73 Fender Champ amp
Description
What is it about the Fender Champ amp that has made it such a favourite with rock royalty ever since the 1950s? Why do pros say no studio should be without a Champ? And why would you pay $1000 for the vintage reissue?
The easy answer is just to think of Eric Clapton’s sound in the ‘60s, especially on tracks like Layla, and you have the Champ sound. It’s that classic rock overdriven sound, instantly recognizable as being “right”. Imagine Eric turning-up to a gig with just a Strat and a Champ, sticking a mic in front of it and starting to play!
The Champ is a single tube (valve) class A amp. The tube is a 6V6 and it’s rated at 8 watts (of course valve watts are much more powerful than solid state watts). Class A amps run their output tubes (or tube in the case of the Champ) at full power all the time, which is what makes them sound so good. Sure, the tube will have a shorter life than in an A/B situation, but they’ll be spending that life making you very happy. The other key ingredient to the Champ sound is the 8” alnico speaker. Alnicos are expensive speakers, and easily identified by the horseshoe shaped magnet at the back. Yes, this one has its original alnico speaker.
Outside of practice situations, Champs are always mic-ed up. The idea is that the amp is responsible for the tone and the PA or studio amps in charge of volume.
At volume levels up to 5 this amp is clean and warm – it’ll get you into any living room in the western world, but turn up the volume past 6 and you go straight to the bedroom as the rock beast is unleashed. It’s not loud, it’s just overdrive/crunch/classic sound, end of story.
Condition
This amp is in very good, clean and original condition. It’s from the 1973-75 era as the logo has no tail. The old two-core power lead has been replaced with a modern earthed power cord, a couple of collapsed capacitors have been replaced (a normal servicing procedure, still counts as original). It runs on US mains voltage of 110, so it requires a voltage step-down transformer rated to least 100 Watts. These are readily available and inexpensive when bought online.
Silverface Fender Champ Features
- Oxford 8EV alnico speaker
- Fender ‘no-tail’ logo on grill
- 1 6V6GT power tube
- 1 volume, 1 treble and 1 bass control
- Silver face control panel with “Champ” wording
- 2 input jacks
- Black tolex covered plywood case with carry handle
- On / off slider switch
- Mains power indicator lamp
- US mains plug
Champ tags
Fender Champ amp, Champ, Fender amp, guitar amps, silverface, silverfaced, valve amp, tube amp, Eric Clapton sound, vintage Fender amp