Fender Vibro Champ

Mine is a 1968 'Bronco', which is a Vibro Champ that was packaged with the Bronco guitar as a set. It has all the well-known silverface VC features, but with 'Bronco Amp' in red leters on the face plate. Being a '68, it has the aluminum trim around the grille and the small tail-less Fender logo. Standard 5 control knobs: volume, treble, bass, speed, and intensity. I think it's rated at 5 watts, which goes into a 8 inch alnico speaker. It runs on a pair of 12ax7 preamp tubes, a single 6V6 power tube, and a 5y3 rectifier. Just a hunch, but maybe simple tube circuits are what works for the best tone. I mean, this is really pretty close to what the 1950's tweed amps were, and everyone knows about THEIR tone. Too much circutry gets in the way, I think. Maybe I'm getting old, but too many so-called modern amps clutter up the preamp stages with too many tubes and controls. They sound good, but not great. Their sound is too processed for my taste. Now that I'm in my early 30's, I suppose I've grown up enough to appreciate good, honest guitar tone without the fuzz factor.

To be honest, I was skeptical about all the word on the street concerning the Champ tone. I thought it was hype. But once I plugged into this little amp, I knew it was all true. Very warm, well-rounded tone with more volume than I expected out of a small practice amp. And the thing that really surprises me is the 3 dimensional sound. I use quite a bit of reverb in my other amps, but I don't miss it at all with the bronco. It was that sort of 'swirling' sound that only some tube amps seem to achieve. All of my other amps (Ampeg Reverborocket, Fender Deluxe Reverb, and Trace Elliot velocette) are tubes, but none has this effect with the reverb turned off. Amazing! I play a Fender Strat and a Tele, both American Standards with Van Zandt pickups. My style is roots rock and blues or blues influenced jazz. This is now my daily practice amp, replacing a Pro Junior that I recently sold after acquiring the Bronco.

It's been working regularly since 1968 with no problems. Can it get any better than that?

It's been out of warranty for 30 years. Who cares!

I've been playing since 1984, over half of my life. I used to be into the high gain Van Halen and 'hair-metal' sounds, but that's past me now. My days of plugging a Les Paul into a Boogie are over. Now I'm in love with Cream, Doobie Bros, CCR, Vanilla Fudge, Bad Company, Steely Dan, and Jimi. I've realized that the late 60's - early 70's was truly rock's golden age, with so many bands producing so much good material. And I'm getting into the smooth Motown groove, as well. Simply superior music. Now, back to the Bronco. For a practice amp that will deliver a wonderful tone at reasonable volumes, it can't be beat. This isn't a gigging amp by any means, so versatility isn't what's important here. Good tone and responsive performance are, and the Bronco delivers on these. It also works very well as a recording amp. It sounds HUGE on tape. I love it! Anything I wish it had? Well, yeah - TWO of 'em. Maybe I could rig a pair of these to play small clubs. That'd be cool...

Silverface vibro champ, I believe it is a '78 model. I don't really use many effects, reverb and tremolo are about all I'm interested in. Controls for volume, bass, treble, and "vibrato" (aka TREMOLO) speed and intensity give you a pretty good array of sound possibilities. Line out would be nice but no big deal. I don't have the amp in front of me, but I believe there's an input on the back for a vibrato footswitch. I bought this primarily for recording and just playing around the house and it has all the volume I need, those 6 watts go a long way with this baby. No effects loops or any of that crap that I'd never use anyway.

sound is wonderful, exactly what I want from a tube amp. I have two nearly identical 60's Harmony 335 style hollowbodies w/ single coil DeArmond pickups and those guitars sound better through this amp than any other amp I've ever used. I play raw blues, rockabilly and garage punk type stuff and this amp works well for all. Very musical clean sounds and this thing loves fingerpicking. Notes just sing. I've read a couple of other reviews that talk about a lack of bass response, presumably due to the small 8" speaker. That was actually one of the things that surprised me about this little amp, the bass response is way better than I expected. Nice and thick and sounds a lot tighter and more focused than on some larger combos I've played. Vibrato is super, can go from spooky blues to bad acid trip. Oh, by the way, turn this little machine up to 7 or so and look out, this thing snarls like a sonofabitch. Raw, bad news overdrive. I just got this and haven't had it above 7 so god only knows what it sounds like, I'm curious yet a little leery. This is totally clean up to about 5. Runs quiet, I get some extra noise from those Harmony's but they're noisy through everything, that's part of the charm...I haven't really tried any effects with this thing (when you get amp that sounds this good, why ruin it with effects??) other than one of those little danelectro slap echo pedals, and you can get that great scotty more/carl perkins sound with ease. As I said, this is exactly the kind of sound I wanted. Great, musical tube tone at low to moderate volumes and good overdrive at louder volumes. You probably won't get any Metallica sounds out of one of these things but it loves the blues and is great for 50's rockabilly and R & B + delivers the goods on nastier, punkier type stuff as well.

