Super Champ XD...How good is it really?

I was looking for a little Fender amp that would will break up well in low volume situations and be good to record with, so I picked one of these up the other day. I have to say that I'm quite impressed with it so far, but I also don't really have much experience at all with Fender amps. I've always been a Marshall guy and I wanted to branch out and try some different things.

Initially, the demos impressed me as well as the features and the price. Looked like an unbeatable amp, but many of the reviews from experienced Fender users, both here and elsewhere, refer to it as more like a 'toy'...good for a beginner, to practice on, or to use as a quick grab and go amp, but nothing you'd ever want to record with or play serious gigs with. Many of the complaints are focused on how inauthentic many of the modeled tones and effects sound as well as the stock speaker being very inefficient.

So far, I don't really notice much of any of that, but I'm afraid that I will AFTER the return policy expires! Am I missing something here? What should I be looking for and what other low watt Fender amps should I be looking at as a good comparison? I know this is all subjective, but I just want to be sure I have the amp I really want.

Sure some off the the presets are useless, but there are enough good tones in this amp to make it a keeper. I don't know much about speakers, but if an upgrade makes it sound better- that would be a great sounding amp in a fairly small lightweight package.

I can't think of another $300 amp that has real tube tone and a good amount of versatility like the Super Champ XD.

The next step up the Fender food chain would be Blues Jr. I actually prefer the Super Champ, but I always prefer 6V6's to EL84's. The Blues Jr's 12 speaker may make it more gigable than the XD's 10, but to me the XD has more of a traditional Fender clean.

I have only tried the SCXD briefly. IMO it sounds more tubelike than e.g. a Vox AD30VT, but still has a long way to real tube sound.

Klas

as far as modleing amps go, the scxd beats out anything else i've tried, maybe its the 3 tubes instead of the 1 in the vox

I like it for what it is, a little amp with tubes and some effects, but I don't think its going to be taking any market share away from real tube amps.

So you guys mostly agree with the detractors then....good for the price, good for a digital/tube hybrid, but nothing earth shattering or anything to write home about.

In other words, most tube Fender amps kick the crap out of it, right?

exactly, just look for a fender pro jr its not much more, sometimes you can find 'em for the same price as the super champ

or blues jr

So you guys mostly agree with the detractors then....good for the price, good for a digital/tube hybrid, but nothing earth shattering or anything to write home about.

In other words, most tube Fender amps kick the crap out of it, right?

Basically... I think the amp is a nice little amp, especially for new or starting out guitarist who doesn't know what their sound is yet. It has a lot of stuff to play with so you don't get bored while learning. Keep in mind in the world of amps its just a relatively cheap amp, so I don't hold it up to higher expectations like a DRRI or BDRI. You wouldn't compare a Saturn to a Mercedes or an Escort to a Lincoln, but Saturns or Escorts might be great little cars, especially for an affordable price.

My best recommendation would be to go to Guitar Center or somewhere where you can compare the champ to other fender amps side-by-side. If you go to a store that doesn't have the champ but has other fenders, you can probably bring your champ with you. A/B comparisons can be very eye-opening.

That said, I tried a Super Champ XD at GC once. I didn't like it. Maybe the 8" speaker reminded me too much of my Frontman 15G.

That said, I tried a Super Champ XD at GC once. I didn't like it. Maybe the 8" speaker reminded me too much of my Frontman 15G.

BTW, the Super Champ XD has a 10" speaker.

Basically... I think the amp is a nice little amp, especially for new or starting out guitarist who doesn't know what their sound is yet. It has a lot of stuff to play with so you don't get bored while learning. Keep in mind in the world of amps its just a relatively cheap amp, so I don't hold it up to higher expectations like a DRRI or BDRI. You wouldn't compare a Saturn to a Mercedes or an Escort to a Lincoln, but Saturns or Escorts might be great little cars, especially for an affordable price.

+1

It's a fun little amp that's fairly cheap for what it has to offer. Loads of amp voices to play with, even tho I only end up using 1 or 2. Built-in effects are fairly decent too. Tone is pretty good but sounds a bit boxy with stock speaker imho. I swapped in an Eminence Copperhead which helped it a lot. But the tone still doesn't come anywhere close to my 70s Princeton Reverb fitted with a Weber or even my Blues Jr. So, as said before, it's good for a starter or to play around with but you may want to try it out next to some full tube amps, the difference may surprise you.

after trying one at a local music store, i was pretty impressed by it. unfortunately it costs half what i got my cyber twin for and frankly is not half the amp, but that's apples to oranges in the volume department and i got a decent deal on my twin used. in the scxd's defense, many of the complaints people have about the super champ they also have about the cyber twin and i say to hell with em cause i love the CT. tube snobs don't like that we can cut it pretty close to their precious sounds with digital modeling and pay a lot less to do it. it's a changing world with amps these days and i say fender makes the best modelers around, because they are the only ones who are copying classic fender amps. as far as versatility and a number of useable tones in a low watt amp, i doubt there's a better box for you, though some may prefer the roland cube series or the smaller vox modelers

Thanks, guys. I guess I'm going to have to rethink this whole thing and see what I want to do about it.

