Silverface Fender Champ

[Hella1hella]

Silverface Fender Champ. What are some opinions on this ? I am considering getting one, played one a VERY long time ago and I remember liking it. I have a blackface bassman that I love and use for my band but am looking for a little practice amp. I am moving into an apartment in about a year and will be able to use a little amp but not turn it up SUPER loud, I will also have a little bit of sound dampening foam in the room. The Silverface champ looks pretty perfect for me, I would get between a 68-78. I know most people go for the vibro champs but I am really looking for a really nice champ rather than a o.k. vibro champ for my price range, I use a fulltone supatrem so I wouldent use the tremolo anyhow. So what are some opinions on this amp? I have heard they stay pretty clean, I am not going to be cranking this amp, just want to use it at low levels and I use pedals as well, I know the speaker is pretty small but I have everyything to build like a little 1/10 extension cab If I needed to be. So what do you guys think? I know I obviously have to play one and decide for myself but If I am going to dedicate the time to looking for one I need to do some deciding first.

[68goldtop]

hi Hella1hella!

sf champs are nice little amps - but the v-champs are even nicer.
a while back i wouldnīt have thought how frequently i would use the tremolo (vibrato) - until i got one

however, they are not very loud and donīt have a lot of bass-response. compared to most bigger amps they tend to sound a bit "flat".
i could easily recommend one, but then, an sf princeton can be had for just a little more money, and it sounds nicer in most every regard...

cheers - 68.

[Resonator Guy]

I have a 76 Champ that is just a great little performer. When I got it a couple of years ago it was all original, right down to the caps and tubes and sounded fantastic right out of the box. I retubed it with NOS ones and put in a Weber vintage alnico speaker. I saved the originals and filed them. It is plenty loud enough to practice with and sounds great with all my guitars.

[MWJB]

Given that Hella1hella wrote: "I am moving into an apartment in about a year and will be able to use a little amp but not turn it up SUPER loud, I will also have a little bit of sound dampening foam in the room."

& 68 Goldtop wrote: "i could easily recommend one, but then, an sf princeton can be had for just a little more money, and it sounds nicer in most every regard...", I think we'll let Hella's neighbours in the next apartment be the judge of that! ;-) A Champ is still pretty loud for apartment use, A SF Princeton makes 4 times the power & is fixed bias...a lot louder. Realistically, you want less than a 1W of output.

A 5F1 tweed style champ will have less headroom than a SF champ.

Either amp will probably need an attenuator (simple resistive attenuators ar not expensive or hard to build, also see things like the Swart Night Light) for aprtment use, the champ is cathode biased so won't need rebiasing when power tubes need changing.

[Hella1hella]

I think I am going to start looking for one. sounds really like a good choice for me. Like I previously said I can build another cab with a bigger speaker if I want a fuller sound. I saw some guys on a forum build piggyback champs and it was the coolest thing I had ever saw haha so I might do that ( I would obviously keep all of the original stuff in a safe place, I hate when people mod the original cab to fit new speakers etc) and an Attenuator would be a great idea.

thanks guys!

[Newguy]

Wife bought me a "74 SF Champ for Christmas. I love that little amp. Nice clean tone and seems to take pedals well. TS9 sounds terrific with this amp. Clean and OD sound only though, I doubt it would sound that good with metal music. I wish I had gotten into smaller amps a long time ago...however still love every amp I have.

MWJB may be right with the 5F1. My 74 SF champ can still get kind of loud if you crank it. I have never even played an 5F1, but I would love to test drive one!

My Other Amps:
63 Vibroverb Reissue
65 Deluxe Reissue
Blues Junior
1965 BF Super Reverb Vintage
74 SF Champ

[Gibsonman63]

M2C, just enjoy it for what it is and resist the urge to mod. The Champ and Vibro-Champs are great little practice and studio amps. Upgrade the speaker if you must. I personally like my practice amp to be tamer than my live rig. It doesn't cover up your mistakes as much and it is much easier for me to hear the songs I am learning and blend in.

If you are so inclined, the Champ is a great amp to build for a first-time amp builder. It is fairly simple to build and it won't break the bank. The guys over at TAG are developing an economical Champ project for first time builders, but I don't think they are quite there yet.

[ron vogel]

I have a '72...and it's the best rock amp I've ever owned. GREAT to record with. This tune I did all the electric guitar with just an AM Std Tele, A wah pedal, and amp distortion. Obviosly the guitar is multiple tracks, but it shows the kind of tonal range out of the Champ. I rebuilt my champ top to bottom, and it has a Weber alnico in it:

Musical Chairs by Ron Vogel | OurStage

[Hella1hella]

I actually just picked up one of the fender champion 600's (recent). However, friday I might be picking up a 70's Vibro Champ. I will keep you guys informed!

[Chuck H]

The only rub with the SF Champs (vibro or not) is that they have stupid high Vp for class A operation. They perform fine though OD can be a bit choppy (probably due to the high Vp). I've never had one long enough to speak about how the high volts affect tube life in these amps except to say that I blew up a nice sounding RCA 6v6 cranking a VC with 428Vp. I'd say that a voltage drop is a good idea for these amps. Not even hard to do.

[riz]

I agree with Chuck, last one I worked on I dropped the B+ overall with some zeners. Very nice sounding amp when i was done! With the B+ nearer to what's on the schematic, guess what, you can bias that tube hotter (near to what's on the schem) and get "that sound" that champs are famous for without killing the tube. That's my caveman take on it anyway. And ADD a SCREEN RESISTOR!!

[Hella1hella]

Thanks guys! I woudl be happy to do all of that stuff! If I only knew how haha. I have found a good tech in my area so If I feel the need I will just take it to him. I dont know if a footswitch comes with the amp but I feel they are easy to build... some wire, male rca plug, an enclosure and spst switch? Also... the vibrato SHOULD work with or without footswitch correct? I just want to make sure before I go to check it out because its about an hour an a half away. ALSO, I know this should be on a different thread but I have been thinking more and more about doing one of those bitmo spring reverb kits to a valve junior. It basically turns the valve junior into a tube reverb unit. The only problem is that their would be no dwell control, or a tone control... (thats where you fellas come in!) Check out the sounds that are coming from these little guys...I could get a used VJ for around $70 and the kit is around $70 so not a bad price for tube spring reverb...

Audio | BitMo Mod Kits

[riz]

Yes, vibrochamp will work without the switch. I have a VC, and I have never used a switch.