Fender Super Champ XD - Overview and Bias checking (Part 1 of 2)

[@kdc300z]

Wow, that sounded amazing!

[@MrAnalogDan12]

thanks

[@flathead7922]

P tubes on my schamp are totally blackened, is it normal? tnx.

[@MrAnalogDan12]

Yes. Some tubes are totally black, depends on the manufacturer. This is not a defect.

[@bruceskelton8160]

Going to try this today. thanks

[@midnightraiin4035]

where is the bias dial or is there one ?

[@MrAnalogDan12]

at 8:55 ;)

[@midnightraiin4035]

@@MrAnalogDan12 thanks alot : )

[@midnightraiin4035]

nice tube tester. what make / model

[@MrAnalogDan12]

Knight 400B - I restored it myself.

[@midnightraiin4035]

@@MrAnalogDan12 well done , nice !

[@michaelbyrd7883]

This is a super charged practice amp, but just that single 10" speaker will not cut if for a real guitar player. It has some neat little features and voicings but that's kinda it. It's ok, it's not bad, would I spend more then $300 for this amp, no! You could spend $200 more and get a used Deluxe much better tone and amp.

[@jchavins]

huh ? I played for years with an amp that had less power than a SC.....if this isn't loud enough for you maybe you should research mixing boards.....

[@MarketingVideography]

Change the speaker and you'll be impressed.

[@christopherlowry418]

The only Fender amp models that I had ever bcught NEW like a 1977 Princeton Amp with 2 10" speakers and two Super Champ XD's with one 10" speaker they all suffered from the crapy quality stock speakers that sucked if you cranked up the amp. The amps are good, but the speakers truly sucked. If you want your amp to sound like 10 times better then check this out : The X2 is about the same amp as the Super Champ XD, but with the added USB option so you can actually downloand and store other voicings of one's choice off the web from Fender. One problem withe XD and the X2 is that the stock speakers only sound decent at low volumes to to being very cheap wimpy speakers. I finally found out that better quality 10" speakers can indeed make this amp actually sound SUPER at not only high volume, but all across the sound spectrum. Now at a nominal cost my 2 Fender Super Champ XD's sound like $1000 amps. I have 2 Super Champ XD amps. Great amps except for the wimpy 10" speaker that they come with so that Fender can cut costs, but at the expense of not producing a truly quality product. I also had picked up a used Fender Bassman 25 amp for $60 some time back. So the speaker in that Fender Bassman 25 amp had great lows and highs. So I removed it and replaced the Fender Super Champ XD speaker with the Fender Bassman 25 amps speaker which has a much larger magnet. It made a world of difference and now the amp is truly SUPER even when dimed. Next I will replace my other Super Champ XD with a Hartke Aluminum Cone 10" speaker from a Hartke 210 cab I have. Will move the other 10" in the cab to the Fender Bassman 25 Amp. The Hartke speakers turned out to be 16 ohm each. I had read that using a 16 ohm speaker instead of the 8 ohm ones would make the amp run cooler, but that the speaker would have less volume by about 3db. WRONG !!!. It acutally produces more volume than the identcal amp with the 8 ohm speaker installed. If you want a great amp upgrade your Super Champs speaker. You won't regret it.

[@spiderman0863]

A real guitar player? What is a real guitar player Michael?

[@thesoundgod5942]

That's what microphones are for. This amp is every bit as real as a Marshall stack. Mine is the newer X2 model, it has an amazing room reverb in the effects armada, and many more. I upgraded to a Jensen Mod 10-35 speaker, now this amp which was already great, absolutely kicks ass! I actually prefer playing it, to my Mesa MK III Blue Stripe.

[@christopherlowry418]

The only Fender amp models that I had ever bcught NEW like a 1977 Princeton Amp with 2 10" speakers and two Super Champ XD's with one 10" speaker they all suffered from the crapy quality stock speakers that sucked if you cranked up the amp. The amps are good, but the speakers truly sucked. If you want your amp to sound like 10 times better then check this out : The X2 is about the same amp as the Super Champ XD, but with the added USB option so you can actually downloand and store other voicings of one's choice off the web from Fender. One problem withe XD and the X2 is that the stock speakers only sound decent at low volumes to to being very cheap wimpy speakers. I finally found out that better quality 10" speakers can indeed make this amp actually sound SUPER at not only high volume, but all across the sound spectrum. Now at a nominal cost my 2 Fender Super Champ XD's sound like $1000 amps. I have 2 Super Champ XD amps. Great amps except for the wimpy 10" speaker that they come with so that Fender can cut costs, but at the expense of not producing a truly quality product. I also had picked up a used Fender Bassman 25 amp for $60 some time back. So the speaker in that Fender Bassman 25 amp had great lows and highs. So I removed it and replaced the Fender Super Champ XD speaker with the Fender Bassman 25 amps speaker which has a much larger magnet. It made a world of difference and now the amp is truly SUPER even when dimed. Next I will replace my other Super Champ XD with a Hartke Aluminum Cone 10" speaker from a Hartke 210 cab I have. Will move the other 10" in the cab to the Fender Bassman 25 Amp. The Hartke speakers turned out to be 16 ohm each. I had read that using a 16 ohm speaker instead of the 8 ohm ones would make the amp run cooler, but that the speaker would have less volume by about 3db. WRONG !!!. It acutally produces more volume than the identcal amp with the 8 ohm speaker installed. If you want a great amp upgrade your Super Champs speaker. You won't regret it.

[@MrAnalogDan12]

Oh I totally agree with you. A speaker upgrade is the easiest way to improve the tone. My picks are Jensen Alnico for vintage sounds or WGS for some modernity.

[@bruceskelton8160]

you mention that it is a Chinese tube, but never complete your thought on how to identify it is Chinese.

[@MrAnalogDan12]

Yep... Sorry bout that ! I showed it but did not name it. The tell tale of a Chinese 12AX7 and similar is this shiny separator in the shape of the Pi symbol. Look closely at around 3:50

[@bruceskelton8160]

@@MrAnalogDan12 Ok, cool. thanks. Will have a look at mine.

[@MrAnalogDan12]

@@bruceskelton8160 If my memory serves me right, later SCXD amps had Groove Tubes installed.