Restoration of tube amplifier. Challenger CHA10. Vintage amp overhaulin & #039;
Restoring a battered Challenger CHA10 tube amplifier from the 1950s: new paint, knobs, a guitar input, fresh tubes and a brighter, revived sound.

This article does not have much preamble ... The thing is that, as I was already in the wave of vintage amplifiers, I decided to restore one of them that was quite deteriorated: A Challenger CHA10 from the 50s or 60s.
The original idea was to work only on the paint, but then it occurred to me to change the knobs, add a fuse (I didn't have one), change the position of the logo, add a guitar input using a 1/4 jack and additionally touch up some components. electronics to add more shine, because the original sound is quite opaque ... Well, finally I also decided to change the tubes as I get them.
Researching the internet I came across a photo of what the amp must have looked like in its prime. The truth is I didn't like the colors so much.

Mine, however, was not in such a good state of preservation. This is how the cage was.

Here are some photos of the chassis.

As can be seen in the following photo (here I had already dismantled the transformer) use 4 empty tubes, including an EZ81 as a rectifier and a 6L6 in the power amp. It is a "single ended".


Here is a photo of the amp after the painting process, while testing the color of the knobs (where I am now).

More photos of the restoration can be seen on the Polestar blog:
http://www.opendireito.com/tecnologia/item/49-challenger-cha10-restored.html
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