Fender Vibro Champ

Volume, Treble, Bass, Vibrato Speed and Vibrato depth dials.

Luv it.

This is why I decided to submit a review. I'm 42 now. Got my first guitar when I was 12. Must have been my 14th birthday when my parents gave me the Vibro Champ. It was somewhere in the late 70s, early eighties. (While I'm writing this, I suddenly remember how it smelled when I got it.)

Anyway, I played guitar a lot until I was about 30. Got into electronic music then and stopped playing the guitar. Then, when I was 40 I got a son, and decided I would stop doing electronic music, but because I couldn't quit making music altogether, I picked up the guitar again to just jam a bit. Got my Champ from the basement. It had become, literally, rusty. Fearful that wouldn't work after all these years, I switched it on. It still worked!

The point of this story: I hope I can give my son a present that he will still use 30 years on.

Never even switched the tubes, perhaps it will sound even better if i did...

Never needed any.

Read the above.

Mine is a 1969 Vibro-Champ. It has every feature I would want in a single-ended, class A tone box. I use the #2 quieter input jack for cleaner playing and the hotter #1 jack for earlier breakup. All original, with RCA tubes and an 8" Oxford speaker. This amp's simple circuit works great for checking out differences in tubes and guitars. Its best feature is that it has no tone-killing stuff mucking up the circuit. The Vibro in mine sounds really cool, I can slow it way down for a phasing effect or make it sound like I'm playing through a Leslie. I have fun trying different mic positions, running it into a board and then cranking the headphones...I've hung it from the ceiling, hung it in a well, took it to bed with me. It whispers, it screams. A must for any serious guitarist.

I typically use old pre-CBS Strats and Tele's (i know -- they make any amp sound great). My '69 is kind of "sparkly" and really touch sensitive, which is OK for me 'cuz i play with my fingers. It likes analog pedals, hates digital stuff. It doesn't get a 10 because the old Oxfart speaker can't deal with heavy stuff. I rig a speaker line out to a 4 ohm JBL 2x12 cabinet and stick in a "hot" JJ 6v6 with "hot" recto tube when it's time to bring the thunder. The circuit can't do tight, crunchy modern distortion because of tube rectification. It's really good at sloppy, bluesy stuff like early Zep or spanky sounds like Clapton's opening riff to Layla...which was played on a Champ, of course. Keef liked to use them a lot, too.

The hand-built Fenders of the 60's are legendary in their durability and reliability. They have no equal amoung tube amps. Champs are especially kill-proof due to their simplicity. Mine tolerates all sorts of abuse.

Vintage amps are Fender's biggest competitor. Seriously, though -- there are lots and lots of people who know how to work on Champs. I would consider that plenty of support if you are considering buying a vintage Champ.

People are complaining that paying through the nose for a old Champ is making them not such a good value. I look at it this way -- a modern practice amp, no matter what you pay, drops in value by half as soon a you take it home. Same goes for the boutique amps. Get a vintage Champ, though, and you own an amp that actually appreciates in worth. Why? Because its the best-sounding, most versatile, durable, easily modified, portable tube tone machine you can get. That isn't going to change. Take it from me, I've been playing since the freakin' 60's. Get yours, and you'll be playing next to it in your rocking chair someday.

I just noticed that the story I posted below got chopped off at the end. This is a corrected version with the ending.
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Features are about as basic as you can get. On/Off, volumn, a few tone pots. That's all you get. That's all you need.

This is a tragic story. Be sure you have a box of tissues handy.

It was the summer of 1980. I lost my job and got turned down for unemployment benefits. Or at least they put an 8 week hold on it. After a few weeks I was at a point where my only friend in the world was a knickle that I have refused to spend. I actually ended up selling my blood twice a week for a pathetic $14 just so I could have something to eat. I ended up moving into my mom's basement.
Yeah, I was singin' the blues and feelin' em too.

Finally my unemployment came through. I had enough money to go pick up my rig from the pawn shop. The guitar was a Vantage Ghost. The amp was a Yamaha 50 112R that got me ridiculed on many occasions. It sounded like garbage. But my luck was about to change.

There in the pawn shop stood a sad looking little Fender Vibro Champ. It didn't have a speaker so they had paired it with an off brand 14" bass speaker. Oh, yeah, the guy who did that was a genius. But they were priced at a paltry $50. I wondered, "What would this little Fender sound like plugged into the input of my Yamaha?" I bought it and took it home to find out.

Hooking it up was as easy as pie. It had the right kind of jack since the 10" speaker had been replaced by the bass unit. I just ran that into the front of the Yamaha and plugged it in. I didn't know what to expect. Maybe I would blow up my Yammy. So I turned the volumn knob all the way down. I turned the Yammy on about half way and then dialed up the Champ about half way to 1. And it sounded good. It sounded REAL good.

I messed with the settings on the two amps looking for the best combination. And that's why I got hit by about 1000 watts of pure electricity. It knocked my *** across the room.

No, it wasn't harmful but it was dangerous. It wasn't current it was tone. I had created a monster. I'd never heard sounds like that in my life.

How can I describe this for you? The closest thing I can think to describe it is to say it was like the sound Hendrix got on "Band Of Gypsies" only it was a Fender sound not a Marshall. Which would make it a lot like a Mesa but even more radical. It was the sound of raw electricity. Like that downed wire you're not supposed to touch. It crackled. It sang. And damned if that little sonuva***** didn't scream like Hell had opened up and was trying to drag me down. I had found my signature sound.
I soon learned that if I kept the volumn knob on my guitar at about 3/4 I could get bell-like feedback by kicking it up with my little finger and adding some finger vibrato. That Vantage Ghost would sustain forever. And it had the vibro unit which was fun as Hell to play with. The concrete walls and floors added a reverb you can't get from a spring unit. So I took the spring unit out and made a stand for it where I could just ******* kick the thing when the urge hit me and I'd get special effects you can't imagine. WAAAAANNNNNNGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!! Then I took a reel to reel tape deck and recorded sounds from shaking a piece of sheet metal in front of a microphone. This sounded a lot like thunder and could be played thru the amp by stepping on a foot switch. CCRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSHHHHHH!!!!! It was kind of a "Whole Lotta Love" thing. I thought about going by the name, "Thor - The God of Thunder". I think someone else ended up using that one.

-------------------------------------------
There are known to wear like a friggin' tank. Hard to believe but there seem to be lots of them around from the '60's that have have little to nothing done to them. They just keep soldiering on.

I sat down in that basement for about 3 months. I'd get up after my mom went to work and the only thing I'd stop for was to watch Leave It To Beaver and have a sandwich around 1:00. And I'd turn down once in a while when the cops showed up. But then it was right back at it until my mom stood at the top of the stairs screaming her lungs out for me to stop. Its truly a wonder I didn't go deaf. After a few months of this I had an pretty good act together. It was just me but I decided to go to the local college town and see if I couldn't hook up with some like minded players.

Then my luck turned bad again.

---------------------------
Never used them so I dunno.

I was in the park in Lawrence Kansas one afternoon when somebody asked me if I wanted to buy some acid. I was willing to play with my brain cells in hopes that it might make me a better player. "Just do half" the guy said, "its REALLY strong."

Well to make a long story short by the time it was all over my guitar and amp were gone and I was bouncing off the walls at the mental hospital in Osawatamie Kansas.

Well that was about 27 years ago. And I've blown up more amps than I can count trying to get that sound back. I tried it with Fender Twins, Ampegs, Music Mans, Carvins, even a Mesa Mark IV with a 4 12 cab. When that one failed I launched a search and found a Yamaha 50 112 and Fender Vibro Champ hooked them up the same way and sounded just like...

dog crap. I have no idea what was so special about the first ones I'd strung together but it never worked again.

So how do I rate this amp for tone? About a 15 on the first one and a zero the second time around.

Features are about as basic as you can get. On/Off, volumn, a few tone pots. That's all you get. That's all you need.

This is a tragic story. Be sure you have a box of tissues handy.

It was the summer of 1980. I lost my job and got turned down for unemployment benefits. Or at least they put an 8 week hold on it. After a few weeks I was at a point where my only friend in the world was a knickle that I have refused to spend. I actually ended up selling my blood twice a week for a pathetic $14 just so I could have something to eat. I ended up moving into my mom's basement.
Yeah, I was singin' the blues and feelin' em too.

Finally my unemployment came through. I had enough money to go pick up my rig from the pawn shop. The guitar was a Vantage Ghost. The amp was a Yamaha 50 112R that got me ridiculed on many occasions. It sounded like garbage. But my luck was about to change.

There in the pawn shop stood a sad looking little Fender Vibro Champ. It didn't have a speaker so they had paired it with an off brand 14" bass speaker. Oh, yeah, the guy who did that was a genius. But they were priced at a paltry $50. I wondered, "What would this little Fender sound like plugged into the input of my Yamaha?" I bought it and took it home to find out.

Hooking it up was as easy as pie. It had the right kind of jack since the 10" speaker had been replaced by the bass unit. I just ran that into the front of the Yamaha and plugged it in. I didn't know what to expect. Maybe I would blow up my Yammy. So I turned the volumn knob all the way down. I turned the Yammy on about half way and then dialed up the Champ about half way to 1. And it sounded good. It sounded REAL good.

I messed with the settings on the two amps looking for the best combination. And that's why I got hit by about 1000 watts of pure electricity. It knocked my ass across the room.

No, it wasn't harmful but it was dangerous. It wasn't current it was tone. I had created a monster. I'd never heard sounds like that in my life.

How can I describe this for you? The closest thing I can think to describe it is to say it was like the sound Hendrix got on "Band Of Gypsies" only it was a Fender sound not a Marshall. Which would make it a lot like a Mesa but even more radical. It was the sound of raw electricity. Like that downed wire you're not supposed to touch. It crackled. It sang. And damned if that little sonuvabitch didn't scream like Hell had opened up and was trying to drag me down. I had found my signature sound.
I soon learned that if I kept the volumn knob on my guitar at about 3/4 I could get bell-like feedback by kicking it up with my little finger and adding some finger vibrato. That Vantage Ghost would sustain forever. And it had the vibro unit which was fun as Hell to play with. The concrete walls and floors added a reverb you can't get from a spring unit. So I took the spring unit out and made a stand for it where I could just f***ing kick the thing when the urge hit me and I'd get special effects you can't imagine. WAAAAANNNNNNGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!! Then I took a reel to reel tape deck and recorded sounds from shaking a piece of sheet metal in front of a microphone. This sounded a lot like thunder and could be played thru the amp by stepping on a foot switch. CCRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSHHHHHH!!!!! It was kind of a "Whole Lotta Love" thing. I thought about going by the name, "Thor - The God of Thunder". I think someone else ended up using that one.

I sat down in that basement for about 3 months. I'd get up after my mom went to work and the only thing I'd stop for was to watch Leave It To Beaver and have a sandwich around 1:00. And I'd turn down once in a while when the cops showed up. But then it was right back at it until my mom stood at the top of the stairs screaming her lungs out for me to stop. Its truly a wonder I didn't go deaf. After a few months of this I had an pretty good act together. It was just me but I decided to go to the local college town and see if I couldn't hook up with some like minded players.

Then my luck turned bad again.

I was in the p

There are known to wear like a friggin' tank. Hard to believe but there seem to be lots of them around from the '60's that have have little to nothing done to them. They just keep soldiering on.

Never used them so I dunno.

