Frenzel Champ circuit Head

Mine is a 2007 "Super Sportster" model. It has all the usual controls: 2 preamp volumes, 3 band tone stack, master volume, and presence control with pull-out negative feedback switch. In addition, I ordered the dual output tubes, one octal, one 9 pin; with selector knob on back panel.
All "features" are as expected, all controls are simply labelled, in obvious places, and do what they are supposed to as far as I can tell. I've had it a couple months now and it's been exactly what I expected when I ordered it.

Overall, I'm more than pleased with the sound quality. I play either a strat w/ texas specials (not my first choice, but what I have for now) or a hamer solidbody with duncan 59s. I use an EH stereo polychorus for chorus or echo and occaisionally a phaser, wah pedal, or envelope filter.

I usually like to play amps right on the borderline between clean and distorted... or right were they first start to "breakup". For this I use the F input for a nice warm fendery clean tone. This amp excells at doing this at a variety of volume levels via tube switching.
I use the M input with the humbuckers mostly for occaisional higher gain sounds. The M input sounds good... not a ton of gain, but plenty for my taste.

The controls are where this amp shines. The preamp and master volumes work as expected...seems to be a good master volume. Although I usually have the master all the way up, regardless of setting it doesn't seem to rob tone too bad like some master volumes do.
The tone stack is my favorite part of the amp. It works just like I want it to, subtle changes in sound and large ranges of useful settings. What I like most, is that I find a good sound quickly and do not have to keep making adjustments and tweaks to get what I want. Combined with the presence control/switch the tone stack offers a nice variety of sounds. The feedback switch really makes a big difference. When pulled, the sound is much more open with clearer, stronger pick attack and less compression. When the switch is pulled in, the presence control does a nice job of controlling top end compression and pick response...I find this the most difficult control, because the changes are subtle and many times I find it sounds pretty darn good regardless of where I set the presence.

The best comparisons for the sound that I know would be either a Univalve or Allen Class Act... I don't own either but have played both extensively.
The Frenzel doesn't sound as different from one tube to another as the Univalve does, to my ear. The changes in tubes seem to affect volume level more than tone... although some tubes really seem to shine.(tungsol reissue 5881,sylvania 6k6,sovtek 12ax7lps) I might prefer the Univalve with humbuckers, slightly, but the Frenzel sounds much better with single coils than the Univalve, in my opinion. I use the Univalve as a comparison more because it's well known than it's similarity to the Frenzel. Although it covers much of the same tonal ground as the Univalve, I think the Frenzel really excells at the fendery clean sound much more.
The Allen Class Act is less well known, but byfar the closest sounding amp I can compare the Frenzel to. These two amps are very similar in controls, tube options and sound, to my ears.
Overall, the amp really does a good job of giving me the sound I want at low volume, I play at home through a 1x12 and can play at comfortable bedroom levels with the amp turned up...awesome!
The biggest limitation is gain. You can do zeppelin, acdc, zz top type gain, but metal probably ain't gonna happen without a pedal...i can't say for sure, none of my guitars are pointy enough for metal and i don't own any spandex.

Seems sturdy...nice thing is, a new component, switch, resistor etc... and a soldering iron will probably fix anything that will go wrong, if anything does. I don't expect problems, but I haven't had it long enough to submit a reliablility rating

excellent, couldn't have been better
all emails anwered promptly by Jim himself
absolute pleasure to do business with this company

Given that the amp is custom, I obviously didn't play before buying...but I am very pleased with what I got.
I play blues/country/rock stuff, usually poorly. I either play at home or jam occaisionally with friends, so I like being able to get a good overdriven tube sound without the stage volume of a rock concert. And for the price, there's no comparison. Overall, excellent buy!

My amp is the Champ Plus, it was made in early 2006. This is a very straight-forward amp, a Champ with excellent improvements. I play everything from Country to Heavy Metal Funk and I love playing through this amp!

I had emailed Jim before ordering and we agreed to build my Champ Plus with a top of the line Mercury Magnetics output transformer instead of the stock Fender trannie. There is a "hugeness" to the tone, a prescence that is wonderful. I feel like the amp is "blessing" each note, it is inspiring to play on this amp. One thing that has not been mentioned yet is that the amp is cathode biased so you can freely change preamp, output and rectifier tubes for a huge variety of tones. Currently I have a GE 5751 in the preamp, an RCA black glass 6V6 in the output and a USA made 5Y3 labeled Hammond in the rectifier. I have used various 12ax7/ecc83/7025 types and a couple of 12at7s in the preamp. Each of these tubes had it's own sound. I have tried various 6V6, 6L6, EL34, 6CA7 and 6550 tubes in the output, each had it's own sound. You can change the way the output tube responds by changing the rectifier, so far I have used a 5Y3 and a 5V4 (this had TONS of headroom with a 6550!). So the amp is sort of an analog version of the POD, except that it actually sounds good! If you need over the top distortion you will want to use a pedal at the front end but everything else is there. The amp is very quiet. I play all sorts of guitars and can get a fantastic tone with every one.

The amp has worked perfectly since I got it. As stated, I had a high-end transformer put in. The transformer was HUGE and heavy and the chassis started to sag a bit. Plus I think the amp might have been dropped in shipping as one of the mounting brackets on the power transformer was bent. I stiffened the bottom plate and put some supports inside to keep things stable and it is just fine now. I certainly don't blame Jim for this, I doubt if he will build another like mine without using a beefier chassis. Everything inside was beautiful, top notch components and NO breadboards, just wired component to component like the high end hi-fi stuff. I would use this without a backup, I always bring spare tubes (only need three!)and I could run my Vox Tonelab into the board if the amp was destroyed or stolen.

