Fender Vibro Champ - Fender's Ultimate Home Amp?

[@Abutado]

This video is so well timed for what I'm trying to do in my life currently. You even demoed it with a Telecaster. Just perfect. Thank you.

[@TheStudioRats]

Glad I could help

[@Deric_Rocks]

Been using an early '70s silverface Champ (non-vibro) as my home/practice amp for about 20 years now, perfect little thing, takes pedals just fine and sounds just great! My big amps sit there gathering dust. I run my Champ into a 2x12, bypassing the internal speaker. Love it! Edit: I use a Source Audio EQ pedal at the end of my pedal chain and adjust the output volume of that to drive the input valve/tube on the Champ. Tend to keep the amp volume between about 4 and 7, and the EQ pedal's volume control gives me all the adjustment i need 👍

[@alexmbrenner]

It is one of the best amps of all time. You can actually find them less than $900. Great video!

[@mikelanzafame3401]

That’s a bold statement haha

[@cyropencap3526]

I tried to find a used one, but ended up just buying a new one for $900. Worth every penny!

[@michaelinglis567]

A couple years ago i built a Champ based on the "Champ Amp AA764" schematic. But i got a wild hair and decided to build it with two output tubes. One 6V6 and one EL84 that can be selected via switch on the front of the amp (but only one of them active at a time of course). There are also a few other optional mods (mid boost push pull on the bass pot, bright switch push pull on the treble pot, High/Low input on the volume pot which ive actually found very useful but it used to be a tonestack defeat but that circuit has more than enough gain especially when you switch off the NFB loop, and a switch to defeat the NFB loop) . So what i ended up with is basically a Champ and a Gibson GA5 in one amp lol. I truly love it and it gets just as much play time as my 100watt Marshall does. The EL84 brakes up quicker and needs less input signal for a given output so it makes it seem as though the EL84 is much louder when switching from the 6V6 but each has its own unique character. The only thing that id change if I could do it all over again would be to use the "Vibro Champ Amp AA764" schematic so i could also have the tremolo. But i built a Harmonic/Bias Tremolo about 5 years ago so in the meantime its been able to cover the tremolo for now. But if i do build another Champ in the future, which is likely (even though there are a million things i want to build lol), it will be a Vibro Champ.

[@GuitarsRgood7]

I played one at my local shop recently. I can't stop thinking about it. Hopefully I can buy it soon!

[@guitaristwilllane]

YES! the '68 CVCR deserves every bit of attention! it really is quite the firecracker, a perfect amp for most scenarios that the modern clean-dirty clean guitarist will find themselves in. plenty loud for monitoring yourself, mic it to FOH for your throw to the floor sure you maybe don't get $900 "worth of parts", but the amp does do $900 "work of work", so to speak. my 2nd favorite amp i've ever owned, right behind my AC30TBX

[@daviddonithan6180]

Great demo as always. But… what we’re hearing is only the amps power amp and pre amp if you will. The speaker is being simulated with IR’s and the reverb is being added in the mix. Wouldn’t it be more suitable to hear the actual amp miked in a room? With its actual speaker and reverb? That’d be a much better representation of how it actually sounds if someone was gonna think of purchasing one.

[@terrykoski3082]

I had a Silverface Champ as a teen. It red plated on me and burnt up. I built a vibrochamp champ now as a middle aged man. Best little amp. I play it thru a 4x12” cabinet. Very versatile amp.

[@Garflips]

I had a vintage Champ that I managed to squeeze a heftier 10" speaker inside with a bit of carving - huge improvement. I've since sold it but I remember one of the best sounds after the speaker swap was driving it with an electric baritone through an H&K Warp Drive pedal!

[@BRANDONMUNROMUSIC]

The hall verb is soo nice. Found this amp at a pawn shop today and am very happy I picked it up

[@BRANDONMUNROMUSIC]

At first I was bummed when I realized it wasn’t a real spring verb , but then after playing through it I realized the verb in there sounds incredible and has the best of many worlds of reverb yet still feels very fender in its own way

[@grahamrich40]

I got a hold of one of these last year. Cracking sounding little amps if you’re into the silverface sound and want to just plug in and play. Agree that they are a touch on the pricey side but it’s a keeper for me.