Perhaps I'll look into getting an old Blackface or buy a boutique 5F1.

I think it's great for the money - very versatile too. I've had a couple of Vox Valvetronix; the 30 and the 50 watt. The SCXD is much warmer and sounds like a tube amp in comparison.

When I actually used it with a band, I was a little disappointed. Even hooked into a 12" speaker it sounded kinda "small." When I listened to the recordings of he rehearsal, it sounded pretty good. Not small at all.

The SCXD is an awesome amp. It takes time to learn the amp because you have to tweak the knobs for each model because it changes the way the settings are with each model to similar to the original amp. This means you have to adjust the volume and drive and eq settings, reverb, etc.

The Bassman model is incredible.

For more information on the SCXD than you can imagine reading go to the forum: fenderforum.com and there is a big thread on the SCXD.

A guy named Bill M., known as the guru of the Blues Junior, has taken the SCXD under his wing and has done a lot of testing and modifications and loves the amp. It is considered on the fenderforum to be one of the best Fender amps of late.

I followed Bill M's advice and put an Eminence Ragin' Cajun in mine a couple days after I got it. Magnet weighs about ten times or more than the stock speaker and it is 100 plus dB sensitivity which equates to a LOT louder than the stock speaker and it has really great tone and reproduces the models well.

The amp will blow your mind if you take the time to "learn" it. Every model is different, it's not like changing the channels on a tv.

Also, it isn't a true hybrid type amp. The digital models and effects are put into the tube preamp and tube power amp in some way that makes it way different from a normal hybrid amp. Maybe it's more like a full tube amp with a digital effects loop between the preamp and the power amp or something.

They explain it on the fenderforum.com totally worth checking out for some "serious" info on the SCXD and any other Fender product or amp. As I said, the SCXD is especially well received there and has gained great respect among very experienced amp experts.

I played the Pro Jr and the Blues Jr and was not impressed. Minimal tweakability. I have a Hot Rod Deluxe with a Jensen P12N and lacquered tweed covering that sounds incredible, but the SCXD is an incredible amp in its own right. The main thing is to put in the Ragin' Cajun or another highly recommended speaker.

They will be able to help you figure it out at the fenderforum on the SCXD thread, it has a couple thousand posts on it.

Hope this helps,

Duffy
Winfield, Pa.

GC by me has them for $279. I don't need one, but at that price, I may have to grab one.

I'll post this link for those of you wanting to know A LOT about the Fender Super Champ XD. This is the one that Bill M., the Blues Jr guru participates in. He has taken the SCXD under his wing, so to speak.

If you are interested in finding out about the SCXD you can get all kinds of great information from owners at this link:

http://www.fenderforum.com/forum.html?db=&topic_number=648268&lastpost=2008-12-2922:41:44


A lot of hands on experience with the SCXD resides there. Really real world experienced posts and expert technical information. It will definitely provide you with an immense amount of info and tips.

Hope this helps somebody.

Duffy
Winfield, Pa.

After reading your initial post and seeing that you have one already I would suggest getting the Eminence Ragin' Cajun, recommended by Bill M. It is about 64 dollars from muscians friend and a great speaker.

When you put the speaker in it will line up with the holes from the original very flimsy looking speaker compared to the RC. Even though the holes line up there is a rubber gasket or baffle in there that has to be compressed, so at first you will think that you can't put the speaker in without longer screws. DO NOT get longer screws, they will go thru the grill cloth.

What you have to do is get a good grip on the screwdriver and push hard to compress the baffle or whatever it is. Then the screw will engage the threads. The baffle is desiged to eliminate potential vibration and needs to be compressed.

Once you get one screw in you will know just how much pressure to apply and you will have an easier time. Also, the way the speaker is designed, metal is all around the screw areas so if you were to accidentally slip with the screwdriver you won't tear the speaker cone. Actually much easier to do than it sounds. And the speaker rocks man. Makes the amp way louder because it is considerably more sensitive and just a few dB higher sensitivity equals a lot of volume gain. The sweet tone is preserved as well.

Go to the fender forum link I posted and they talk all about the amp and will put to rest many of your concerns. It is a great amp. I like it better than the Pro Jr and Blues Jr by far because it has two channels and a range of tone not present in the other, older design amps. I'm sure those other amps are great. They have huge dedicated followings and a great amount of expertise has been collected on them as well.

The SCXD is not a toy practice amp. I jammed with a loud drummer and he was waving me down. I was on about 4 or 5 on the volume.

You have to "learn" the amp because all the models require you to tweak the knobs because the knobs take on the characteristics of the amp being modelled. It's not like changing the channel on a tv. Try voices 3 and 8. I play several of the voices and they all sound great when you learn how to set them up. And the clean channel is separate from the models and is clean all the way to the ceiling almost and good for pedals. I use the clean channel for a real clean strat or tele sound that chimes and rings like a bell. But the speaker swap is the main thing you should consider.

Duffy

As I said so many times before When these first cme out GC was unwrapping them and since I like small amps I took one over to a corner to try. It's a great amp, it really is. I felt like it's pre amp "modeling" section was a training tool of sorts. If I had the cash I'd buy one in a NY minute.

Gary

I wasn't blown away, but YMMV.

CC