The two big names in amps in Canada are Traynor and Garnet, and I see my fair share of them here at the shop (and own a few myself). However, there are a plethora of "no name" amps, usually known as "stencil" amps, that were built by a handful of factories sprinkled around the country, but sold under a dozen or more brand names. These include Pepco, Pine, Russel, Vagabond... and some have literally no name on them at all.

Today's treat is a little Fender Champ clone made under the name Scepter, and built in Hamilton Ontario. Not much if any information is out there on the web about these, and this is the first of it's kind that I've seen with my own eyes.

This little fella came in with an intermittent cutout/sudden death problem. It had an old 2-prong cord, and the mains leads were connected to a swiveling, wobbling little terminal strip that could make contact with the chassis if it felt like it. Scary!

I replaced the 2-prong cord with a 3-prong'er, soldering the ground lead to chassis, and put the hot line on a spade, to fit the retrofitted fuse holder. Nice and snug. Some tape under the pilot light should ensure even under twisting, the heaters don't hit the chassis. 

Aside from a little bit of 120hz hum, this thing is good to go again. Sounds very nice. The cheap little speaker has a surprisingly clear and musical low end, and the high end is bright yet warm, and not fizzy. A surprisingly good sounding little unit!

Taking a hint from Traynors in the 70's, they have included the brilliant "pop top" design, allowing super easy and convenient access to all the components.

Someone had done a cap job within the last 10 years or so, also replacing some of the old oil caps with Orange Drops, and the grid stoppers from the input jack to the preamp with carbon film half-watters.

Why doesn't anyone make a claim like this anymore?