[@jimshomestudio]

I paid $400 for a 1968 Vibro Champ in original condition with CBS tubes. It just sits under my desk, collecting value. I happen to like it, and when you mic it up you can then adjust the mic preamp to give a huge sound. No reverb on the originals. I have some 1x cabinets and plenty of single speakers laying around, shame that a SM57 and a couple cables is holding me back. Love your playing Paul. Sounded lovely.

[@strathound]

I just bought one and I'm going to use this as my main stage amp from now on. There's something about mic-ing an amp on stage that gives perfect tone and the perfect level of stage volume so everyone can hear me. Can't wait to try it out.

[@Twylightt]

And is cool for home use, low volume?

[@dannops]

Picked one of these up about a month ago. Just couldn't bond with the stock Celestion speaker. Dropped in a Jensen Alnico P10R and instant gratification.

[@stevesanders6738]

I did the same!

[@brucehayes7251]

I got the 68 Princeton and had to swap the Celestion for a real speaker,same feeling of gratification

[@ElyRiverBlues]

I find the celestion absolutely fine! No plans to change it. But I appreciate it's matter of personal choice and playing style. In the studio I put mine through a 4 x12 Marshall cabinet with celestions and that is an unbelievable sound from this amp!

[@Dang...]

These are the best of the Reissue Fender amps. BTW, these can get surprisingly loud. I gig mine unmic'd in guitar duo gigs in pubs and it's perfect in those settings. If you need more volume, these are also great mic'd up too.

[@jaunianise4172]

What I like about coming to watch this channel, are the shots with the clever chords. You should share your beautiful chord progressions!

[@ddjohnsonable]

In the opening I saw a few that looked...difficult. IDK if the amps for me but it made my phone speakers sing.

[@TheStudioRats]

Thank you! Will do

[@loftusroad10]

I have the 68 Vibrolux, which I find great for gigging and home use. That Vibro Champ sounds lush !!

[@fender4brad]

The vibrolux sounds huge compared to the champ. I got a great deal on a 68 Champ. My plan was to down size by selling my Vibrolux custom. Put a new reverb in it and a new tube to fix a microphonic problem. Shouldn’t have fixed it, really great amp. The champ is a beast, but not anything like a vibrolux.

[@JussiKylliainen]

What ever you play - it's sounds amazing! The magic is in your finger....but I love also Champ

[@waynedoherty7758]

Great amp :-) It’s better for home use when paired with an affordable attenuator, then you can dial it up past 8 on the volume dial but still sit under 85db

[@nikolaubtopou]

What attenuator do you use with it please ?

[@waynedoherty7758]

@@nikolaubtopou The super cheap and cheerful Bugera PS1

[@nikolaubtopou]

@@waynedoherty7758 may I ask you how do you connect it? Does it require some modifications ? Thanks

[@waynedoherty7758]

@@nikolaubtopou No mods but you will need an extra speaker cable. Connect the speaker cable to the Speaker out of the amp, and to the amp in of the attenuator. Then plug the combos speaker into the speaker out of the attenuator.

[@nikolaubtopou]

@@waynedoherty7758 thanks Any reference of the extra cable please ?

[@diajoeband]

I’d love to see you reviewing the Princeton 68 Custom!

[@falsecrab]

sounds amazing, great video. Thank you for the demonstration. Looking for one at the moment

[@ElyRiverBlues]

Most satisfying amp I've ever bought! Expensive yes but for me worth it. So glad you didn't call this a "practice" amp like some other reviews! That's not it's role

[@Twylightt]

Can you use it at low volums home, with top quality sound.?

[@ElyRiverBlues]

@@Twylightt I think that's its strength vol 4/5 in a small room. Just on the edge.

