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  • Everyone who's hating on it has never played through a vintage Champ. It's a spiritual experience

  • Sounds crap.

  • Nice tone!

    If you can't tell this is a great sounding amp then you should give up playing electric guitar.

    There is simply no cure for a bad ear.

    Stop yakkin and play yer guitar.

  • @zeLudoo why does everyone take what I said like they think I hate the thing? I never said anything against it, I just said if anyone else put out the same product, even if it did sound as good as this/was a reissue, probably nobody would buy it.

  • @DanDeePee There's plenty of companies selling 5watt amps for higher prices... and people buy them. I actually bought a used 57 Deluxe for something like 850 Euros, but if I had a lot of money I may buy this little thing. The number of knobs is unrelated to price, it depends on the type of circuit you like. I don't like master volume amps for instance, and for other people is a must.

  • hahaha for the money.. ill better buy a mesa boogie

  • I'll admit it is expensive. I guess they justify it because the circuit is hand wired. I don't know...

  • @TheOrderoftheOwl Go search how much it's transformers alone go for.

  • Goes all the way up to 12.

  • @jokas96 yeah, 12 is more than 11! That rocks!

  • this video is infuriating, $1000 for an amp with 5 watts, and that " natural distrotion " sounds not that great... i get better sounds for blues and clean out of my 75 watt line 6, and thats not enen a high quality amp. i understand the classicness of the amp, but seriously?

  • @nabullshitmate I seriously doubt you get that clean tone from that Line6, go compare them live.

  • @javiceres i seriously can, through the blues setting im just saying very costy

  • Those complaining about the price probably play poopie metal music. If you want to play the blues, get this... otherwise you're better off spending your money else where.

  • @hotfudgemoney Don't hate on other musical genres, even though you don't like them. You offend other people. There's nothing wrong with Metal, you just have to understand it, as well as Blues, Jazz, Funk and Rock.

  • Lol, 1000 bucks?? You can buy a broken in Dual Rectifier with that.

  • Where'd you get that foam bed for the amp? What's the spec of that foam?

  • Nice amp....But I aint paying 1000$ bucks for that!!!..I can get a Marshall Stack for that price!!!

  • Speaker is just too small for overdrive. I plugged this thing in 4x12. sounds great! And it's 2 times louder..

  • God, this thing sound bad. I guess it's some people's thing though.

  • the corporations are coming with the comercials.

  • Why spend 1:30 to explain an amp with 1 knob????

    Amp sounds wonderful though.

  • Why spend 1:30 to explain an amp with 1 knob????

  • Why wpold anyone buy this for a grand you can buy a real vintage champ for the same price ... Fuck you fender

  • fender should be ashamed of themselves for selling this amp for a grand. fucking criminal imo.

  • you know what the best use for this amp is blowin a harp, its boxy sounding with guitars imo. id take a blues jr., a hotrod deville, or a bassman ri for guitar anyday but not the champ, thats a harp amp.

  • This amp is probably next on my list to buy. Or at least something along these lines. So much tone for a 5 watt amp. It means I can jam with my drummer at a full on crunch tone without overpowering him, and it's easy to deal with in a recording environment. Also, for those of you complaining about the lack of a Tone control, use the ones on your guitar. They're a very similar principle.

    Don't pick an amp just because it has the most features. Pick the one that sounds best to you.

  • $1000 for a 5 watt reissue amp with only one knob. only fender could do that.

  • @DanDeePee - agree with many doubting comments, but the size, wattage and # of knobs has little to do with the cost - it's still a lot of work to hand build any amp and Fender charge a premium for anything that takes more than five minutes to crank out.

    I think FMI was just proud to release some of these famous-design amps.

  • @DanDeePee It goes to 12... Duhh!!

  • @DanDeePee You don't get it apparently, who cares about the power ? It's all about tone. So many people record with this amp and it sounds killer on the record.

  • @DanDeePee Wrong, there's a large list.

  • @DanDeePee but it sounds damn good.

