Vintage Fender Champ Tone - 1971 Fender Champ Amp @ Sunflower and Friends!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 พ.ย. 2024
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Today we are demonstrating a 1971 Fender Champ amp recently serviced and available at Sunflower and Friends!
George Harrison used that amp x 4 for the concert for Bangladesh. For the two weeks prior to concert, I set them up at the rehearsal warehouse in NYC. My sister ran publicity for Apple at the time. 4 silver face champ amps hooked together.
JJ Slyde Wow, thanks for sharing! Very cool to look this up and see those 4 champs there on stage! I had always assumed he was playing that ampeg rig. I really appreciate you sharing your experience! I’ve always loved champs but that really takes things up a notch for me. Great concert.
Super cool to hear from you. It was a great concert event. One of the greatest of that generation. It is too bad that overall the concert even money was financially mismanaged and a great deal of the money not going to correct place at the correct time. Cheers to everyone who put their heart and soul out to create this masterpiece.
Won Honglo wow! When did you see Eric Clapton using them?
howdid you hook them up? I have 2 SF and a tweed plus princetons. AB box with polarity?
I thought George's amps were Princeton Reverbs, not Champs.
I mean this as a compliment...I feel like I'm looking into the past. It's as if this was filmed in 1971, locked away in a cannister for nearly 50 years and then discovered in pristine condition. There's pretty much nothing visually in this video that would indicate that it's from 2018. I don't know if this was done by accident or on purpose but it's brilliant!
Finishin.My.Coffee haha, I’ll take it as a compliment! It seems everything we own is old!
@@SunflowerandFriends and if it's not, you'll make it old with some sandpaper!
@Cloud lol sure, bud. Whatever floats your boat.
@Cloud Okay. Maybe I'll make a video of it!
@Cloud Good one, Jethro Dull.
great demo man. sounds killer. tubes still reign supreme!
Hi! Thanks a lot for the great representation of this amp! Great info, great sounds + playing. One of the best vids on the sf Champ I've seen so far!
Thank you very much!
A great sounding classic Amp!!
Great sounding little amp indeed !
Sounds great - thanks for taking the time make this.
That simply sounds amazing!
I built a cab out of solid poplar from a 100 year old piano, and 80 y.o. Birch ply front and 3/4 back. 2 Celestion G10-n40 wired in parallel for 4ohm/80w. Wrings every last drop out of my '78 Champ. Try a 12at7 in the preamp for a lot of clean headroom.
1968 Vibro Champ here, real nice sounding amp.
Great looking store too by the way.
Man.... your Strat sounds KILLER through that thing.
Tapehead International Thank you very much! Good champ, good Strat! Lucky to be around such fun stuff :)
Getting a 70s champ this week
So excited 🤩🤩🤩
That sounds perfect!
Love the basic none-gain amplifier!
I got one back in '81 and still have it. The only problem I ever had was the tube socket in the middle shorted out and I had to replace it.
With an 8" speaker it sounds "crunchy" compared to the Twin Reverb I used to have.
Thanks for the memories.
Sounds great! Great player as well.
Why thank ya! Cheers :)
Bet you want it back now! The Strat soundz epic. The 330 nice and meaty.
Great sound and play
Very Sweet Amp, some years back I had the black face version earlier like 65, wished I never had lost that one ' can't do much better for a small amp, may get more variety if Miked!
J.D. JD Think Tankers org.asa. Thanks! The amp is actually mic’d with a vintage EV Lav Mic but just out of frame to keep the view of the amp clear. Surprisingly a very good guitar mic from military surplus. We’ve got a black panel for sale currently on our site - 80’s era but handwired just like the 60’s ones. A great amp. And yes you’re right, the champ is aptly named for the small recording amp category!
Nice playing and great sound amp!
Richard Cocks thank you very much! :)
I was always a tweed champ fan but your 71 is maybe the best champ I' ve ever heard. Volume was 3-4 I guess?
And I always said that a champ is an amp for single coil guitars.
Your great ES 330 proves it.
My favorite guitar for my champ is a SG jr. with the P-90 at bridge.
So now I will try to find a 70' s champ like yours, plug both champs into a ABY box and see what happens.
Cheers from germany.
With these 2 input amps you don't need aby box, you just run guitar into input 1 and then Daisy chain instrument cable from input 2 out to input 1 on the next amp.