[@JarickL]

Sounds killer. I think think is the type of amp I need at home. I've got an Axe FX 3 and lots of neat pedals, but I don't have a plug and play tube combo.

[@patrickpost3269]

My brother found one for me in a pawn shop. Turns out it was a real 68 vibro champ. I replaced the caps, speaker and put in a 3 prong plug and now its my go to amp for gigs too, as long as it miked. There is no reverb on mine though. Nice playing BTW!

[@videomove]

nice playing - you really make the amp sound great!

[@Tstdycgyr]

Great video, yes a 12 inch speaker would improve an already teriffic sound but then you start thinking about the Princeston, and the " don't make the wrong choice" thoughts come in the night 😱😱😂😂, great demo and super playing, thanks from Dublin.

[@nabilcharbel4136]

Beautiful sounding little gem, thx Paul, looking forwsrd for Wednesday.

[@squirelova1815]

I have a tube driven Vibro Champ XD that I luckily grabbed brand new for only $150 from Sam Ash as a "clearance" item and have never regretted it for a single moment since then, even though I have the really sweet '65 Princeton RI as well. This particular Champ type has some very nice sounding effects included as well as amp modeling built in too and its "Special Design" 8" speaker has an impressively good but also rather focused quality to it which is PERFECT for intimate, close up and VERY Quiet volumes in an apartment or especially at night. Since buying it I also truly appreciate why guitarist Joe Walsh states that he really likes and very much prefers small amps. Here's something very interesting to consider about this amp and other Digital modeling amps in general: People on various forums often mention "upgrading" the Vibro Champ XD's little 8" speaker to a "better" name brand 10" (of course...) but THEN apparently almost ALWAYS put the Original "Special Design" 8" speaker back in and say that it's just better suited for that amp overall. I'm pretty sure it has to do with the DIGITAL amp modeling and effects and how the 8" Original speaker was, in fact, "Special" in design to especially handle those particular frequencies produced by the Digitized amp modeler. It's the same technical situation with Peavey's VYPYR VIP line too and those amazing devices are truly excellent sounding amps.

[@davidcarson7936]

Lovely piece of playing at the start of the video 👍

[@TheStudioRats]

Many thanks!

[@BrettPapa]

Sounds great!

[@markymark3au]

Best review I have seen of this amp. I have one and am sure I can improve my use of it from your advice. Might even get a bigger speaker 😊

[@tomgnau]

Best review of that amp I've seen. Kudos.

[@TheStudioRats]

Cheers

[@johnhudak3829]

As always, your videos are freakin' AMAZING!! I have a VibroChamp and I'm gonna make a new baffle and put a 10" speaker in it ASAP.

[@TheStudioRats]

Sounds great.

[@Garflips]

NOMB but😁... personally I'd put a 12" in there. It might take a smidge of carving on the inside, but if you're cutting the baffle anyway. You'll find online that it is definitely being done. Of course it depends on your music. I like vintage 15" jazz cabinets pushed with low wattage tube amps... or SS.

[@jonathanjrich]

Lovely tones again, Paul. Great stuff. I wish my flat had thicker walls. I’m generally limited to using headphones only. If I ditched the phones and turned up to 7, I’m pretty sure my amp would be on the edge of break-up courtesy of my neighbour’s sledgehammer! 🤓

[@christopher-miles]

lol

[@Guitarjosii]

You really should get a Loadbox

[@Johnsormani]

I have an early 70es vibro champ. Cool little amp . I make the most beautiful clean profiles with it for my kemper

[@BladeDoomer86]

What a beautiful intro.. Not sure if it's an original or an actual song, but it sure should be made whole.

[@TheStudioRats]

It’s a The studio rats song called Drifting in the Dark.

[@BladeDoomer86]

Well, it's sublime. Well played sir.@@TheStudioRats

[@Mario_Rios]

great review, wonderful playing! What song did you play at the very begining?

