Fender Champ 12

I think it's made around 1990. Made in USA model, red knobs. It's not very versatile but ok for me. I play pop, hardrock, rhythm 'n blues, jazzy styles, countryrock, South American flavoured tunes. Clean channel and OD gain stage. One 6l6 powertube two ecc83 preamp tubes. Footswitch for OD. Hi and lo outputs. 12 " speaker. About 10 watt. I use it at home and during practise with the band, when I don't want to take my heavy and loud Laney VC30 with me. Clean channel isn't very loud but sounds very Fenderish, a bit like a Twin in pocket size. OD stage will get quite loud for it's size and wattage. Couldn't find a line out. It has tape and headphone outputs. The reverb is worthless.

I play an old Yamaha Lord Player (very good looking, sounding and playing Japanese LP copy with set neck, built around 1980), a '84 Squier jv strat with maple neck and a heavily modified Fernandes te2 tele copy. All of these guitars sound ok with the Champ 12, although Fender type guitars sound best with this amp. When I got it, it had a badly installed Torres mod and was even dangerous to use, my guitar tech told me. He took out the Torres mod and restored the amp. I put in a JJ 6l6 and changed the original speaker for a Jensen ceramic 12" c12r. The original speaker sounded ok but a a little dull. With the Jensen this amp sounds much better, more lively, jangly and clear, without losing the low end. The clean channel sounds really good, typical Fender, but is'n very loud and won't distort. The OD channel is only useable with the drive below 1. Beyond 1 it tends to sound shrill and can be very loud in a small room. Maybe the OD could also be used at higher gain levels with the controls on the guitars down. Haven't tried this so far.

Have got it for only a month or two. It's a circuit board amp and made quite cheap. The controls are mounted directly to the circuit board. OD switch is connected directly to the amp's circuit, without a jack. Seems like a bad idea to me. But the amp is about 20 years old and it still works.

Fender asks customers to pay for old schemes, I think. Although the Fender tube amps have certainly their own character and quality, you'll pay a lot for the name.

I have been playing for almost 25 years now. My Laney vc30 seems to be constructed better, although these amps are more affordable than (Chinese!) Vox amps and (Mexican) Fender amps. I've had a Fender BJ, a blues deluxe, two Fender 75's, a Musicman 112rp. I never really liked Marshall tube amps. The Fenders went often too loud to make them sound okay. The Laney isn't perfect but for it's prize (and beyond) I can't think of anything I like better.
I choose the Champ 12 because it's portable and it produces the typical Fender tube sound. Maybe I should've waited and buy a Ampeg j12t or Fender BJ. But by now the Champ 12 is okay.

This amp was given to me by a friend who didnt use it any more. The Fender Champ 12 was made from 1987 to 1992 and had either red or black knobs. This is a great little tube amp that even came with a 12 inch Fender blue label speaker. It is light weight, and can be used for practice, small gigs and is especially good for recording. It has a cardbord reverb box,and features,two inputs, treble/mid boost, bass, volume, gain, drive, and reverb. There is also an over drive foot switch. It has 10-12 watts, 2 12AX7 tubes and a 6L6 GC. I immediately changed the 12AX7C tubes to new Groove Tubes and got a Tung Sol 6L6 power tube. I also ordered a Celestion Rocket 50, 12" inch guitar speaker for that Celestion sound.
When I first used it it had a bad input and the same problems others have described with the overdrive pots. It sounded pretty nice but I went ahead and did some of the Torres modifications including the pots, inputs and the RED KNOB HOT Kit that changes the "bias point" of two of the tube stages so the stage has higher gain and a more Classic Fender tone. This greatly improved the tone and power. It is cleaner and has more top and bottom end. It is noy my every day gigging amp but it serves its purpose well.

I play Classic Rock, Blues and some Country Rock and it is a Fender so it sounds great with all styles.
I like the overdrive/distortion now that Ive done the mods and it sounds amazing. I used it to record with my Les Paul Standard and you would sware it is a Marshall Stack. My American Strat sounds great through it also and it cranks with or without stomp boxes. The clean channel is nice for jazz and begins to break up at just the sweetest spot for blues. There is a slight hum when the OD is on and the volume is up but nothing too annoying.

I own 3 guitar amps including a 1972 Twin Reverb, a 2008 Blues Deluxe Reissue with the extension cabinet and now the Champ 12. I have never had a problem with any of them. I have changed speakers and done tube and cap changes, but all these amps are just indestructable. The mods I did on the Champ 12 were pretty easy although time consuming (4 hrs). Torres had some decent directions and hopefully the mods will hold up well given the circuit board soldering that had to be done.

Never needed to deal dirctly with Fender Customer Support.

Been playing guitar foe over 40 years and own more gear than I can list. I love the Champ 12 for several reasons. Try buying a new low wattage tube amp with a 12 inch Celestion and see what you pay. This one sounds really great so the others who bad mouth it have no idea what they are talking about and just dont know how to set up correctly. I play and record professionally and have done so for a long time. Yes it was a circuit board amp from a cost cutting production line but with the modifications it is real nice and is worth much more. I will keep it forever and use it with most recording sessions. An amazing little piece.

As an addition to my review below I have changed the speaker firstly to a Webber alcino, too bright, and now to a Celestion G12H 30W which is just great with much more projection than the stock speaker and just better in every respect. All of you out there with one of these Champs this is a great Mod.

I did the Torres bias mod and you have to be careful which tubes you use the KT66 works great but I thought I would try a KT77 which is like an EL34 but with a base that fits.

It worked for a short while and then went dead. The Transformer had got REALY hot and an internal fuse had blown which took a lot of finding eventually by an amp tech. Something to do with the current draw at the valve plate or something, if the transformer had gone that would have been it dead amp so be careful I spoke to Torres and they just said that as the transformers get older they are less capable.

