The Super Champ XD club

[bflat]

Hi All,
complete newbie here first post-and i've learned so much already
Just bought my SCXD-love it so far,but it emits quite a thump when turned off
is this normal?-any one thumpin on offin"?

[czech-one-2]

Originally Posted by bflat

Hi All,
complete newbie here first post-and i've learned so much already
Just bought my SCXD-love it so far,but it emits quite a thump when turned off
is this normal?-any one thumpin on offin"?

Mine doesnt thump at all ?

[bflat]

mmmm-notsounding good-tubes perhaps?
thanks Czech-one -2

[Tonealicious]

No thumpy here.

[bflat]

aaawww-OK shes goin back to MF-got it used,perfect looking,but this is a no -go
surprised they let it through-
Thanks,Tonealicious
this board rocks!

[Jack]

Do you guys see any problem running the line out to a guitar level input of another amp? Since this does not turn off the speaker of this amp I was thinking about running the line out to 2nd amp and running them at the same time for a stereo type of effect.

[peterpessoa]

works, I've done it... but i might not work as you expect: SCXD might end up controlling the level on the second amp and the volume on both amps will not match.

[richey88]

Line out is HOT into a second amp in my experience......

[lowatter]

Well, after biasing(it was only slightly off) and trying several other 12AX7 tubes I really think that the original Fender 12AX7 and EH 6V6's sounded best to me after taking it through some paces. I also tried using the speaker out jack through my Celestion Vintage 30 12" and though it had some more bass, it's not as efficient and darker than the original driver. I love the touch sensitivety and mid range honk of the stock 10" speaker so I decided to leave it completely stock and enjoy it for what it is...a great little amp.

It is hard to resist morphing it into this however...

[william tele]

I've had my SCXD for about a year or so, playing it stock and unmolested. The 10" factory speaker has improved and sounds just fine to me but the time came to shift the chassis to a cabinet capable of housing a good 12" speaker. I found some old cab on craigslist which was vacated of SS chasis and speaker and had no cloth on the grill. The fellow was asking $40 for the naked cab and I managed to knuckle him down to $20.

I aquired my SCXD for a hair over $200 when MF's warehouse closed up here in KC and I was feeling quite smug about being able to aquire a cab so cheap to do the 12" mod. I pulled up to the fellows apartment and immediately noticed a wheelchair ramp. I knocked on the door and was greeted by a Wolfman Jack look-alike in a chair. He was just too cool! A working harp player depending on SS and two gigs a week to get by. I pressed a $50 into his hand and walked out knowing that, in this life, I got one hell of a deal and that THAT particular cabinet was easily worth the measly $50 I paid.

After reading everything on the Net about 12" speakers I decided on a Reaper from WGS in Paducah KY. It arrived in record time and I did the switch while waiting for the grill cloth to get here. It sounds fantastic to my ear. At lower volumes it lacks the spank of the stock speaker but redeems itself past 7. I couldn't be happier.

Anyway, I would like to thank each and every poster for sharing their take on this wonderful Fender amp. Just think...another 20 or 30 years and it'll be VINTAGE...LOL!

[wannapickone]

I've had my SCXD for a little over a year now and I like it....the stock speaker has started "coming to life". My question, is anybody running this into a board or pa ? If so, what cable are you using ? Speaker cable, instrument cable, 1/4" pin, XLR ?? Plug into Hi Z ? My PA is a Behringer 2000 PMP. Any suggestions/comments are welcome.
Thanks,
WPO

[bflat]

Just a follow up-
returned my noisy SCXD-Musicians Friend took it back -paid the shipping both ways-Cameron in Customer service made it all happen.My new one is perfect,i'm delighted with my new Champ and the service i got.Recommended....
now,plug the tele in-oh,boy....

[terrencerocks]

Originally Posted by TNO

I've got mine set up with a "Hammond" 12AX7 and an unmatched pair of grey-plate RCAs. I briefly tried an Eminence Lil'Buddy but much prefer a Weber Sig alnico 10s I had laying around. This is THE speaker for affordable vintage tone in the SCXD. I use the clean channel and voice one. The reverbs and delays are super, the rest of the effects not so much. The only slight bummer is the hiss that the amp produces.

I like mine better than my 5E3.

I got one when it first hit the stores, since then we have been modding them. Dropped a 22 Watt Transformer, got a bigger cab and put in a Vintage 30, 12 Celestian, I took out of my supersonic. Just loud enough to use for gigs, easy to carry and the line out works surprisingly well through a pa. Want to try something really cool, take two, put one on 14 and send the line out to a second on on the clean 16 channel!!! RIPPIN throw some delay in.

[ProToneThinline]

Originally Posted by wannapickone

I've had my SCXD for a little over a year now and I like it....the stock speaker has started "coming to life". My question, is anybody running this into a board or pa ? If so, what cable are you using ? Speaker cable, instrument cable, 1/4" pin, XLR ?? Plug into Hi Z ? My PA is a Behringer 2000 PMP. Any suggestions/comments are welcome.
Thanks,
WPO

I use a guitar cable out from the amp, into the line input of the mixer. Do NOT use a speaker cable!!!!!!!!

[elicross]

I've been enjoying my SCXD for a few months now. I've mostly used Channel 2; I really like several of the voices on that channel, and I love how you can get loads of gain -- and even controlled feedback -- at relatively low volumes.