[@grahamh9788]

Alright, you guys might hate me but about 10 years ago now somebody gave me one of these, vintage silverface. Got it serviced recently and was playing through it tonight, wow. I guess when i got it, everyone still wanted a blackface but man this little amp sounds good, and my mom has a blackface deluxe reverb i grew up playing on. Vintage fender tone but keep in mind no reverb, just vibtato on the vibro champ, i mean its in the name lol

[@guyincascade]

I have a ‘77 Vibro Champ, boughtt it brand new, still playing it 40+ yrs later

[@guitarthink]

Forget the amp... Love that riff from Drifting in the Dark!

[@jamiboothe]

Awesome sounding amp. I would rather build one, than buy it. 900$ is certainly a reasonable price, however I would build a hand wired one, with personally sourced components. Nice vid

[@nicok5630]

I have that model and it is really good recording, normally with an SM57, note though at even 5 it is too loud for bedroom. Needs attenuator. Vibrato is perfect.

[@paulorr7471]

I think these reissues sound better than the vintage stuff. Imagine that. A circuit board sounding better than a hand wired amp.

[@mikebarnard2689]

Can’t disagree… but wait till it breaks… unrepairable uneconomical .

[@amerigovespucci6762]

Perché irreparabile???Si può eccome.

[@davidwoods358]

It's a great sounding amp stock, so great in fact ... I want this exact amp with a 12 inch speaker. 10's always sound a bit boxy to me. I have to wonder if this little enclosure would allow for modification to a 12 inch.

[@fukusamon4277]

wgs et10 is good but 10 inches

[@wolfbrammr]

Damn. Nice sounds. Can you demo the Laney Super Cub 10?

[@guyincascade]

I have a ‘77 Vibro Champ, bought it brand new, mine came with 8” speaker, paid $125 brand new

[@MelodyCarroll-rx8tk]

I'm looking at getting this amp or the Supro Amulet. Did you find the vibro champ produced a lot of hum? I hear the amulet is pretty quiet.

[@ryanvanhazen2997]

Best you have sounded and that’s saying a lot 👍

[@jonzy72]

I checked this amp out at a store thinking on buying it , sounded great , but for $900 plus tax and it’s a very small amp. Couldn’t make my self do it. Its more like a $500 to $600 amp at best. A lot that is based on just the size alone.

[@beesong2450]

amp sounds amazing

[@ricklanders]

These usually sound like crap to me, but you made it sound great. I'm now seriously considering one. Fender should kick something back to you! ;-)

[@TheStudioRats]

Cheers Rick, I wish they would.

[@mikeblue385]

i did some recording with one of those. the best 'clean' strat sound ever. if i could find a 30 watt amp that does that i'll be set.

[@diajoeband]

What do you think about the Princeton? I would love to watch you comparing the Princeton 65 and the 68 Reverb Reissues.

[@ianmartens5286]

What an amazing amp!

[@DeGroove]

Comparison to the supro Amulet is what I’m thinking about. About same price, but Supro has an attenuator added which arguably makes it the better home amp maybe. I also heard it’s less noisy than the VC. Any real live experiences appreciated!

[@nicok5630]

Yes champ is quite noisy but from 4 upwards you won’t notice on recording.

[@ro307805]

Nice!! I like it better than my silver face 1971 champ

[@jeffreybiscoe6]

Had a early 70s vibro champ always regretted selling it . These sound better imo it never had that bigger amp sound must be the speaker upgrade

[@mamonejeanpierre4398]

Hi. great amp and nice playing. A question : how the Fender Champ is connected to the Torpedo and the audio interface ? thanks

[@357jazzman]

Hi Paul, thank you for another great review. How would you compare this fender with the blu amp ?

[@TheStudioRats]

They are quite different in features. If you want something versatile I’d go for the Blu.

[@357jazzman]

thanks Paul would be great to do comparison with this fender vibro champ and a katana or blu amp just to compare the cleans . By the way your playing is great as always.