Don't know what year the amp was made. Late-80s/early 90s.

I always liked the clean channel and now with a couple of Torres mods installed I like the OD channel too. One feature, the foot pedal, is now useable because of the mods. I like the line out jack which sometimes is less dicey than micing the amp live. Also the mid-range boost is a nice feature.

The reverb sucks.

I play mostly in bars, community festivals, house parties. It's got plenty of power because I'm either micing or running directly into via the line out.

Pre-mods, I'd give this a 5 or 6, but now I'm happy with most features, except the cheesy reverb.

I play fingerstyle guitar and slide on electric-acoustic guitars, mostly swing, folk, blues and some pop/rock covers. Guitars are a Seagull Artist Cameo CW with onboard Quantum II electronics kept in standard tuning and drop-D and a Simon & Patrick parlor guitar with a DiMarzio single-wound soundhole pickup that's kept in either open D or G. The amp makes my live sound warmer and fuller, and for rock tunes gives me some distortion.

Like others I'd given up on the OD channel. I used a Boss Blues Driver through the clean channel for slide or lead. But after doing the original Torres mod for tube staging both channels are a little richer & warmer, and another mod, which recalibrated the pots on the 2nd channel, I now have control over the OD's volume and gain. I paid a tech to install the mods; I have zero talent in this area.

For live sound I like this sequence: Guitar>>Blues Driver>>Fishman ProEQII with Brilliance maxed>>Champ 12.

The clean channel even with the mods doesn't break up. This works fine for me for a more acoustic sound. For slide or lead I hit the foot switch for a bit more volume and modest crunch. Am very happy with the OD channel now.

I can always skip the amp and go straight into the board, so break down is not a concern.

This amp has never broken down.

N/A

I played from the age of 12 - 24, quit for 20-some years, and then started playing again in my late-40s, so about 20 years. I own a bunch of other instruments and a sound system I've cobbled together over the years. If my Champ 12 were lost or stolen I'd probably buy another amp with fewer challenges, upgrade a bit.

I was looking for a cheap tube amp when I bought this one 7 years ago at a pawn shop, dusty but clearly never used.

It's hard to believe that Fender made this amp for 5 or so years and never fixed the OD channel.

The only thing unique here is the ugly red knobs. Has everything I need, an on switch and some tone controls.

Ok, I don't know what you guys are using this amp for, but, this amp is perfect for pedals. I have owned lots of amps, and, I borrowed this little ugly amp from my friend (who owns a guitar store) when my Blues Junior was in the shop. This thing sounded so smooth and full with my setup, it was so inspiring I tried to buy it off of him. He said NO WAY, so I got one on ebay instead. What I like most about this little guy is that I can use it in church and it gets its best tone right before it is about to break up, and it just loves it when you use a compressor. Just mike it up and listen to it soar!

Here is my setup:

PRS Tremonti > Dunlop Wah > CS3 Mod Compressor > TS 9 Keeley Mod > ProCo Rat > Jekyl & Hyde > Boss Tremolo > MXR Phase 90 > Boss Chorus > Line6 DL4 > Champ 12

It is a fairly cheap build, but, mine is 20 years old, second hand, and, still cranking tone. What does that say about Fender?

If you are looking for an amp for heavy rock, seriously, why would you use this thing? Country, Blues, or Classic Rock this thing can more than handle. This amp really has one good purpose, low wattage clean tone that is great with pedals. Use it for this and you will be inspired, and, it will also save your back and bank.

Here's an update for my 03/01/2007 review.

I did finally 3 mods to te amp.

1) a Torres Engeneering hot kit mod.
2) a Jensen P12Q alnico speaker
3) a Telefunken ECC83 (12AX7) in V2 . WOWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!

This is it . It sounds amazing now with the Telefunken. BELIEVE ME !!

With the 3 mods GREAT !!!

One high one low input usual tone with mid boost and gain chanel etc. i fitted all 4 Torres Mods a few months ago with a new Tung Sol KT66 tube. It was a 6 before the mods.

Prior to the mods I thought the sound was OK but a little mushy and the gain chanel was very sensitive and I tried loads of pedals to improve things. After the mods its transformed the input jacks are all metal and secure with a nice clunk, the gain issues are all resolved and its much smoother and useable but the big difference is the ability to adjust the bias and fit the Tung Sol tube. It just sounds amazing now with all the things that they rave about on much more expensive amps like dynamics and response to your picking, clarity, definition, for blues this is a great little thing now, it's all there. For $175 I have a new killer amp I play Gibbos and Fender types, G&L and Nash, through this and they all sound really good, clear, full of tone what more can you say, oh yes the reverb is crap so get a Holy Grail Plus now your smoking.

Not broken yet

If you have one of these get the Torres mods, a new tube, a Holy Grail Plus and smile I think I would have to pay a whole lot to get what I have now.

All of this little amp is already said before.

I did only the "Hot Kit" Torres modification and now it sounds beautifull!! A little distorted clean. It comes way close to a tweed champ!
I Don't use the overdrive which is not so great. Only a little reverb.

It works every day till now on.

Never dealt with them

I have been playing for 4 decades.
I bought a second Champ 12 this week for my Fender Jazzbass guitar.
Will replace the speaker for a 12" bass speaker soon and do no further modifications. I played my bass on my first Champ 12 when it was all original and not modified. It sounded warm and great. Ofcourse only usefull for studio or homepractising because of the low power.

I wrote a review a year or so ago about this little amp and how I did all the Torres Mods and put in a Jensen. All good stuff and glad I did. After a year of constant us, I have finally figured it out. The push pull tone knob (mid boost is a great feature. It helps dial back in when switching between single coils and humbuckers. The reverb is rinky dink and seldom used. The hi low input jacks are useful to either deal with pickups with lower/higher outout or plug a high output into the low input to take the little bugger to the finges of its capabilities.