For some reason I still don't know why the input on these things also kinda works as an effects loop to run signal out of the input into the next amp.
Try it out with any 2 input Jack amp and see that it also sends signal not only does it work but it eliminates more gadgets 😉
Thank you! This amp got a lot of care to help it sound this way. Every champ can be a different animal and perhaps it’s behavior will show how it was cared for.
perfect tone.
Nice. I currently have a '71 SF Champ-Amp. I retubed it and replaced the Radio Shack[?!] speaker with a celestion. It sounds wonderful, but I suspect it's time for an internal refurb. In Maine there aren't a lot of techs with experience with older PTP-wired amps. I'm good with soldering/replacing components; is there a 'kit' that would enjoy your recommendation?
Hi! A kit as in a refurb kit? I would suggest Antique Electronics Supply part # SET-CAP-FENDER-009-P
That is a cap kit for the amplifier. While you have your bypass caps removed check the value of your cathode resistors for drift! As for the mods done on this exact amp there is not a kit I'm aware of but if you want to email us at Howdy@SunflowerAndFriends.com we can talk about sending a kit with some instructions and parts for all the refurb and mods suggested for a champ to make it sound and last to the best of it's abilities while keeping the classic Fender character. Thanks for watching!
I understand that Clapton recorded the Layla album using Brownie (his ‘58 maple necked starburst Strat) and a Fender tweed Champ. That’s quite a sound out of a 5 watt amp even if mic’d up.
Tom Dowd, the engineer for the layla album, said they were brand new champs bought at Manny's for the sessions, so they would have been silverface champs, not tweed.
Lovely sounds
It doesnt cost you much to build that circuit from scratch, and get yourself an old alnico speaker from the 50's-60's.
better still just get the $200 joyo sweet baby mine sounds great...
There was just enough room to cram the drums in the corner over by the Dodge . . . . It was a Stratocaster with a whammy bar.
If was a 54 with a mashed up door
And cheesy little amp
With a sign on th front saying Fender Champ
I enjoyed this!
Damn, had that very amp in junior high, then sold it for about $75 to buy a class ring. Dumbazz
Greg Don’t feel bad I traded in mines for Boss dd5 delay pedal that I didn’t even use that much
@@pweston65 the lesson is.... never feel dumb, for being dumb, because there's always someone dumber out there? both of you: *_Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!_*
I have a similar story but I sold it for $200
was the class ring cool tho
@@scrappydoohasbeenfounddead937 Ha! Well, I still have it stashed away somewhere all these decades later. But cool? I'd rather have the amp
Silverface Champs are usually 6 watts…
Thank you for the video, you awesome man! nice guitars and vibe from your room)
I’ve been playing at Vox AC4C1at home couple years and I wanted something new “not British” created by the hands of the Chinese at the factory and it seems I found a new amplifier that’s wonderful for the apartment)
Love it
Sounds pleasant.
Thank you! We love warming up these Champs :) Cheers
That was the very first amp i ever bought ,great lil amp. Sold it to a studio in the 80's for 75euro, sigh
@Roughman nope haha , but it would be round 75,- euro's nowadays.
The power transformers on those amps give out more voltage that they should. Part of the Silverface Champ's unique sound. Don’t change the value of the power tube cathode resistor. Just buy old, used 6V6s from the 1950s or 60s. They still sound better than low spec modern tubes.
Got 2…a Champ and a Vibro Champ.What are They worth these days? Thanks.
That stratocaster seems like its huge in size.
Thank you!
What the hell did you do to that Strat? Take a rasp to it?
aint got that one🥲got a '71 TFL5005D sittin in the closet on top of a Crate 2x12 cab next to a M/B DC-3.
I paw mute with my forearm, you seem to be doing with sleeve?
What speaker is in this beauty
Dale Hamon I believe this one had a vintage alnico “Oaktron” 8” 4 ohm speaker installed. It was picked from several vintage 8” speakers. It just kind of did a neat thing with this speaker. Very 50’s Jensen-like.
Unable to find your store online... do you have a link?
I have a 68 Vibro champ
James Wooldridge SunflowerandFriends.com 👍🏼
We have a 70’s champ but no vibrato. But we get them all the time!
We’re in the process of opening our brick and mortar store so our inventory is a little light on our online shop. Give a call if you need anything though!