I think I answered all that above.

vibro is killer. vibro effects pale in comparison. the footswitch seems forward-looking for the time it was made. i will add a mid knob to the front plate if i can bring myself to drill a hole in it. there actually is a mid control - it's just a fixed resistor in the tone stack the way they made it.

the champ is aptly named. for workaday recording jobs, it is pretty hard to beat. this is the ultimate amp for larry carlton/robben ford type sound. it is the ultimate platform for pedals. it is the ultimate clean sound. it has no nuts when overdriven in the lowest register, but that's what marshalls are for. or pedals - this thing with any boutique modded DS-1 gets that job done, you just can't have the champ's own breakup if you need those low notes to be fat. the response curve of this amp is perfect - any mic pre can really grab ahold of it and shape it to fit a track. if i had to live the rest of my life with only one amp, this one might be it. BTW try it with different cabs. that little 8" POS is not the only speaker in the world

hand made by the WWII generation. it is a tank. who know - whoever assembled it might have actually built tanks before going to work at fender in fullerton

been playing 25 years. still playing new stuff, still teaching teenagers, still arranging for up-and-comers. if you don't "get" the champ you suck. why any studio or session player would be without one is beyond me.

My Vibro Champ was made in 1973, apparently one of the last to use pine cabinets prior to using plywood. It does sound different than other later model Vibro Champs I have encountered with ply cabs. I got really lucky with this amp because it is 100% stock. RCA and GE tubes plus the original Oxford speaker. I checked out the guts and everything there appears to be original as well. The features it has are very simple; volume, bass, treble, tremolo speed and intensity. It is a single ended 6V6 design with a single 12AX7 driving a two stage preamp section. Another 12AX7 drives the on-board tremolo and it has a 5Y3GT rectifier tube to complete the tube compliment. Like many others, I do wish it had reverb, but I plan to get a Fender outboard tube reverb unit in the near future so no problem really.

I know many people think that these amps are all hype. I know this because I used to feel the same way. I mean, how good can a basic student amp from the 1960-1970s rated at 6W really sound? Well the simple truth is these little guys are tone monsters. Of course, you have to like Fender amps and you have to understand that these will now be powering your next club or arena gig. But it will be great for a coffee house gig or better yet, your own enjoyment at home in in your home studio. The amp itself has three sweet spots in my opinion. The first is at 4 on the volume dial where you get just at the edge of breakup tone with single notes sounding like a piano note tone. Then at 7 you get nice edgy low gain breakup with a bit of speaker breakup thrown in and you are in early Led Zeppelin land without splitting your eardrums. Finally at 10 this little amp is giving you all it has and it is fabulous - rich in harmonics and overtones. For the record, I use all Fender guitars, most American made and all with vintage type single coil pickups. I have also recently tried putting my Fulltone Fulldrive II MOSFET and/or Fulltone OCD in front of the amp with excellent results as well. But really, you just don't need any pedals at all with this amp. I'd also like to gush over the on board tremolo in this and all Vibro Champs. Granted I am a big lover of tremolo, but this one sounds absolutely wonderful. It uses a bias vary type circuit as opposed to the optical coupled type found in other amps. I like this type much better myself and it really is smooth and seductive in it's effect.

Well let's see, it is a 34 year old amp with original parts still in it. I'd say that qualifies for a high reliability rating. Even if it goes whack on me I can work on it myself.

As I said, I am strictly a Fender kind of guy. Never had any problem with any of their stuff so I can't say how the company is to deal with but if you define customer support as also providing excellent products that work as advertised and are consistently high in build quality then you have to believe they are willing to stand behind their products. benefit of the doubt in my mind anyway.

How can I NOT rate this a perfect ten? It sounds awesome, works flawlessly and is light weight and has stood the test of time. I am the third owner of this particular amp. The first used it for many years in his guitar instruction studio as a practice amp. The second owner is a friend of mine who also took excellent care of the amp. The silver face has some scratches where instrument cables missed their marks, but other than that it is pristine really. I shined up the tolex and it is remarkable how good it looks. I was never a big fan of a silver face look, but I'll live with it to save the $$$ it would cost me extra to get a black faced era Vibro Champ in this good of a condition and all original. I feel I got an excellent deal all around and I am glad that I didn't get one of the new Champion 600 amps (made in China) that Fender came out with this year. Those run $200 and this one ran $300 and in just terms of build quality and mojo, the Vibro Champ is clearly superior. If you are wondering which way to go, I strongly urge you to at least try to find a SF Vibro Champ before "settling" for some modern day poser. I'm sure glad I did.

1973, vibrato option, 2 channels, great studio/practice/in the living room amp. Great tube tone.

The sounds are just as everyone has said. Fantastic. I play a 63 Fender Jazzmaster and it suits the guitar just perfectly. It's also fun to run a ricky 12 string thru it for giggles. This amp sings, and yes crank up the volume of the amp and use the guitar for sound. It came with RCA and GE tubes in it which i got lucky on, they're probably from the 70's. The Jensen speaker sounds great, i actually for fun ran it through one of the 12 Blue Alcinos in my AC-30 , man, that is unexplainable!

Never has broken on me, i've been thinking about replacing the output tranny and the power. It will probably open up the amp about 10 times as much, always use the ones made by mercury magnetics if you ever consider this. Basically this amp is as reliable as a 6 watt fender amp from 1973 should be.

Don't need it.

It's good for what it is. Practice, studio, living room.

Made in 1977. The amp tech I took it too (Heights Guitar in Cleveland Heights, Ohio ... awesome!) gave it a clean bill of health and told me that the 70's models were basically the same specs as the 60's model. (So save yourself a bundle on e-bay and get a 70's model).

A simple, basic, beautiful amp. Two channels, vibrato -- and that's about it. I play for fun and stress relief -- jazz, blues, rock ... basically whatever strikes my mood at the time I'm playing.

Life is complicated enough. It's good to have a simple amp.

Oh ............. my goodness!

A previous reviewer wrote about plugging in the Champ and having it give him an in-service in tone. That reviewer couldn't have been more correct.

Beautiful tone, and serious volume. I think this amp is rated at 6 watts. Had a friend come over with a 40 watt SS el-cheapo amp. My friend and I both agreed that the fender sounded louder.

I thought I knew what a great tone on an amp sounded like. I had no idea until I plugged in this baby.

Tone is completely subjective of course, and I'm a complete tone snob. This little bad boy fits the bill for me.

The amp tech I took it to wouldn't touch it ... said there was nothing wrong with it.

What other 30 year old product is sitting around your house that still works?

This baby is a work horse!

No idea. Bought it off ebay. Wouldn't bother Fender with a 30-year old product.

Been playing 25 years (yikes!)...strictly amateur and just for fun.

I run an Ibanez AS-80 (ES 335 semi-hollow clone) ===> (boss DS-1 distortion; Boss SD-1 overdrive; Boss CE-2 chorus depending on the sound I want).

AS-80 ==> Champ : gives a great, almost jazz box sound

AS-80 ==> SD-1 ==> Champ : I can get pretty close to B.B. King's blues sound. (but not his style! He's the Master Yoda of Blues, and I'm a freakin' padawan learner! ;-)



If it were lost or stolen, I'd buy another one in a heartbeat.

1976 USA. SIlverface model. Specifications are easy to find.
It is NO versatile amp, as it only has one channel, and few controls to tweak.
Wish it had reverb, but i can absolutely live withou it.
Forget high gain or metal. It was not designed for that. It was designed for sweet sounds... that can be crancked to a mild overdrive if you use medium or high output humbuckers.

This is the strong part of this amp. Its sweet tone. Nothing beats this little beast of tone. Stratos with medium output single coils makes this ample whistle bell-like tones. Wonderfull
Starts to breakup around Vol 6... and with absolute response to picking dynamics.
In Vol 10 you sound crunchy with stratos. Overdriven with humbuckers.
I use it for room practice mainly. Can hold very well stompboxes... BUT you can't get a great bottom-end, cause of the 8" speaker.

1976, still running flawlessly.
Bought it used, and has no problem at all. No scratchy pots, no unwanted noises.

Live in Chile...
All my amps are serviced by two local guys (brothers) that work together.

I've been playin for 13 years. Almost regular daily practice since i started playing in 1994.
Own JCM 900, JCM 2000, Bassman, Bandmaster, JC 120, Champ 12, Vibrochamp, and have had others. ALso Fender stratos, G&L, Les Paul studio, Flyng V, ESP Eclipse, and others.
This is a REALY MUST HAVE amp.
Has everything you need in a good amp... BEAUTIFULL TONE.
And doesn't need anything else

This is a 1977 model modified into a head only by the previous owner who expertly and professionally cut off the speaker part of the amp. He wanted ease of cartability to recording studios plus the ability to plug into any speaker he might want. Everyone who sees it thinks it's cute and it is. Since it was already modified, I decided to have reverb added by Torres Engineering as well as a midrange booster on the treble knob. Wow! Many who own VC's say "If it only had reverb". I'm here to say that with reverb added, it's incredible. Since I also have a stock 1977, unmodified Vibro-Champ, I was OK with modifying this already modified amp. You can read my review about my stock VC earlier on in this forum. This amp works well for all my musical styles which you can read about in my earlier VC review. The ratings here are for the modified amp.

I will make a little joke and say that you can do some "Jimi Hendrix Junior" stuff with this amp by overdriving it into distortion. I am not kidding, it is a hoot and it's real. I once jammed with a young whippersnapper for about an hour doing just that. He was very impressed as I slid my guitar's neck string first across the mic stand, playing with and shaping the feedback. But it won't give you permanent hearing loss like the Big Boy Marshall stacks might. It really sounds good through my Marshall 1x12 loaded with a 12" Eminence GB-12 speaker, which is the speaker I use most of the time with this amp. I've daisy chained it with my stock VC with its 8" speaker with a 12" speaker on this modified VC and it's quite astonishing. What you can get out of these little amps is really mind boggling. The only effect this amp has is tremolo which I use a lot. This tremolo is really the bomb, easily comparing to my '65 Fender Twin Reissue in terms of quality of tremolo sound. And far better than my Silverface and Blackface Princeton Reverb's tremolo which pretty much suck by comparison. The distortion can get quite brutal, and it's a bit muddy, but using an Eminence GB-12 speaker gives more clarity and punch. The GB-12 is a copy of the Celestion Greenback which I think sounds better and costs a bit less as well. I also have a 2x12 Marshall 1936 speaker cab loaded with two Greenbacks, so I have a good basis of comparison. Didn't mean to get off track with the speakers, but when you hook good speakers up to this little amp, it truly rocks. Plug it into a 4x12 cab and you'll be surprised at how good it sounds. It's not a noisy amp, I think because it's so low wattage. It's a Class A amp, and that gives it a bit of a bite for a teeny little amp. It has teeth. The reverb added by Torres Engineering is really high quality and sounds just like Fender reverb on the bigger Fender amps. Very nice mod and really rounds out the sound quality on this amp. The midrange boost added gives you a nice fat sound if you want it. With the boost on, it seems to get more sensitive to fingers across the guitar strings as you play. However, it gives the amp some more flexibilty and a greater range of expression.

