'57 Custom Champ...where is the love?

[sloppychops]

So many of the comments on this amp are negative. Time for an "I love the 57 Champ" thread.

I have one, and to be honest, I wasn't thrilled with it at first. It took several hours of play time for it to start sounding good. Now it sounds great. Not much bass, but it's a small amp fer crying out loud! It's perfect for lap steel...very articulate, even with overdrive. I can hear every little flub! Big flubs, too.

I've never been able to turn it up loud enough in my place for natural overdrive, so can't speak to that. I'm sure it's good, though. Right?

Anyone else love this little amp?

Haters, go ahead and chime in if you must.

 

[Powdog]

It’s very cute.

 

[Torren61]

Slightly on topic. When I restored my '53 Champ, I installed a six inch Weber speaker. It sounded like a toy amp. I was really disappointed. But I kept playing it. Then one day, the speaker broke in. One minute is still sounded like crap and the next it sounded KILLER. I distinctly remember the moment it changed. Like flipping a switch. Play the hell out of it at high volume for awhile and just wait...

 

[SixDemonBag]

I have a live /hate relationship with it. Way more love than hate, mind you.

It’s like the telecaster of amps. A sound from your hands straight to your ears.

I struggled with the smoothness of the natural overdrive when cranked about about 8. Currently doing the speaker carousel. Am at the Celestion 8 fifteen stage. Smoother crunch but had lost some girth. Thinking about a WGS g8c.

Love the clean at 4. Love a touch of reverb in front too.

Pairs well with my drri.

 

[teleman1]

I like mine.

 

[Cali Dude]

I have something similar in the EC vibro champ. I love this amp, especially with my u.s. Buddy Guy Strat. The tweed circuit, the alnico speaker and single coil pickups just sound awesome together.

 

[teleman1]

I have something similar in the EC vibro champ. I love this amp, especially with my u.s. Buddy Guy Strat. The tweed circuit, the alnico speaker and single coil pickups just sound awesome together.

I like the 57 better than my EC Vibro Champ.

 

[Highway 49]

I’ve got both the ‘57 Custom Champ and the EC Vibro Champ. I love both - they look good, are super-portable, you can stick them on a chair, and they sound really great with fuzz. They’re also just right with a Strat bridge pick up without a tone control, and also with the neck pick up with the tone rolled right off (all great if you want to pretend to be Buddy Holly) - I love having nothing other than volume to worry about on the amp.
They also sound great with a Telecaster - biting blues with the bridge pickup, warm and jazzy on the neck - the Telecaster tone control is v. useful.
Some days they can seem a bit dark - that’s where a Spring Reverb/pedal comes to the rescue.

 

[sloppychops]

Man, I'm glad to hear at least a few of you like this amp!

 

[Tubedrt3000]

I owned the '57 Custom Champ for about a year. It was a lot of fun, and I did not take it too seriously. It was my living room amp. I stumbled upon a great deal on a Valvetrain 205, and fell in love with it. Kept the 205 and sold the Champ. It's not a champ, but a 5f2a tweed Princeton circuit with an 8" weber Having the tone control is quite useful. Hand-wired, USA built. If you are trying for that sound but want to save some money while still getting a quality hand-wired amp.. perhaps try a Valvetrain 205. I think I paid $500? Here is a pic from when I had the back panel off.

 

[wrathfuldeity]

Would love to try a 57 custom champ... but alas stuck with a custom tweed champ of little repute. But can't imagine the 57 can out do it. Oh well stuck with suckling of the hind teat... what can one expect for $350.

 

[trandy9850]

I thought about one to use in my office at home….but I wanted a five-watter with a tone control….so I decided to try and find the ultra rare Goodsell Champton….Richard only made 126 Champtons and is not making amps anymore….but I got lucky and found one….it sounds awesome and has a 10-inch speaker.

 

[trandy9850]

Would love to try a 57 custom champ... but alas stuck with a custom tweed champ of little repute. But can't imagine the 57 can out do it. Oh well stuck with suckling of the hind teat... what can one expect for $350.

View attachment 1218880
View attachment 1218881

Love this…the Surf Green covering kills!

 

[68goldtop]

Hi guys!