As many have stated, the gain channel has a very narrow range of usable settings. I usually tweak it in and leave it. Typically around 1.679475 The low gain setting allows the tone to come through, and has plenty crunch. I have fiddled with tube substitution and found the Champ 12 to have excellent tone, particularly from the clean channel. The key is to use a higher gain preamp tube in V1 and a higher quality balance tone tube in V2. The V1 tube affects the most dramatic tone changes. I have settled on a Sylvania NOS 12AX7 in V1, GT 7025 in V2 and JJ 6L6. I turn both channels all the way up, dial in the tone and the Champ puts out great tone at a reasonable volume. Much lower sound pressure than my Pro Jr. An Ei 12AX7 worked very well in V1 also, but went microphonic is a couple weeks. The JJ ECC83 also works well in V1. Using a bright tube in V2 makes the gain channel too bright and sort of solid state. A dark tube in V2 can induce amp flatulance, The GT 7025 and TAD 7025 high grade both seem to strike a nice balance for tone. The Champ will let you optimize the tone, sustain, and gain charactaristics to your taste or whim by changing the tubes.

I am strictly a home player and the Champ sits in one spot. Tube access is easy and tube life is longer than I can hold out with the same tubes. Otherwise, it just does what it is supposed to do.

Never dealt with Fender.

This is a great little amp. The clean channel turned all the way up yields the superb tone of running a power tube near its saturation point. It is more versatile and produces better tone a a lower volume than the Pro Jr. It does not have the kick of the Pro Jr or other higher wattage tube amps, but is perfect for great tone while other members of the household watch TV, ...

i bought this thing new in 87 i cant even remember what i paid for it i think maybe like 220 bones or so. anyway i bought it to compete with my bros M80 when i first started playing the guitar, i also picked up a purple b c rich rave at the same time... lol hehe it was a total poison lookin guitar btw i was only 13. i wasnt serious at all about playing guitar and i thought the amp totally sucked becuz the crunch channel was so balless so the i stopped playing and put the amp in the closet for about 4 years.
when i turned 17 or 18 i started playing again and i took it really serious i ditched the rave and started buying les pauls and strats and eventually paul reed smith guitars i also went through a dozen or so amps like marshalls and mesas and other more powerful fenders like the deville 4 10.
one day in like 1993 i dusted off the champ 12 that was sitting in the closet and plugged my pedal board which consisted of a dual overdrive, metal zone, compression, chorus, flanger and a bunch of other crap that i used at the time, hehehe the thing sounded awesome my band would play cover songs from pantera and all that grunge shit like soundgarden and stp, pearl jam, nirvana and rage u know all the crap that was on the radio back then. anyway just for laughs i used to take this lil amp to gigs and mic it up through the PA all my band mates would get pissed at me but i didnt care becuz it was pure entertainment to use that thing in the clubs and with my pedals and it being mic'd up it sounded awesome.
i ended up selling that lil thing for about fifty bucks after i used and abused it at gigs lol i miss it becuz it was so light and small really easy on the back compared to a jcm 900 head and the 4 12 cab to match, now i use a line 6 flextone 2 but i really miss that lil bastard it was a gud amp when i get some extra money i will look to buy another one on ebay

pretty crappy by itself

hey i used at some pretty big gigs in buffalo NY it lasted through brawls and beers

i had fun ahhhhh to be that young again

I own two of these. I think they are both from late 80s or so. The amp is good for what I use it for. I play rock mostly. It has a clean channel and an overdrive channe. There is a headphone jack, but no effects loop. I use the amp in my apartment and at small jams with frineds. This amp has plenty of power. It uses a 6L6GC or a 5881 output tube and two preamp tubes. This amp suits me fine, and I am shocked at the people that put this amp down. I suspect the main problem with these people is that they don't know how to play a guitar and don't know how to dial in the sounds they desire out of an amp.

I play mostly classic rock. I use several guitars through this amp: a '58 Les Paul Reissue and a couple of American-made Stratocasters. The amp hums a bit, but if you turn off televisions, computers, etc. in the room then it is DEAD QUIET. I can get a nice clean through the clean channel, the reverb sounds okay (not terrible as some of these "experts" have claimed), and the dirty channel gets very crunchy depending on how much gain you dial in. My biggest complaint with the sound, is that the master volume knob is VERY touchy. I have heard that a capacitor or resistor can be replaced to fix this. The amp goes from being sort of a whisper, to blaring loud at just a small bump of the master volume knob.

I have not tried to distort the clean channel at high volume. I would assume it would not get too crunchy since the output tube is a 6L6/5881 (known for headroom). The distortion can be a little brutal, but the key is to turn down the gain and instead use an overdrive pedal to get gain or distortion. This makes this little amp sound God-like.

For Zeppelin/Jimmy Page tones: Les Paul + Boss Super Overdrive + Fender Champ 12 on dirty channel with Gain knob turned below "1".

For Hendrix tones: Fender Strat + Thomas Organ Vox Wah + Overdrive or Fuzz pedal + Fender Champ 12 on dirty channel with Gain knob turned below "1".

*Note: Without the use of effects, the amp still sounds great, by dialing in a little bit of gain, but not too much. The clean channel is nice also. I believe Strats/Teles sound best through the amp when played without effects.

Yes, the amp is reliable. I have two of them and neither one have EVER broken down on me. I would probably use a backup at a gig, but that is true for ANY amp.

Never had to deal with Fender support.