I just got this but everything works great. It is all original, including the fender tubes and works like new even though it's 25 years old. I wonder if how those new pro juniors will work in 25 years, they seem to have a habit of malfunctioning right after the warranty expires...

Even though this doesn't have reverb, I'm still giving it a 10 simply because it sounds so damn good and the vibrato is killer, better than any amp or pedal I've ever used. If this were stolen, I would cry like a baby. Then I'd scrape together my loose change and sell this big ass peavey (doubles as a coffee table...) and buy another one. For the money you can't beat these things. If you want to piss away your hard earned dollars on a new pro junior or some other Chinese sweat shop/slave labor made piece of crap with a friggin' flimsy ass circuit board, that's your problem. Those of us in the know will keep snapping up these champs and vibro champs while you're fighting with fender over some weird little buzz that keeps coming back no matter how many times they fix it (and you pay the shipping....). Blackface/silver face, I dunno what the difference is, some amp geek circuit or something I guess. Whatever. This is a 70's silverface and sounds great, I'm sure the blackface models sound good also. For the money you simply can't beat the great tube tone you get plus they are also very well made, point to point wiring, and solid construction throughout. You could pay $700 or more for one of those "boutique" amps that's basically a champ replica or you could buy the real deal for $200 and some change. I paid a little more for mine but it's in really pristine condition, it even SMELLS new...

What a sweet sounding little all tube amp. Through a website and two amp repairmen, I have been able to date this silverface to SEP '69. Not much in the way of options, but don't really need'em. Volume, treble, bass, speed and intensity for the vibrato which is footswitchable. I got this little baby about 14 years ago from an old guitar player back home for a dime bag of refer. What a steal. It had a replacement baffle and ten inch speaker, but still sounded nice and warm. works with anything you can plug into it.

Mostly blues and classic rock. What do you expect from a '68. What beautiful sounds eminating from this little wonder.

I've heard of performers micing this little gem for some fairly large venues. It took me about a year to find all the parts to bring her back to original. Since then I would have to say that she is one of the most reliable little amps I have ever owned. Takes her a little while to warm up the tubes, but when she does she wails.

Did all the repairs myself with the help of a good friend. Pretty simple electronics(68), and a local repairman was nice enough to provide the schematics and original replacement parts price list.

Been playing about 14 years, but not real seriously. Thinking of starting a garage band, and maybe see where that takes me. I also have a peavey 300w PA (too big for toting around)and a peavey audition 25. If it were stolen, I think I would have to buy some dogs to track the SOB down. If I couldn't find it, I would definuitly try to find another one. Probably wouldn't be fortunate enough to pay the same price.

silver face vibro champ that I think is a 1973 - has the orange, now brown looking grille. the transformer has 022905 & -606-3-09 code. I'm guessing its the 73 with a replacement grille by looking at the Fender Amp Field Guide. FAFG said this amp was discontinued in 1980 so I don't think its a 83. if someone can give some insight on the date - please contact me.

I play mainly classic rock/blues - VU type music and this amp fits my needs very well. the main thing I love about this amp is that you can crank it up - get some great blues tones, but you don't have to worry about peeling the paint off the walls. I dont think this is the amp for the 7 string ibanez people.

I play the blues/classic rock and this amp fits my needs very well.

I use a MIM telecaster w/two single coils/big muff/tube screamer. did some research and thought that the vibro champ was the best for my needs. I saw it in the music store window and sent my son down to buy it without even playing it - I didn't want it to get away. got it home and it buzzed, broke up at high volumes and just generally noisy and it sounded horrible. I took it to a amp tech and he got it up and running smoothly again for $75 - sounded a lot better, but it was just missing something. Feb 02 Vintage Guite Mag 'ask gerald' column suggested a 5AR4(GZ34) retifier tube substitution for the 5Y3. it made a world of difference - this is the amp I've been looking for. gerald suggests the chinese mullard copy of the 5AR4. you wont be disappointed if you replace the tube.

the vibro/tremelo feature is cool, but I don't use it that much.