Torres Engineering checked the entire amp out and tuned it up when they did the mods noted above. As a result, the tone is better and the amp sounds stronger, more kick, a bit more top end, which is very nice. I'd say this amp is good to go for another 30 years. This amp has never broken down, but I've only had it since May 2006 when I bought it. Being modified to a head only amp makes it real easy to schlep around. Because of that, I use this as my back up amp. You can easily plug it into your combo amp's speaker and carry on if your larger/other amp dies during a gig. Just put a mic on it and you're there. For church, I play it with the speaker facing me so I can always hear it, and a mic on the speaker feeds the P.A. system.

This is the N/A section for a vintage amp like this. I've been told Fender won't touch these old amps. Not to worry, Torres Engineering or other qualified and experienced amp tech can easily take care of these amps. But make sure whoever works on your amp is good at what they do. I suppose an unqualified/inexperienced tech could ruin it. They are very simple and uncomplicated amps, which is why they sound so good! Warranty? The warranty of this amp most likely expired in 1978, a little while ago...

You can see my other reviews (Dr. Sound Good) for the gear I have. I have a lot of gear and I use it all. I've played guitar for 42 years. Played for audiences for 21 years, mostly church. Played in a commercial Country Western band for a year and a half. Played blues in a couple of bars.. If this amp were stolen I might get a little upset since with everything that's been done to this amp, I've spent a total of about $650 on it, including shipping to Torres and back, and initial purchase, tiny as it is. But to me it's worth it. A little package that makes a big and high quality warm, round, all tube sound. Can't beat tubes, in my opinion, for musicality. I have 2 vintage Fender Princeton Reverb amps, a stock VC, and you can check my other reviews for a complete listing of my gear if you want to.

1966 Fender Vibro Champ.
Very cool practice amp and I am told its excellent to record with in the studio.
1 Channel, Switchable Tube Vibrato, No headphone jack.
I use this to practice in my computer room because it does not get feedback from the monitor.
Its got 6 watts of raw tube power and will run you out of a normal sized room.

I play a ESP KH-2 with dual EMG 81 humbuckers and it sounds great through this little amp!
It will play well all music styles and even sounds good with newer effects pedals through it.
It is dead quiet unless you turn on the vibrato then it has a muffled vibrato sound when you put your ear to it,
I made a really wild sitar sound mixing the vibrato and a Boss Phaser pedal!
The little guy starts to break up at about 6 or 7 and will play clear all the way to 10 unless your using a lot of bass strings.
With a distortion pedal at low to medium volumes it sounds brutal!

This was a gift from the original owner and I am still using the original tubes and speaker!

N/A

I have had this a little over a month now and plan on selling it on eBay to buy a Marshall half stack. That sounds crazy don't it?
I love everything about it but I am poor and need a better Metal amp to play out of.
I wish I had the original pedal with it.

My Vibro Champ was built in 1975 so it's a "Silerface". It's in excellent condition. One channel/Two inputs/Volume/Treble/Bass/tremolo Speed/tremolo Itensity/On-Off switch/Pilot lamp with red jewel. 5Y3 rectifier tube/12AX7 preamp tube/12AX7 tremolo tube/6V6 power tube/RCA footswitch jack for tremolo/6 watts/8" EH replacement speaker. I suppose one could call the Vibro Champ a classic.

Can we agree that these are some of the best sounding small-format low-wattage tube amps ever? I absolutely love this amp. I scored it from a friend who gave it to me for bailing him out of jail. A few years ago I got an inexpensive but surprisingly decent Electro-Harmonix replacement speaker from Elderly Instruments to replace the (no joke) 8" woofer frankensteined from a home stereo speaker that was in the Vibro Champ when it was bestowed upon me. I'm thinking about replacing the EH with a Weber. Probably not a bad idea. I've experimented with a number of different tubes. I currently have a Sovtek 12AX7WA (the lowest power 12AX7 in the Sovtek line) as the preamp tube. It sounds ok, however I would never recommend it to anyone else. It was the only thing at my local guitar store and it sounded better than the Ruby tube I had in there before. I like EH tubes in the pre and power sections, but I'm waiting for delivery of my new JJ/Tesla tubes which I believe will be big time keepers. Also considering using a 12AU7 tube for the Tremolo section. Even with all my tube experiments this amp retains a quality of sound all it's own. When it starts overdriving, it's like eating a buttermilk biscuit. I imagine when I get around to ordering the Weber speaker, it'll be like biscuits n' gravy. I was just commenting to my wife the other day how great the Vibro Champ sounds with just my Tele plugged into it. It's rather odd for me because I'm kind of known for my inclination to plug into a lot of pedals. I'll say it again, I LOVE THIS AMP!

This baby stays at home. The only time it travels is to another studio for session use. It's the only amp I use for recording. Anyone who plays or has played live understands these are not appropriate amps, in most circumstances, for live work. That's not to say it couldn't work.

There are so many damn resources out there for tube amp owners. Things you can't do yourself, it's pretty easy to find a qualified technician. Plus most manufacturers don't support 30 year old equipment, duh!

I think if you've made it this far in my review you already know this has been a Vibro Champ lovefest!

I have a 1976 Fender Vibro Champ (Silverface) all-tube amp. The amp features a 6V6 power tube, a 12AX7 preamp tube and Vibrato (Tremelo) tube, and a 5Y3 Rectifier tube. The original Oxford 8" speaker has just been replaced by a Weber Signature Series ALNICO 8S. Controls are volume, treble, bass, speed and intensity (of the Tremelo), On/Off switch and a standard Fender jewel light. No headphone jack, effects loops or other nonsense to foul up that tone (more on this later). I use this amp for playing around the house and for occasional jams with my buddy. It's not loud enough for much else, unless you mike it at gigs.

What a fool I've been. I've owned a few tube/solid state/digital amps in my time. I thought they sounded great, and to my ears at the time, they did. Then I brought this sorry little amp home and it literally gave me a clinic on what a good tube amp should sound like. Hit an open low E, and it sounds like a piano. That "swirl" that people associate with tube amps is there. It wasn't in my other amps....I thought it was...I didn't know what I was talking about.

I play 2 varieties of Stratocaster - A Japanese Squier Strat from around 1984 that is my favorite, a US Made Fat Strat Texas special from around 2002, and I also spank a really sweet recent Squier Standard Telecaster. I'm a single coil kind of guy, although the Fender has a humbucker, I rarely use it.

My musical style is blues & rock with a heavy emphasis on blues. when I first brought the amp home, the stock Oxford speaker was pretty damn tired. It farted out at anything above 4 on the volume. After much research and hand-wringing, I ordered a Weber 8S online and installed it. To my surprise, the good tones were still there, and the farting-out gone for the most part - it's controllable. Now I can open the amp up to 10 and use the volume on the guitar to clean it up to my liking. Very nice. The breakup is very blues-friendly, and I will probably use my TS808 clone (Jeckle & Hyde) to coax rock sounds out of it, if I care to. There's not a whole lot of clean headroom, although there's more than I expected after I changed the speaker.

Sounds? You can get SRV sounds out of this, as well as James Gang "Funk 49" sounds, Clapton "Layla". As for me, I get really good Jay Northrop sounds out of it, and that's all that matters.


I rate this a 9 because of the still-somewhat-present farting.

It's a 30 year old amp. It's got point-to-point wiring, and a very simple circuit. Any tech whose brain hasn't been damaged due to sniffing glue can fix it.

I bought this from a shop in Lemoyne, and it appeared to have a problem with cutting out, but when I got it home the problem dissapeared. The dude at the shop gave me a nice price on it...knocked about $75 off. I'll buy more stuff off him. ;-)

HA!

I've been playing since 1981. I own 3 other amps; a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10, an Epiphone Valve Special, and a Vox Valvetronix AD30VT. This amp blows them all out of the water, along with any other amp I've ever owned, which includes an Early US made Fender Blues Jr., a Johnson Millennium 150, and various other amps I thought were all that and a bag of chips when I owned them. There is a quality of sound that is lacking in all of my other amps. It's got me thinking about investing in every one I can find until I have a wall of them. The Hot Rod can get somewhat similar sounds, but it's just not the same. The Vox, a great amp in it's own right, can get close, but it's just not the same. The Epi, which is supposed to be a Champ circuit, sounds dark and sparkle-less...it's just not the same. I don't know what the difference is...but thank goodness for it.

I have two of these, one from 1972 and the other 1980. Obviously both are silverface with oxford speakers. Simple, the way I like it. Wish I could have gotten them for less money but overall fits me perfectly. Completely original on both except the 1980 has a new 12ax7 tube and the 1972 a new 6v6. Both had the original tubes when I bought them but they needed to be changed. Also one of the resistors was replaced. My amp tech changed some wiring or something and made the 1980 set up like a blackface from the sixties. They do SOUND different from one another. The 1972 is thinner, clearer, with more bite and the 1980 is thicker, lower tone, with more umph! The 1980 is much louder than the 1972 also. The 1980 was made for Europe with a voltage switch and special plug. Much heavier than the other one. I think this is due to the transformer being much larger.

I love these amps. I use two stock American Strats and one stock American Tele. Clear sounding yet thick when needed. I run through an MXR Dynacomp, Ibanez TS9, and a Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man. The amps work great with and without effects. I love the tremelo on the 1972 but the 1980 is a little fast for my taste. I don't plan on changing the caps though as options are good.
I use these amps in church and slap a shure mic in front of them. We use in-ear moniters so stage volume / competition is not an issue. I just started daisy chaining them together and found I can have more than enough volume with these puppies. Alone they need to be mic'd to be heard on stage, together, you can hear yourself in just about any band situation. Plan on putting a Jensen P8r vintage reissue speaker in one of them to see how it works. Problably the 1980 one since it does tend to "fart out" past 4 on the volume.

Like I said, I've had them both looked at by a tech and he loves these amps. Simple to work on , Class A, straight signal, pure sound. Hand-wired and solid. These amps are used 4-5 times a week and haven't had an issue for the year I've owned them. I owned a Blues Junior and it sounded good but not as good as these. It also had an issue due to the printed circuit board shorting out where the tube plugged in. Not a problem with these. Built better.

Great vintage, tube sound, with lots of presence, and life. I get many compliments from folks for the quality of my sound. Now if I could just get complimented for my playing ability! Great for recording and home / living room use but must be mic'd and run through monitors for stage use unless you get two of them and daisy chain them. I know they don't want super high scores for stuff but I have tried MANY amps / equipment and have to stay within reason budget wise. These amps work great and they are the best I've ever used. If you are always using a sound system to project your sound into the audience, you don't need a half-stack. Just get good sound from a small amp and let the system do its job. Works for me.

Its a pretty straightforward little early silverface. It has just volume, treble, bass, speed and intensity controls from left to right. Its single channel, single 8" amp puttin' out a whopping 6 watts. It really has a cool country twangish sound without the scooped mids. Mind you, that i did get rid of the two 7025 tubes that were in the preamp section and put in a 12AX7 and a 12AT7 to clean things up a bit. As far as service, i couldn't ask for a better practice amp and possible recording amp, and as for the power, its sats6 watts, but its a loud 6 watts. The trem is really nice too withthe tamed preamp, too and, playing mostly country and a little contemporary christian, it serves well as either a great clean tone or a good starting point for a few pedals.

