Fender Champ 12

Bad control layout -- gain stage too sensitive.

Clean channel does not break up and has a high frequency ringing that sounds bad on recordings - can be stopped by removing c26. The most useful and simple
mod that can be done on this amp is to bypass the optical switch
and short the first volume pot to ground. Much more control over distortion -- do not try this if you have no experience, take it to a tech.

schematic
http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/schem/champ_12_schem.gif

Played mostly with strat - clean channel is ok, distortion
bad.

Very reliable.

Check out

http://home.ix.netcom.com/~mag120/tone_samples.htm

Two channels;clean and o/d. Reverb,2 inputs, headphone socket, line out, tape / cd in; treble (with pull mid), bass and gain on ch. 2. volume for each channel.
1 x 12 inch Fender labelled speaker.Black face styling and red knobs. 1 x 6L6 and 2 x 12ax7's. According to a "Guitarist magazine" of 197? this amp is rated at 18 watts RMS.THe name "Champ 12" comes from the 12 inch speaker.I was interested to see in other reviews that this amp is "single ended class A" ... I always thought it was class A/B!
Although the amp has enough power for small gigs (with a restrained drummer)but I usually put the line out into the back of a Roland cube 60 for the extra oomph.

The clean sounds are fine, but I find the distortion a bit harsh, especially at practice levels, so I usually set channel 2 as a second clean "boost" channel and use a session sp75 pedal for overdrive / distortion purposes.
The amp is a little "toppy" so I roll the treble down and the bass up. The combination of the Champ's open back cabinet and the closed back of the Cube rounds things out nicely. The reverb is a tad dull but better than leaving it turned off.
I play covers from the 50's to the 80's and the Champ works well with a Strat, Yamaha SJ550 ( coil tap humbuckers) and even with my Epiphone Joe Pass jazzer.

No problems!

Never had any dealings with them.

A reasonably versatile little amp with a decent sound. I don't know if I would replace it if it was lost or stolen, I'd like to try a Deluxe reverb, or a subway rocket, but I prefer the sound of a small amp working hard to a large amp "ticking over".

The amp was purchased new by me in March 1990. I had a problem with the inputs early on but the music store replaced it with a higher quality inputs under warranty and I haven't had a problem since. The features are great for studio use and home practice. I use the headphone feature all the time. I use a jack without a cord in the input to quiet the speaker and play thru the headphone input only.

I play rock and blues and this amp works well with my style. I play a Strat Plus Deluxe with blue, silver and red Lace Sensors with this amp, my '57 strat reissu sounds a little thin going in w/o effects to fatten up the tone.
I don't care for the reverb much, though. It's not bad-just sounds a little small for my taste.

As mentioned earlier I had problems with the inputs that was taken care of under the warranty. No issues since then.

They took care of the input problem-no complaint

I've been playing since 1965 and have owned many amps over the years, this one is a keeper. If lost I'd replace it witout a doubt. This is one incredible amp bargain-buy one if you can! I might look for a snakeskin tolex variant because they look cool and are bound to be collectible in a few years.

Ultra-compact all tube combo with a standard Fender clean channel, Marshall-like overdrive channel, and spring reverb. There's also a headphone out, line out, & tape/direct inputs.

I use it with a Fender lonestar strat. The amp has sweet clean & overdrive sounds with no hiss. The clean sound is almost identical to my bandmates Deluxe Reverb. The reverb isn't nearly as rich as the DR's, but sounds very good. I'd say that the Champ 12's reverb sounds more like the natural echo you get in a theater hall. The overdrive sounds like a vintage marshall cranked. It's impressively loud for its size & power rating, & is suitable for most club gigs. Best of all, you can crank it at manageable levels.

I use this amp a lot because it sounds great and is easy to transport. I've never experienced any problems with it. I do however change the power tube ever couple of years, but a single 6L6 is cheap to replace.

I've been playing for about 10 years. I also own a marshall half stack & a Johnson J-Station, which sounds awsome into the Champ 12's tape/direct inputs. I've been through several amps through the years, but this one has stuck around. It's hard to beat the tone that I get out of this pint size beast. It's definitely a keeper.

Great little amp with a classic Fender blackface clean channel, overdrive channel, & reverb. Plus it's all tube and has a nice sounding 12 inch speaker. It also responds very well to just about any pedal.

I use an '82 American Strat with a SD little '59, single coil size humbucker, in the bridge position. I also use a Gibson flying V with classic PAF pickups. Both guitars sound wonderful through the amp. I get a nice range of spanky clean sounds, warm bluesy overdrive, to classic Marshall-like distortion with either guitar. This amp is very simple to use, and a real joy to listen to.

It's a solid little tube amp. If anything just keep a set of spare tubes at hand.

I've enjoyed over 12 years of semi professional guitar playing. I've recently become involve with home recording using a PC. This wonderful little tube amp gives me great tone at home & live. It's also the smallest big sounding amp that I've ever heard. Fender crammed a lot of nice tone into this very portable package. I also use a Line6 Pod for recording. The Pod works very well with the Champ 12. Just plug it into the tape inputs, right on the front panel of the Champ 12.

It has that vintage Fender clean channel, plus spring reverb & footswitchable overdrive. This amp is all tube too, except for a solid state rectifier. Also, this amp is loaded with other handy features like a tape input, line output, & a good sounding headphone out. It lacks an effects loop, but I've recently discovered that you can use the line out + tape in for this purpose. My biggest complaint is that it was difficult to set the tone controls to sound good for both channels. However, I got a mod from an amp guru named dan on alt.guitar.amps newsgroup that fixed this problem and made the amp sound unbelievable.