I have been playing for 25 years. I own Gibson Les Pauls, SGs, Fender Strats, and Fender Telecasters. I own four or five vintage Marshall Super Leads ( a couple of plexis), a Marshall Major, a 1965 Fender Blackface Bassman, a Soldano Hot Rod 50, a Marshall 1959SLP reissue (1993).

If either of these amps were stolen, I would try to get another one (or two). These are great little amps that can fit in the trunk with a guitar and a couple of effects and not take up much space. I love this amp because it is small and easy to tote as well as being quick to set up (compared to heads and speaker cabinets).

I have been playing rock 'n roll for a LONG time. I laugh at these people that give this amp below an "8". My feeling is they just don't know how to operate a guitar and amplifier.

Of course, this amp is NOT perfect, but what amp is?. It takes some dialing in and some adjustments to the volume and tone knobs of the guitar to dial in the right sound. But this is true for ALL amplifiers and guitars. I own some of the finest amps ever made and this amp sounds just as good as any amp I own if dialed in correctly. Buy one of these if you can. This amp makes an excellent and affordable tube amp for the beginning guitarist, the professional guitarist, and all guitarists in between.

I think its an 89 I got it off of E-bay, man their sure has been a lot of writing about this little amp here I read about one with 2-12s and one with a switch for the drive on the front and a few other features I sure can't find on mine lol.I got a treble with a pull mid boost a bass and volume then gain and volume for the drive channel and a reverb knob.High and low inputs I haven't played much in the low plug 1 volt out and I love the headphone feature for late night ,which brings me to my rating of a real bedroom amp besides the headphones you can play the clean channel wide open in a room like 12X 12 and it is great its not a real loud amp in the clean channel. I wish it had a standby switch other than that it has what I need in a bedroom amp.

I have a Les Paul Standard,a ES-135 both with classic 57s and a 1962 reissue strat they all sound pretty good in this fender, but like everyone else says the reverb is weak.Mine don't make too much noise even on the drive channel but I usually play the gain down low anyhow. The clean channel stays clean wide open you really gotta play hard ta get it ta break up and then it won't be breakin up much but it is sweet up their like that O yeah.Now in the drive channel their is some bad ass distortion I been fooling round changing the preamp tubes and it is paying off big time I have a 12at7 closest to the power tube and a 12au7 over next to the box side and it sounds way better than those fender from China 12ax7s sounded.

Built like a tank seems tuff Enuff I've had it a while a not a bit of trouble so far.

ver even tried ta talk to anyone at Fender so I don't know.

Man I'm 50 so I been at it a while I think this one is great for practice, in the bedroom ,it don't have enough clean volume ta be doing gigs ,I don't think unless ya mike it up of course.As I said above I like the headphone out and wish it had a standby other than that for practice if your a tube man its great .I've compared it to all kinds of small tube amps its not as loud as most the others fender blues and pro jrs.peavey classic 20 and 30 crate vintage club 2112r gibson goldtone laney lc15r,u know the ones under 5 bills cept for the goldtone the gibson and classic 30 have way more volume the others have more too but those two are louder by far, but the distortion in this one is out there all by its self its pretty harsh but not too bad, the knobs are sensitive just play with it a while and you'll find a sweet spot. I like this one hell for the money you will not beat, it I'm thinking about instaling some of those torres mods, we'll see ya'll later .

Listed ad nauseum in the posts below. It would be cool if it had a power amp in jack.

I picked this amp up used for $40 dollars. It suffered from the usual bad input jack problem. I had found online the Torres Engineering mods for this amp right before I found this deal, so I went for it thinking I could have a fun electronics project over the 4th of July weekend.

I ordered all 4 Torres mods. It took a little bit of time, but if you are good building things its not too hard. Each of the mods improved the amp. The adjustable bias mod is very cool. It allows you to tweak the voltage to the power tube to get it running just where you want it. I installed female rca jacks instead of the test points that came with the kit though. this allows an easier bias adjustment because i attach the test meter via two alligator clip test wires with male rca ends soldered to the other end. this way you don't have to hold the meter leads in the test points while adjusting the bias potentiometer. Hands free!!! tre cool. I also added a 1/4" speaker jack so I can plug the amp into different cabs & i installed a 1/4" footswitch jack so i could axe the broken stock footswitch and use a mesa boogie type instead.

The clean channel improved dramatically. tons more low end, and tone-a-licious. The lead channel still sounds unusable to me, but I use my overdrive pedals for that anyway.

Lastly, I replaced the speaker with a weber signature 12.

Now this is a great, small and portable 12" combo amp that I can get great tone out of for small jams, recording, and quieter gigs.

Its not that loud on the clean channel though, so it won't compete with a drummer who hits hard.

so far so good

well, fender wouldn't touch it now I'm sure since I've modded the crap out her...

All told it ran me 160 bucks to get it where it is today, and thats not bad for an all tube 12" speaker combo with great tone.

Made sometime in the late 1980's. It was discontinued years ago I suspect.
It is a straight tube amp, no effects other than a lead channel and reverb.
It could do with an effects loop.
THIS IS NOT A BEDROOM PRACTICE AMP!!!
I used it in my bedroom. It has WAY TOO MUCH power for a bedroom. It is really for band practices or playing small halls. It can compete and overwhelm an unmiked drummer when it is cranked.

I used a late '80's Fender Jap Strat.
There is a noticeable hum using my guitar with the amp volume turned up.
This amp doesn't really make much of a good sound, however you use it. Very disappointing. I expected a Fender twin type sound from this - and I got nothing like it.
The distorted sound lacks warmth. A tube amp should sound better than this. I have heard modern solidstate amps thta sound much better than this amp.
The clean sound is undistinguished. At high volumes it does start distorting a little bit.

Always worked for me - no problems.

N/A.

I have been playing for 18 years.
I would not buy this again - there are way better amps out there now. Trust me.

