Does anyone have a Fender Champion 20?

[Cheap guitar guy]

Wondering if anyone with this practice amp has come up with some good tones and could share the settings.

 

[LGOberean]

Well, I don't own one, but I'll get you started with the tale of my (limited) experience with the amp.

When the Champion series (20, 40, 100 at the time) first came out, I went to the local GC and test drove it. Actually, they had a Frontman 25R, a Mustang I and the Campion 20 all out on the sales floor. So I just A/B'ed (A/B/C'ed?) them all. The Champion 20 was the clear winner of the three. The Mustang sounded good, too, but scrolling though banks and deciphering all the flashing lights was more than I would ever want to mess with.

In contrast, the Champion 20 sounded as good as the Mustang to my ears, and it was easy to use. If I had one I'd probably spend 90% of my time on the "Tweed" and "Blackface" voice settings. I have my Vox Pathfinder 15Rs for a "British" voice, and I couldn't play metal to save my life, so I've really got no use for that voicing. And the effects offered me everything I'd ever use, and then some.

Now maybe some here that own the amp will chime in with their settings.

 

[Cheap guitar guy]

Yes it does sound very good and the effects are surprisingly good. I do like and play metal but that is not this amps strong point. I have a Marshall for that.

 

[wcmicroter]

I had one and liked it quite a lot. The thing that made me send it back was the "pop" sound it makes when you turn it off. Maybe just me but it drove me nuts...supposedly does no harm to the speaker but...so I bought a Mustang 1v2 and it is good but you do have to learn the system of adjustments and using the Fender Fuse software (which is really good). I just bought the newer Mustang LT25 and so far enjoying it better than the original Mustang (which I am keeping) or the Champion 20. Good sounds and very easy to adjust with the lcd screen.

 

[Cheap guitar guy]

I had one and liked it quite a lot. The thing that made me send it back was the "pop" sound it makes when you turn it off. Maybe just me but it drove me nuts...supposedly does no harm to the speaker but...so I bought a Mustang 1v2 and it is good but you do have to learn the system of adjustments and using the Fender Fuse software (which is really good). I just bought the newer Mustang LT25 and so far enjoying it better than the original Mustang (which I am keeping) or the Champion 20. Good sounds and very easy to adjust with the lcd screen.

I preferred the simplicity of the Champion over the Mustang. I had a frontman 25 r back in the day and it made the same pop. My champion does it also.

 

[gkterry]

I too liked the simplicity with the one I had. It was great to be able to turn on, plug in and play without having to use a computer or continually monkeying with the amp.
I had more amps than I needed so I gave mine along with an Epiphone Les Paul to a young 9 year old lad who had been taking lessons for a short while on a very cheap acoustic guitar. He has made good use of it and that made me happy and seemed to please him quite a bit too.

 

[Red Bread]

 

[wtk0315]

I have one. I've been on the "Twin" and "Deluxe" settings mostly, I haven't really dove into it too far, just got it a couple weeks ago.

I've got Gain on 4, Volume on 6, can't remember my Bass and Treble settings. I've been using reverb on about 3 or 4, slapback, or delay + reverb. I use an OD-3 for hair. Also have a DS-1, but it's limited to crunch duties.

For what it is (low volume practice amp) I like it. Easy to get a good sound.

 

[Dismalhead]

I've got one. Picked it up last year for apartment playing. I've only used it a few times, but had a great time with it each time. Nice effects, gets surprisingly loud too if you want it to. For a hundred bucks it's a steal.

 

[Stubee]

I trialed a Champion 40 because a good friend player loves his, but saw a Mustang II for sale for less and went that way. The Mustang does plenty but I try to avoid dweedling with options and shoulda stuck with the Champion. My friend sounds great on the Champion and the few choices just have ya playing yer geetar vs diddling with modeling inputs. Yes you can do that with the Mustang but temptation calls...

Both truly great amps for the $ with good tones but the Champions are easier for plug and play guys like me.

 

[wcmicroter]

I trialed a Champion 40 because a good friend player loves his, but saw a Mustang II for sale for less and went that way. The Mustang does plenty but I’m try to avoid dweedling with options and shoulda stuck with Champion. My friends sounds great on the Champion and the few choices just have ya playing yer geetar vs diddling with modeling inputs. Yes you can do that with the Mustang but temptation calls...

Both truly great amps for the $ with good tones but the Champions are easier for plug and play guys like me.