I play mostly twin humbucker style guitars....read as les paul and SG, with an occasional strat thrown in for those Alan Jackson moments when super twang is in order. It does get dirty with the distortion when cranked, but its all power tube grind (Super high gain is a no-show here...just classic OD.), and i control it with guitar volume. It feally suits what i play well. As i mentioned before, it has that twang built in from the factory. the first time i played it, i was supprised at how well my LP knock-off "put on its boots and hat". The bends really did sound good. As for those adverse side effects of an aged tube amp, none were there. The thing sat for 20 years... under its cover. Even if there were issues, we all know what they are and how to avoid and/or fix 'em. the only thing i plan on changing is the speaker. its showing effects of the cone getting a little worse for wear....Voice coil rub and a little rattle. A repro jensen of a eminence 875 will most likely be the replacement.

Its a fender...they're built like tanks. i did have 1 tube go out, but it wasn't one of the originals. It was one i put in to replace and save an original. As soon as i put a the new one, it fired up and kept going....no suprize there.

customer support is a non isue for this one...never needed it, but in the past between fender reps and the website i counld get what i needed. just not at lightnening speed for the oddball stuff

great little practice and recording amp that you can taylor to your tastes with tube and/or speaker changes with gret fender clean tone tha is good alone, but is just as a good base for "pedaling up" your sound. the only thing i wish it has was reverb, but electro harmonix has my favorite something to fix that.

A vintage guitar amp repair dude said it was made in 1977.
I play mostly rock and blues on this amp. It can do both easily. You could play any kind of music with this amp really.
It has one channel and 2 input jacks and tremolo. Wish it had reverb but I use a Boss RV-3 for that which is a great reverb pedal.
I use this amp mostly as a practice amp since it's a teeny 6 watt thing, but I've used it a few times in church: worship music. We rock out as much as we can! It can really put out, however, if you crank it up. I absoutely love the tube sound. Can't beat tubes for musicality in a guitar amp. Nice and warm.

I play a Gibson ES335, Les Paul custom, Eric Clapton signature strat, a 1976 strat, and acoustic guitars with pickups on them. I am mostly a bluesman, but also rock. It is not a noisy amp nor a quiet one. You'll get some buzzing from stage lights thru a strat, for instance, at higher volume levels. It has a kind of boxy thinnish sound to it...not a chunky solid sound like my Fender 65 Reissue Twin Reverb. You can make a lot of different sounds with it, however. It does have range. I haven't played it distorted at high volumes yet..I'll have to give it a go. I have a Boss distortion pedal I use instead of cranking the amp to distortion.

I bought it in 1993. In 1999 during a worhip music gig at church, smoke came out of the input jacks which puzzled me and looking back is hilarious: flaming out my amp in church! The amp was 22 years old at the time, and I doubt it'd ever been serviced. I was very lucky to have a vintage guitar amp guy who is very good at his trade who fixed it and gave it a good going over for $78.71. It's been fine ever since. It has this funny thing it does where one of the tubes just falls out every now and then..lose in the socket...I should get that fixed soon...but you just pop it back in and away you go! I like the simplicity of this little amp. That's very appealing.

Not an issue since the amp was 16 years old when I bought it. It was repaired by a vintage guitar amp specialist in 1999.

I've played guitar for 41 years. I got "you name it"...Marshall JCM 800 full stack, Marshall 8080 stereo Valvestate amp, Digitech GSP 2101 Studio Tube Preamp w/ 100 effects, Fender 65 Reissue Twin Reverb (sweet!), Yamaha 5050 solid state hissy sucky amp! If this amp were lost or stolen I'd be might pissed off! I'd probably get a vintage tube Princeton w/ reverb and tremolo if it got lost or stolen. What I love about this amp is it's tiny and easy to lug around, doesn't bother the neighbors, it's a very polite amp, and that fab tube tone..can't beat it. I do wish it had reverb, like everyone else who owns one. I recommend this amp to anyone who likes little tube amps. It's sweet.

Awesomely Simple!
Only Volume, Treble, Bass, and Vibrato!
No more headaches!

This is where it's amazing.

I'm a session player in New York. Last week I was doing a session at studio in Brooklyn. Of course, they had every amp you could ever want: blackface deluxe, super reverb, pro, and a variety of marshalls.

It's not very often you can have a whole line of these types of amps in a row, to compare the sounds.
To my ears-none of them sounded better than my simple vibrochamp.
It's a tone machine!
Of course, the super reverb is beautiful, but try bringing it on the subway!

I've been using it at gigs and rehearsals. It always keeps up- both volume wise and tone reliability wise.

Amazing!
Their amps are so good you dont even have to call customer support!

Amazing!
Phenomenal!
WOW!

this is a great rectifier tube amplifier, it not only has tone but plenty of volume for just 6 watts! it is a very reliable amp, i got mine at a flea market for 100 bucks and are very happy indeed!! i highly recommend this amplifier!!

i play a 68 strat with stock pickups and find if definitely sounds like a great fender amplifier!!

this a highly reliable amplifier and i trued to overdrive its ass off but it still works!!

it may never be needed

i ve been playing 30 years and it is a good all around amplifier

Very great all tube small amp. Many features that are not available on many of todays smaller amps such as tube rectification or all tube Vibrato. The one major thing it lacks is reverb and I hear a lot of people complaining about this so I found a place that will install true fender reverb http://www.torresengineering.com/. I highly recommend Torres. I am going to have torres do a overhaul on the one I recently purchased and if I decide to have the reverb installed I will post a future review on the amp after the mod.

Better then the sound of many 1000$+ amps I've played. Great clean tone but also able to achieve a wonderful tube break up that is very unique. I do recommend builing a second cab of similar size to the current one with a all pine construction, finger joints, a 10" alnico Weber speaker, and matching grill cloth. That in combination with a speaker switcher (Radial Tonebone) you can switch between the two speakers for the different styles you may need.

****Note**** I highly recommend doing your homework before attempting this. Dropping the Ohm load on a amplifier to low is not good and can harm your amplifier to a point that could be very costly. If you use caution, common sense, and do research you will be greatly rewarded.

The vibrato sound amazing but I have to complain about the sensitivity of the controls. Even the slightest nudge made changes in tempo of up to 30 to 40 cycles a minute (timed it with a metronome). I think I can correct by having the pots replaced. If this is not a issue related to the age of the pots I will look into other solutions to have a finer controll over the speed without sacrificing the wide range it has.

Stock as is .... Not a chance in hell would this survive the road but with proper service, caps, speakers, and tubes on hand I'd take this thing everwhere because of its sound. Maintaining this amp is not as bad as a full blown 100W all tube head since the tubes are cheap and a single trip to Torres Engineering for a overhaul will keep it going for another 30 years. If anything restoring and moding this amp just slighty to your tastes will actually make you trust it more and even give you a sense connection to the amp personally.

Well lets look at this from a standpoint of support from end users, owners, parts suppliers (weber), amp repair shops (Torres), and forums like this.

The customer support is endless because so many people adore these little buggers .... and for good reason. These amps are much easier to work on and not as dangerous as working on a 150W Mesa Tripple Rectifier. You still need you use caution when working with any amplifier but with these the danger is much less then that of a higher power amplifier. The knowledge base of info on these amps is endless and if you want to know something all you have to do is a little searching.

If you are not a do-it-your-self person then any qualified amp repair shop or Torres Engineering will have absolutly no troubles helping you out. I recommend getting your hands dirty though if you have even the slightest desire because you will be greatly rewarded every time you play this thing.

For the money you'd have to be stupid not to take a look at this. This amp is not for everyone though as it is not as versitile as some larger multi-channel amps today but if you realise it place in your setup you will love this amp.

Learning about modifing, maintaining, and repairing this amp has taught me a huge amount about the side of the signal chain that often gets neglected, amplifier input to final change of electric signal to knetic energy that comes from the speaker. It really puts you in the loop on the fact that every pass through something in the signal change effects the final resault of your sound .... including the speaker.

Finally got around to doing a review of the Vibro Champ. Probably not going to add anything hugely profound to the preceding ten million reviews but, hey sometimes you just have to throw your $0.02 in, don't you? (Even though I'm in Britain).
I've got two of these, a '65 and a '68. Both in great condition. Both sound different but the same, if you see what I mean. I actually dig the early silverface cosmetics more than the Blackface. It's just that phrase "Vibro Champ - amp" and the aged turquoise thread grill cloth. But the blackface is kind of classic so, they're both nice, whatever.
Tubes are 1 x 6V6GT, 2 x 12AX7, and a tube rectifier - "GZ" something. Output 6 watts, two channels, 8" speaker in a floating baffle (on the early ones), solid pinewood cabinet, Vol/Treb/Bass/Intensity/Speed, bags of mojo. ah, yes doesn't get much better than this. The reason I and other people play these is their tone, pure and simple. Raw, complex, pure sound. You can hear wood and glass and it's gorgeous.

OK, I'm playing a '52 reissue Tele with antiquities, a Natural Ash US Tele with Joe Bardens and a Koa Gibson '61 reissue SG with a WCR Filmore set. It responds to everything well, even the SG, which surprised me as I thought small Fenders like these would prefer single coils. The amps are dead silent, I mean DEAD silent at reasonable volume levels (up to about 6) with a very slight amount of background tube hiss past that. Nothing noticeable.

The interesting thing is the differences between them. The Blackface is actually slightly louder, with a more versatile tremolo which goes from sl-o-o-o-w to helicopter. The Silverface, on the other hand is a cleaner sounding amp with a more subtle but actually more interesting tremolo. It has a sort of spooky, ethereal shimmer. Both sound different yet equally amazing. The Vibro Champ tremolo is superior generally as it's a tube tremolo. It produces a deep mesmerising pulse that's better than any optoislator trem.

Sounds ranging from rich, spanking Fender clean to the most raucous overdrive you've ever hear can be had either by playing with the amps controls or using the volume/tone controls on your guitar. The thing I really love is the way you can hear so much wood come through and, although I'm using good guitars with great pickups, I feel these amps would draw the best out of anything you put into them. The sounds from these amps make me tingly. What more can you ask than that?

Interesting factoid: the physical characteristics of the small speaker cones in 8" speakers are such that they produce kind of throaty roar that larger speakers don't. True? Search me.

Now, the one criticism I could make about the Vibro champ is it's stock speaker, both tinny crappy utahs in my case. I switched these out for Weber sig 8's and never looked back. At $24.00 a piece, you can't go wrong with them (although I think the price may have gone up to $45.00 now :>( ).

There's no point taking the volume over about 8. It doesn't sound any better and it punishes the little chap for no reason. I read somewhere that "tube amps don't owe you anything before 2 or after 8 on the volume dial". This would seem to be true of the VC.

Responds to effects incredibly well. I've used the following with fantastic results: BOSS DM-2 analogue delay, Big Muff, BOSS CS-1 Compressor, EH Small clone, Small Stone. Looking forward to trying a Keeley Katana Boost on this.

There simply nothing to go wrong, or at least nothing I couldn't fix. The great thing about such a small amp is it's lowly tube compliment. Less tubes = less headaches. It also means you can afford to keep it stocked with the best.
These Vibro Champs have been going for 35 - 40 years and show no signs of slowing down.
Obviously they have to be maintained (I replaced the filter cap cans (these can be had from Vibro world or Antique electronic supply if you need them) and upgraded the cathode bypass caps rom 25uf/25v to 25uf/50v)). Rest assured any love you show it will returned tenfold.

Irrelevant for two amps that are knocking 40.

This isn't a honeymoon review. I've had them both for about seven years. Please note that the glowing "ten" reviews are WITH maintenance and replacement speakers. If you buy one with run down electrolytics and a stock speaker it might not sound that great. When running right, though, I don't believe there's anything that can touch them. I just wish Fender would see the light and start producing an all tube, single ended, pine boxed, hand wired tone monster like the Vibro Champ again.