This amp is WAY TOO LOUD for home practice use. To get the tubes warmed up you will be creating such a noise that the neighbours will be hammering on the walls and the police kicking your door down.
I remember once I was playing with my window open in summer and people 100 yards away were commenting on it. It is that loud. If you want a practice amp - look elsewhere.

There is not much difference volume wise between this and a 50 watt Fender tube amp - believe me. This could cause problems for a drummer when it is cranked up.

This amp is HEAVY - I would consider something else for gigging. There are better, lighter amps from Marshall and Fender that use solidstate technology.

This amp is old hat, a mediocre product and was a dissapoint to me. Take my advice and look elsewhere.
A good amp should encourage you to play - this one does not.

Not sure what age the amp is. Quite versatile with clean and OD channels. Class A (single tube) output.

I did the Torres mod on mine so it is not really stock now.

I record with it mostly and it is obviously more than loud enough for that.

It is not as transparent as some push-pull design Fenders but has a great creamy midrange which is hard to beat.

Suits any style except extreme metal maybe (and then with the right pedal, who knows). Not very noisy. No hum problems.

The gain and overdrive controls are over sensitive - some people change them for different pots, I just adjust them carefully in the lower end of the range usually. Works for me.

Pre-Torres it was maybe a 7 or 8, post-Torres clean is a 10 and overdrive is an 8. The mod adds bass and opens up the sound in the top end too - quite a remarkable difference.

Its a real nice little amp - records beautifully.

Well enough made, fairly easy to work on. Only 3 tubes so cheap to swap. Never failed me so far.

These amps really need the Torres mod to bring out the rich sounds they are capable of. I don't much care for the reverb but its OK at lower settings. The OD is pretty good, just a bit tricky to set up but once you have it set it is a nice thing to have.

Nice amp.

Made sometime between 1987=1992. I wanted a low power tube amp with a different sound then the Pro Junior and I did not want to spend the kind of money a Victoria, Bad Cat or Dr. Z would set me back. I found the Champ 12 on Ebay. The high and low inputs are quite nice for getting a good sound out of either a single coil or humbucker.

I have a Telecaster with Lindy Fralin Blues Specials, a Samick Ultramatic with a Seymour Duncan Jazz in the neck and Pearly Gates in the bridge, a Les Paul Melody Maker with a Lindy Fralin 5% overwound P90 and a Hamer Echotone with Seymour Duncan 59s. All of the guitars sound very good through this amplifier. The level on input 2 makes the humbuckers much warmer. The Champ 12 only sounded OK as received. The clean channel sounded pretty good, but the distortion channel was all or nothing, and pretty harsh. It exihibits none of the aforemention hum problems. The amp also had a nasty rattle. The original owner had performed the Torres tone modification, I added the Switchcraft jack modification, Torres potentiometer modification, Torres bias kit, secured the front baffle, change the speaker to an alnico Jensen and replaced the tubes with a Electo Harmonix 12AX7EH, Sovtek 5751 and Groove Tube 6L6R2. After spending $250, the rattle is gone and the sound vastly improved. The Jenson seems to have a fuller sound with better tone than the stock speaker. The clean channel sounds fantastic at any setting and does not distort at volume. The dirty channel has a full range of adjustment. The potentiometer and 5751 seem to have brought the dirty channel to a manageable gain level. The dirty channel is still higher gain than the tone I would prefer for blues and jazz comping. If you are into metal or hair band music, the dirty channel is probably OK for you. The reverb seems useless. I only give it an 8. 10 for the clean channel and 6 for the dirty channel and reverb.

No issue. I have only had the amp for a few weeks, but do not have any reliability concerns.

No dealings with Fender. I have a local guy who does right by me.

I have only been playing a few years. I like the sound of the Champ 12 better than my Pro Junior, which is too bright. I doubt I would replace it if it were stolen. I would probably break down and get the Victoria 5112. So far, I have not felt the need to put any pedals in front of the Champ 12. Unlike the Pro Junior which is shrill without some signal processing out front. Overall, ~$500 for a class A tone machine is not too bad. The reverb is disappointing and hopefully fixable with another reverb tank and the dirty channel is not as rich as some of the botique amps.

sometime between 1987 and 1992 from what I understand. 2 channels, hardwired footswitch, reverb, cool features for teaching loud enough to play over drums.

It sounds good clean, there is a little signature in the sound that I do not really like, but it is an exceptional practice amp. Let me qualify that, the distortion sounded like a toy when I got it. I did the torres mod, changed pots for volume and gain on dirty channel (kit through torres engineering, and they included a capacitor to swick out for an "AC 30ish) tone) it is really goodsounding now. The distortion has a certain "Boogie" like tone that sounds like a quality 80's high gain amp. Before the mods it sounded like complete shit. Now it can be used and it actually sounds great. Ihave used it with humbuckers and my maple necked strat and tele. It sounds better than these off brand tube amps they are making today, and better than a hot rod series amp, but again, there is a certain quality to the sound... I plug in to my deluxe reverb and I say (ok, now that is a good sound) the champ 12 is a good sound, it is small and light and can handle rehearsal but is in no way the holy grail of amps. The reverb is a small cardboard tank inside the chasis, but does its thing a little when cranked, nothing like a classic fender on the reverb side.

It is a circuit board with plastic jacks, but sturdily designed. Whoever claimed Paul Rivera is associated with this amp, or that it is the same thing as a super champ should be punished. It is not either of those things, but it is pretty good.