Jim is a great guy, quick to respond to emails. He backs his products 110%. I am sure this amp will be working great as long as I need it to.

I have been playing for 40 years and have owned 3 Mesa, 5 or 6 Fenders, some Peaveys, Vox, Silvertone etc. This amp has a better clean tone than my Mesa Maverick, which is awesome. I would get another one in a heartbeat if this one was gone. Really just the best sound ever and an unbeatable price. The cosmetics are not perfect but I don't buy an amp to look at! I was considering an Emerysound Superbaby but Kurt puts the output transformer inside and would never have put the superb trannie in like Jim did. A reverb would be nice but would cost more, I am happy with it just like this. If I were you I would buy one before Jim comes to his senses and asks the $800 that this amp is worth!! When you look at the price I paid, include the $150 extra for the output trannie, I bought that from Mercury Magnetics and had it shipped to Frenzel for installation.

I have owned Fender Champs - Tweed, Blackface & Silver Face. I then owned a Princeton. I sold all that stuff and purchased a Juke Amp which is great but I wanted something smaller and lighter. I use this in my studio and it does not his or hum. Dead silent. I can get just about any tone I like out of it. Great tone.

Great for country, blues and clascic rock. I can get clean or a grind. No noise, just great tone. Very responsive to the way you play. Will make you play better!

Zero issues. Jim stands behind his work period!

Your dealing with the man who make it. Does not get any better than that, trust me.

I cannot say enough good stuff. I just bought a new one today so I can keep the one in my studio in one place and have another one to gig with. Great harp amp too. I use a Weber 12" speaker which works well. So now I'll have two!

Nice little guitar amp (about 8 Watts), but very loud through a 2 x 12" celestion greenbacks cabinet.
I use it in my studio, because I can achieve great recording results at low levels (my neighbours love me for that :-)

This amp sounds really great. I replaced the preamp 12AX7 tube by a NOS Telefunken tube and it sounds even better.
I can get all the classic guitar sounds out of this beutiful amp. For different kinds of overdrive I simply use a Boss Blues Driver and a Proco Rat in front of it, and there you go. All the sounds I need.
I use it in different musical styles, because I compose music for film and tv commercials. So I need an amp that sounds very good (also at low levels) for different styles (blues, rock, electronic stuff...)
I think the Frenzel amp sounds best with my Gibson Gold Top Lespaul and my old Hamer Special (first series). It's a beutiful and rich sound.

I think it is reliable, it looks well built. I've had it for 4 weeks now, so I cannot say much in this category. But untill now it worked perfectly !

Jim Frenzel answers every e-mail very quickly. So if problems would occur, I'm sure he would help to solve problems.
I live in Berlin, Germany and the shipping worked nicely. Jim even upgraded the shipping to a faster shipping service and paid it on his own ! So it was a nice smooth transaction.

I've been playing guitar for 19 years now, I've had several amps and guitars. I had at least 5 Fenders, 3 Marshalls, Carvin, Peavey, Polytone.
At the moment I play the Frenzel amp, a 1979 Marshall JMP 50 W Master, a Callaham amp and an Alessandro Bloodhound amp.
My guitar park consists of a Gibson Goldtop Lespaul, Fender Stratocaster (original 1963 :-)))), Hamer Tele, Hamer Special, Danelectro U3, Shergold 12 String, Hoyer SG and some acoustics.

I definitely don't wanna miss my Frenzel amp, actually I'm even considering buying a second one (different model) :-)

Just your basic knobs. Gain, bass, mids. treble, vol., stand-by & power with aadjustable line out for headphone or pre-amp use. In my opinion , thats more than enough features

This amp kicks ass!!!! Iplay mostly classic rock/blues/jazz, this amp is flat&clean, or brown&beautiful,depending on the settings. Sounds equally fantastic with single coils for blueser tones & humbuckers for balls too the wall rock!and I havent played it through a good speaker yet! I also own the following amps, mesaboogie rectoverb 50, 66 fender tremolux , fender blues jr.. Iwas considering a bad catt minicat until I heard one,also considered a champ but didnt want to fix/mod another old amp.(ive had a few)

I would say its as relible as any custom point to point amp.

This is a custom amp, built by 1 prerson, sold by the same person, I'm sure that they would fix any problem except for abuse/ misuse. I would like to add that the amp arrived within the time Frenzel said it would take.

Ive been playing 27 yrs.I own a mesa boogie,2 fender amps, 1 strat,a carvin sc 90, ae185, an exavire 335 copy. If your looking for a small (but loud) practice amp , I would strongly advise you to take a chance with this company. Classic Tones,Only Better!!!

Very basic. Gain,level,T,M,B. Also,a line out. About 8 watts. Good looking little amp.

Amazing tone. This amp is above and beyond my expectations. The tone with my 57'american reissue is a dream. I also used the line out into my Winfield and it was creamy. The winfield is a plexi style custom,so the combo of a fenderish pre amp is really cool. Smooth yet very present. If the amp was louder it would be even cooler but that is my only complaint.

So far,so good. The amp has a little crackle when it is on and cranked. It could be a tube or maybe it was shakin' up in shipping. I contacted Frenzel and they got right back to me. My amp guy here in New york will check it out when I get a chance.

They are friendly. I just bought another design from them and can't wait to get it. I would certainly recommend them to anyone that wants to try something original.

I own and have owned the best of the best. This amp sound-wise is up there with anything I've ever heard. Can't wait for my next one. I highly recommend that you take a chance and buy one for yourself. It will amaze you.