love it.

Uncle Doug by showing how you make amps step by step in a comprehensive way we are starting to get more courageous with the solders 😊

Someone's been practicing their playing! You can really hear it with the mic setup on this awesome amp!

Couldn't get that much information in a lifetime let alone in under an hour, Thanks Uncle Doug.

I've watched this over and over, and learned more than reading many books. absolutely the best teacher on RU-vid

The Negative feed back knob is brilliant... You then can choose clean or dirty but having the option in a small unit like that is really nice...

Wow...master class in circuit design and a great sounding end result. Doug...really great!

Just AWESOME. As an amp builder and a musician, I totally appreciate every second of this video. One of those things that make your life more interesting and fulfilled by watching/listening. Thank you uncle Doug.

In my 40+ year career in electronics, I've been around a lot of techs. I have yet to meet one of your talents and dedication to the craft. I've taken the liberty of sharing your videos with techs I know. I really can't find words to express our amazement. For people not in the trade, this gentleman is the Da Vinci of electronics. He is definitely in the top 1% of techs. He makes it look easy. It isn't.

Hi Uncle Doug! Big thank you for making this video. I just did this project for myself. I traded a piece of gear for one of these amps and I got fleeced. It had all sorts of mods and had burned components on the circuit board so I rebuilt mine. I did an eyelet board for the filter cap section, but I wired the rest of the circuit similar to your build here. I couldn't be happier. Thank you!

I've converted my Gretsch G5222 5W amp to this point-to-point 5F1 circuit. And it sounds great!! Way better than the pc board circuit which sounded noisy. Thank you Uncle Doug for this video. It helped me a lot. And it's surprisingly quiet.

My knowledge of a tube amp tripled from watching this video. Very informative, thanks Uncle Doug.

When i saw the title i was already putting on my war face to tell "It's hardwired not PTP" as most of these conversions are built but then i saw it was by Uncle Doug and knew instantly it was going to be true PTP! Sounds amazing Uncle Doug! Nice work on the '34 too!

How did I miss this episode? This conversion was exactly the kind of journey I adore. Thank you for being the perfect Sherpa to scale this mountain properly. Your use of shielded wire for input path is thoughtful in scope, and necessary for signal integrity. Actually, every step in practice you take while performing circuit building is a discipline that I wish all electronic techs would follow. The finished product sounded warm, and touch sensitive! If I may inject my two cents, the negative feedback loop was a more sensible feature than the triode variable selection. Once again you have impressed me far beyond mere curiosity. I'm glad you sequence the steps of these products so anyone can follow along. On a completely unrelated issue...I hope you're doing well during this health scare. The media is making it more intense than it has to be, but it is wise to heed the warnings of the CDC. Be safe, dear Uncle.

Loved the video. Vvery informative as always. BTW, I mentioned to my wife that I was going to buy one of those aluminum radiators on eBay an put it on display in our living room. She said I had to choose between her and the radiator. Sure gonna miss her.

Well, I am again fully impressed with the style and creativity of Uncle Doug. Totally cool remodel of an amp. Thank you so much for this demo.

Loved the pic of Ollie lounging in the catnip. 😻

Btw, I approve of the longer format of your video.. nice to spend an hour with you!

Watching you solve problems is always interesting and informative, Uncle Doug. Thank you as always for posting.

Always a good day when we have an Uncle Doug video! Thank you, as always.

Got a mic! Sounds really good. This brings so much more to your finished efforts.

Thanks a lot for a whole bunch of useful informations. I'll keep it in mind if I'm going to mod my tube combo. A d-shape drill is exactly what I'm looking for years 👍

Wow,Uncle Doug,great point build!Love the clean (at times' a little "Voxy") and the "dirty" sound is pure delta! : )

Yep, yet another GREAT Uncle Doug video. Very informative. Some nice guitar playing thrown in too.