This is not a point to point wired rivera amp, anyone who says it is is lying. If you do the mods, it sounds pretty good, yopu may even love it. It is probably worth owning (if you do the mods) for portability alone, and somebody will love the tone because it is high quality. Someone coming from a modeling amp or solid state may think they found it, and a good player could get by on this thing all day (without the mods it is a toy), but I have high standards and I am disappointed. If it were stolen, it would be a good excuse to get a rivera clubster as my dual channel high gain lightweight combo, but for me really, if I could reconcile myself to the size and weight of my Deluxe reverb reissue, and use my fulltone 69 pedal for hard rock and roll, that would be all I need. I keep looking for a way to get smaller and get a good dirty channel. I ccame close with this, but at the expense of tremolo, and the sound is slightly off. Wish I could say different. Still a good amp, and probably great to ears with different tastes.

Two channels with shared EQ & Reverb, controls are:
Volume, Bass, Treble
Overdrive Gain, Overdrive Volume
Reverb

I think some of the reviews on this page must be written by people who want to sell their Champ 12. So be cautious when you read reviews that give perfect scores.

The Champ 12 is a low cost design, which has three major problems:

1. It has quite a bit of Hum. Some may say that single-ended amps hum. NOT TRUE - only poorly designed single-ended amps will hum. The Champ 12 has power supply issues which cause the hum. Some units are far worse than others. If your Champ 12 hums you can fix it. Have a tech replace C101, C102, & C103 with good quality 100uF to 220uF axial capacitors. This should cost about $15 in parts & 30 minutes of labor.

2. There is no low end, especially if you turn the volume up a bit. There are two reasons for this:
A) The second & third preamp tube stages are designed to boost the mids & highs, so the overdrive mode doesn't get all muddy. Unfortunately this compromises the clean sound. Sure there is a high cut circuit after the second stage that kicks in when the clean channel is selected, but it isn't enough to compensate.
B) The output transformer is too small & therefor has a poor low frequency response. Not to mention the rather high bias current that runs through the cathode, via the transformer B+.

3) The reverb is just terrible! To keep this amp cheap, Fender chose a tiny reverb spring bank (which is mounted within the chasis). Also, the reverb is run off of the speaker output. So the 6L6 is serving double duty: speaker drive & reverb drive. Furthermore, the reverb circuit forms a feedback loop from the power transformer output back to the grid of the power tube, which is on the verge of oscillation as you turn the reverb up. In summary it just plain sounds bad!

It's okay for low volume practice, unfortunately tubes sound best when they are pushed. It's too bad the amp was designed to do this.

Made in early 1960's in, um.. lets see.. oh here it is on logo, again on the front panel, at least three times on the back panel. Um..USA?
Made in the old Sunn Amp factory in Lake Oswego Oregon. The first amp designed by the "New" Fender Musical Instruments Corp after the takeover fron NBC. Red knobs mean that it was designed by Geraldo Rivera while he was at NBC in his spare time. 10" speaker was made by LBJ I think. I play disco and funk music and I love this amp. Two channels, headfone jack and tape unit built in so you can record directly from it. Two power tubes a preamp tube all made by Fender in Russia by Telefunky. I use this amp in church. Has 24 watts (12 x 2 tubes). Class "A" rating means this amp passed US government inpesctions. Hand wired blackface amp.

I can't see any name brand on my guitar. I bought it at the flea market for $20.00. I play all kinds of music, mostly Jimi Hendrix and SVR while home and Gospel when at church. The amp is very quiet, until you start playing, then it gets louder when you turn the third knob clockwise. The over drive channel breaks my ear drums and makes me want to pee my pants. The clean channel sounds good too and is very loud for an 18 watt amp.

I have had it since 1982 I think. I bought it in a pawn shop for $100.00. I kicked it and it still works. I dropped it down a flight of stairs and it just laughed at me. I finally killed it by using the tubes as target practice with my BB gun. Just kidding.

Fender has moved 7 times since 1982 and I believe the company is located somewhere is Asia now, perhaps Hong Kong or China, Maybe Sing a poor. The pawn shop refused to give me a warrenty. Can you believe that?

I have been playing since early childhood (16 or 17). I own a lot of Nike shoes, but just one guitar and amp, I am very poor. This and my bed are my only pieces of furniture. If this were stolen I would pray for forgiveness for the individual who stole it and God's Grace upon their life. I just hope they would get as much joy out of this amp as I have the last 22 years.

features already mentioned dozens of times in this page. The amp has enough features for me. It does everything I need it to do.

I use Strat Reissue and Tele 52 reissue. Occasionally PRS Custom. I have read many fors and againsts for this amp. I was not 100% happy with the amp as it was. I upgraded the valves. I fitted the Torres mod. Great improvement for little outlay. I then fitted the Torres bias kit, again big difference. When I fitted this kit I found out that my amp had been underbiased since the day I got it. So again it was not performing at its peak. Fitted a Celestion alnico blue, which I got for half normal price on ebay. I changed the values of the overdrive gain pot and the overdrive volume pot so there was not a jump in volume when switching in the overdrive. Right, after all this has been done, I swear you would be hard pushed to find a sweeter toned amp ANYWHERE. It is absolutely fabulous. Bear in mind these upgrades were cheap. The clean channel is perfect fender tone, sounds like a vintage deluxe!!! The overdrive channel in not harsh now, but sweet and warm. Great sound!!!!! The reverb is probably the only slight weakness but I won't punish the amp for this as I do not use a lot of reverb, but rely on the room. Torres would not put so much effort into this amp if it did not have potential for greatness. Ditch the speaker as well though. I totally agree with people who have wrote they are happy with the amp as it is, as it does have a decent sound, but bear in mind how much better it can be for little outlay. I use this amp all the time now on gigs. The celestion blue gives much more volume, but when I play bigger venues, I just turn it all the way up and mike it up MAGNIFICENT!!!!!!!!