So many of the comments on this amp are negative. Time for an "I love the 57 Champ" thread.
...
Anyone else love this little amp? ...

Yes, I do - and I even made a song about it

Small Amp Fever by Sounds like home

Small Amp Fever - A fun-song I did in praise of the 'mighty' Fender CHAMP. All-out crunch - enjoy! A modified 68 Gibson Melody Maker into a Fender 57 Champ Reissue (w/Weber Mini-Mass) - and my new Sennheiser E 906 mic. Only effect used was a bit of reverb #singersongwriter #garageRock...

soundclick.com

cheers - 68.

 

[Tubedrt3000]

I thought about one to use in my office at home….but I wanted a five-watter with a tone control….so I decided to try and find the ultra rare Goodsell Champton….Richard only made 126 Champtons and is not making amps anymore….but I got lucky and found one….it sounds awesome and has a 10-inch speaker.

Richard made good stuff. I''ve got a Super 17 mkIV and a Model 1958 of his, both sound killer and have superb build quality.

 

[sloppychops]

Hi guys!

Yes, I do - and I even made a song about it

Small Amp Fever by Sounds like home

Small Amp Fever - A fun-song I did in praise of the 'mighty' Fender CHAMP. All-out crunch - enjoy! A modified 68 Gibson Melody Maker into a Fender 57 Champ Reissue (w/Weber Mini-Mass) - and my new Sennheiser E 906 mic. Only effect used was a bit of reverb #singersongwriter #garageRock...

soundclick.com

cheers - 68.

Folks, we don't just have a fan, we got a believer here!

Well done!

 

[Fiesta Red]

I love the 57 Champ…it’s a one-trick pony, but it’s a heckuva trick.

I almost bought one when I was searching for a small tube amp for harp and guitar—it worked spectacularly, but it was out of my budget…as in “almost twice my budget” out of my budget…if it had tremolo/vibrato/whatever, I would have just gone ahead and pull the trigger, in spite of the cost. I know I wouldn’t have cared about the overage in two years, but I just couldn’t let go of the cash at the time.

I ended up getting an amp that’s a lot more flexible (loud enough for gigging and rehearsal with a full band, tremolo effect, etc), albeit a tiny bit less cool…my Excelsior Pro.

 

[kuch]

I picked up a EC Vibro Champ must have been maybe 10 or so years ago. Played it quite a bit but never really bonded with it.
Found that I liked my SFVC a lot better.
I've never tried the 57 though. Is it anything like the VC?

 

[JDRNoPro]

I love my 57 Custom Champ!

Actually, about a dozen years I bought a 5F1 Champ clone from a well-respected builder, but I never really bonded with it. Always sounded small to me with weak bottom end and kind of harsh too. Nonetheless, I aways wondered if the Fender RI was any different and 3 years ago finally purchased one to find out. Figured I would just sell it if I I didn't like it. Well, the 57 is everything I was hoping it would be and exhibits none of the characteristics I disliked with the clone.

I'm still surprised at how full it sounds and mine has plenty of bottom end.......and it's much louder and less boxy than my fully serviced 76 SFVC with a WGS speaker. My 57 Custom still has the stock speaker - only change is NOS tubes that I like to run. Interestingly, my 5F1 Champ clone had the exact same Weber speaker as the 57 Custom and also ran the very same tubes. I play mostly single coil Fenders into input 1 with the amp vol @ 5.5 to 6 for that cleanish/edge of breakup tone and sensitivity. Sometimes I add a bit of reverb too. One thing I've found is that any of these small amps sound a lot better elevated a couple feet off the floor.

The 57 Custom Champ isn't the perfect amp for every guitar and type of music (no amp is IMO), but it is surprisingly versatile and one can get a lot of different tones just by manipulating your guitar controls and playing technique. Most importantly, it is really satisfying to play and inspires me to play more. That makes it well worth what I paid for it!

 

[Highway 49]

I picked up a EC Vibro Champ must have been maybe 10 or so years ago. Played it quite a bit but never really bonded with it.
Found that I liked my SFVC a lot better.
I've never tried the 57 though. Is it anything like the VC?

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The 57 and the ECVC sound very similar. I’ve got both and I play them interchangeably without thinking about it. I don’t know how different they sound from an original silverface VC though.