Fender Vibro Champ. Made in 1978. Not too versatile, but what for it does, it does it really well. Good for rock, good for jazz. Same features as depicted below. Wish it had reverb. Great tremolo, I modyfied it to a slower tempo (just changing a cap), I also removed another cap, so now it doesn't break so early, and there is more clean volume. At 10 breakes nicely. It had a 8" speaker, and I put a 10" Weber VTS (10A100, 3.2k). Now it's a serious amp, I take it to gigs, just hanging a mic to the P.A. Great amp.

Not noisy at all. Original valves & caps still. Great for recording.

Been playing for 20 years.
I Owned: '64 Fender bassman (blackface), '66 fender Showman (blackface), Mesa Boogie DC5, Marshall valvestates, Yamahas, etc.
I don't miss any of them. This amp is all I need.
Change the speaker for a "10 Weber, you'll have to modyfie the board, but you won't regret it.

This is a 1970 AA764 vibrochamp 6 watt all tube amp. I searched Hi and Lo for this little gem. I had one 25 years ago when I played my Ibenez "Law Suit" Les paul through it. The last of the cool old time low wattage amps. I play blues and classic rock. This is just what a middle aged guy with kids and a wife needs, not to excessively loud but loud enough to get good speaker breakup on about 7 or 8. My only gripe is that it doesn't have reverb. I give it a 9 because of no reverb.

I play a Godin (pronounced go-DAN) exit 22 which is a very versitle guitar for under $500.00. You could play any style of music through this thing. Had to replace the original Sylvania 12ax7. It was very noisy before but now it is as quiet as any solid state practice amp out there. I get good breakup at about 7 or 8 on the volume but get really ballsy distortion with my RealTube distortion pedal and crybaby wah peddal (I like that Clapton, Vaughn, and Hendrix sound and style). Real sweet tone. This is one of those amps that Fender should reissue.

This thing is 35 years old and all of the tubes and the speaker (altough I replaced the original with a Jensen Cr8) with the exception of the preamp tube are original. I would definitly gig this thing miced up in a small venue with out even the thought of needing a backup.

Never had to call. Don't think I ever will have too.

I just started playing again after a 25 year break. I told my wife my midlife crisis would either be a ferarri, a 20 year old nimpho blond, or a guitar setup and lucky for all I chose to pick up the guitar again. If someone stole it I would definitely call the guys at Galaxy Music in Stone Mountain, GA and have them put me back on the wish list for another one (after I hunted down and seriously killed the guy who took it). This thing has the classic Fender tone in an amp that I can play on my back Porch without disturbing my neighbors.

68 or 69 silverface VC, all original tubes except for the 6v6 which I had to replace last week (with another used original RCA). It's plenty versatile enough for me, especially with a footswitch for the tremolo.

It's my number one amp, I've used quite a bit of other gear and nothing quite compares to the tone of this amp, so I use it nearly exclusively, even (mic'd) at larger venues.

I use a late 60s (or early 70s) knockoff LP called a "grande" as my primary guitar, and an Ibanez GAX-70, and a late-model mexican deluxe super strat. The amp performs well with both pickup styles, and gives a clean tone up to about 5-6, then starts to break up into a warm overdrive at higher volumes.

I get *ZERO* noise from this amp. Period.

Setup:
guitar -> zoom gfx5 -> old "memory man" chorus -> boss DS-1 -> vibro champ

It's older than I am. The only thing that's ever been replaced on it is the 6v6 tube, and I did that last week... not too bad for an amp that's pushing 40 years old.

eh? who needs it?

Got the amp from my dad, who got it from someone else in the late 70's or early 80's. I've had a number of different amps over the years, and nothing has come close. If it were to get stolen, the thief can rest assured that I will find who he is, hunt him down, break his elbows/kneecaps, render him permanently sterile, and take back my amp.

This is a 1977 Fender Vibro-Champ in original condition. Very basic features HOWEVER they actually do something sound-wise. L to R Volume, Treble, Bass, Speed, Intensity. It has the original Oxford 8" speaker and RCA tubes; 1 x 6v6, 2 x 12ax7, 5AR4 rectifier. Looks almost mint!

I bought this amp as a simple practise amp and for quiet jamming with my band. Instead of going for a cheap Solid State (and I nearly went the Vox Pathfinder 15R) I caught the vibe of a vintage amp and scored the Vibro-champ instead. I play single coild guitars mainly although I do own a MIJ '72 Reissue Tele. My U.S Standard Tele sounds superb through this amp! Up to 5 on the master the sound is sparkly clean Fender and after that it gets "gritty" up to 10 which is a beautiful ballsy overdrive. My Rickenbacker 1997 Reissue also sounds great. Tremelo is very inspiring and can be tweaked for a number of sounds. Having played this amp for 3 months it puts my other gear to shame. Dead quiet too. Gets very loud for only 6 watts...but they're tube watts!!

This thing is almost 30 years old and point to point hand wired. Reliability isn't an issue however my amp tech (and ANY amp tech worth their salt) knows how to work on them and has a healthy opinion of vintage Fender gear.

Never dealt with Fender but this amp would be WAY out of warranty anyway.

I've been playing guitar for about 30 years now and own or have owned a lot of gear. This little amp lives up to all the hype and then some. A great practise amp and well worth the money. Now I've started thinking about a Silverface Princeton! If you can get one of these then do it, you will not regret it.

1971 Silverface purchased used in 1981. Features are well described in other reviews. Used for home jamming and recording, and parties. Would never guess it is 6 watts by the sound - that's what tubes and a Class A amp do for ya! It can play plenty LOUD for home/party/small venues. Blew the original speaker in the 90's and replaced it with a Pyle Driver - didn't really change the tone (thankfully). Otherwise, tubes and all are stock.

Play it with a standard Strat, a 70's-vintage Les Paul copy, and Washburn acoustic/electric. Sounds great with all. EXTREMELY clean sound! Whether playing clean, through my vintage Tube Screamer, or the Zoom 505 II, it sounds truly awesome!

Have had no problem whatsoever other than blowing the speaker, which given its age and my playing was clearly my fault. Its coming up on 34 years of age and still ROCKS!

N/A

Playing since early 70's, a bit of every genre. Would definitely look on eBay for another if this gem went missing.

This is a review for my 1973 Silver Face Vibro Champ. Mine came all original and i changed the speaker to a WEBER, and the tubes are Ei 12AX7 Gold Elites, JJ 6V6-S, and a NOS RCA 5Y3. Its sound was OK before these changes, but AFTER these changes the clean tone and tremolo especially are better than any other amp ive owned as i will explain. My review is for the way it sounds after these changes so here we go...

Features Volume, Treble, Bass, and for tremolo - Speed, Intensity. 8 inch speaker, 4 Ohm, 6 watts output from its 6V6 tube. I give it a 9 because i wish it had reverb, but i know from looking inside, you can't fit anything else in there! :)

Its quietest amp i've ever heard. Its clean sound is so pure it amazes me everytime i turn it on. You can crank it up and get superb natural overdrive and since its only 6 watts you can crank it up and its not too loud. You can gig with it if you mic it of course. The tremolo is the most warm, pure, pulsing sound i've ever heard. Nothing i've ever played has come close to this... Even custom shop fender amps i'd sad to say (is tremolo really so har dto make?!) It works great with pedals and with my analogman modified fuzz face (NOS NKT-275) it transforms me into eric clapton when i play "sunshine of my love"

This amp is over 30 year old and all original. It came with the original speaker and the original fender tubes. All of which still works. I replaced the speaker and tubes for sound reasons only. I don't think you can get better reliability than that so i give it a solid 10

This amp is vintage, I can't really rate it here because fender hasn't made it in over 30 years.

I can't say enough good stuff about this amp. You can find them on eBay for 150-400 dollars depending on the year. You'll spend about another 80 bucks on a good weber speak and some Ei gold elites and/or JJ tubes and then WOW. You have an amp that will put any current production fender amp to shame in its tremolo, clean tone, and quite-ness. Best bag for the buck!

This is a followup from the review I posted 3 reviews down. I serviced the amp myself. I replaced each bias cap and the filter cap. Bought sprague atoms, tubes and a new Jensen speaker from ampsandmore.com in Arizona. With point to point wiring, the cap replacement was easy. No biasing was needed as these amps are self bias.

Wow! Tone comes out of this little guy that you can stick a fork into it and bite off a huge piece. First of all, the farty speaker is a thing of the past. The new Jensen probably did the trick over the stock speaker(which I still have in a box).

This amp is quiet. Clean sounds are 3 dimensional with nice bite when you dig into the strings. Overdrive is smooth with attitude and best of all---fart free!

For grins, I connected this amp up to a Dr Z 1x12 cabinet and this amp sounded great as well. Just more full due to the 12' speaker.

I really wish I had this simple and great tone in a 18 watt equivalent.

I paid around $50 for the servicing. I now want to keep the amp as it's perfect for practicing quietly or when volume doesn't need to get loud.

If theres an amp with 18 watts out there with this kind of tone, I'd really want that if lost or stolen.

These little amps are really fun to have and I recommend one for you tube lovers out there.

My mom bought this silver face Fender VibroChamp brand new for my dad for Christmas in 1973. I was 9 and was with her. Technically its still belongs to him, but it has been in my house for the last 15 years. It is a single channel all tube amp with a very musical tremolo circuit built in, 5 watts through an 8 inch speaker. I used this to record all of my lead guitar parts when my former band recorded our CD last summer. Great for clean and mildly distorted sounds. You have to dial in one sound at a time, but wow what greats sounds. Reverb would be nice, but I don't really mind it not being there. I give it an 7 only because you can't change sounds and the (non-tremolo) controls are limited to volume, bass, and treble so it isn't really flexible in a performance setting.

My mid-80s American Standard Telecaster with stock pick-ups and this amp sound like they were made for each other (I guess in a way they were). Through my other amps that guitar sounds too thin or just plain wimpy. Through the Champ it sparkles and gets a really rich sound. My 1970 Les Paul Deluxe with a Seymour Duncan humbucker in the bridge position and a P90 in the neck position sounds great through it too. This amp is not loud enough for clubs but it really can keep up with all but the loudest drummers. It is sometimes hard to believe that it is only 5 watts. It is great for practice and recording. Sounds range from sparkling clean with the volume up to 5 to light overdrive around 8 to an almost fuzz box like buzz with humbuckers and the volume at 10.

It has worked perfectly for 30 years with just two exceptions. 1. a loose ground wire that had to be fixed about 15 years ago. And 2. the power switch needs to be replaced. The switch works, but it doesn't click into position so you have to hope it doesn't slide back to off. I just ordered a replacement switch so that problem will be gone soon.

Never had to deal with Fender directly.

I've been playing for 26 years and have used this amp for practice, to perform with my first band, and in a professional recording studio. If it were lost or stolen, after crying for a week I would definitely look for another. My other amps are an early '80s Peavey Classic VT and a Hughes & Kettner Attax 100 head and Hughes & Ketter Vortex 4x12 cabinet. The Vibro Champ is a great little practice/recording amp. Also, good in low volume perfomance situations. If you want to make eardrums bleed, look elsewhere. I think Leo Fender originally envisioned this as a beginners practice amp. It definitely exceeds that goal by miles. I haven't compared it directly with the older black face or tweed Champs, which I guess would be better, but I can't see how. If you find one of these at a garage sale, I think you'll be pleased.