Never had any problems since I bought the amp 10 years ago

Never had to deal with Fender, but I imagine it would be difficult to get personal attention for an old product from a manufacturer this large.

Great amp. It has some SLIGHT design flaws, but these are very easily rectified for little cash. I have heard Matchless, Badcat and all the rest of the so called Boutique brands. I would not swap this amp now for anything. It has THE sound.

I bought this amp at my local music store; some guy was getting a divorce and came in selling a lot of equipment, including this amp. I watched the store owner give the guy $600 for 4 guitars and 2 amps and a bunch of effects. I offered $150 for the Champ 12 and he took it.
I think it was made around 1989, according to all the information I can gather. It was (and still is) in mint condition when I bought it.
I find it very versatile. I can jam out on rock and blues, either with pedals through the clean channel, or just straight in to the distortion channel. I can even play my electric accoustics through the clean channel and get a nice tone.
I find that it has a lot of power for its size. I play frequently with guys who have all kinds of larger, more expensive amps, and it seems I always have the superior tone.
The last band I played in on a reguler basis, I used it exclusively; I put it on an amp stand, so I could hear myself, and ran the line out (very handy) to the mixing board. I never carried a back-up.

I play a Fender Fat Telecaster 95 % of the time, and the combination just sounds like the classic killer Fender sound. I play hard rock (AC/DC, Led Zep, Hendrix, etc.) and blues (Stevie Ray, Albert King, etc.) and it has a great tone for these styles. It has a little hum, especially when I use the original single coils on the Tele, but the tone makes up for it. I do find that the controls on the "lead" channel are very touchy, and I will look in to the Torres mod package. A far as I can tell, this amp is completely stock; it looks like it's never been played.

I have never had any problem with it, and I have gigged without a backup with no fear at all. It even still has the original plastic jeacks, which have given me no problem yet. If and when they ever break, then I will replace them. Why bother now?

Not really applicable, although when I called Fender to kind of figure out what Ihad, the guy I got was very cool and helpful, very enthusastic.

I've been playing for 25 years, since I was 15, and I always played a Les Paul through big Peavey solid state amps, but since I bought the Fat Tele, and this amp a short while later, I am enjoying this different, more variable sound.
I would definitely try to find another if I lost this one. For a tube combo of this quality, it was definitely a steal.
I like the compactness, the weight, but most of all the tone and versatility.
If you have the opportunity to pick one up at a good price, jump on it.

Follow up on additional mods to Champ 12.

I did the mod listed further below in these posts. I went a little further and up the caps from those found on the fender amp discussion pages. Rather than 10mf and 1mf capacitors on V1 and V2 respectivly put a 10mf on V2 and added a 4.4mf in addtion to the 10 to V1. This really made the clean and gain channels balanced. I put new tubes in as well, 2 Groove Tubes 12AX7-C (China) and a SOVTEK 5881/6L6LWGC. I also installed a 1/4" socket to allow quick speaker hookup. I used a 1/4 jack with a small metal chassis mounted between the removeable cabinet brace and the cabinet top. (The brace provides the force to hold it when it is screwed in. It is that panel that has to tbe remoived to get the chassis out)

The tubes I replaced was a Peavy Super 6 - 6L6GC (unknown origin) and 2 Fender 12AX7A (made by GE) These tubes sounded very harsh.

Now when the gain is set to lowest level it sounds nearly clean. Without swapping pots I have fairly smooth gain control and smoother distortion as well.

As for the speakers the 2X12 enclosed cabinet is filled with 2 16 ohm EV EVM-12L. I rewired them with new 1/4" jack in parallel for 8 ohm. Testing it comes out at more like 5.6 ohms.
The EVs sound excellent not as crunchy as a celestion but more beefy with a tight bass. Clean they are exquisite. I am appreciating these speakers much more though is not a good at distortions as a celestion. The amp still has no speaker in the amp cabinet. Plans are to put either a Celestion 12G Greenback or 12G Alnico Blue.

Possibly rig a switch to use only the Celesion in the amp for the gain channel and the EVs for clean.

Combo amp with the snake skin, black knobs

2 Channel low wattage tube amp
10 Watt
1 6L6GC power
2 12AX7 pre
12" speaker (missing when)

I found this amp sitting next to a dumpster in 1998. The speaker was missing, one input plug was missing, the other was broken and the 6L6 tube was missing. I took it home. (I'm glad I did)

I took the chassis out and inspected the innards the circut board looked in good shape, no burns marks, meltdowns etc....

I fixed the input and put in a 6L6 tube I had laying around. As for speaker I messed up here and put a 16 ohm speaker from a fender cabinet I had. The amp sat in a closet for the next two years. I was playing bluegrass banjo mostly for the past 10 years and had no use for the amp, so I ended up loaning this amp to a buddy in 2001 and did'nt see it for the next 2 years. I got it back and started researching low watt tube amps after I decided I had enough of bluegrass and wanted to ROCK again...so I found that the champ 12 indeed has some potential and it was currently being used by my daughter as a practice bass amp. (yeah it didn't sound good in it's current form)

I found the details for the Torres mod on fender forum and went to the Radio Shack and bought the two capacitors and resistors required. (I'm a hack so I recommend you pop for the $15 bucks for the terminal block and instructions from Torres to make it look nice. Mine looks rather Frankenstien-ish) ANy way I did the mod and it indeed does make a huge effect on the sound. I am bought a bunch of tubes from torres...anyway. So I don't feel guilty....really.

Put the speaker back in the cabinet and wired the speaker leads from the champ with a 1/4 jack. This created the correct ohm rating of 8 and the speaker cabinet a Fender CBS, all black 2x12 (ElectroVoice OEM I suspect)

The reverb does leave a bit to be desired. Keep it low and it seems okay. I never played with much anyway.

