Fender 57 Champ - pull the trigger?

[Cheesehead]

I own a 65DRRI and Orange Tiny Terror combo, so I've got the blackface and British tones covered.

Gasing for a tweed. Originally thinking Bassman reissue but too big and loud for my needs, I think. I jam with a drummer and bass/keyboard player and my amps are plenty loud. I think a Champ would be plenty loud for bluesy stuff. I even got a little PA if I ever needed to mic it for a gig at the wine fest or whatever.

I've thought about clones like Victoria, but I keep coming back to this amp. And I've thought about the Fender 57 Deluxe tweed but it's twice as much.

Thoughts?

[telex76]

If you don't mind spending the money.
Someone could build you a kit for way less.
Tweed Champ and Tweed Deluxe are two totally different sounds(So is a Tweed Bassman)

[Cheesehead]

Originally Posted by telex76

Tweed Champ and Tweed Deluxe are two totally different sounds(So is a Tweed Bassman)

How would you characterize the differences? I play a Tele, Strat, and Les Paul w/P90s. I play mostly Muddy Waters/Stones "Exile on Main Street" type blues on the Tele, and a variety of blues ranging from Clapton to Johnny Winter to Buddy Guy on all guitars. I have a Muddy Waters instructional DVD with Bob Margolin - I think he's playing a Champ. Sounds great...

[Dr. Bill]

A tweed Champ will definitely not be loud enough for jamming with a drummer and keys. Better go with a tweed Deluxe.

[Cheesehead]

Originally Posted by Dr. Bill

A tweed Champ will definitely not be loud enough for jamming with a drummer and keys. Better go with a tweed Deluxe.

I'm not sure I agree. I had a 5 watt Marshall Class 5 and it was plenty loud. I now have a 7-watt Tiny Terror Combo which keeps up and I only have it turned up to about 4 or 5. I never switch it to 15 watts and the sucker is LOUD.

[ce24]

if you do Muchxs' carr mod on the champ it'll plenty loud.....

[Commodore 64]

Build a Bassman with 6v6 instead of 6L6 power tubes.

[muchxs]

A stock Champ is saddled with a wimpy 8" speaker. It's a double edged sword. The wimpy 8" speaker keeps the volume low at home but it's gonna be a struggle keepin' up with the band.

A 10" or a 12" speaker brings the amp into tweed Deluxe or BF Princeton territory, volume wise. A Red Fang makes it a loud little amp.


I prefer the Champ over the Deluxe because I play a lot of single note leads. I struggle to get "enough" sustain from a tweed Deluxe, I never have a problem with a Champ.

A tweed Deluxe is a cool tone that nothing else will do (besides a tweed Deluxe). The distortion texture is sort of like a really good vintage Marshall only with a blurry attack. A Bassman or a Marshall has a harder attack. A good tweed Deluxe has AC-30 (ish) "chime". You could probably get something similar if you stacked a couple good JMI AC-30s next to a Marshall JMP and mic'ed it all into the P.A.. If you had that kinda dough...

[Cheesehead]

Originally Posted by muchxs

A stock Champ is saddled with a wimpy 8" speaker. It's a double edged sword. The wimpy 8" speaker keeps the volume low at home but it's gonna be a struggle keepin' up with the band.

What about a Victoria 5112 in comparison (5 watts, 12-inch speaker)?

[muchxs]

Originally Posted by Cheesehead

What about a Victoria 5112 in comparison (5 watts, 12-inch speaker)?

It's still a 5 watt amp but it's a loud 5 watt amp. The Eminence speaker in the 5112 puts out around 100 db before you even push the amp..

If the choice were Fender's '57 reissue or Victoria I'd go for the Victoria every time.

[Cheesehead]

Originally Posted by muchxs

It's still a 5 watt amp but it's a loud 5 watt amp. The Eminence speaker in the 5112 puts out around 100 db before you even push the amp..

If the choice were Fender's '57 reissue or Victoria I'd go for the Victoria every time.

