Bending a Squier Champ 15 chassis by hand...

victorludorum

I've just gutted one of these to put the amp in a new cab with a 10" speaker. The 'chassis' is just one piece of metal that has been folded to an angle for the faceplate, rather than the typical box type chassis. I'd like to have the faceplate at a 90 degree angle to the top plate, rather than the current 130 odd degrees. Does anything think this would be possible to bend by hand, seeing that the steel is already folded and I would only be tightening the angle. I am thinking of using a piece of wood which would be attached to the faceplate as a leverage tool, rather than pushing directly on the plate itself. Is this a recipe for disaster, bearing in mind the steel is about 1mm thick? I hope this explanation makes sense...

ICBM

Are you planing to modify or make a new heatsink bracket? The existing one is designed for that angle of the chassis.

Funkfingers

The steel plate will have been bent to shape using machinery. It will be necessary to apply similar force, over a similar area to bend the plate back to 90°. The wood block 'n' brute force method is unlikely to look as precise.

victorludorum

ICBM said:

Are you planing to modify or make a new heatsink bracket? The existing one is designed for that angle of the chassis.

I thought that that part was just to hold the pcb board at the right angle for the faceplate. It seems that it'll need more modifying than i thought...

ICBM

victorludorum said:

I thought that that part was just to hold the pcb board at the right angle for the faceplate. It seems that it'll need more modifying than i thought...

It does both jobs - you shouldn't just remove it, or the power IC will cook itself. I think you could shorten it by folding it at a right angle the right height under the PCB, then drill two new screw holes to fix it back to the chassis. I would probably be inclined to leave the excess in place and bent out of the way if necessary rather than cut it off - otherwise you're relying on conduction to the chassis to get rid of some of the heat. Heat is the killer for these little output chips.

victorludorum

I'd be happy to keep the chassis exactly as it is, but the cab I'll be making will be 3" wider at 16", so if I stick with the normal Fender Brown/Blonde/Black type cab the faceplate will have space either side. It does have a stick-on plate with the decals, etc. and this could be easily taken off. I could then make a new, wider stick-on part, but this would need to be thin to allow enough of the threads on the pots to clear, and I reckon this will be a bit floppy. Maybe I should just put some wooden blocks behind these 2 new 'wings' to stabilise them.

ICBM

I would probably make some angled piece to fill the gaps, and cover them with tolex (if the new cabinet is) - like this, but with green tolex blocks in the corners.

https://www.squier-talk.com/threads/amp-makeover.177245/

I have to say I'm relieved you're not attempting a better version of this Line 6 amp mounted in a badly covered chest abomination that keeps popping up on Ebay - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115648950037?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Dk2wavBsRT6&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=vwY6G6jLR3y&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY .

victorludorum

@ICBM Cheers for that photo. I couldn't find one when I searched earlier. I'm going to have a ponder and I'll post something up here when it's done.