Amp was made in November, 1964. Bought it at a garage sale in the country from a fireman who used it for years for the friday dance. Thing has been well used. Versatility? It's been said here already--there aren't many knobs on this puppy. Plug in and play. I wish it had reverb, but that's easy enough to add with FX box, as others have pointed out. The unique beauty of this 6-watt, Class A amp is that you can push it, as tubes are meant to be pushed, without ear-splitting volume. You can easily play at 8 with an absolutely luscious, saturated tube tone and not have the neighbors call the cops (well, okay, running an FX board through it cranked the power some and once summoned our local law enforcement:)It's strictly a practice amp or recording amp, not a stage amp. But it can be pushed to its highest volume and sound wonderful, plenty loud for home.

In a word, gorgeous. I mostly play a G&L ASAT semi-hollow Bluesboy through it. Sounds awesome through the VC. I replaced the tubes only recently with eurotubes, which give it a nice breakup around 5-6, with dynamite touch sensitivity. Lay on the strings and get breakup; back off and get fat tones. Thinking of experimenting with a 10" speaker. When running Zoom GFX8 board through it, power gets major boost. Result is little 8" speaker cannot handle humbucker in neck position. But the extra power boost would be better received by a bigger-sized speaker. I play jazz/blues and love, too, to get dirty. For that, I add a metal zone Boss pedal, which adds rich distortion to an already fat sound. I play it at home, have gigged with it only a couple times (mic'd). It's pretty much a one-trick pony. Excellent for blues/jazz. I tried using a Y plug out of the guitar and running through two amps, the VC and a Fender DSP (for effects). That actually sounded pretty cool--the straight fat round against, say, a reverb/chorus or reverb/delay.

Amp is 40 years old in a few months and everything is original except the tubes I replaced a month ago. I'd called that bitchin' by any standard!

Nada. Haven't had the need to. Lots of info online. I'm going to rank this high, because they built a simple tank, which I call excellent customer support.

Been playing just over 30 years. Have run the gamut of styles and still am driven by this wildy beautiful instrument. I own a MIJ strat from the early 80s, another fender practice amp, and have bought and sold many guitars and a few amps, from Marshall to Sunn. Am more into a learning mode these days, pushing, pushing, pushing the knowledge base. You start with zep and somewhere stumble onto Joe Pass, Martino, Gambale--and the journey keeps going. This amp is killer for practice, low-key friendly neighborhood-tolerable jams. I'm in the market for a stage amp, but not just yet. Meantime, I'll always keep this little VC because it sounds tube pure, no frills, just straight on tone. Clapton played a champ on the Layla album. Enough said!

1972 model that I bought used at a local shop. I traded a Crate 4x12 cabinet and gave $60 cash for it. I play blues and rock, so this amp really is great for the blues stuff. I never liked many options, so this amp is great for me. Volume, treble, bass, speed and intensity. I'm very pleased with my ability to dial in a great tone with this amp.

I play USA strats and a Les Paul. I will say that I love the way the Strats sound with this amp. Humbuckers overdrive the amp too much and causes too much speaker breakup/farting.
This amp nails a really classic blues tone. It's all tube! I wanted a nice tone machine that is quiet but can be cranked to get good overdrive tube sound. As for distortion, think Suzy-Q or some of the old blues sounds. It's a blues amp for sure. I did try distortion pedals, but the speaker farts too much. I really like the amp just alone!
I had an ART MR-1 reverb box laying around, so I connected it up and WOW, instant mini deluxe-reverb! I'm going to take this amp out to a blues jam or two and see how it sounds through a mike and PA. It's easy to carry and only weighs 20lbs.
This amp is due for new caps and resistors and a tube job. I think everything minus the 3 prong cord is original. This speaker farts beyond 6 on the volune with the neck pickup all the way. I think a replacement speaker will fix that. I'll have to post another review should I decide to do all this. I don't want to hack it up and ruin the value of the amp if I don't keep it long. However, I'm enjoying it too much and don't want to sell it right now.
Due to the original speaker, I only dock a point. The amp sounds amazing otherwise.

32 years old, all original and still sounding great. Fender made a great amp! The chassis is all metal and the tube sockets are mounted to the chassis.
I'll have to replace the caps and such, but that's what all tube amps require!

I've been playing 22 years. I play blues and rock. With this amp, I play bluesy stuff only. Yes, I would buy another one of these if lost or stolen.
I think with another speaker I'd eliminate the farting of the speaker. It goes away when I roll off the guitar volume a little.

I love that this amp is small and can be played virtually anywhere. It can be cranked without rattling the house and causing ear bleed. Cranked, you get a super nice overdrive tube sound. The clean sounds are to die for as well. This amp is also nice when the family is sleeping and you can play quietly. If taken to a jam, just mike it!

Not very versitile. I set all the tone knobs to ten since they are not very wide ranged.

The Champ amps are the kind of equipent that actually inspire for songs. Of course this is a creativity no-no but not many pieces of equipment do this. The stonesy raunchy crunch that comes out of this little box is actually very inspiring. You aren't gonna go from SRV to Cannible Corpse and back to The Yardbirds with this thing but the tone you do get is endearing and unique to the tube champs. The vibrato doesn't have alot of range but what you do get is a nice bouncy lo-fi warble.

I have 3 champs (a blackface and siverface vibrochamp and a silverface champ)and a thing i noticed is that the fuses on these things tend to be short-lived. Also the volume output from one champ to another is very different. Some are weak and some make the windows rattle a bit. But the tones are always grooving.

Fender is a big conglomerate these days and may soon be making aircraft engines. American companies can have great or awful customer service depending on how big they are. I have noticed that British music gear makers have always been friendly and helpful unlike American companies like Fender. So I avoid 'em. The champs are old anyway and I probably wouldn't even get a human if i called a Fender toll free number.

These are such great little gems for recording. Their prices are going up and I want to sell mine but I'd sure miss them if i did sell 'em. Not to mention that I got all three very cheap from fairly clueless chain pawn shops years ago (who are now catching on to their value). Suckkkaaaaaahhhhhhssss!

1964 blackface Fender Vibro-champ. This thing is fantastic for me, as I tend to play solo or with light percussion. I've a larger Princeton combo, but except for the reverb I far prefer this little kitty-cat.
I feel very in control of my sound with it.

I mostly use my Telecaster through it. The bridge pickup is like a live wire on that guitar, so i'll get pretty loud and a bit dirty with the volume at around 6. occasionally i'll use a distortion pedal on it, or an analog delay to make up for the lack of echo.
Great for solo performers like myself.

Very dependable. I've replaced the speaker once in 10 years, and I'm pretty sure that the old one was the original. I'll give it a "9" only because it is a very low-watt amp...One could blow this thing up real good.

N/A

1968, 6 watt, one channel, Volume , Treble, Bass, Tremolo (speed & intensity. I use this amp as a practice amp at home. Hardly ever use the tremolo. Like Blues and Jazz tone and sounds so this amp nails it.

I use a Les Paul at first with 490's and now with Seth Lovers. This amp has great tone with the origional Oxford speaker at a low volume. The Oxford has a seamed ribbed cone which produces a woody/reedy and aggressive tone and does a good job of it. However the amp and speaker in particular was breaking up to early for a house party or the like. Also the speaker didn't like the low E on the Les Paul. NOW HERE'S THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS REVEIW.
Fender made a great little practice amp with a weak speaker. Weber makes ten inch speakers in 3.4, & 4 ohms that will fit into the Champ cabinet's. All you have to do is make a new sound board or simply recut the hole to the left so that a ten inch will fit in. I bought two Weber speakers, a 10A100 4ohm, and a 10F150 4ohm. The 10A100 is is my favourite for its warm Alnico vintage tone. Just like the Guitar player review says its Angelic at a low volume. See WWW.WEBERVST.COM A 10A125 would do just as well if not better. The 10F150 has a huge bottm end, good for a Les Paul playing Rock with lots of effects, real clear and it won't be breaking up any time soon with a 6 watt amp.
This amp is the quietest Fender I've had. No irritating hiss here. My Deluxe Reverb and Hotrod Deluxe both were noisy.

This is a 1968 and it works beautifully, need I say more.

A couple other things. One reviewer below said that other tubes really helped his amp, well I tried them and they made no appreciable difference with mine. Maybe new tube's was all that was needed or a better connection on existing one's.
Also another reviewer said to make sure the Tremolo is turned off or it sucks tone. Well I tried that to and if the Intensity knob is turned to one on my amp it made no difference. You could save the cost of a vintage Fender (tremolo)switch, buy buying an RCA connector at Radio Shack and soldering the two leads together. That would turn the trem circuit off and if you want the trem just unplug it.
Great sounding little amp, with a 10 inch speaker, strong enough to play a house party.

Mine is a gorgeous 1965 model in amazing condition. It's a basic amp for a basic purpose. The tremolo is amazing. Wish it had reverb, but it wasn't a deal-breaker. I would love to find a good deal on a footswitch for the tremolo, but RCA switches can be a pain to find, and expensive. I use this amp primarily for jamming at home, writing songs, playing with new toys, and recording. This amp is definitely the foundation of my tone, with a Tubescreamer and no frills. Tube rectifier is sweet, I don't care what the amp manufacturers say.

I currently have it loaded with Electro-Harmonix tubes and a Weber AlNiCo speaker. This thing truly sings! I love the tone at around 6 or 7 on this thing, and the Weber speaker certainly can handle the extended play at these volumes. If you want the sound of a Fender Deluxe or Bassman, but at bedroom volumes, get a Champ or Vibro Champ. I can crank it to 6, keep my hearing, not piss off neighbors, and still get power-tube saturation! In the studio, the lower volume is great for highly-sensative mics. My rig looks like this:

Fender Telesonic or Bastard Esquire -> Ibanez Tubescreamer (reissue) -> Ibanez Delay -> Fender Vibro Champ

With the Tubescreamer, this thing has lots of bite and great tone, a good overdriven tone without losing string definition. I would love to get a TS-808 instead of the TS-9, or maybe a TS-9 modded to 808 specs. The amp itself overdrives nicely around 8 or 9, too.

Well, it IS almost 40 years old. I've had to retube twice since I bought it three years ago, and the second time required a couple new caps and a resistor. The electrolytic and remaining caps are all original, and doing fine! The power plug has been replaced with a grounded 3-prong. The original Fender Special Design speaker developed a hole that began to tear, so when I found a great deal on a Weber P8R, I picked it up and swapped. I'll be re-coning the Fender speaker eventually, but with the Weber, I'm in no hurry. I highly advise this replacement to anyone with a vintage Vibro Champ, I now feel fully comfortable playing the amp dimed!

Never dealt with Fender for support.

I've spent twice as much on tubes and repairs as I did on the amp, but it's been worth it. I play this thing for an hour a day or more, so it definitely gets it's use. And no other amp I've ever recorded has ever sounded so pure and punchy. I would replace this thing in a heartbeat if it ever was stolen, shortly after running the thief through a blender. Once I find a reverb that matches it's great tone, I'm set.

This is the first amp i got, something like 20 years ago... Good practice /recording amp.
6 watts, 5 knobs... Tremolo is cool, so I'll give it a 4...

Very good clean sound, until you crank the volume passed 6. I think it's a one trick pony, good for blues and country!! But if you crank it passed 6-7, it doesn't sound very good, partly due to the small speaker... Still an interesting amp to have because of the "mojo" it has, but frankly there's a lot of amps, tube and ss that sound just as good, and have more features...

