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New Amp Day: Fender '57 Custom Champ Handwired Series
Okay, so a week ago, I received my order of a Fender '59 Bassman LTD. My usual inspection of the shipping carton revealed no visible damage. Upon removing the Bassman from its box, however, revealed a ding in the tweed covering and underlying right-side pine upright. Also, tilting the cabinet front to back I heard a clunking sound. The top chassis screws were loose! Also, the power cord was out of its protective envelope and loose within the cabinet. I returned the Bassman to the vendor.
After mulling over whether to order another Bassman (HEAVY!), I decided to go for the diminutive Fender '57 Custom Champ which is part of the Handwired Series of vintage reissue Fender amps. This amp arrived in perfect condition complete with its rear panel 75-Year Anniversary Fender badge . I plugged in my Gretsch 5420TG-59 and cranked the amp's Volume knob, its only control, to 12, and proceeded to hear what this half-pint Fender could do. If you're older, as I am, back in 1964 the sound that can come from this Fender '57 Custom Champ when driven LOUD is probably not what you wanted to hear back then as distortion was thought of as the tone of an inferior, low-powered amp! Fast forward to the late-1960s and beyond, and this tube amp's overdriven distortion was now in vogue! This little Fender '57 Custom Champ will deliver all the delicious tube-tone, rounded output-stage distortion anyone could want at a moderate volume while giving cleaner tones at lower volumes. The amp is very touch sensitive to picking dynamics from easy does it clean to warm double-stop and full-chord distortion with a little bit more picking force, and the amp responds well with the guitar's volume control positioning. With its 5-watt, straight-up, no tone-stack/no effects output into its 8" Weber alnico 4-ohm speaker, the Fender '57 Custom Champ is a fine at-home/recording studio tube amp and could be used in clubs if mic'ed into a FOH PA--smokey Chicago blues club, anyone? This little guy is a keeper! FEATURES 5-watt hand-wired all-tube guitar combo amplifier Single 8” 4-ohm Weber Special Design alnico speaker Original 5F1 circuit with Fender Pure Vintage yellow capacitors and Schumacher transformers Single 12AY7 preamp tube, single 6V6 power amp tube, single 5Y3GT rectifier tube Dual ¼” inputs accommodate a variety of instruments Includes a protective cover https://www.fender.com/en-US/guitar-...160500100.html
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Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Huss & Dalton TD-R Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2 Last edited by SpruceTop; 08-07-2021 at 11:38 AM. |
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Congratulations on your new Champ day!
Rockin' at the Tweed of sound! |
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Congratulations on a very sweet amp.
Years ago, I had an original '57 Champ. Sometimes I can't believe my stupidity for selling it. Enjoy. |
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Is there noticable class-A hum?
The output transformer of a push/pull amp acts as a power supply hum-canceling coil as the windings to the two output tubes are out of phase. Also the cheaper amps did not have chokes (inductors) as part of the high voltage power supply. All fixable with enough capacitance (or resistance in the case of the preamp tubes). I'm giving some thought to building one of the many kits (adding capacitance is easy if needed).
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jf45ir Free DIY Acoustic Guitar IR Generator .wav file, 30 seconds, pickup left, mic right, open position strumming best...send to direct email below I'll send you 100/0, 75/25, 50/50 & 0/100 IR/Bypass IRs IR Demo, read the description too: https://youtu.be/SELEE4yugjE My duo's website and my email... [email protected] Jon Fields |
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What a sweet pickup! Congrats on the '57 Custom Champ.
Did you get a chance to play the Bassman? Any chance you'll reorder? |
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I'd still like to order another Fender '59 Bassman LTD just to have an amp that delivers guitar tones super LOUD! & clean, and I love that retro, real tweed look.
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Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Huss & Dalton TD-R Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2 Last edited by SpruceTop; 08-07-2021 at 11:35 AM. |
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Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Huss & Dalton TD-R Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2 |
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That's a nice amp. I wouldn't necessarily want it to be my only amp, but a nice Champ scratches an itch that can't be scratched any other way. I have a hand-wired EC Vibro Champ (modified 5F11 circuit) that I just love. I play it frequently with both single coils and humbuckers and it likes them both. What really makes it sound killer is putting a low-gain OD pedal in front of it, preferably one with some type of clean boost or treble boosting function in it. I have several pedals that do that kind of thing, and it makes that amp way more sparkly and chimey, which aren't words you usually hear describing a Champ. Here are two clones I use regularly: a Caline Highwayman and a Joyo Sweet Baby. Both cheap, both excellent.
Edited to add that mine is very quiet - I can barely hear any hum at all coming from it. |
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Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Huss & Dalton TD-R Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2 Last edited by SpruceTop; 09-12-2021 at 01:27 PM. |
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jf45ir Free DIY Acoustic Guitar IR Generator .wav file, 30 seconds, pickup left, mic right, open position strumming best...send to direct email below I'll send you 100/0, 75/25, 50/50 & 0/100 IR/Bypass IRs IR Demo, read the description too: https://youtu.be/SELEE4yugjE My duo's website and my email... [email protected] Jon Fields |
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Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Huss & Dalton TD-R Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2 Last edited by SpruceTop; 08-09-2021 at 03:17 AM. |
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It's not just about volume - both Filter'Trons and Dynasonics have a wide dynamic range and, just as with audio equipment playing back a complex orchestral piece (I used a digital recording of Saint-Saens Third Symphony to audition all my gear), the more reserve power you have on tap the better; give the Bassman another try - I doubt you'll be disappointed...
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
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Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Huss & Dalton TD-R Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2 |
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I've been wanting to build one of those. Instant "Rocky Mountain Way" (Joe Walsh). They tell me that the sweet spot is like 10 o'clock to 12 o'clock on the dial but I don't own one so what do I know?
Bob
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"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website) |
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https://www.victoriaamplifier.com/am...ictoria-45410/ take a look at who's on their Artist page, and Victoria doesn't give away amps! Last edited by rockabilly69; 08-08-2021 at 03:04 AM. |