I don't gig

I take it to the local guy rather than deal with Fender

I would buy it again in a second. this is my first tube amp and I've owed a vox cambridge 15 and danelectro nifty fifty - both which are pretty good anyway. the small size, tube sound is great. I've never played a black face version, but this amp is awesome. do yourself a favor and replace the rectifier tube.

1968 Silverface model (same age as me!) - Looks to be stock aside from the power tube. Pretty basic in terms of features (check the reviews below for more details), but it does exactly what it needs to do

Using with a Tele Special (humbucker at neck position), and using it mainly for practice - however, I favour Beatle and beatle-influenced stuff, and it suits this great - OK, so it's not an AC30, but I couldn't afford one of those (Don't even talk to me about the time in 1987 I passed on a mint 70's AC30 for 175GBP - ouch!)

Clean until about 4/5, then starts to break up nicely, and with reasonable volume

Well, it's nearly 34 years old, and I'm not planning to gig with it right now. However, when I get back to gigging I'll certainly be taking it along to try out. Havn't had it long enough to comment on the reliability really

Really pleased with this one - I've been playing for nearly 20 years, and have gone full circle now - my first "real" amp was an all-tube Marshall, but I've been through rack stuff, and most recently for gigging was using a POD through a Marshall combo.

I choose this because I played through one while auditioning guitars in London a few years back and loved it - been looking for a more reasonably priced version ever since.

Mine is a Silver Face model from the early 1970s, with the blue sparkle grille cloth and chrome Fender logo with the tail. I am finding the aesthetics of the Silver face models to be more appealing as time marches on. It is all stock, except that I recently changed the speaker to a new vintage Jensen P8R-4.

One wonderful channel. Amazing amount of power for a 6 watt amp; it is perfect for practicing at home, recording (e.g., I read recently that Keith Richards used Champs and Vibro Champs to record much Stones stuff), and even jamming with a band in some circumstances. The "vibrato" effect, as mentioned previously, is really fun to tweak.

Now I know why there are legions of vintage amp geeks! This amp will send you to Tone Heaven. I play an American Standard Telecaster and a Heritage 535 directly into it, and it leaves me shaking my head every time. The Tele's single coil PUs sound slightly better, but the Heritage's humbuckers create interesting, compelling tones, as well. With the volume cranked, it breaks up into the most beautiful, classic rock-ish overdrive that you've ever heard. It won't reach the ultra-high gain sought by shredders, but you already knew that.

It's 30 years old, looks awesome, sounds better, and shows no signs of slowing down.

I sold my Blues Junior for more money to buy the Vibro Champ, and it was the best $200 purchase of my lifetime. I would not hesitate to buy one again. I love the tone, it's appearance, and the vintage vibe.

1964 vibro-champ. I got it about 9 years ago for $175 dollars or thereabouts. It really is an amazing little amplifier,I blew the speaker out playing bass through it (it's only like an 8" speaker)but other than that I've replaced nothing except the 12ax7s for the trem,which needed replacing when I got it.

I love this thing. I am currently playing a Holton/Collegiate trumpet
through some lousy 58 microphone into an MXR distortion plus and a
digital delay pedal into it. Sounds great. I also run a Theremin through an old Gibson reverb tank and said delay pedal. Sounds great.

Hey this baby rocks. I give it a "9"...

This is a mid-1965 blackface version that came with Torres replaced caps and a Jensen replaced speaker. It has volume, bass, treble, and tremelo (speed and intensity knobs). There is also a footswitch (for tremelo?) jack on the back, but I don't have the footswitch. As a result, it is a very simple amplifier that I use exclusively in the living room for playing.

I play mostly with Fenders (one Esquire, two Teles and a Strat), but most of my playing is with my b-bender equipped Nocaster Relic. It sounds absolutely wonderful and is a great amp for country, blues, or whatever. I don't really crank it up, so I play mostly clean, but the sounds of my guitars through this amp maintain the kind of percussive pop that I like to hear (particularly in a Tele). I do play through a Boss RV-3 (Digital Reverb and Delay) and this effect only adds to the joy I get from playing through this amp.

As far as I can tell, the amp is original (save the speaker and caps). I haven't had a close look at the tubes, so I don't know whether they are original (given the age of the amp, I would be surprized if they were). The replacement Jensen sounds great and I have no desire to replace it back to the original Oxford. So far, it plays beautifully and is extremely quiet.