[@moustachio334]

Lovely sounds. Does it have the 10 inch celestion speaker? For home practice i prefer to use solid state. 😂 Peavey Transtube is an underrated solid state amp. I wish they still made them. Mine has an eminence speaker. The transistors do a decent job at sounding tube like. I miss my gear. I'm in another country. Fender vibrato curcuits are perfect.

[@TheStudioRats]

It is the 10”

[@alexsisti]

Hi Paul, I've got same amp too. Usually play it with Bugera power soak at home. Could you give more details on how did you record amp tones in your video? Thank you.

[@TheStudioRats]

It’s all in the description notes.

[@matzer8846]

just beautiful

[@Nnmtes]

A very nice sound. A Tele works so well with an amp like that. Sadly i can only afford one amp, and i make do with a Katana Artist mk ll. I can get 'close' to that sound though 😊

[@dmac3316]

Cool vid. I’ve been on the fence about one of these for awhile now. Always great sounding when I try them out. Price is the issue right now, bit too high for me at the moment. Otherwise I really have enjoyed playing these in my local guitar shops.

[@jorgefernandes6915]

Damn you!, you just made me buy this amp 😅

[@rafalstachura]

Great video. One question: this or Princeton Tone Master?

[@TheStudioRats]

I’ve never tried one I’m afraid.

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

Stick with a Valve amp if you like what you heard. The tonemaster is good but lacks the instant attack and zingy bubblyness of Valves. Valves can be found but try to find those IC boards and power suppliez fast and that is what trips people up.

[@halcyo]

That intro song is spectacular! What is that?!

[@mattshul]

Two questions about the Two Notes Torpedo mentioned in the description. Are we hearing the amp through an IR and if so which model? How does that relate to your comment about wishing it had a 12” speaker? Great demo and fantastic sounding amp. Thanks.

[@TheStudioRats]

You are hearing the amp through the ir, using the champ ir.

[@MRxr400]

beautiful tone.

[@jonaswinge]

Sounds amazing

[@fabiopancani9930]

Hi. U can use it also live ? Or it's too small ? Thanks a lot

[@robinbennison9225]

Have you tried this amp with drive pedals? I bought a Boss SD-1 on the strength of your brilliant review video on it, I was hoping you'd put something like that, or even something more boutiquey like a Tumnus or an OCD in front of it.

[@TheStudioRats]

I haven’t to be honest, I’m sure it sounds great tho.

[@bwhit716]

At 5:09 when you said let’s see how far we can drive it, was that only turning volume up, or did you kick a drive pedal on? Also do you think there’s enough room to change baffle to 12” so that speaker basket and small magnet do not hit tubes or trannys….your best guess. Thanks TSR.

[@TheStudioRats]

That’s the amp no drive. But turning it up is very loud

[@SundayMorningBreakfastClub]

What do you set the impedence of the Two Notes Torpedo Studio to record with this? It looks like there would be a mismatch since the amp is 3.2 ohms and the Torpedo is 4, 8, or 16.

[@TheStudioRats]

its minimum 3.2 ohms, so 4 ohms.

[@zachtheguitarmaniac]

Great vid and I always enjoy the content. The ultimate anything/studio guitarist amp is the Bogner Ecstasy. You should have one on the channel. It sounds great at any volume. It can be a Super Reverb, Plexi, or Hot Rodded Marshall (with Bogner's signature take on the latter). Having now owned almost every amp under the sun, if I could pick just one it would be the Ecstasy 101B for a "do it all" amplifier.

[@satevo462]

$899 for a 1x10" 5-watt amp? Now I know I'm a broke scrub, but damn. My Katana will just have to do.

[@clubbd]

How did you record it for this vid? I have the same amp, every time I put a close up microphone it picks up some low hums on 40hz, 95hz, 120hz, the hum is there even without the guitar plug in, I’m wondering does the hum also on yours too or just mine?😢

[@TheStudioRats]

Theres no hum on this, it sounds like youve got a ground issue with either the mics or the amp.