I use an ibanez usa custom guitar with a dimarzio tonezone at the bridge & paf pro at the neck. It has a solid mahogany body, beautiful flame maple top, birdseye maple neck, and rosewood fingerboard. The 5-way 4-pole switch is wired to get humbucking & split coil (strat positions 2&4) sounds. The split coils, neck humbucker alone, and both humbuckers together positions all sound great on the clean channel. The overdrive channel screams with the bridge humbucker, but also works well with the other positions. You can dial in a variety of rock, blues, & modern crunch sounds on this amp. Anything from Brian Setzer spank to Blink 182. The reverb is very good too. I'm basing this review on my modded amp. In its stock form this amp tends to be too clean & bright on the clean channel, and the overdrive can be harsh if the tone controls aren't set right. In any case it still makes an outstanding studio amp. I'm sure you could gig with it too, as long as you mike it. I've even used it at private parties, without a PA! The trick is to put it at ear level, like on top of a stool.

This amp has been very reliable considering all the abuse that it takes. It has been dropped several times, had beer spilled on it, and it has lasted through several gigs in which it was run wide open all night.

It's long out of warranty, and I don't think Fender supports its retired products. That's too bad because most of their new products can't hold a candle to their classics!

I love to play guitar. I've been at it for almost 15 years. I got rid of most of my big gear, like a mesa rectifier stack & a marshall half stack, and have become a fan of ballsy little combo amps like this little gem. I haven't found any other small amp that has as much tone as my Champ 12. Besides I can get a great cranked marshall sound on the overdrive channel, at tolerable levels. I can easily get high gain boogie sounds using a distortion pedal in front of this baby.

Compact 1x12 all tube combo amp with volume, bass, treble, overdrive & spring reverb controls. It also has direct (tape) inputs which you can plug your favorite preamp into, a headphone out, & a line out that comes after the power section - great for recording.

The clean channel alone can cover a wide range of sounds. This baby will play loud too! Overdrive & reverb just add to the flexibilty of this sweet little amp. It's great for practice, recording, & small venue gigs.

The tube sockets are all chasis mounted & hard wired to the circuit boards. This is a great mechanical feature, because it keeps the heat away from the rest of the circuitry. Also, the reverb springs are mounted within the chasis, so you don't have to worry about damaging them. There is no standby switch, so tube life could be an issue, but I've never had a problem with this amp.

I've been playing for about 11 years. I love the fact that this amp packs a lot of tone in a small package. I like it better than Mesa's Subway Blues, which is another giant killer. The Champ 12 would be a perfect 10 if it had an effects loop & separate tone controls for overdrive.

For you tweek heads out there, I came up with some cheap & simple mods that fatten up this baby nicely & balance out the two channels better. [This is not the same as the Torres mod]:
1. Remove C6 (750pf) & R11 (100k) - reduces clean channel brightness
2. Remove C26 (180pf) - reduces brightness more
3. Change R21 (220k) to 470k - makes the clean ch. break up sooner
4. Change C12 (.68uf) to 3.3uf. - increases the bass response

NOTE-1: You may find schematics at http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/
NOTE-2: Handle the circuit board carefully. The wires that connect to the tube sockets will break if they are bent around too much. I had to resolder a couple, but I was a bit rough with the board.

Already well dscribed , from the Fender schematic Ive seen it is rated at 10 Watts rms. Mine was made in Mexico not sure when .Compared to the Vox Cambridge I traded in this amp is a major leap forward in tone and as flexible .I play an Epiphone Sheraton 2 and the amp reveals tones which were missing before.The clean channel is very sweet ,overdrive great if abit lacking in range (considring getting a local amp specialist to putin the Dan Torres mod )

Aa above .Class A simply sings .

Cant say as yet ,very recently purchased , but is very well made and verly little hum/back ground noise .Still has Fender 12Ax7s (originals probabyl)6L6 replaced with Svetlana

Contacted Fender UK on acquiring the Champ ,found them very helpfull but were unable to date the amp .

Magnificent ,looks great easy to move .useable at home and should be fine for small gigs.Spring reverb would be nice but fitted reverb is surprisingly good . An amp to trasure .

Others have told you what it has. What it lacks is separate tone controls for the overdrive channel. The tape inputs & line out aren't important to me, but maybe they can be used as an effects loop?

This amp will deliver a wide range of rock & blues sounds. You'll need a distortion pedal for harder stuff. I use a mesa v-twin pedal in front of her, with excellent results. A boss DS-1 & MT-2 also work well. The overdrive works well with low drive settings.

Carry spare tubes & a fuse just in case.

This is a great amp with that classic Fender sound. It's the only red knob Fender worth checking out. It is also the smallest 1x12 combo around. The sound is huge & full of great tone. I highly recommend it.

Bass, Treble, Volume, Overdrive Gain, Overdrive Volume, Reverb, Tape Input, Line Out, Headphone Out, Footswitch. All tube design with 2 x 12AX7 & 1 x 6L6 power tube.

The clean channel simply sings. It sounds beautiful with humbuckers, or a strat on positions 1, 2, or 4. You get that creamy singing fender sound that's great for blues, rock, or rockabilly. The reverb sounds warm & natural. The overdrive will sustain for days, but colors the tone quite a bit. However, you can tweek the Bass & Treble to correct it. I understand that Dan Torres has a cheap mod for this.

I've used it for over 6 years with no problems.

This amp gives you a nice rich fender sound in a small package. The 10 class A watts are loud enough to gig with. Get one before the prices go up.