Fender Champion 600 (small tube amps)

[TheDude]

Hey everyone,

Anyone already heard the new Fender Champion? 5W tube amp made to look like a 40s/50s Champ?

I'm pretty keen. I'm loving all these small tube amps that are coming out (Epi ValveJR, Crate, Peavey).

Haven't seen one in any shops here yet, so I'm wondering if maybe in the US it's out already? Anyhoo, if it sounds as sweet as it looks, should be killer!

[NEONMOONY]

They are for sale at places like Musician's Friend and Guitar Center in the US.

[601blues]

I tried a new champ, and the Jr.combo, the reason I went with the Valve Jr. Special was the speaker size, 10" the champ is good but they put too small of a speaker in them!! same with the valve jr,combo 8" champ 6"!!!!! I also got the Valve Jr Head and hooked it to a Hartke 2 /10"cab, sounds great ,But Like I said the 6"and 8" is just too small to get the full impact of those amps! Thats my 2 cents!!

[ricochet]

That VJ combo's 8" is a mighty nice sounding one IMO. Weber VST sells that speaker as their "Ceramic 8."

[grady]

Epi Valve Standard for me.

I A/B'ed the little Gibson all-tube amp against the entire Epi line at my local dealer one day and the Valve Standard is by far the best of the lot.

[601blues]

I use the valve Jr head thru the 2 /10 cab for my harmonicas, and the Valve jr Special for my Reso,

[TheDude]

Thanks for your input guys! Much obliged.

Checked with the music store... It's not out yet here... Another 6-8 weeks backorder.

I'll order the Champion anyways, cuz it's just what I need. I don't really gig. At the most I just jam with some friends, but there's no drummer to compete with!

The Champion's got what I want: it's small, it's goodlooking, it's simple and I can get that nice cranked Fender overdrive at a volume level that's not gonna make my wife wanna pack her bags!

Used to have a Blues Jr. but 15W is just too darn loud. The Blues Jr. sounds OK at lower volumes, but I gigged with it a couple of times and being able to crank it open wide really brought it to life. Couldn't ever do that at home.

[Bluelew]

It's not available here yet either. There was a namm demo on youtube here it is if haven't seen it, it's very short. I think this will be a good recording or harp amp....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jlPGYSJDn4
.

[rustyslide]

I love how he says you can crank it up and not upset anyone in the next apartment because it's only 5 Watts.

I'm quite sure I'd get complaints if I dimed my Valve Jr.

[ricochet]

I can't hear my wife when she stands in the door and yells at me to turn the VJ down.

[jeffl]

It always amazes me how loud a small amp can sound in the house (I own a Champ) and how limited it can get when you have a couple guitarists and a rhythm section to compete with. It tells you how much volume yer dealin' with in those situations.

[slickcat]

If it were me I'd get the Pro-Junior...more of a "tweed" amp sound.
The champ is ok for cleans.

[grady]

I tried that smallest Peavey Tube Amp yesterday at my local store and it is HORRIBLE !!

[Bluelew]

Which one Grady? the pro-jr. or the champ?

[Catweazle]

The Peavey Nano-valve (€149) and the Fender Champion 600 (€189) can both be ordered from http://www.music-store.de.

http://www.thomann.de has brought out a 5W Class A tube amp, like the Epi Valve Junior (but with tone knob) for €98.
http://www.thomann.de/gb/news_msg_tube_ ... n_ga5.html