  • @DanDeePee Marshall too. They are charging $800 for a 1 watt, two knob "50th anniversary" amp. Gibson is just as bad charging $2,300 for a one pickup Les Paul Junior Reissue. Of all of the companies, Fender has done an overall good job of giving the customers what they want.

  • "In order to get the 57 champ, I had to drive the delorean at 88 miles per hour to 1957.  I'm glad that I did, because I didn't have this amp I would have never been able to play some Chuck Berry at the school dance so I could witness my parents getting freaky with it"

  • @guitarfreak9177 whose quote?

  • Is this another of those ridiculous products that prays on guitarist's need for "vintage" and costs a fortune, despite being on a par with something a hobbyist electrician would knock up for next to nothing?

  • @TUUK2006 Not really. But it is true that it doesn't cost that much for Fender to make one of these (sells for 1200$ +). I guess it is kind of like intellectual property. It's a very desirable tone that Fender chanced upon, and now they make money off it.

  • More bloated Fender prices..what a disgrace.

  • @bootlegapples Yeah couldn't agree more, great amp but really for a practice amp the money they're asking for it is a rip off big time.

    I bought a little Vox AC4 combo and the sound is almost as good as this at a fraction of the price!

  • @Gary1497

    If it turns out that the reissue Fender is made in China then it's a double whammy.VHT sells the Chinese made Special 6 and the component and build quality are not behind and for 230 bucks!

    Cox amps offers basically the same amp ,made in the USA,for 600 bucks and the build quality/component selection is at least on par.There are similar other US made options all of which are cheaper. Fender,lol.

  • @bootlegapples Yeah totally agree, they seem to be trading on this "boutique" in vogue thing nowadays, where rather than the things being used and snapped up by real musicians they're being bought by well heeled fashion victims so they can look at them and say "i've got a re-issue 57 champ!" but they would probably hardly ever have it turned on! these things should be more reasonably priced so that they're within the reach of the budget of ordinary musicians not friggin' rock stars!

  • @Gary1497

    Let's see..I have vintage 5e3,a 64 Vox AC30,a Matchless,a boutique Tele and vintage Les Paul,a Harley,a BMW and I can't decide which guitar,which guitar amp and which vehicle to take to my blues gig tonight(insert irony)...

    lol,nope!not me and not most people.

    Take care to you and to fender wake up.

  • @bootlegapples Yeah the champ is an amp with a volume control no tone control nothing, one volume control and to charge that money for it just kills me! I mean even if i had the cash to spare i don't think i'd buy it 'cos it's just continuing the rip off and encouraging them to do it.

    This little Vox i bought is all tube, volume and tone control and a power attenuator to take it down to a lower signal for more saturation at low volumes, a lot more features than this fender.

    Take care.

  • i want paul's hair. Not kidding. Legit =)

  • I'm a metal guy through and through, but damn, that thing is beautiful.

  • get a Les Paul Jr with the p90 into that and it will be the best sound in the world.

  • Nice little amp, but definitely not a thousand dollars worth.

  • @DirtyCityMick a grand? You gotta be kidding! That's crazy.

  • Anyway, this amp costs like 700 pounds!!! I personally can't afford that so I got a Champion 600 and upgraded it! new speaker, valves and dithed the capacitors inside for top quailty ones! its a good way to go if your not rich :)

  • Modern players!! if it doesn't do metal, its crap?? I bet those jerks think digital Line-6 amps have better tone than this Fender amp! LOL

  • Hi, this is Paul from Guitar World, and I'm a giant twat!

  • Holy fuck this thing sounds amazing.

  • I can dig it with humbuckers, that tone is like sex in my ears :)

  • at whybotherwithauserna:that it is not true that the real thing sounds better.the real thing it is exactly the same,the same wood,the same handwired circuit,everything is exactly the same except the fact it is new.on the old one you will have to do some cap job and you will end up with a small mess.why do you thing that clapton uses on tour two fender tweed combo reissue and the two vintage ones?maybe because he doesn`t have the money!this is all fashion,we all buy what they say we have to buy!

