Sunday, February 22, 2009

Fender 5E1 / Champion 600 Coupling Cap Mod "Kit"


The stock capacitor in a Fender Champ 5E1 and 5F1 circuits is .022uF. This allows a great deal of bass through the circuit and the cap is frequently changed to restrict the low end and make the distortion a bit less muddy.

If you'd like to try changing this cap you can use the chart below to help select a value. In case you have trouble finding a place to purchase caps of the right value, each of the cap values in the chart has a link directly to a suitable part on the Mouser website.

Just click on any of the values and you'll see how it works.



Champion 600 / Champ 5F1 68pF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 82pF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 100pF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 120pF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 150pF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 180pF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 220pF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 270pF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 330pF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 390pF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 470pF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 560pF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 680pF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 820pF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 1000pF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 .0022 uF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 .0033 uF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 .0047 uF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 .01 uF coupling cap modChampion 600 / Champ 5F1 .022 uF coupling cap mod




The values in blue indicate that the cap values are in microfarads (uF). As the values get smaller I've switched to picofarads (pF) indicated in black.

If you are a bit foggy on the meaning of different capacitor values, see the capacitor values post.

The capacitor values here are good for a stock 5E1 Champ or a 5F1 Champ with a cathode bypass cap on the first stage (the frequencies shift a bit if that cap is not present and stock 5F1 champs don't have the bypass cap).


They'll also work in place of the tone stack in a Champion 600.

2 comments:

Trûck Žðöþžjn said...

Are these frequencies the -3dB points?

akavalve said...

Yep, that they are. I should have said - thanks for mentioning it.