Recently, though, I've been getting more into Channel 1. I know it goes through the DSP just like the voices on Channel 2, but I feel like Ch. 1 acts more like an all-tube amp. I like how I can crank Channel 1 up to 10, play normally and get a pretty clean sound that works well with more complex chords and is a perfectly tolerable living room volume...but I can also hit the guitar hard and make it roar! (Well, to the extent that a 15w power section into a 10" speaker can roar...it roars pretty good, considering. )

[Kid Klash]

Originally Posted by william tele

...I found some old cab on craigslist which was vacated of SS chasis and speaker and had no cloth on the grill. The fellow was asking $40 for the naked cab and I managed to knuckle him down to $20.

I aquired my SCXD for a hair over $200 when MF's warehouse closed up here in KC and I was feeling quite smug about being able to aquire a cab so cheap to do the 12" mod. I pulled up to the fellows apartment and immediately noticed a wheelchair ramp. I knocked on the door and was greeted by a Wolfman Jack look-alike in a chair. He was just too cool! A working harp player depending on SS and two gigs a week to get by. I pressed a $50 into his hand and walked out knowing that, in this life, I got one hell of a deal and that THAT particular cabinet was easily worth the measly $50 I paid.

You, william tele, are a good person.

[Drop D]

Hi everyone this is my first post, but I’ve been reading this forum for a few years... great source of information. I played my SXCD through my DRRI with a C12K and loved the tone. So I decide to upgrade my SCXD with a Newhall Cab in Surf Green Tolex and a Jensen C12N. Here's how she turn out; The spot on the grill cover is on my lens not the amp.

[Gnobuddy]

Originally Posted by william tele

He was just too cool! A working harp player depending on SS and two gigs a week to get by. I pressed a $50 into his hand and walked out knowing that, in this life, I got one hell of a deal and that THAT particular cabinet was easily worth the measly $50 I paid.

Good man, William! I'm so glad you did that!

And you're right, you did still get a pretty good deal at $50. I scoured Craigslist for weeks and never found a suitable donor cab priced lower than $120, so that's what I ended up paying.

For the money, I got a slightly rusty working solid state Fender Princeton DSP with somewhat faded grille cloth. The amp worked as well as it ever did, but like many solid-state guitar amps, had a harsh tone that actually hurt my ears and made me want to howl like a dog and run away with my fingers stuck in my ears.

So out came the solid-stage guts, and in went the Super Champ XD chassis. Basically I got the cab and 12" Eminence for $120, since that SS chassis is pretty much useless to me. Still not a bad deal, given the cost of a new custom cab on Ebay...or the cost of building my own cab from scratch, plus the cost of an Eminence 12" speaker.

Originally Posted by william tele

Just think...another 20 or 30 years and it'll be VINTAGE...LOL!

Do you think we'll still be able to get replacement tubes then, if we're still alive? That little worry is in the back of my mind sometimes!

It's amazing to me that a century-old electronic device (vacuum tubes) is still in production today, and I can't help but wonder when the tube factories will finally shut down altogether, as younger guitarists switch to solid state amps and older players who still remember how much better tubes can sound contine to get older every year, and eventually go one by one to their final gig in the sky.

In related news, Fender seems to have killed the (tube) Vibro Champ XD, while the (solid state) Mustang line is mushrooming new models and being heavily advertised in every music-related publication you can think of.

-Gnobuddy

[Gnobuddy]

Originally Posted by wannapickone

is anybody running this into a board or pa ? If so, what cable are you using ? Speaker cable, instrument cable, 1/4" pin, XLR ?? Plug into Hi Z ?
WPO

I use the SCXD's line out into one of the channels on a Zoom R16 multi-track recorder for making home recordings. An ordinary guitar cable (1/4" plug on each end) works fine - I usually use a short 6' one.

You do not need a Hi Z input for this, the SCXD line out is quite happy feeding regular old line inputs on your mixer, P.A., or multi track recorder.

There are very few things that actually benefit from a Hi Z input - guitar and bass magnetic pickups being one of them. (Old-fashioned record players/turntables with piezo pickup cartridges also like hi-Z inputs, but how often do you run across one of those primitive beasts today?)

You probably already know this - inside the SCXD, there are no tubes whatsoever between the guitar input and the line-out jack. That part of the SCXD is all solid-state. The line out still sounds pretty good, but it does not have that lovely tubey sound that made so many of us fall in love with the SCXD clean channel.

-Gnobuddy

[Gnobuddy]

Originally Posted by elicross

Recently, though, I've been getting more into Channel 1. I know it goes through the DSP just like the voices on Channel 2, but I feel like Ch. 1 acts more like an all-tube amp.

I feel about the same as you on that. I enjoy mucking around with various guitars and many of the voices on channel 2 for fun and variety, but if I'm looking for a dose of pure sonic beauty, it's off to channel 1 and a semi-hollow electric guitar for me! To me, the marriage of the SCXD on channel 1 and an Agile AS-820 guitar set with all knobs at full and the pickup selector in the middle position is sheer aural bliss.

I think the DSP isn't doing much modelling in the "pretend to act like a tube" sense when the SCXD is on channel 1. I think on channel 1 the DSP is mainly just acting as a tone stack and generating any effects you dial in (reverb, echo, or whatever).

If I'm right, plugging your guitar into the SCXD on channel 1 is not unlike chaining your guitar, an EQ pedal, and an effects pedal, and running that into an absolutely stripped down, pure all-tube 15 W guitar amp which has no tone controls or effects of its own. Most electric guitar players would agree that this is a perfectly reasonable recipe for getting some good tone, and that's exactly what we get from the SCXD!

-Gnobuddy