  • @drakonsangue clapton has recorded with a vintage champ. but he toured with a 1958 twin amp and a backup until fender made the 57 twin amps that are now for sale. prior to that the amps were custom made cornell's that looked like the original tweeds.

  • With Humbuckers it was incredible!

  • I think we all have a love hate relationship with fender. They really need some quality control with some of their products and not charge so much for some of the products as well. Its hard to find a good fender guitar strat at the shop you have to do some searching. We would all love an in between model from blues jr to devil. Maybe a 30 w blues jr with some extras. Its pretty hard to find a mim guitar from them that really has good eq and tone. the ceramic magnets dont cut it

  • Can anyone speak to the amount of low frequencies (bass) in the Champ vs. the Champion 600. I generally like the 600 for practice but I want more bass. Would the 8" speaker in the Champ give me more?

  • I use my champ 600 through a cab, I like using the 12 inch Rex Canabis speakers, its worth doing :) as for the champs own speaker, I just put a Jensen in there which is an improvement

  • @TheRealRayJ They are different circuits. They should be treated like different amps, the speaker isn't the only difference. You would have to actually play both of them with the same guitar before saying that one has more bass than the other. There are kits to make one of these if you can solder, read schematics and layouts, and have the time, money, and patience to do it. Building your own would cost less than half of the price of this and sound the same.

  • Damn x 2,

    Damn 1) That is one sweet sounding amp!

    Damn 2) That's one expensive little 5 watt practice amp!

  • I have a 100% original 1957 Fender Champ. . .that I bought for 700, and while the reissue does sound great, the original still sounds better. Why buy a reissue when you can buy the real deal for the same price? The Champ was a low end student model when it was originally released, there's no reason for Fender to charge a grand for that amp. Buy an epiphone valve jr, champion 600 or vox lil nightrain then put good tubes in it and a better speaker.

  • you go to ten, where do you go from there??

    see... we go to 12. this amp goes to 12.

  • your gonna pay 1000 bucks for that ting ill just buy the kit and make it myself!!

  • @redneckrollercoast1 Or just buy an Epiphone valve junior.

  • @Adidas109 Well. he mentioned in the vid that it is all tube and vintage.

    So yes I agree you are EPIC FAIL

  • Is this the one that Ritchey Valens used?

  • @MetalInstrumentals

    I think he did use a fender in the studio (a lot of people did) but I think (at least in the movie) the amp he generally used was something somebody had thrown away that I don't think it was ever named.

    Classic amps like this are a really good way of getting that classic period sound.

  • 0:00

  • Nicely played. It does sound quite a bit better than the stock Champion 600, but the 600 is a real steal at around $149 and if you swap out the speaker for a Weber Alnico, replace (or remove) the speaker grill and replace the tubes with NOS RCAs, you will get most of the way there for a lot less mulah.

  • The clean sounds spectacular but the overdrive? Sounds like a Hi-Fi Stereo distorting. Was this really the amp that gave us all those great overdriven sounds on records?

  • @odgeUK thats because youtube audio stinks. Trust me it's different in person.

  • I hear reverb........where's that coming from? There is no reverb on this amp.

  • @garethhjones I hear that too. Is it natural room reverb maybe?

  • 666 videos!

  • This thing sounds amazing... but there's no way I can afford it. Can anyone recommend anything cheaper, but not too much worse?

  • @KovieMatt Buy the Fender Champ 15watt tube amp. Made in Mexico, very cheap, all the features of this amp (i.e. a volume knob and an on off switch) at a fraction of the price. There's plenty of videos of it on youtube.

  • funny thing i scored one at a garage sale for 50 ..i bought it off some ladies who also sold me a really old stratocaster with a 3 way switch ...i paid 250 for both and i couldnt be any happier .....best guitar in the world and amp too

  • @DrownInGrace88 You scored a vintage tweed and strat for $250 at a yard sale? May I ask in which part of the country are people that stupid to sell for those prices?