Nobody mentioned the brilliant mike stand !!!!! Perfect placement, repeatable. Outstanding performance

Nice conversion! Those PCB versions are problematic to start with, and are usually throw-away's when they fail. Many of my customers don't want to pay for the time and parts to repair them. If under warranty, Fender usually has the customer return the amp to the dealer for a replacement. It's not worth the technician's time to make repairs since many failures turn out disastrous, like burnt boards either due to over heating tubes, or resistor failures. One of the very common issues is with the removable connectors from the transformers...especially the filament connections where the PCB traces can't handle the current draw under load. This was an excellent idea on both your part, and the owner's with the cabinet redesign making an amp head. You now have a true P2P design which will be more reliable. Good work! :)

Wow!!! That thing was already a work of art when you received it, but now doubly so! I just started watching your channel, and man I'm loving your videos. Not only is your work very professional and thorough, but your way of explaining things is what people pay good money for at college. My dad was a brilliant electronics tech for many years and taught me how to solder when I was only 5 or 6 years old. I went on to become a mechanical and aerospace engineer, and watching other technical artisans like you is better than any primetime TV for me! :) Thanks again for taking the time to make these videos and sharing your knowledge with the world.

Hey UD! Great to see another video from you!! Congrats on the SM57 mic! Awesome conversion.Thanks for sharing!!

Well I can say, another fantastic build!!! Love your expertise and dedication to the craft. High praise coming from an old electronics tech from back in the 80's, to now a licensed electrician. Yes, I'm getting back into the game and your videos as well as your RU-vid compatriots have spurred me on to start tinkering again! Thank you!

Not only did the point to point circuit become a thing of aesthetic beauty, the sound demo exposes what`s under the hood lovely clean tones, but that cranked distortion was delicious , (i know J J Cale sat in... )you can`t fool me Uncle Doug ,😉😂 excellent radiator replacement too, 👍speaking of hoods ,

Awesome from beginning to end Uncle Doug.

Impressive - I suppose, besides the massive labour cost savings, the printed circuit gives the impression of more stuff and more value whereas the point to point looks like there's less "stuff" and ought to be cheaper. Less is More is proven once again. Well done - it looks good, sounds great and the mod of the variable Neg Feedback is perfect for those who, occasionally, want a super clean sound.

The entire flow of this conversion is outstanding. Your ability to plan ahead on the rectifier to accommodate the original transformer type demonstrates that. The addition of the negative feedback loop was insightful. The tone of this point-to-point champ using humbuckers is rich, and has ample bite, and overtones. I, of course, realize your Ampro cabinet did contribute to the amp's musical character. Thank you for sharing! it was enjoyable, and informative to watch. Enjoy your weekend!

Uncle Doug, as usual thank you for for the wisdom! Placing the SM57 off center slightly like that sure did the trick to make your audio tests sound great.

$100, damn that’s a good deal! Great work on that amplifier like always. Thank you Uncle Doug.

LOL Same exact solder sucker I have. I'll bet I've had mine since the 70's. That amp will be sweet when it's finished and it IS! Sounds great.

This is one of the best amp projects I've ever seen. The coolest. 👍👍👍 The combo to head mod by the original owner is also slick.

Nice retro-repair on this amp - a come-back of sorts for the venerable old point-to-point method. One concession I made to modern times, however, was to retire my old solder suckers and replace them with an electric desoldering tool. I will never go back. Marvelous devices - they're quicker, more precise, less much chance of burned components or lifted lands, and about the price of a good quality soldering station.

Watched all your videos. The sm57 microphone sounds alot better. Thanks for what you do.

Haven't even watched this yet but I can't wait. Planning a similar thing for my valve junior so a master class is just the ticket!

