Fender Champion 600

[jon1]

Has anyone tried one of these? I played one yesterday and I thought it broke up very well. I don't need anything high in watts or volume, because i think my 100w Marshall can handle that end of the spectrum. I also played an Epi Valve Jr. combo, and i thought that the Champion sounded better.

[captain tightpants]

I've had one for a while, I love it. It doesn't do high gain metal for shit, but it handles clasic rock and blues just fine. Metal ain't what it's meant for, tho!!!

Changing tubes REALLY helped improve the tone on it, I've heard a better speaker helps a lot as well. I've been wanting to try pushing it through a cabinet, but haven't tried it yet.

[TeleDog]

Here's my little two cents... It's a tube amp, but that doesn't mean it's great.

Judging a tube amp like that with such a simple circuit can be tricky, every little part plays a big role or so it would seem. Just remember brand new amps sound harsher, the speakers are not broken in and the caps need to burn. But still, the Champion and the VJ are both cool little amps if you're willing to mod them a little. Looks go for the Champion I guess, but I modded my VJ for little and now I can't stop playing it, it's great for blues, just great.

These amps are nice to mod, and you can get a good OT for that amp I guess for $30 or $40. A few bucks for a board and some components and you can rebuild that amp into a tone machine.

I'm now looking at the 5C1, a little old Fender with some very nice bluesy tone. Love those little amps!

[jon1]

Originally Posted by captain tightpants

I've had one for a while, I love it. It doesn't do high gain metal for shit, but it handles clasic rock and blues just fine. Metal ain't what it's meant for, tho!!!

Blues and some rock is mainly what i'm playing right now. To be honest besides changing tubes, i dont really know anything about modding amps.

[TeleDog]

Can you solder? Assuming you are not like me (you actually put safety first, lol) then it's very easy!

Man, there's so much you can do with the Camp, it's almost a shame not to mod it!

[captain tightpants]

Originally Posted by jon1

Blues and some rock is mainly what i'm playing right now. To be honest besides changing tubes, i dont really know anything about modding amps.

Me either, electricity scares the crap out of me. Tele dog is right, though, they do sound pretty harsh until it's broken in, gets a lot smoother when it does, tho. I changed the tubes after about a year, replaced them with JJ's, that really helped smooth it out.

Some of the mods that are out there look pretty simple, but I haven't been brave enough to try it yet.

[dynabite]

I have one, it's a simple class A tube amp and great for home use. The only thing is the 6" speaker, it's much better if you have a cab to plug it into. I think it was $170 new, I didn't like the attenuator on the Epi and compared them at full output hooked to a cab.

[TeleDog]

I was the same way, Captain, even got witnesses here to that effect! lol.....

But I learned, take safety measures, and I tell you, I'm damn glad I did! It's so interesting, lots you can do and it's the greatest way to find that tone without a second mortgage!

[leftyguitarman]

I bought a Champ 600 when they first came out. I sold it three weeks later. It was utter garbage IMO. The speaker would distort horribly if I turned it up past four when using a humbucker equipped guitar. And it was speaker distortion, not tube distortion. It also had a terrible amount of rattles in. I tightened all the screws and that didn't help. I guess with a tube upgrade and a speaker upgrade they are wonderful.

I sold it to a guy on another forum. He ended up plugging it straight into his Marshall 4x12 cab and he rocks it all the time. They really are a hit and miss amp.

EDIT: The guy I sold it to changed the tubes and he said it sounds better with the new tubes. He said all of the rattles are still there and he can't figure out what they are.

[J076]

I have one! It sounds great with JJs, and even better through a 12" speaker.
I find that the trick for making humbuckers sound really good is to use the low input.
I also like it better with the back panel off, if i'm using the onboard speaker.

[TeleDog]

Well, it's also how the amp is built, for 200 bucks you can't expect much if they're making a profit on it. The OT's are probably crap, but that goes to the VJ and others as well.

The 6-inch speaker is not helping, but you sure can get a cab hooked to it when the time is right.

You sure can use JJs, but I think tweaking the amp will produce better, more consistent results, and it's very easy.