  • @TheRealRayJ to be Exact torrance Ca . i was working and i went out to eat on my break i saw a yard sale sign nearby and went there i saw they had a dirty litte fender amp and a hardcase in the garage ..it wasnt part of the garage sale so i asked if they would sale it and they said yeah so i checked them out ..i saw made in the usa,,,,

  • @DrownInGrace88

    guess i'll need to visit garage sales more often... ;)

  • @TheRealRayJ so i soon assumed it was going to be expensive and the nice lady said you know what my dad loved that guitar he bought it new in 57 along with the amp ...i would like to get 250 ...AS SOON AS SHE SAID THAT I TOOOK OUT MY WALLET AND GAVE HER NOT 250 BUT 600 THATS ALL I HAD AT THE TIME BUT DEFENATLY BEST DEAL IVE EVER GOTTEN AND SHE WAS HAPPY TOO ...SO YEAH THE 250 DOLLAR GUITAR AND AMP ... I PAID 600 AT THE END ...

  • Fender tube amp, Fender Strat, can't go wrong.

  • everything sounds good on here....

  • this is a monster the father of great tona amps...... you can hear the tone of this using a hi fi tube amp in your computer, if you have........ well i have mine so get yours and be surprised how a tube low power amp sounds so good

  • Crank that shit to 11.. this one goes 12!

  • Paul rules!

  • Holy shit, I'm blown away from that first clean sound. Thats some serious warmth in the cleans! Didn't like the strat distorted, but I can see some context where this could be used. Perfect for a second amp live (as I use a moded blues junior for everything else)

  • talk talk talk talk...we want to hear the amp...it didn't sound that good actually and the playing wasn't dynamic enough to give us an idea of what it really sounds like

  • every gear reviewer should be like paul

  • I own one of these. It sounds great. I've never heard any muddy tones out of it. I love the way it crunches. I don't like the modern day amps distortion too high end. I use fender, Vox and Orange for amplification.

  • 1 knob and it comes from my hand?

  • Sounds great with the humbuckers driving it....

    Thanks for the demo..

    Cheers!

  • That is the worst sounding overdrive I have ever heard...but man the clean sounds are just great.

  • @superskwrl yea man, I was like wtf... this is the hyped overdrive? sounds great clean though

  • @superskwrl Yeah, I know. I remember hearing Clapton play "Layla" and thinking "Gosh! I hope I don't ever get MY guitar to sound like that!" NOT!!!!

  • @superskwrl lawlocaust

  • It sounds great with that PRS - almost a Marshally crunchy growl... Done the *real* way too - without the aid of master volume and gain controls.

  • this one goes to 12!!! someone tell nigel, i think he'll want this lol

  • PAul rules!

  • 3:50 = Tone!! love it!

  • Excellent !!!

  • I for one love this amp :D

  • The high volume driven with a single coil is a little too fuzzy for my liking but it looks great and sounds great clean. Too much preamp and not enough power tube maybe?

  • it ends on 4:20

  • Best Review on this Amp !

  • Its pretty freaking loud for a small amp..I have the same amp Ive bought it in 92 for $200 now its worth $800 hell ya

  • What Stratocaster color is that?

  • @UlisesBerrueco looks like sonic blue

  • @UlisesBerrueco Looks like Sonic-Blue, classic color. Great looking fresh, road worn. One of my faves.

  • This is exactly the same as my 61' Supro 1614N spectator. Except my Supro has a tone control. For anyone looking at getting one of these for $1000. Buy a real vintage amp like Supro, Airline, Gretsch ect., or make your own if your so inclined. These are really easy circuits to build.

  • @red95tsi and the parts are ridiculously cheap... tube amp prices are based much around transformers and 5w dont need much of one.

  • @goingwithzed Ya, I personally don't like the new Fender custom shop amps. I have a tweed 5e3 clone that was 900 with mercury magnetics trannys, NOS tubes, mallory caps... win

  • Distortion sounds best with PRS, clean sounds best with the Strat.

  • @Adidas109 Haha Who said that?

