Fender Champion 100 for surfrock?

Sure, doesn't get much cleaner. Hit it with a Surfy Bear and you'll have an amazing tone!

 

It'd be a great idea. Using ss for clean makes sense.

 

The only issue you *might* run into, is that SS can sound just a little thin..... Fender SS amps don't have a big thick sound like the old Fender Showman's.

A Speaker swap can make a huge difference, or run a 2nd external cabinet with a speaker that pushes more "lows".

(I also highly recommend the SurfyBear for more "traditional" surf....and for just a little more $$ a Joyo American Sound is a great pedal to drop in the mix...)

 

In my current band, I play mostly clean. My Champion 50XL sounds good clean (of course it can get dirty), so I have to guess you’ll do well with the 100.

 

I've had a champion 100 about 5 years and like it. I dont specifically play surf, but I do the surf staples like pipeline, walk dont run, etc.
It's a good sounding cheap amp. The digital reverb is not as good as a spring tank, but there's pedals for that.

 

I have a Champion 40 and it plays just about anything .I have used it on stage for jazz and blues but it has some great cleans.

 

I do it with my little Frontman 25R every Sunday AM ( till it gets cold)
Plenty of volume ( 50 W Jensen speaker now), and good surf tone.

We are playing right on the water, on a street that Dead ends at a Marina- gotta play some surf tunes ( we do these anyway)

The little Fender has real Spring Reverb ( I use a delay too) and that amp has a great clean tone.

I'm sure the Champion does the same.

Fender knows how to engineer their BF/SF Clean into whole array of tube and SS Fenders.

 

Get a Surfy Bear, and don’t support that other company. Period.

Also - go register and ask your question at

www.surfguitar101.com

!

 

That pedal, as well as all other reverb pedals, are heavily discussed by surf people at that site! But please, know who you are supporting when you buy Danelectro.

 

???? While I don't care for the Danelectro aesthetic, is there some deep dark secret I'm not in on?

 

http://projects.latimes.com/prop8/r...=&amount_max=&city=&state=&zip=&search=Search

The owner is a homophobe, and contributed to the CA Prop 8 team to ban gay marriage. Anyone against equality is not someone I wish to support.

 

I've never played through one, but it's my understanding that the surf crowd like the Champion 100 (and it's variations with different names like Frontman 212R with spring reverb) as an inexpensive clean machine.

 

Yeah man. I didn’t know until a few years ago. The Fulltone guy is bad news also. I think about it like this: everyone is entitled to their beliefs. As a consumer I have the right to know what beliefs I am supporting when I consume. I think things like this are very important to discuss openly. In the spirit of keeping the consumer informed. I’d hate to think that a single penny of my money went toward supporting dehumanizing legislation against gays.

Anyhow, Surfy Bear! They are great guys and have contributed immeasurably to the surf community worldwide. Save up for one and forget others. It is a real bummer they are no longer selling their kits. For like $130 plus a reverb pan, you coulda made one yourself. They just stopped a few months ago or something.

I would not be plugging this so much if you had not mentioned you were specifically going for a surf sound! It really is the best option of everything I have heard with the only exception being a vintage fender tank. I have a ‘63 and a ‘64 (and a ‘78!) and the Surfy Bear could easily substitute for the 60s ones. (70s one sounds completely different, not very surfy but super cool anyway.) I have two Surfy Bears also!

And I apologize for sounding elitist about the reverb, it’s because I completely am. Many people including surf people like the ocean’s 11 and the Strymon Flint. You will find lots of pedal discussions over on that site.

Here’s a current one:

https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/33233/?page=1#p440338

 

I don't play surf either, but I do have a Champion 100 that I've used with our band every week for a few years now. It's a very good sounding, inexpensive amp. I think it would work well for surf stuff. I rarely use the built-in effects; I use pedals for any sounds that I need. I set it loud and clean and leave it that way. A few months ago I started using a Joyo American Sound (Fender simulator) always on into the amp at the end of the pedal chain - I really like what that does to the tone.

 

In before the lock.
The Surfy Bear isn't cheap, but it is cheaper than a Fender Reverb unit.
Can you kick it to get that Whip Out sound?