I have just done this point to point conversion on my champion 600, I had a spare power transformer with centre taps and a 5v supply too, so went the extra mile and put in an extra chassis hole and a 5y3. This little amp rocks especially through a 12" external speaker :) Great work Uncle Doug, my cats are rocking out tunes from it now as I type :)

Hi Uncle Doug. Thanks for sharing this video. Marvelous work on the point to point wiring on that amp. Also, I appreciate your improvements on the recording capabilities you have now, really brings out the Fender tone goodness. You definitely channeled some Billy on your ZZ jams. Cheers.

I wouldn’t call that a conversion. That was a creation.

Good work again. I did a similar NFB thing with my fender reverb deluxe reissue. Took it out as it seems Leo fender knew what he was doing. SM57 sounds good

Dude. My life is pretty much 89 percent fixing what others have slopped together. You know what I mean. My heart and band-aids go out to you and yours. I have two mics - M-57 and M-58, developed for the military in WWII and still they carry on. I can barely stand some of the suspense when you encounter bizarre challenges to your skills and you always seem to work it out. The auto fixes make my eyes bleed (because I devoted eight years of my life to keeping my good friend's 1982 Nissan/Datsun 210 Wagon going and I am NOT a mechanic with proper tools and I swear there are several pints of my blood in that machine) so those bits are too painful however I need to solder (impeccably) soon so I am immersing myself in your vids to get the right feel. Thanks and aloha.

Finding a new video on Friday is better than seeing a shrink. As sure as the sun sets is the west there are three things I can always count on seeing in this channel: the teaching will be superb, the same few trolls that vote down every video will have already checked in, and now Ollie will be hammered drunk.

Great job on both projects from one Guit-car guy to another.

Yet another great video Uncle Doug. I do need to pick one nit how ever. JEDEC, Joint Electron Device Engineering Council, in 1958 established the original US numbering system for semiconductors loosely based on the number of junctions in the device. As a result diodes are 1N (one nen) and bipolar devices are 2N. Okay, I feel better now. Thanks and please keep the videos coming.

I think this is an amazing video. One of the hardest things I have found in working on these amps is to form a link between the schematic and the parts layout (where components are located -- and why). This is like a lab class where we learn layout by doing layout. Thank you so much.

Uncle Doug makes the world a better place by far.

As always, exceptional point to point explaining. And nice mic placement! And I see you got a new SM57. ..nice!

I want to do this to my Fender Pro Junior which I've heavily modified already. 6n2p in the phase inverter, master volume, 3 band eq to my own flavoring as well as a resonance knob that originally was me playing around with a variable negative feedback loop. Thanks for this video :D

Nice job Uncle Doug , the amp is completely reborn.

I've been out of the amp building loop for a while pursuing other interests...after watching this, the itch is back!

Bless you Uncle Doug, your amazing! Another great educational video!

I'd like to do that with a Fender Excelsior sometime. Well done!

Kudos to Jack and Ollie, the dynamic duo felines!

I am watching this for the third time. I am building my first valve amp using scrap parts into an old Fender 15w practice amp although I am using a new output transformer as all my scrap parts came from a couple of old school radios and the impedance isn't right for this. As always the way you explain stuff is very effective.

Very timely , as I've been thinking about doing a project like this. Thanks again !!

Always love a hot rod update, too.

Another top shelf job Uncle Doug. You are the real champ here, your wiring is a work of art

Hi Uncle Doug & Crazy Cat's, She grew up in an Indianan town, good Petty cover, you been practicing. Awesome conversion, so much better than PCB. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. Your a great teacher. Be good, C.

Really nice conversion. Loved the cat nap and that radiador also. Thanks for sharing!

Amazing video as always! The sound is so much better for comparison, I’m really digging the sm57

Another fantastic sounding amp! I really appreciate your new mic setup. Thanks for that.

This is the best. So many questions answered and so many tips and tricks delivered.

I have a pair of Fender Champion 600s that I loath - I bought them while living away from home. They are noisy and awful, was considering doing this and adding an EZ80 rectifier too. Can't wait to watch this video - great stuff Uncle Doug! :D

DANG, that sounds good! Nice job! :) You just CAN'T beat a tube amp for it's warm sound.