[acstorfer]

I had one and couldn't wait to sell it, but I didn't mod it at all and I am sure it would have helped. For not that much more you can get an EVJ halfstack. I liked that amp much much more! What's also nice about going that route is, eventually you will move up the ladder on tube amps, with the halfstack you can always use the cabinet. The cab and speaker sound very good. I still use my epi cab with my Egnater Rebel. It sounds just as good as the more expensive Egnater cab. All I had to do when I had mine was change out the 12AX7 for a 12AT7 and it sounded great.

The EVJ just had a more fuller deeper sound than the Champion. Oh, and the EVJ just loved the hell out of pedals if you so desire. Clean, blues, rock and metal all sounded great. Even if you don't play some of those styles now, doesn't mean you won't want to later. Also, with the Champion, mine had huge humming noise with single coils (although that can be fixed, I just don't think you should have to "fix" a new amp, except tube swapping, that should always be tried. Especially on amps that don't require re-biasing.)

But hey, that's just my dumbass opinion.

[TeleDog]

The Champ and the VJ are nice little amps, but require some love to get a beautiful tone.

I'm building me a Champ next, the 5C1, a little tiny amp but a nice bluesy tone, just need to finish the 18W project and I'll be on it.

The good thing about the VJ is that you can make it sound virtually like anything you want! There are mods to make it more gusty (Marshall style), a better amp for cleans (Fender style) or even sound like a Vox! lol....

[Boshizzle]

The champ is good for what it is. But, as others have mentioned, it will take some work to improve it from stock. A speaker is a must do upgrade. I believe some people have been able to get an 8" speaker in the cab. Personally, I'd install a jack and use a 1x12 or 2x12 cab.

There are a lot of mods you can do to improve the amp. This link will give you some idea of what you are up against.

DIY: Hot Rodding the New Fender Champion 600 | 300Guitars.com

I like these small inexpensive amps just because I like to tinker. They certainly aren't going to give you a Plexi tone but they can be modded enough to be a lot of fun to play through.

But, if you want vintage Plexi tone, get a vintage Plexi. If you want Mesa tone, get a Mesa. If you want Fender tone, get a Fender.

[jon1]

Well, today at one of the sort of local music stores (20 miles away) my friend and i are looking around, and I come back to the front of the store to see my dad purchasing a Champion 600. I think we got it new for $135. I think it sounds great, personally. It definitely has that vintage vibe to it, even though it was made a couple months ago. I just like the way the tubes break up the sound.

[leftyguitarman]

Originally Posted by jon1

Well, today at one of the sort of local music stores (20 miles away) my friend and i are looking around, and I come back to the front of the store to see my dad purchasing a Champion 600. I think we got it new for $135. I think it sounds great, personally. It definitely has that vintage vibe to it, even though it was made a couple months ago. I just like the way the tubes break up the sound.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but I was really impressed when I bought it too. That's why I bought. But after a while, I just kind of got bored with it because it sounded so bland and had all those issues I mentioned before. If yours doesn't have rattles and the speaker doesn't distort at low volumes, then yours is better quality than mine was. And you can always do some mods to improve it. Enjoy the amp nonetheless, and if you get tired of it, try some mods!

[TeleDog]

I'm tempted to buy one just to get the cabinet, mod it to a 5C1! .... To tweed or not to tweed...

I'd have to check first, make sure there's room and all that, and specially that chassis.... Interesting.

[leftyguitarman]

If you get one to mod, keep that tolex (or whatever it is) on it. I would. I love the look of those little 600's!

[AlvisX]

I got mine at GC used for 99 bucks
I dig it now
I just had to put in a little re-wire effort & bypass the preset tone stack. The plastic (?) car stereo speaker . I've heard the Jensen MOD 6'" is a good choice or for a bit more money, the Weber alnico 6"

Sounds pretty darn good out of a cabinet!

[jon1]

So, from what i've heard, having a larger speaker helps. Could I essentially plug the Champ into the speaker of my marshall combo with a 12 in. speaker?

[captain tightpants]

Originally Posted by jon1

So, from what i've heard, having a larger speaker helps. Could I essentially plug the Champ into the speaker of my marshall combo with a 12 in. speaker?

No reason you can't, just make sure the impedance matches.