Only thing that holds me back on the Victoria is rattling issues. Had the same problem with the Marshall Class 5, took back two before getting an Orange Tiny Terror combo.

[Alex W]

The 5F1 circuit does make for a great amp, but to me it is the last amp I would be willing to pony up dollars for in terms of getting the Fender version over a clone. If I really really wanted a Fender brand 5F1, I would rather save up a few more hundred dollars and get a vintage one. If I were going to buy a new one, I would get a clone and save money. Just my opinion.

[Gringo13]

I love the tweed Champ! If you're buying new, then I suggest the EC Vibro Champ. It's the same price as the '57 RI and slightly cheaper than a new Victoria Champ. It has tremelo and can also be used on 1 watt for home use, which the clones I've seen lack.

I've heard great things about muchxs tweed clones and apparently he can build you a Champ with a larger speaker and for much less dough than Fender or Victoria. Hard to go wrong there.

[vibrasonic]

I have a 62 and a 64 tweed champ. I have no problems cutting through in rehearsals.

I put it up on a chair.

A little while ago my drummer and myself were auditioning a bass player and i was using my champ. He say's to me "how many watts is that little amp? I said "they say it's 5 watts.

He said " THey Lie"

[JDO]

If you feel up to building you could do away with the 5y3 and put another 6v6 in parallel. The power tranny should handle it. You could get the OT from Allen amps that will handle it.

[Alex W]

Originally Posted by Gringo13

I love the tweed Champ! If you're buying new, then I suggest the EC Vibro Champ. It's the same price as the '57 RI and slightly cheaper than a new Victoria Champ. It has tremelo and can also be used on 1 watt for home use, which the clones I've seen lack.

I've heard great things about muchxs tweed clones and apparently he can build you a Champ with a larger speaker and for much less dough than Fender or Victoria. Hard to go wrong there.

This is what I did.

[keithb7]

Building a tweed amp is about the easiest amp you can build. Start with a Champ kit. When you get it done, and want to build another one, (you most likely will want to) then build a Tweed Deluxe kit. You could have both for probably the price of 1 original tweed Champ. That's sorta what I did, just in the reverse order. Did the Deluxe first, and am now in the middle of a 5W Tweed 5F2A Princeton build.

[Warm Gums]

"If the choice were Fender's '57 reissue or Victoria I'd go for the Victoria every time."

I would agree and add a third option, the small Valvetrain (508?) is a very nice amp, it's actually a Princeton clone and has a great tone, perhaps not as forward as the Vicky but much nicer than the champ, a local shop took all three in trade recently and I was able to play each, the Champ was a bit of a disappointment, not significantly better than my stock 600.
Which I suppose is good for me... :-)

PS VT also offers the 12"cab option..

[timmytVA]

Here's another vote for a muchxs Tweed Champ. Mine is in an oversized cabinet, about the size of a Pro Jr. The pics show a Weber Silver Bell, but it currently has a Warehouse Green Beret. Both sound really nice. It absolutely rips through my closed back 2x12.

Eric made some tweaks to the circuit - I think the negative feedback is removed or at least really dialed down. Basically, Eric says "these things are made to scream, so I make them scream."

Of course it gives up great overdrive and saturated tones but it also sounds really nice in the low input with the volume about half and the guitar volume dialed back some - very nice clean tones on a Tele and clean-ish tones on the humbucker and P90 guitars.

Obligatory pics:






Tim

[ce24]

Originally Posted by Gringo13

I've heard great things about muchxs tweed clones and apparently he can build you a Champ with a larger speaker and for much less dough than Fender or Victoria. Hard to go wrong there.

^^^^^this with the switchable carr mod and a 12" spkr is KILLER but make it a Vibro Champ. The Carr mod takes the tone stack out but man it just roars. thats not the only thing he does to it to make it that way but it is switchable back to strock. I did his mod on my VC clone w/12" spkr and it easily hangs with my 5E3.........