Well, the thing runs pretty hot!!! It caught fire once!!! But considering all the beating i gave it in the last 20 years, and that it costed only 25 canadian dollars to have it repared, it certainly deserves a 9.

Seems to be very easy to repaire, and every tech i know seem to be familiar with the thing, and apparently have parts for these old amps is easy.

I've been playing for about 20 years, and i also own 2 other amps: H&K Edition Tube (20W) and a h&k Tour Reverb (ss 100W)... It's a cool amp, but i have better amps so i don't use it very much... I'm actually thinking of having it modified so i can use a cabinet with it, instead of the little speaker. I like its small size and look, i take it with me when i go on vacation... If it was lost or stolen, i would probably just forget about it. A good little watter, but i think that its reputation is a little bit overrated.

Well, five knobs - right? What's a little amp need but a plug next to the toilet? I guess i miss the reverb but ain't complaining. Mine's from the first production batch of the first year produced ('64 Blackface) and is all stock. Two channels work great for my studio "Y" cord.

I play a '60 ES-355 (w/original PAF's and a '69 Fender Tele w/ factory Bigsby. Pure, simple, sparkling tone. When I through a Klon Centaur into the mix - this amp goes to 11 (in the bedroom, of course - your not gonna crumble the walls of Shea Stadium with it). The vibrato is real quite and at the higher ends of the volume knob distorts out pretty well. But for ear-shot, i usually play just over 7.

Well, it's nearly forty years old and the only thing replace is the three-prong cord.

Have never had to call Fender ever.

A wonderful little bedroom amp with alot of character. Light and easy to move over to the next room if someone doesn't care for your tenth go at "There, There" or "This Charming Man".

1965 Blackface One channel Vol,Bass,Treble,Speed and Intensity
All One really needs to add would be reverb...The Vibro Champ does
the rest

I play mostly Strats, a 62' reissue,a mij 62' ,a 6120 Gretch (vintage
1962) and a Gibson ES 295 (1952).I play BLUES...and this little baby
has turned many a head let me tell ya! Each of my guitars have a distinct and clear vioce of there own...My USA made 62 Strat has the
Buddy Guy tone from say...The Buddy Guy / Junior Wells period,The MIJ
is more SRV,the 6120 and the 295...well it's down right spirtual peole. The only up grade has been Tubes of course and I put a 8"
Fat-Cat (a Buy-Product of Guitar CPR.) My good friend and amp guru
Charlie Powers does all my work and the champ circuit is his favorite
and we both enjoy what he does for a livin' He builds these speakers from scratch they are incredible ,if you ever see one ...buy it! You wont be sorry...Set the volume on 3,sounds sweet in the livin room and the wife don't complain,5 She's breathin' better startin to break
up some, 7 Oh yeah very nice, people's eye's start ot pear toward your rig..smiling in disbelief..I just Drop a SM 57 in the back an go to the board...This amp is loud for 6-8 watts but you will need to mike it in bigger rooms..My guitars volume nob acts more like a gain
control when she cranked, add the tone controls and possiblities are
almost endless..It can be very sweet and clean or as brutal as you like with pedals...But the more I play this little amp,the fewer pedals I need and thats No Jive

knock on wood baby she has never let me down yet...I keep tubes and fuses on hand ..Almost 40 years old and goin strong...and if so my ol' bud Charlie is not far away.If indeed you have one like this you can expect to replace the original speaker eventually,they simply can't handle it and blow

I have never had to deal with Fender, besides vintage amps generaly dont have much of a warranty

I've been Playin' for about 35 years and I've had several different
amps in my life, Tube and S.S. None of them sound like My Vibro Champ
I've got a 59 Bassman ri I use on big shows and outdoor gigs,an old Premier (40's) and a Legend A30.
If it were stolen or lost I'd replace it and still be mad as hell
Good Blackfaces are hard to find and even harder to buy
What do I love about this amp...everything...What do i hate about it ..The thoughts of some fuck stealing it

6 watts? Amazing! I've actually played with drummer using this 1968 Vibro Champ. of course, it was on 10 and struggling to be heard.

5 knobs!

Low noise. Typical Fender clean sparkle. Vibro sounds great. Overdriven is sounds like van Halen or Stevie Ray Vaughn.

I have always used it with Boss pedals for overdrive. Cranking the amp for overdrive has been interesting however.

Blew out the speaker however. Now what?

Still has the original tubes from 1968 and they work great. Has the original fuse too I think. I bought the amp in 1979 from a guy at work. I've been playing on it daily since then without any problems other than fnally blowing out the speaker. The on off switch is intermittant and requires a little jiggling. The light is out.

The two prong ac plug has attributed to an occasional severe electrical shock. One must make sure to install the plug properly into the wall. Everyone should use a Ground fault circuit interrupter to protect themselves from electrocution (death) or worse!

I've been playing since 1969.
Been playing the Vibro Champ since 1979.
I also has a dozen other amps.
I play old Les Pauls.
I've used the Vibro Champ to write a hundred songs.
If it was lost or stolen I would buy a new Fender amplifier as I think they finally sound as good as these old guys. How Fender stayed in business thru the 70's, 80's and 90's is amazing. What a bunch of crap! But now when I go to the music stores I'm surprised how well the Fender solidstate amps sound.

6 loud watts of power. Straight forward controls and classic Fender sound. It nails the blues tone I am looking for perfectly. Overdrives with a warm compressed sound on 5 or 6 volume. Mine is a '66 Blackface bought over the internet. This also is a good amp to back up acoustic players when using strat pickups set on the 2 & 4 switch positions. With the guitar volume backed off to 8 it has a really nice compressed percussive bell-like tone.

This amp nails the Tab Benoit - Tommy Castro type blues tone real well. Mine was stock except the speaker was upgraded to a 10 inch Mojotone. I would describe the tone as a warm compressed overdriven sound. (I'm a little puzzled by the reviews describing the amp with a clean sound?) I play mine with a Holy Grail reverb pedal and it honestly sounds comparable to my Princeton Reverb (but with more growl). I mention this Holy Grail pedal 'cause I missed the reverb sound.

After playing for 35 yrs I wanted to save the remaining of my hearing. I play a hollow-Tele style with 3 strat pickups and another hollow-Tele style with Air Nortons and a FastTrack 1 in between (Dimarzio). Guitars are flame/quilt maple over southern ash and are very vibrant in tone with good pop. The Vibrato on the ampis the best I've ever heard. With all the good reviews already listed, I wrote this primarily to mention using the reverb pedal with it which gives this amp the best lower volume blues tone I have ever heard bar none.

I have a crybaby, Mosfet Distortion and flanger but the straight amp tone is so good I almost never use the pedals. The overdriven tone just soars with the Ibanex Mosfet distortion. Having said that, the amp seems to sustain notes really well without any pedals.I'd describe the amp as sort of a one trick pony tonewise, but the tone is fantastic!

I use the amp for blues but grab it if I'm backing up acoustic players and keep my volume on the guitar on 8. I play the amp usually on volume 5 or 6 which has been fine for jamming with other players w/o the drums and bass. I am presuming my 10"speaker has added some volume? I really love the tone the thing has!

Been fine for me - no problems.

Not contacted Fender. Getting service and info on the these amps is easy and tubes are simple to find.

I would get another and recommend it for anyone wanting that cranked Fender tone with lower volumes. I like the simplicity of it and greatly appreciate how well all the notes articulate with the wonderful nuances of expression and tone. It captures your playing style so you can mold it to the groove you want.

My VC is circa 1977 in very good condition. It has the original speaker which I'm considering replacing with a Kendrick or Weber. I'm a big fan of jangly guitar (Telecaster, Rickenbacker, etc.) ala Byrds, Beatles, Tom Petty. I like playing a guitar and amp just at the edge of breakup and the Vibro Champ is perfect for that. It's best feature is that it is hard to make it sound bad.
I sometimes see VCs for $250 and more, but I paid $150 in a music store in Sunnyvale, CA in 1994. Even at $250, it's a great deal.

My beater guitar is a Mako Telecaster copy. This guitar sounds quite good through the VC. My other guitars are Rickenbacker hollowbodies--a six and a twelve string--both with old style toaster top pickups. The VC really enhances the chimey sparkle of these guitars. I like to run it at a volume between 6 and 10 with the treble around 5 and the bass at 5-7. My VC is really quiet--almost no hum and only a little hiss even when dimed.
One thing that I've noticed is that the tone with the tremelo on is crappy UNLESS the intensity is above 3. So, if you aren't using the tremelo, be sure that it's switched off. When it's on it radiacally changes the bias of the second 12AX7 stage even with the intensity at 0. I think this is why some people think the tone sucks.

When I first bought it I replaced all of the tubes except the tremelo 12AX7. That was about 9 years ago. It's due for a new 6V6. I've never had any trouble with it as a practice amp.

Not an issue with this amp.

I've been playing guitar for about 15 years (late starter). My first tube amp was a red (gack!) Champ 12 (class A 6L6 with awful preamp section). I've modified this amp to make it's tone tolerable and I often use it in an asymmetrical stereo setup with the Vibro Champ. I also have a mid-70's Deluxe Reverb which I love. It's just too loud for most of my playing situations. The Vibro Champ is my "go to" amp. I'd like to try it through a 2x10 or 2x12 cabinet to see what kind of bottom end the amp actually has.

Early 1970's silver-face Fender Bronco, which is the same amp as the silverface Fender Vibro Champ from the same era. Only the front panel logo differs. Fender AB764 circuit. One 6V6 power tube, one 12AX7A (or 7025) preamp tube, one 12AX7A tube for the vibrato, and one 5Y3 rectifier tube. 6 watts. Eight inch Oxford speaker. Five controls on the front panel: Volume, Treble, Bass, Speed and Intensity (for the on-board vibrato). Although the amp has minimal controls, it does what it was intended to do very well. Tone for days. All this amp needs in order to be perfect is Fender Reverb. In order to get that, you had to go to the next step up in the Fender line - the Fender Princeton Reverb.

The classic Fender tube sound, at a volume level that is perfect for recording. Stick a Shure SM-57 in front of it and you're ready. At low volume settings the amp is nice and clean. Crank it up and you'll get some classic Fender tube distortion. Of course, this is not a high gain amp. However, it works well with distortion pedals. I use mine with a Danelectro Grilled Cheese, with the resonance control on the pedal set for a fairly dark tone. Another note: Fender never got around to changing the circuit on the silverface Champs, Vibro-Champs, and Broncos, so they sound like a blackface Fender amp.

Old Fender tube amps last forever. Even the tubes last a very long time. Simply a great amp design.

This amp has never been serviced. If needed, I can easily change the tubes myself.

You can hear this amp on the Mandolin Wind project recordings at http://wingspreadrecords.com

Also, see the Mandolin Wind "Recording Notes" page on the Wingspread Records website for comments on this amp.

77' SF Vibrochamp.
I got it stock, nearly "NOS". Even the tubes are original (GE and Sylvanias I think), and they work very well.
Features are just what I like : simple, effective, and a very nice trem to have some fun.