[@clubbd]

@@TheStudioRats wow, really? Like 0 noise? Sounds like I have a real problem

[@jeffreybiscoe6]

Wish they did a HW version then it would be perfect but even more $ at retail.

[@Bobby_Digital37]

I love this amp sounds! It’s supposed to have experienced some build quality issues from fender.

[@johnsmith-ug5tp]

MIM

[@brothermac9719]

A bit different ball game but I'll run with my AC10

[@giosagi491]

HI How did you mike the amplifier?

[@Nomadman777]

Sounds nice...

[@brianm1491]

Hi Wots the tone differance between input 1/2 ?

[@rodolpheponthus2948]

-6 dB.

[@sofasoundeffects]

Really lovely tones! Since you mention going through the captor, what IRs did you use on it? Sounds really good and I've often wondered whether small amps have to sound small when recorded through a dummy load and IR, thus removing the whole speaker/cabinet size and air moved factor - seems not, which is great news for home recording!

[@TheStudioRats]

Join me on Wednesday on our live show and ask again I’ll turn it on and go through the settings if you want.

[@ARONHALLAM]

Thought I was watching an old amp for a while, strange to put a digi reverb in there. They don't do that on new twins do they?

[@TheStudioRats]

I guess they do it due to the size of the cabinet

[@TheStudioRats]

Twin still has spring verb

[@ARONHALLAM]

@@TheStudioRatsthe champ12 had a little spring but presumably a bit bigger.it's either the size or perhaps they didn't consider this to be top of the range. having said that I would imagine a metal box and a couple of springs don't cost much to manufacture.

[@aguitarhero007]

How is the fractal model in comparison?

[@TheStudioRats]

Good question I haven’t tried it, I’ll check it out.

[@nekkon1989]

I don't get what a "professional amplifier" is, please help

[@antoonhermans8953]

I was thinking about buying this amp , but since fender always puts the cheapest parts in there amps wich at a certain point will fail , i got an second hand elfring little gem ltd ( also 5 W ) , wich is made with much more durable and better parts , the jupiter 8sc speaker in it is really a killer speaker ( with 10 inch vibes ) , the amp sounds more like an princeton ( it was also designed with the 5F2 circuit in mind ) then an champ also due to the some what larger and deeper cabinet .

[@simonsmith2642]

If you think this is really something (and it is nice enough for anyone) you should get your ears on a Swart! My dude, my dude! Expensive even used yes absolutely. But aaaaaaaaaamazing!

[@diderkamal1]

I saw a deal for £750 for one of these and still think it’s super steep for what it is. £550 and i would probably change my mind

[@SidBonkers51]

That sounds amazing but at around £800 in the UK thats, well thats divorce money for a home amp!!

[@rodolpheponthus2948]

"For this video, the Fender Champ was connected to a Two Notes Torpedo Studio. The reverb was Universal Audio Lexicon 224" Uhhh... Ok

[@t-bone3657]

He suggests a 12 inch speaker but isn’t the idea to have it as a bedroom amp and small gigs? Hmmm 🤔

[@TheStudioRats]

You say He. Who are you asking this question too? Speaker size is not about volume it’s frequency response.

[@chickenlickin3820]

really nice package for £800

[@simonjensen5480]

Sounds fantastic! - but I don’t think wife would approve…

[@davidbarlow431]

Not a bad little amp but would need to be half the price before I would consider one.

[@Mitch-6-Strings]

It’s a great amp for sure but we’ll overpriced !

[@MikeGiles-es3vq]

Must be using a od.They dont have anywhere near that much drive.I have this amp.

[@TheStudioRats]

No

[@powbobs]

Price just went up to $999.

[@MrRFasters]

Nope. Fender's Ultimate Home Amp is the Fender Champ XD. It has the Champ thing, but also 1 Clean channel and 15 other Voices to help out with. And alll the basic Effect needs, including a jolly goodf Spring Verb and the Tremolo to match. Basic effects, greatest Clean Pedal platform ever.

[@aleczleija]

😮