If you could somehow put a 10in in one of these puppies i bet it would truly sing.
Are you playing straight into the amp or are there any pedals assisting in those awesome tones?
Cody Bassett straight in, no FX, no buffers, one cable!
How much did it end up going for? I must be a giant cus next to me they look tiny....that one looks huge!
The SickNeeds I don’t recall on this one. All fixed up at this exact moment between $450 and $600 can buy a silver face champ. There are many deals to be had on them that haven’t been serviced and they are not too expensive to send to us, or perhaps your favorite local tech 👍🏼🌻
The SickNeeds Also in regards to size - forced perspective! It’s a little up front in the foreground 🌻
@@SunflowerandFriends wow how prices have changed in only 3 yrs….over a thousand now….
Is it similar to a 68? Thanks!
Quite similar.
@@chazzbessette3505, thanks!
sold mine 10 minutes ago
What instrument cable is that?
Couldn’t tell you!
I don‘t see any mic. How is this recorded?
Good question! The amplifier was recorded using a vintage Electro Voice Lavalier microphone which is just out of frame, the same which is clipped onto my collar in the speaking sections. Care was taken with the audio to try to represent the true sound of the amplifier in the room. Thanks for asking!
@@SunflowerandFriends Thanks! This sounds surprisingly good for such a tiny mic. A really nice amp!
Did your grandma crochet that blanket for you? Maybe she can make one for a cover for ur amp?
Tommy Baja that’s a fine idea! I’ll have to raid the yarn barn
i have a 70 cool
im annonymous love these champs!
I traded a leather jacket to a friend for one of these in mint condition. I was prolly only 15. At one point I blew a tube and thought I ruined the amp and threw it away..... I loved that little amp.... I was so stupid...... please forgive me.
I have one but it will not distort like yours. I have original ev? Alnico
Tom Brantley I hit the strings pretty hard. Hmmm, hard to say. Does it have a 12AX7 installed in the preamp section? If the resistors have drifted or the bypass cap on the preamp stage that can also affect gain and make the amp weak. If you’re in Texas or willing to ship it we can make it exactly as it ought to be and even improve stability if you wish.
I had one of these back in '71 and I couldn't get it to distort then either (granted, I was a kid and didn't know what I was doing. I was so dumb I didn't even know about pedals).
Another thing to point out is that the cathode resistor has been adjusted on this one to have a more similar dissipation to an earlier champ, before the higher voltage transformer. Also a screen resistor has been added which helps tube life and gives a just slightly more compressed sound. Lastly the pickups are adjusted for max output without sounding bad. Since a SF champ doesn't have an enormous amount of gain available all these small factors play into the big picture in a major way. In this video demonstration no pedals have been used, straight into the amp with each guitar :)
Not a '71 because there's no "tail" underlining the Fender logo. ampwares.com/amplifiers/fender-silverface-champ/
I never warmed up to these amps as they seem farty and dry sounding to my ears.
A bit harsh: maybe the speaker ? I personally prefer the Pro Junior…
That's not a 71 Champ. Cab is squared off and no tail logo. Maybe 74 or
later.
James Keeley that is very astute! This amp was dated based on the pot/transformer codes, serial and tube chart. Would you suggest that someone used a post 73 cabinet and transplanted the rest of these items into it?
Regardless, I'm glad you mentioned this as there are a lot of clues into the whole story of a Fender amplifier. This amp was called a '71 based on typical date code data. Sounds like a likely candidate for a cab swap at some point in this amp's life. Thanks for your input!
@@SunflowerandFriends Yes I would think a cab swap definitely. The orange in the grill cloth is another indicator. The original tranny codes are the best indicator as you said. The rounded corner cabs with blue grillcloth would be original to this chassis. I have an original 1970 baffle with Oxford speaker if you want it cheap.
Th cab you have is probably glueboard and heavy. Anyway still a "71" but not exactly cuz of cab.
James Keeley this one sold but I have another with no cab! I’d be really interested in it for sure :)
actually if you have the glued in cab (after 72?) it wouldn't fit cuz it's screwed in baffle.
sounds terrible especially with the strat
Chris Choir 🧠🗣👈🏼👹
I have to say that the distorted sounds, especially with the Strat, sounded horrible.
I really miss my ES330
Excellent sound