So, while I steel myself for the ass-ache of replacing my 220K R1 with a beefier resistor, two questions arise:

1. would I be better off just mounting a guitar potentiometer in the chassis, setting it to where the amp stops clipping without provocation, and then letting it be, OR is a pot somehow going to kill the highs like a half-open volume pot does on a guitar?

2. Seeing as the other Retocon/Jensen I own (in the Vox) blew up on me, I want to start looking for a replacement *before* this one in the Squier blows up, too. One one hand,I don't wanna throw too much money at this amp (even though it has potential), but I do want something better than the ceramic Retocon/Jensen that's in there now... something durable, efficient, and toneful (nice balance, maybe some "chime" as a bonus, although I find chime is in my fingers).

I do like this little amp even though its great tone only shows up when I play single-note stuff on a low-output guitar.

If you cats could offer me any more advice on how I can help it to "be all it can be," that would just rock my world.

Peace,
Tim

So I wussed out and had a pro do the work. Tom at Aztech Electronics installed an even beefier R1 (220K this time, as 100K still was not enough input attenuation) and did my strange bidding, namely to turn the headphone-out jack into speaker out.

Well, the amp is cleaner and overall better sounding, but even with an upgraded speaker (an Italian ceramic Jensen via Roticon), it still sounds kinda splatty when pushed hard. I guess it's really hard to make an 8-incher in such a tiny cab feel open and free. (Well, duh!)

However, when I plug this thing into my 1x12 and play my frankentele through it, it's a joy.

I may try this thing again without the back panel, just for yucks. In the meantime, I know it will act as a very capable spare head via the speaker-out jack if my Orange Tiny Terror ever flames out.

Peace,
Tim

Man, that is the "K.I.S.S. principle" in action!
Hat's off, tone brother.
~Tim

Thanks for your intelligent advice.
I see now that I was using the wrong jack... my TRS jack was not a "switching* TRS jack, and it has one less lug than the one my tech used on the Vox Nova. GAWD, I FEEL LIKE SUCH AN IDIOT!  At least I did not toast my power amp.

Another big difference between the Vox Nova and the Squier 15 is that, while both are solid state, the Nova has an output transformer... it thinks it's a tube amp.

Anyway, I will not do anything until I am sure I know what the hell I am doing.

...or I will just have a pro deal with it. (LOL) This is a very good-sounding amp, and I do not want to ruin it.

I'll let you know what happens.

Cheers,
Tim

Howdy!

SUCCESS... mostly.

Well, the trimpot's legs were not far enough apart to replace that resistor, but I used a 100K metal-film resistor instead, and it worked great. Way more rich, clean headroom.

Just for fun, I kludged a connection into my closed-back 1x12, plugged in my "frankentele," and the sound was HUGE. And loud. First preamp on 2, Second preamp on 0, Master on 2. Sounded good when I ran test leads to the amp's 8" Jensen as well.

Now all I wanna do is use the headphone-out jack as a speaker out, for those times when I need to hear the Squier's clean goodness through a separate cab.

My tech did a reversible mod to my solid state Vox Nova whereby I could plug into a TRS jack that would defeat the internal speaker and send the speaker juice to an external cab. I tried to copy what he did EXACTLY, hooking up just the right wires with the same lugs on an identical TRS jack, and all I get is either stone silence or ugly oscillation like when an 8-track tape is changing channels. Bypassing the whole mess with test leads restores the great tone.

Can any of you please help me? I really think I can do this, and if I have my tech do it, well, let''s just say he's way busy re-tubing Marshalls. It could be a helluva wait. (LOL)

~Tim

Well, this site erases typing when it times you out, so here I am retyping my response. (ARRRGH!!!!)

First off, thanks for your thorough answer. No, I am not looking to make this thing into a Marshall. My Vox does a good Marshall impersonation, but I am not expecting such things from the Squier.

Making the distortion less ratty was my second priority anyway, behind the main goal of increasing the pitiful headroom, so I am not too disappointed to hear that modding the distortion is impractical. I have good boxes if I want dirt. ;-)

I will go with the amp's strength -- a nice, musical, midrange-heavy clean tone. To do this, I will replace the woefully low-valued R1 with a 500K Bournes trimpot and adjust it until the amp passes what I consider a reasonable test: it should remain clean with a strummed Les Paul, as long as Preamp 1 is set low (3 or under).

To reiterate, as it stands now, it sounds sweet but only with single-note lines, double-stops, and gently brushed chords. Anything more and it starts to splat, even with the preamp on 1! (A Jensen ceramic speaker was a good cheap upgrade but did not solve the inappropriate clipping threshold.)

I remember GUitar Player mag testing a similar amp (the transistor version of the Champ) and complaining that the input needed more "padding."

My tech thinks my plan will work, and he thinks it's easy enough to be a good newbie project for me.

I'll let you know how it works!

Thanks for your help.

Yours in Sound,
Tim
www.myspace.com/timmungenast

Sorry if you had difficulty with the link, and thanks for posting the schematic for all to see. It's the only source I found online.
I'd be grateful for any words o'wisdom you or your pals could share. (I did not inherit my dad's godlike engineering skills ;-)
~Tim

Thanks for answering. Here's the schematic.
http://natcade.tripod.com/schems/Fender/squier15.gif

Hi All:

I have a 1988 MIK Squier 15 (not a Champ), and I have opened it up in my very first attempt at amp repair/modification.

I am addressing 2 issues. The first one I think I can handle. The second one is over my head:

1. It has a wonderful Vox-esque clean tone but not enough headroom for strummed chords, even with the preamp set to "1", so I am gong to install a Bourns 500K trimpot inplace of R1 and adjust to taste.

2. I wonder, while I have this thing disassembled, if there is anything a newbie like me can do to improve the distortion on this thing.

It ALWAYS amazes me that there are so many great solid state distortion PEDALS but so few nicely distorting solid state AMPS. My favorite solid state distortion is from my 1968 Vox Nova, which generates its distortion by accident... it was never designed to distort, as it was built for horn players who wanted to compete with guitarists. This little guy thinks it's a plexi Marshall! But I digress... back to the Squier 15.

ANYWAY, can any of you guys give me any pointers?

thanks,
Tim