Pre Torres Mod with 16 OHM speaker in:
Total crap in the gain channel, no clarity, very cheap garbage in sound. Clean was a dull, flat, lifeless sound not round and warm.

While doing the mods I had the chance to try some speaker selections
These were all Carvin speakers (buddy has tons of stuff)
SO here goes post Torres Mod:
Using a Strat
15" 8 Ohm Closed back Cabinet - Rich clean tones, very warm with a nice high ping. The middle seemed to spike. No unpleasent.
IN the gain channel it was not complex enough to be considered a desireable sound. Seemed a bit hollow.

2x10 4 Ohm Closed back Cabinet - This was the best sounding and had the most variety. The 4 ohm load for the 8 ohm rated output of the Champ saturated the power tube and generated a sexy compression and lovely brit crunch at medium gain too high and it flammed out into mush much like a hiwatt lead 30. Clean it was delight. Pingy round a detalied great vintage tube sound. I am researching the implications of running with 4 ohms speaker load on the 8 ohm output. Two 8 ohm Celetions greenback wired in parallel would probably sound very sexy. THough be prepared to run through power tubes as they take a beating by being continuously saturated. There is also a danger of blowing something else.

12" 8 Ohm Carvin Vintage - Good sound like you would expect. Round and pingy clean buyt the gain was difficult to get a sound like the two tens and any thing less than blisteringly loud.

12" 16 Ohm CBS Fender 12F - Oh man this really sucked. Do not run 16 ohms on this....icky, icky icky....but still better than pre-torres mod.

issues not using the right ohm detailed here:
http://www.harpamps.com/transformers.html
Tons of stuff about tone
http://www.amptone.com/

Considering that I rescued this amp from a cannabilzed death I guess is a testement to it's durability.

Fender has a bunch of stuff you can find out about this amp in addition to the internet.

I play straight in, dabbled with a Tube Screamer with the Peavy Vintage but with my Hiwatt had no need. the Peavy Standard head was a stage backup. I could do most stuff with it in a pinch.

I've been playing for 26 years. Spent 15 years in gigging and recording in orginal bands playing brown and black telecaster deluxe and 74 stratocaster with a Hiwatt Lead 30 (sweet, if you see one buy it), Peavy Standard (ss), Peavy Vintage (tube power) and Alamo amps. Backed out of rock and went acoustic playing bluegrass for the past decade. Finding my way back home....given everything people figured out with the Champ 12 I think that is is a fine paltform to find your own tone, if you take the time to do the mods, replace the tubes and stick a good speaker in.

I play blues to heavy ish rock.So far I would say the amp is only loud enough for practice and recording.I have read that changing the speaker and doing the Torres mod makes it louder. I will report back

good valve sound, o/d is ok, I like the reverb!,a little noisey.
Vintage kind of sound, not very fender in sound.(Marshall pre valves?)
I intend doing the Torres mod and replacing the speaker with a celestion greenback as I plugged it into my 1970's CMI cab with two 15 inch!!!! celestions and it sounded even better.
I agree with the general gripes about the amp, the cleaner channel is a lot quiter than the o/d channel, I think what fender though you would do is turn up the gain on the cleaner channel and then scream with the o/d channel, they got the balance wrong though - Enter Mr Torres- I hope. Oh! I also intend putting some new old stock(I have only just worked out what nos stands for)valves in her to, the previous owner put Marshall pre amp valves in her they sound ok to be honest.The output valve has no markings so god knows what that is.
So far I am quite happy with her, If the mods work well I will update my comments

Only had it two hours. I can see that the inputs are a little feeble NAUGHTY FENDER!.

Too Old.

I have been playing for 20 or so years. Once I buggered around with the settings I found my feet with the amp. Tried it with my 1973 sg, and hamer steve stevens. Hamer sounded very good through it, unusual! I was'nt that found of the hamer before!. Sg sounder fine as usual.
This is a great married man's amp, It's not too big, It sings at low volume(as it's low in watts), It sounds good(by the time you get married you will have developed a good ear for nice amps as aposed to wifey shouting). It is the oposite of my sadly missed Marshall stack.Big, loud, and needs to be turned up to get cooking.

Bought new in 1990 a 10watt with 12" speaker- mainly tube amp (Reverb and power supply rectification is solid state). Very solidly made in Mexico (back panel says "Made in USA" but was covered with a sticker saying "Made in Mexico". Presumably production moved from USA to Mexico.
It has a lot of useful features - channel switching,line out, tape input, headphone out. It is a shame that the speaker cannot be easily unplugged and an external speaker added. The speaker is a "Fender Special Design" and although adequate is not that good.

I bought this amp as a practice amp (American Strat)and the "clean" channel is everything you would expect from a fender tube amp. I found that the dirty channel was unusable because of the shift in volume when switching from the clean channel. The distortion was brash and almost uncontrollable. I took the advice of a previous reviewer and changed the overdrive channel volume and gain pots - a vast improvement.

I borrowed a speaker from my Fender Twin and replaced the original speaker. Again, a vast improvement in volume and quality of sound (the amp does not distort on the clean channel at high volumes). I shall put in a Celestion Vintage 30 at the first opportunity.

Stock faults with these amps are the input sockets. Anyone buying a used one of these amps should check them.
Apart from that I've only had to change the 6L6 power tube

I found the UK agent for Fender (Arbiter) very helpful/friendly and I purchased the input sockets from them.

I do my own maintenance.

I've been playing longer than I would like to mention and also have a Fender Bassman 10 and a Fender Twin.
The Fender Champ 12 is a pleasure to use (and carry!). As mentioned earlier I would recommend changing the overdrive gain and volume controls and put a better speaker in. Even without these changes I would strongly recommend this amp and would replace it if it went missing.