Fender Champion 600

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Buck62

Buck62

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Ok, I was pretty much set to buy an Epiphone Valve Junior Combo.

BUT!!!....

All of a sudden, Fender comes out with a cool reissue of the old Champion 600 from the late 40's/early 50's era and I've heard it totally kicks ass.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Champion-600-5-Watt-1x6-Combo-Amp?sku=485054


Sheesh... what's a guitar player to do? :confused:

Reviews of the original amp are phenomenal, and the new version is supposed to be even better. The 600 only has a 6" speaker, but it's claimed to sound incredible despite it's small size. There's an output jack that allows you to use a bigger cabinet anyway.

Decisions, decisions!!!
 
personally, if you're looking for that classic fender sound, i'd get a silverface Champ, put some JJ's in it and replace the speaker with a Weber and call it a day. it'll run you more than $200, but it'll probably sound a whole lot better too.

of course, FWIW, the epi VJ and the fender amps are going to have completely different sounds, given that the fender is 6V6 based and the VJ is based on an EL84. i've got both and the sounds i get from each of them come nowhere close to the other's.

out of curiosity, where are you hearing that this new fender amp kicks ass? it doesn't seem to be out yet......


cheers,
wade
 
mrface2112 said:
out of curiosity, where are you hearing that this new fender amp kicks ass? it doesn't seem to be out yet......


cheers,
wade
Click to expand...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jlPGYSJDn4

Reviews on the original Champion 600...

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar+Amp/product/Fender/Champion+600+Combo/10/1


The new version is a bit hotter than the original, so I'm assuming it will break up at a slightly lower volume level, which would make for a great little amp, IMHO. So, I guess it's just a conclusion that I'm basing on a fairly solid premise.
 
Looks cool, but the first thing I would do is rip off that Tolex and recover it and add a much nicer grill cloth.
 
i'll check out that youtube link later--thanks for sending along.

i'm willing to bet that for $200 it's got PCBs in there. in fact, i'd be shocked if it didn't. and it's probably made in china (or insert asian country here) with "likely suspect" parts.

i wonder how long it'll be before there are mods out there (like the Mercury mod for the epi VJ or all of the mods for the fender Blues Jr and Pro Jr) for this thing.

personally, i'd pass and go for an original Champion 600 (probably not cheap at this point) or pick up a silverface champ (as I mentioned above). i'm just not a fan of these "recreations" (asian or otherwise).

YMMV, of course.


cheers,
wade
 
Well, I went to the music store today and tried the Epiphone Valve Junior Combo. I liked so much that I bought one! :eek:

I'm sure the Champion 600 is gonna sound great, but the VJ combo sounded like tone heaven to me and I just had to buy it on the spot. I can get the bright, punchy Fender sound by putting my Digitech RP200 in front of it anyway. I didn't expect to like the VJ combo so much, but it sounded too good to be true for 140 bones. :)
 
I wish I'd bought the combo instead of the head

because I'm still looking for a cab for it. :(
 
mrface2112 said:
personally, if you're looking for that classic fender sound, i'd get a silverface Champ, put some JJ's in it and replace the speaker with a Weber and call it a day. it'll run you more than $200, but it'll probably sound a whole lot better too.

of course, FWIW, the epi VJ and the fender amps are going to have completely different sounds, given that the fender is 6V6 based and the VJ is based on an EL84. i've got both and the sounds i get from each of them come nowhere close to the other's.

out of curiosity, where are you hearing that this new fender amp kicks ass? it doesn't seem to be out yet......


cheers,
wade
Click to expand...

+1 for Wade's sugggestion.
 
The Champ goes for a minimum of AUS$499 down under. That'd be $400 Ahmureyekan.
The VJ similarly expensive - unfair I say.
 
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