Chinese alert...Super Champ XD in the house...

premiumplus · Post by **premiumplus** » 12 Jun 2008, 10:49

And it cranks. I put an Eminence Ragin Cajun in it and some good tubes...and gigged it at church last Sunday. Usually I play a '69 drip edge Super Reverb, and the rhythm player looked over in mid set and said, "We're all a bit loud this morning!"
Great tones in a small package. Definitely this year's sleeper. But you really need to get rid of the crappy chinese thimble-sized magnet speaker. Oh, and I put a standby switch in mine.
Architectually, the amp is solid state front end with digital effects. Output section is a 12AX7A p.i. driving a pair of 6V6's. This is really a cool little amp for the bucks ($299). And while it does have a couple of 'Metal' type emulators, it really doesn't do metal. Driven blackface tones, plexi, Vox, a very nice sounding 'Clean' channel are all VERY nice, and it's got pretty good effects too. I have been leaving mine on reverb/delay and it's nice. Lots of fun and lightweight to boot. It gets a (drumroll)

8.5 on the Sleeper scale. It is my new grab n go amp, giving my DR a well deserved rest. Get one now.

noelgrassy · Post by **noelgrassy** » 16 Jun 2008, 11:56

Did you happen to note the Plate voltages while you were in there? What type of PI did they use with that Digital front-end? Obviously, they wouldn't need a lot of expensive high voltage filter caps forcing down their profit margin. It also wouldn't hurt to make a Champ sound more like a Champ. Not that they don't deserve to make money or a good amp. I rarely have any desire to play through Fender's current amps when I visit the guitar stores. That kinda sucks for them because they've always been a favorite.
I think you still got a heck of deal! Little, cranked amps can sound so cool.

premiumplus · Post by **premiumplus** » 16 Jun 2008, 13:31

noelgrassy wrote:Did you happen to note the Plate voltages while you were in there? What type of PI did they use with that Digital front-end? Obviously, they wouldn't need a lot of expensive high voltage filter caps forcing down their profit margin. It also wouldn't hurt to make a Champ sound more like a Champ. Not that they don't deserve to make money or a good amp. I rarely have any desire to play through Fender's current amps when I visit the guitar stores. That kinda sucks for them because they've always been a favorite.
I think you still got a heck of deal! Little, cranked amps can sound so cool.

Hi noelgrassy,
If I remember right, the 6V6's had 398 volts on the plates. It was biased a little cold and I warmed it up to 70% idle dissipation with the built in bias pot. I was a little shocked to see a bias pot in there to tell the truth. They didn't even do that with the original RI Bassmans! The filter caps are rated at 450 volts. The PI is a 12AX7A, looks like a long tail setup but honestly I was in there only to see what I needed to do to rebias it. I installed new old tubes (GE grey plates), along with a balanced RCA for the PI. I put in a standby switch, and the Ragin Cajun completed the 'mods'.
I really don't see how Fender did it but they have restored my faith in them in one stroke. Oh, and check this out...The speaker baffle board is removable just like the classic BF Fenders. No, there isn't enough room for a 12" but it might fit a pair of 8's...which gives me an idea...how cool could that be? Has anyone tried a pair of 8" speakers vs a single 10"?? It never occurred to me until now. There has to be a reason that nobody uses 2X8 cabs though. Ah well, I digress

. It sounds real nice with the emi in there. Maybe I'll build a head cab for it. It really sounds huge through 12" drivers. I have an open back EVM12L that sounds great, and I haven't yet tried the 4X12 1960A yet. But that kind of defeats the purpose of this amp, which is to provide a portable, versatile casual amp to grab and go. And I think Fender has really done it. They had to cut costs somewhere and with old school wisdom they put in a cheaper speaker. Way to go Fender!

noelgrassy · Post by **noelgrassy** » 16 Jun 2008, 21:43

Thanks for all data. This is intriguing if you're that jazzed about it!
Funny you mention the 2X8" arrangement.

I edited a big long diatribe about a combo I built with just such an arrangement.
I refer to a single EL84, with 3 preamp stages feeding these deep-sea-blue AlNiCo jobs that only have a mfg's code that I've never bothered to look up. Sort of a half closed back helps stop the phase cancellations to provide an unlikely amount of girth and portentiousness. The singing sustain quality seems to be preserved by using the smaller diameter cone. I dunno.
It whomps on anything of similar dimensions!

premiumplus · Post by **premiumplus** » 16 Jun 2008, 23:26

Really...
I just put a Jensen MOD in my '60 Tweed Princeton and it sounds GREAT, man. I had a top of the line Weber alnico in there and also a Weber ceramic mag unit but in this application the little Jensen blew them away.
Maybe I'll make up a baffle board (doesn't have to be pretty at first) and stick those two Webers together in series for 8 ohms, and see what happens.
Did that pair of 8's sound boxey at all? I'm sure that they would move a bunch more air than one 10" would. Hmmmmmmmm

noelgrassy · Post by **noelgrassy** » 17 Jun 2008, 04:30

Naw, no boxiness at all. There's a rear panel at the back that at most covers 1/3 of the cab's rear opening.
It's still a very "open back" affair, which staves off the usual sonic anomalies associated with two competing
speakers without the correct cubic alotment for surrounding space.
I don't recall that variable's name, Fxs or Fhs maybe?
I predicate most of my good fortune here on pure dumb luck.
(The cabinet wood couldn't be any shittier

)
This new portability feature is something I've had to do without for a long time. This feeble old man could
learn to enjoy playing out again.

premiumplus · Post by **premiumplus** » 17 Jun 2008, 15:03

"Girth and portentiousness" I love it. That's almost an oxymoron when you're talking about a little amp!
I think you're referring to the Q of an enclosure, no? This single ended amp you're referring to, what's the cab size, roughly? Would it be about that of a Pro Jr. or a Champ? If we could put at pair of 8" speakers in these little amps (and find reasonably priced ones) we might start a revolution! Right here at Freestompboxes! And we could call them the Twin Non-Reverb!
I'm getting old too and how sweet would that be, to have a "mini-twin"...Then all the young cats will be going

!!! Why didn't I do that???
-Dave