Old amps, old cars, Uncle Doug and Jack - what could be better?

This was truly the best lesson explaining what all those marks on a schematic in real life really look like on the operating table. Thank you for spending the time to share all your hard-won knowledge!

From Leo: For those interested, MODkits makes a little 5 watt amplifier kit that is terminal strip based. Gain, volume and tone control. 12ax7 preamp, 6bq5 output. About $200.

Mic placement looks good and sounds great through my headphones. Nice how to video, like all the rest of your nice how to videos.

43:50 Uncle breaking out the Brown Sugar !! Excellent build. I am inspired...

Your instructions are impeccable, uncle Doug. I followed along, done same build with a different case and xformer (236v rectified, ground center tap) and went well.

Fantastic video Uncle Doug. Always enjoy your videos but this was really great to see you built a real PTP - wow

Excellent! Thank you Uncle Doug! I am reworking an old Magnavox stereo amplifier (very small chassis, messy layout) and this detailed video answered several questions I had about creating an efficient layout.

Oh boy. I used to use those solder suckers. After years I was able to buy Pace desolder tools and a then later bought one for larger pins. What a difference.

I love the way you refer to the schematic then the next step! You are a great teacher! 🎉🎉😊

That's a beautifully sounding amp Uncle. Perfect job as always. By the way, I would really love to have one of those D shaped drill bits one day, they really are handy. And the placement of those 1N4007s is awesome. Thank you for sharing with us, Uncle.

Hi uncle Doug, thanks for sharing your educational mod/repair on this later champ model. I also like how you demonstrated how to use the AB output xformer in a class A setup. You are a wealth of information as always. :-)

This man knows his stuff. You want a kick butt Amp? This man will teach you everything you need to know.

This was a great one, thank you! I hope to try making a hand wired amp someday. Learning a lot from you. Still much to understand. And I enjoyed the bonus footage of that sweet aluminum radiator you installed.

Nice work Uncle D!!

Your getting better uncle doug!! I recognize the music to you know what that means.

What? no hantavirus threat requiring hazmat suit this week? In this one video, you've included a summary of great tips and solid amp building techniques. Nice work on the variable FB and the output jack ground issue find. Let me add a couple more tips. Circuit boards today are made with lead-free solder requiring higher temperature to unsolder. If your sucker, doesn't pull enough, reheat the joint with leaded solder and try again. (using an old Weller offers plenty of heat for that). Also you can unsolder all the connections at once with a hot-air workstation but more difficult due to octal pin mass and spacing. Thanks for another great amp build.

Nice video, as always! Just in case you're interested, I came across a solder sucker combined with a 40 watt soldering iron. Not the bulb type, but a straight on pencil type iron with a hollow tip and plunger, exactly like your teflon-tipped sucker. It works really well and is a lot faster to use. This video is of particular interest to me, because I have an Epiphone Valve Senior amp that is a good candidate for conversion away from a PCB. It is a typical 3 x 12AX7, 2 x 6V6 amp with reverb. It's not a particularly good sounding amp as is. The reverb is terrible (driven and recovered not very well by one 12AX7), and the tone stack is some sort of wacky hybrid between Fender and Marshall, which doesn't cut it either way. But, I think it is a good base for one of the tried and true circuits that we all know and love. Thanks again for your great videos!

Oh man... that hood ornament. I think it has a crack in it. Thanks Uncle Doug! Cheers,

Been a while since I watched an Uncle Doug video - glued at moment and can't wait for the completion Haha @18:01 a trippy meow

glad to see your a Texan! very smart man. my grandad was the first man in his home town of corbin ky to work on tube type hi fi and tv sets, used to sit and watch him to for hours. great memories thank you and god bless.

"D" shaped drill bit...LOL! Ollie looks like he had quite the buzz on while tripping in that catnip garden. Thanks for another great video.