I got around some of the dweedling on my Mustang 1v2 by setting up the first 8 presets the way I like and stuck pretty much to those 8...you may know these but there are several manual adjustment tricks (not in the Mustang manuals):

Fender Mustang I & II Tips and Tricks

Hold Exit button and turn effect knob (Mod or Dly/Rvb)
to adjust effects levels.

Hold Exit button and turn Treble knob to adj Mid levels.

Hold Tap button while turning on power to set neutral (no
models or effects).

Apologies to the original poster for diverging from the topic a bit...

 

[DonM]

I have two Champion 40's and really like them.

 

[Red Bread]

Does it have to be a new amp
There great deals on soild state blackface fenders all over

Just say’n
In the last couple mounths ive picked up,Champion 110,$70,Princeton 65,$100,both with Celestion vintages in them,and a 2x10 cabnit with square magnet Jensens in it for $60
Theres alot of deals out there in bullet proof SS Fender amps
I see Champion 20 for $40-50 all the time,might be worth hit’n up craigslist

 

[LutherBurger]

My favorite Champion 20 settings for a Tele:

Voice: Princeton ("Blackface", amber light)
Gain: 5 or 6
Volume: varies
Treble: 5 or 6
Bass: 3 or 4
Effects: Spring reverb (amber light) at 2-2.5, or sometimes slapback delay a little bit higher.

The Blackface Deluxe (green light) also sounds really good with these settings, just different. I'm not crazy about any of the other "voices" but sometimes I play the Vox ("British", red light) with gain, treble, and bass all on 10.

 

[Hoodster]

It has become my fave home amp after 20 years and as many amps. Check out my review:

 

[Hoodster]

I did upgrade the speaker to the same monster Celestion Quilter uses in their combos. Sounds HUGE on the BF settings, which is where I stay 98% of the time. Honestly, other than the BF and Tweed models, there's not a whole lot to like here. So if you must have Vox and Marshall tones for heavier overdrive, probably look elsewhere, but I think most people who are looking at a Fender want great FENDER tones, and the Champion delivers. Plus the effects are excellent. I play 90% of the time on the one that combines reverb and delay, just perfect.

Here's the speaker upgrade vid:

 

[snorville]

Not really answering your tone question, but I've found I use my Champion 20 a ton due to the fact it has headphone out. This is definitely a big draw when I do most of my practicing at night and have a 2 year old in a small house.

 

[Cheap guitar guy]

I did upgrade the speaker to the same monster Celestion Quilter uses in their combos. Sounds HUGE on the BF settings, which is where I stay 98% of the time. Honestly, other than the BF and Tweed models, there's not a whole lot to like here. So if you must have Vox and Marshall tones for heavier overdrive, probably look elsewhere, but I think most people who are looking at a Fender want great FENDER tones, and the Champion delivers. Plus the effects are excellent. I play 90% of the time on the one that combines reverb and delay, just perfect.

Here's the speaker upgrade vid:

I have actually watched your video prior to joining the forum. Nice job.

 

[dreamingtele]

I did upgrade the speaker to the same monster Celestion Quilter uses in their combos. Sounds HUGE on the BF settings, which is where I stay 98% of the time. Honestly, other than the BF and Tweed models, there's not a whole lot to like here. So if you must have Vox and Marshall tones for heavier overdrive, probably look elsewhere, but I think most people who are looking at a Fender want great FENDER tones, and the Champion delivers. Plus the effects are excellent. I play 90% of the time on the one that combines reverb and delay, just perfect.

Here's the speaker upgrade vid:

So after, 2-3 months, with the speaker swap, how do you find it now?

After selling my VOX AD50VT, I'm now in the hunt for a low volume amp.. there's a lot of choices but I have a limited budget..

Then also, theres the Joyo JTA-05 "sweet baby" which is an all tube 5w amp..

 

[wcmicroter]

I bought one of the Fender Mustang LT25 amps when they came out a while back and am liking it a lot for bedroom practice. The more expensive Mustang GT models have gotten mixed reviews but Fender supposedly fixed those issues with this 25 watt 8" speaker model. About $150 new but as I said it is lightweight, has more than enough speaker/effects models for me and has a usb output for recording (I haven't used this yet). I really like the LCD screen where you can adjust and save all the presets (or make your own). Can get quite loud too...Overall, I think it sounds pretty good.