I have not had to deal with Fender on this amp.

Again, for my purposes, which are playing for fun at home, this amp is perfect. I would imagine it being a terrific amp for recording, but I have no basis for rating it for that use.

you know what it is - a 6watt, all tube practice-amp. single-channel, hi and lo inputs, volume, treble, bass + wonderful tremolo. not exactly what you'd call features - but it doesn't need them imo. i think the fact that it's "class a" makes it quite unique, too.
i use it for playing guitar at home and it has plenty of power for that. actually, it does get quite loud!
mine is the 2nd series blackface model (appr. 1981/82) and it looks much nicer than the sf-models, i think (hey, THAT'S a feature).
it sounded like c%&?$ when i got it and the grillcloth was painted black, but $40 later it now sounds and looks GREAT.

i play classic/alternative rock and i use this to play at home (some bluesy tunes as well). i've used it with a strat, a tele, les paul and epiphone-riviera. they ALL sound great through it! it is surprisingly versatile in that you can actually get a lot of different sounds out of it by tweaking the knobs, using the different inputs and different guitars/pickup-combinations. it can take you from sparkling fender-clean to dark and raunchy. it also puts out a surprising amount of low end through that tiny 8" speaker (original oxford).
the tremolo is a nice add-on and i usually use it at a very low intensity-setting just to add some "room" to the sound. btw. it is the "bias-vary" trem and it sounds nicer/smoother than the trem on the bigger fender-amps.
the amp breaks up around 5 and just gets more distorted after that. this is NOT high gain distortion, but rather that "gravelly" neil-young kind of sound. i like that!
i havn't even tried a pedal through so far!
i hooked the vc up to a 4ohm 2x12" cab to see if it might be worth it to use it in a band situation. it did sound much bigger that way, but still not big enough to carry a room (let alone a room with a drummer and a bass-player).

it was pretty messed up when i got it, but even a complete overhaul was under $40 - i don't expect any major problems. i don't think i'm not gonna use it on a gig.

i contacted fender-germany on several occasions and they usually were kind and helpful. any tech should be able to fix this amp if anything breaks.

been playing for almost 20years, more seriously for the past 6years. i own a varity of new and "vintage" tube-amps by fender and marshall between 15 and 50watts, and this one definitly has its own place. its size, features and wattage-rating make it easy to get good tube-tone at house-levels - and that's exactly why i bought it.
if stolen or lost i'd replace it. i highly recommend it to anyone who can appreciate what it is (a nice little tube-amp AND a piece of fender-history!). i would not recommend it to anyone looking for a "real" amp to play out/with a band as i think it's just too small for that.
with the bf-cosmetics it makes a great piece of living-room-art, too ;)
i could see myself paying as much as $300 for a nice bf-example - but asking that much for one of these UGLY sf-models is a plain RIP-OFF. there's TONS of these amps out there - so just be patient, friends.

October 1965 (AA764) "Blackface" model. It has everything that I look for in terms of features (Volume, Treble, Bass, Speed, Intensity) - it needs nothing else in my opinion.

The amp is pretty flexible in the range of tones you can get from it considering the limited number of controls. I use this amp mostly for clean tones - which are absolutely beautiful - with single-coil pickups (which this little guy seems to favor). Once you turn the volume past 6, it gets more edgy - but not totally saturated like other small vintage combos I own. It seems more suited to country-type sounds (it perfectly nails Eric Claptons' "Slowhand"-era tone), clean - with a nice gritty bite to it! Trying different tube combinations is really cool too...

Well, the amp is almost 36 years old and has never been in the shop... I did replace the preamp tube that powers the tremolo when I noticed that it didn't sound as full as it should. It fixed the problem.

See above!

This was the first "vintage" amp I ever bought - I had a Roland JC-120 previously - and fell in love with tube amps. I've been playing for 23 years and have been collecting amps since 1988. I mostly play blues and rock, but have been listening to (and hopefully learning from) country and Blue Note jazz for the past 5 years or so. The Vibro Champ is to me, one of the absolute best small combos ever made - I also own a '63 Gibson GA-19RVT, '64 white-knob Princeton, '65 Ampeg Reverberocket, '65 Fender Reverb Unit, '65 Supro 16T Trojan Tremolo, '65 Silvertone 1481, '70 Silvertone 10XL, and a '63 Magnatone Custom 440.