commonly described as having a “singing”
quality. Hit a few harmonics while playing
this amp and you can hear the bloom of the
even order. This Champ combines the best
features of the tweed generation in a class-A
package that has made it one of the most
recorded amps in history.
Going Tone to Tone with the Champ
Plug in, turn on, and dial up; that’s all there
is to it. Tweak the Volume until you have the
amount of distortion you want. The tone is a
given. I started with a clean tone at a Volume
of about 3 and proceeded one level at a time
until I hit 12. Between 4 and 5 a nice blues
crunch emerged. At about 8 we hit fifth gear,
and after that the fat lady began to sing and
compress but was never able to squash the
tone. I went through humbuckers and single
coils of several species and always found a
sound I liked. The volume was beyond what
I would expect from five watts. I pulled out
my ’70s SF Champ and went head to head
and tone to tone: the ’ 57 scored a first round
knockout. I then hooked the ’ 57’s speaker up
to the SF and redeemed the younger contender greatly. The special design speaker
is a major part of the ’ 57 reissue sound; it’s
punchy and sweet. We then went out on the
town to a special private after-hours blues
jam at a sound studio on the University campus with bass, drums and another guitarist
playing through a Deluxe Reverb reissue.
We weren’t playing loud and the space was
pretty dead acoustically, and the ’ 57 on 8
held its own. I then did some recording and
re-amping and reminded myself why every
studio needs a Champ. If you want a big
recorded sound use a small, toneful amp. It
is also nice to have a reference amp for tone
comparison—this is it.
The Whole Vs. the Sum of Its Parts
One obvious criticism, and one I have seen
several times on tonehead forums, is that
the total value of parts in this amp is much
less than the price. It’s a reasonable opinion
and one to consider if all you’re looking for
is a small amp that sounds good. On the
other hand, this amp is an icon in the saga
of rock and roll, it has a superb proprietary
speaker with tone to match, it is part of a
series of historic ’ 57 Fender reissues that has
collectors drooling and is much more likely
to hold or increase its value than any other
amp in its class. So “you pays your money
and you takes your choice.”
you want a superb sounding and
collectible amp for recording, practice and small gigs.
Buy If...
Skip If...
you have no use for a small amp,
or you already have one you’re
happy with.
Rating...
5.0
ONTHEWeb
Head online to hear sound
clips of the amp in action at
premierguitar.com
fender
street $999
fender.com