  • stuped man

  • beautiful tone!

  • I love the Amp cranked with the humbucker, sounds so good... 3 : 50

  • can someone please explain WHY this is a thousand dollars?

  • Er, it's not?

  • check the prices

  • Gah, my bad. I thought this was a different amp. :L

  • This amp's bottom end sounds a bit unfocused. However, I love the tone at lower volume with single coils.

  • OOOOOOOOOOOH SO MANY SETTING!!!!

  • @Stratacaster87 bitch.

  • is that an insult?

  • hahahaa, My bad, I didnt even notice that, XD

  • The reason why you guys think its too muddy , probly has somthing to do with the guitar player having his pickup in the neck possition !!! Woo Woo Woo !!!! U know It !!!!!!!!!!

  • Wicked Clean sound, the OD is waaaayyyy to muddy,

  • Ya but look at the possition of his pickup

  • it sounds great but it costs way to much i bought a "student" amp from the 50's that sounds just as good but for $150 it's because it doesnt have tweed or say fender on it

  • you shouldnt put a microphone next to the amp, not good paul

  • And how do you suppose you get the sound to disc(tape)? People have been micing amps ever since recording amps was an idea at all. Close micing amps is COMMON practice. Don't type unless you know what you're saying.

  • Oh shutup lol that was my 9 year old brother on my account.

  • its got some nice vintage tone so i dont see what everyones on about

  • The Clean tone isn't half bad but the distortion is too muddy sounding

  • shite

  • There are some people here that know nothing about tone. Not every amp is designed for metal.

    For Jazz, Rock or Blues this amp is pretty tough to beat.

  • dude your sick wtf how can a shitty solid state be better then a Legent

  • @YonOtto then you must have very, VERY bad ears.

    BULLSHIT

  • drive sucks

  • I owned a '63 champ. My mom got it for me at a yard sale in '75 for $10 bucks. Back then this amp was considered a student amp. Funny thing is this amp was the only amp poor folks could afford back then. Because of its low output, it was easy to overdrive and recording studios started using them in the 1960-70's. That made the amp popular and sought after which sequently drove the price up. I don't know what happened to my '63 champ, my mom must have tossed it out after I left to college. LOL!

  • wrong tags on this video, guys

  • Gimmeh ur guitar!

  • that crunchy tone sucks

  • that clean is amazing but obviously the lack of distortion is a downer

  • lush amp

    simple but sound's awesome :)

  • shite

  • @YonOtto

    shite

  • shite

  • I hate how fender makes 5 watt amps with 8 inch speaker, 3 tubes for like $1,000. Makes me wanna go buy a Gibson...

  • doooooooooooo it

  • @LordOfThisWorld74

    When I first saw the price, I felt slightly robbed just looking at the tag. So many other alternatives out there from smaller manufacturers for the same low watt studio vibe.

  • Fantastic clean sound, but i would definatly hook up a distortion pedal on the strat. On the other hand, the humbucker sound is more suitable for this amps distortion

  • fat strat!

  • i want to hear p-90s

  • The clean tone is amazing, if I we're to get this amp though I would use a overdrive pedal and a eq pedal for more of a distorted tone since I do not like the natural distortion you get from this amp. But that's just me :)

  • 300 or 400 maybe how much does fender need to make? fender please get a grip

  • If they charged three or four hundred, they'd make next to nothing. That's the price of hand done, American labour.

  • do they make it with a 1x12?

  • omg it sounds so good with a humbucker equiped guitar. but it sounds more like fuzz than overdrive with the strat

  • yeah thats great how he showed the amp using a PRS but not a freakin' Tele!!!!!!!!!!!! I kinda want to know what that sounds like.

  • b

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  • Cool amp but I'm not that impressed...

  • this thing is two expensive!!!!

  • gawd i hate the Modern bird inlays, PRS should just fucken stick to the original shyt...

  • That amp sounds like shit.

  • can some one explain to be about tube amps and preset. i need a loud amp.. so whitch one can u turn up and have it not sound like shit