THESE AMPS ARE NOT BIASED CORRECTLY WHEN IN STOCK CONDITION !!!
When Fender switched the Champ to BF circuitry in 1964, they swapped the tiny power tranny of the Tweed Champ with bigger Princeton tranny.
Indeed, the voltage went up in the amp, but Fender "forgot" to rebias correctly the amp, to suit the higher B+ voltage.
This is why Champs (and VChamps) sound so crappy when pushed (very assymetrical distortion), have a limited clean headroom, and blow 6V6 quickly.

Rebiasing the amp is an easy mod, and makes the amp sounds very good. You get way more clean headroom (the crunch appears around 7/8), and the distortion is more musical.

I'd rate the amp 4.5/5 for clean tones (gorgeous clean sound) and 3.5/5 for crunchy tones. So I give a 8 for that category.

PS : I tried a few mods with that puppy. Removing the Negative Feedback Loop Resistor helps if you want a fatter, looser, crunchier tone.
A mod very common on Champs is to remove the tone circuit, and replace it with a 0.022uF 600V cap (ala Tweed 5F1 Champ). The change is terrible to my ears. The amps starts to distorts around 2/3, and compresses a lot. The sound is very dirty, crunchy, loose and farty. The trem too becomes very muddy (because the signal is always distorted, even at low volume)

Anyway I don't like those mods, because to my ears a Champ isn't a crunch machine, they are made for clean to slightly crunchy tones.
For ewample it is easy to nail the "Derek & The Dominos" tone, but you'll have to hit the strings really hard to make the amp distorts. And that's where the fun is !

The trem on VChamps is excellent. It beats hands down the crappy optic trem of bigger BF amps (it is the bias-vary trem, which can be found on some Brownies).

This amp is very pedal friendly AFTER THE REBIAS, just like any BF amp. The mids are slightly scooped, which makes the TS-style pedals more natural sounding.

The stock Oxford speaker is POO !!! It looks like a toy (anyway, it IS a toy). I plug my VChamp im my 1962 Super speakers.
I think I'll get a Jensen C8R. They are cheap and I'm sure it will be way better than the stock crap.

Because of the wrong biasing of stock Champs, the amp blows tubes quickly.
With a good rebias it become very reliable, just like any good old Fender.
Fresh electrolytics caps are nice too. Don't forget them.

hummmm...

I don't know why everybody raves about the Champs / VChamps crunch tone. If you want CRUNCH get a Brownie ! No other substitute !
Anyway, they are good clean amps. I add a Boss OD1 to have some drive.
The trem is very funny.
I'm sure they would be giggable with a good efficient 10" speaker (Weber C10NQ ?)

IF YOU WANT ANY INFO ABOUT THE BIAS MOD DROP ME A LINE. I'LL BE HAPPY TO HELP YOU.

Silverface, mid 1970s model Fender Vibro Champ. Simple, simple simple. One channel with volume, treble, bass, and vibrato controls. The two inputs are nice. A great low power recording amp, all tube, sparkly clean to roaring mid level gain. It won't do everything, but what it does is fantastic.

Amazing, fantastic, wow. It has a swirling sparkle to the clean sounds and a roar when its cranked. It's not super loud with only one 6V6 power tube, but it sounds better than some of the boutique amps I've played hands down. I play with a fuzz pedal and can get any sound I want from it, my only complaint is that the stock Oxford speaker is a bit weak, I'm looking at swaping in a Weber.

It's older than I am, but aside from the conversion to a three prong plug everything looks original and it's never had any problems, I've only had it for a little over a month so far but no problems yet, probably thanks to the great Champ circuit.

It should be easy to find someone who can repair it, but I doubt Fender has much interest in covering 30 year old amps.

I needed a low power tube amp that I could record and this amp is perfect for it. I also play a Fender Rhodes keyboard, so I chose this amp because of the vibrato and it sounds great. It's a simple amp with two sounds, good and great.

mid 70's silverface model vibro champ, not too much by way of features, has tremolo...I bought this to record with and just jam around the house with, it has a good amount of volume for such purposes.

My music style varies from blues to rockabilly to garage rock, etc. I've played a few different SF vibrochamps and I really think they're overrated. I'd like to try a blackface model for comparison. The tremolo is good and the clean sound at lower volumes is nicer than most solid state amps but when you crank these up the overdrive sounds just kind of shrill, more solid state like than other tube amps I've played. These don't have that nice thick grind you get with a good old tube amp. Plus I find the stock 8" speaker wanting in the tone department. I played one with a replacement speaker and it didn't sound much better though. these are ok amps, trem is nice but I've got some other small combos that just blow this away in terms of tone. I wonder if all the people who leave these glowing reviews for SF fenders really know what a good tube amp can sound like...like I say, this is better than solid state but not even in the same league as a 50's supro.

ah, fairly reliable, a few minor problems, no big deal. I sense that the 70's models aren't quite as well made as the older ones but still point to point wiring, easy fix. Speakers always seem to sound farty in these, I don't know...part of it is you can only do so much with 8 inches.

fender sucks.

I recorded some stuff but no keepers really. Its lacking in the "magic" department for sure, tone is very pedestrian. Doesn't have that natural tube amp tone that many older tube amps seem to have, sounds more solid state. I'm not comparing this to anything high end, just other small combos from the 50's and 60's and everything else I have sounds way better. Does have good tremolo though. The only thing I wish it had is tone. Good, warm, singing, grinding tube tone.

Same as all the rest, but mine ( '74 Silverface) has been recapped and the speaker has been replaced with a Weber P8Q and the tubes have been replaced with a NOS RCA and something else NOS (I forget and don't hane it with me.) No other mods. Pretty simple. I give it an 8 for no reverb.

Fantastic. Warm and clean below 4, breaking up to that warm blue tone with high mids above that.

Totally revamped by prebvious owner. No problems to date.

Don't know.

Great for what it is, a small home-volume amp. Would mike and gig, but I don;t gig. Great miked for recording on Boss BR-8.

Dig this: In 1976 I found this near perfect 1966 Vibro-Champ in the garbage. I assumed it was trash, but grabbed it for its "cool" appeal. But, Ludy Mama, not only did it work great, it's proven to be the amp I use more than any other I own - mainly because I play in my own studio more than at gigs.

For Blues, notwithstanding its mere six watts, this little guy sounds great. With my Strat and the volume cranked, it sounds rich and mellow, breaking up nicely at a relatively low volume. With an overdrive stomp box, you could mic this amp out and play right along with the big dogs, and have the best both worlds - great sound from a rig you can carry under your arm. With bare-bones simplicity (two inputs, Volume, Treble, Bass, speed and intensity), and very compact and light weight, this is a sweet little blackface amp. Who needs fancy features? It's not what you've got , but, what you do with it that counts!

At full volume this amp distorts just enough to start to sound sweet, but only gets loud enough to fill a small room. Excellent as a practice amp. The vibrato feature sounds very good and is easy to control. A Tube Screamer can make it sound quite impressive for a tiny amp.

This Vibro-Champ has never failed me. I've replaced only one tube in all these years

Fender is Fender: Not much interest with their past.

I use a Black Face Super Reverb to gig. (The wholly Grail of club amps, if you ask me), or an Ampeg Gemini IV. For more head room I use my sixty-five watt Music Man. I would be most dissapointed if this amp were to get ripped off. However, it cost me nothing, and I can use any amp for practice: They go for $300 to $400 -- I don't believe I would replace it. I would, however, keep my eye on the garbage - just in case.

1965 all original Vibro Champ, traded a blues jr. for it, and I think I got the better deal. These little gems were priced at the guitar show at $325 and above in original condition. I play blues, and also have a stock 64 super, 66 pro and 66 vibrolux reverb amps. Better grab the blackfaces now while they are still affordable! I just got the amp yesterday and it goes to my amp Guru tomorrow. The vibrato on this amp is the best of all my amps. I'm a little afraid of pushing it hard until the tech goes through it, tho, cuz I fried the transformer and busted a speaker in the pro and learned a hard lesson.

I have a 56 Custom Shop NOS strat, a Masterbuilt 68 Tele Thinline with single coils, a 58 335 RI w/57 Humbuckers, and a Mex Strat with Seymore Duncan Antiquities for jams. Great tone, like all my amps, plus super Vibrato only matched by the pro. Nice fender tube tone at all levels, but I really haven't cranked it yet, until it gets a complete physical.

A little scratchy at volume, and tends to pop when it comes on. Again, it's gwine into the shop tomorrow, and I'll hafta suffer with the super, pro or vibrolux reverbs! Poor, poor, pitiful me!

It's a vintage piece and contains no circuit boards. I have a great amp tech, not to mention a guy who can get parts, speakers, or amps of my choice, which is where I got this one. Took it over a 67. Better value than my 401K!

I have been playing seriously for 7 years. Steal it, and in the words of Sonny Boy Williamson II, it'll be "your funeral and my trial." Tone as good as the super, pro, vibrolux, etc.

i bought it 15 years ago with the agrrement never to sell it. a early '70s silver face tremolo maybe 10 watts for $100 with the original factory leather cover in mint/new condition it even smelled new! but alas it was stolen from me while serving in the navy

i used a cheap strat copy with an original paf in the bridge position. i was playing hard rock at the time and wanted more edge on the distortion, now that i'm older i wish i had it back

only had to replace one tube

never dealt with them

no other small amp would ever compare. it was stolen and am looking for a replacement for sittin at home. fender is thee amp maker also had a chance to by a dual showman in the'80s for $300 when they weren't popular i kick myself now

Blackface Fender Vibro-Champ. 1X6V6, 1X5Y3GT, 2X12AX7. I saw this amp in a Cash-America Pawn and knowing that it needed a fuse and also knowing that the jerks at the pawn shop didn't know it's value. I offered 15 bucks for it and off I went (I know. I may go to hell for it but it's ok). Whahahahaha! What can I say? Wickedest, trashiest, coolest little studio/small show amp around. In that sense, it's very versitile.

Imagine if we were all little knomes and this amp was the size of a halfstack to us. It's a knome-sized little Fenderish/Marshallish crunch box. I once heard that all of the artists who used a little Champ or Vibro-Champ on their recordings had hit reconds. Almost hypnotizing overdrive. Evil little thing.

I need to have a grounding problem fixed. I noticed tingling in my hands when I play thru it. When I first got it, all it needed was a fuse.

I never really needed them for this little quick -N- dirty machine. It's too simple to have anything go wrong (knock on wood).

This little thing is a must for recording and small venue use. I now have three champs (60's blckface vibrochamp, 70's silverface vibrochamp and an 80's sliverface champ). Great little amp. Did I say I paid 15 bucks for it?

basic controls: vol/treb/bass and speed/intensity for that hypnotic tremolo. i have a '69, a '73 bronco, and a '77. can you tell i like 'em?

mostly use mid 90's mim strat and tele thru these. with two amps daisy chained w/ a 10' cable and tremolos at slightly different speeds it makes me dizzy sometimes.

an ibanez super tube sl can get the growl without having to disturb the folks on the other side of the wall.

my favorite setting is to have the treb set .5 higher than the bass, w/ both dials near the middle of their range. gets a lot of that shimmer/swirl that another reviewer spoke of.

two of these came with busted speakers. one now has an original fender speaker, one has a ri jensen c10q, and one is in an old pv 1x12 combo cab with a weber chicago 12" 4 ohm. guess which one sounds best. ;o)>

don't 'gig' so don't worry about it.

don't know. so far have been able to fix it myself.

have a few silvertones, pv's and fenders.

love the sound, good looks, portability and easy maintenance of these little gems.

hope to always have one or two available when the urge to play hits me.