Coolest little practice amp I've owned.

[Rain]

Disclaimer - this may sound like heresy for a rock musician, but I don't like loud music.   I can put up with it at a concert, but ultimately, I hate to trade clarity and intelligibility for loudness. Another reason why I prefer studio to stage. 

Likewise, although I’ve owned many big, loud tube amps throughout the years, to practice and at home, I naturally gravitate towards small, transistor practice amps. I like to be able to play through an amp and still watch a movie or something. Even in Triode mode, I never managed to push the Marshall half stack past 1 in this room. 

After I bought the Tele a few weeks ago, I did a bit of research and I decided to grab one of these little Champions. I wanted something simple and small that could deliver Fender type of tones without peeling the paint off the walls.

I'll not try and pretend that it sounds even just almost as great as the old '59 Bassman or your old Twin - but honestly, to practice, I'll choose this puppy every time over amp sims (hardware and software) and other little transistor amps I've owned.  Even the British setting is relatively decent. And it's just a lot of fun to play. Probably my favorite of all the little amps I've owned, including the tube Randall.

Again, this is not for purists - but me I do believe in using different tools for different things.

Never ceases to amaze me how far we've come. I wish we'd have such affordable and good sounding gear when I started out. The bigger models have some extra features, like a second channel and all, but to me, that defeats the purpose - if this were to play live or record, I'd opt for something different entirely, not a bigger version of this. 

 

 

[Gswitz]

My friend has 3 champs with different speaks in them. I play on them all the time. They're great! I think he has one with a trem? There's a trem, idk if it's built into champ.

These are a tons of fun. I do prefer my 4x10 with a Rock Crusher, but the champs are so great!

I'm playing on it in this vid...

 

Edited November 14, 2020 by Gswitz

[Rain]

Thanks for posting this, man. I appreciate more than you could know. 

[Gswitz]

After the we turned off the camera, Scott played this awesome guitar jam for like 1/2 hour. He used a looper. It was wild... totally awesome. Bummer I didn't catch it. Maybe next time.

[Michael Vogel]

It must be 25 years since I bought my little Fender Frontman.  It makes the Champ look like a big Marshall stack. Lol
 

On my own or jamming with a few friends it’s more than enough for me. 
I hate ear bleeding volumes too. 

[57Gregy]

I think it was a Champ I played through way back in 1980-81. It belonged to one of my room mates and was the best-sounding amp I have ever played.
I have undoubtedly played through fewer amps than most of you, but it did sound good. Great tone.