You really don’t get a taste for how well gear actually performs until you use it in a performance or recording situation. After all, doing tests is one thing; mixing it up in a band or recording a track with it are entirely different animals. This past weekend, I had the chance to put my new Champ 600 through its paces in both a recording and performance situations. Before I go into specific details, let me just sum up for those who don’t want to read on: In my book, for what the Fender Champion 600 has to offer, it is an absolute champ! Don’t let the diminutive size fool you. Even in stock livery, the Champion 600 produces beautiful tone; that is, it produces the natural tone of your guitar. As long as you don’t expect it to be more than what it is and what it offers, this little amp will make you very happy! I’m very tickled by this amp and the experience I just had with it.
Let’s dive into how I actually used it, shall we?
Into the Studio
As some of you may know, I have a home studio, and if you’ve read my past articles, I’ve written several articles centering on gear that could be used in low-volume/small venue applications. I purchased the Champ specifically for this purpose. From the standpoint of volume, the Champ is a dream come true! It’s quiet when idle (some people have mentioned that it hums and cracks – thank goodness I didn’t get one of those), and amazingly enough, it’s a very expressive amp, despite its tiny six-inch speaker. With the single knob to control volume, this amp is meant to produce the natural tonal character of whatever guitar is plugged into it, and it does this incredibly well. But because it has zero bells and whistles such as reverb and EQ, those are things you have to provide, but it takes to pedals quite nicely.
Obviously because of its small size, there are some limitations. You lose a lot of the bottom end you’d normally get from a larger speaker in a bigger cabinet. But if you’re looking to record a high-midrange, ringy tone, the Champ performs like an ace in this range! The tone is gorgeous! Which actually puzzled me when I recorded with it this weekend because I read several reviews where people swapped out the stock speaker because they felt it was too flat. I recorded with it and absolutely loved the tone it produced – and the speaker’s not even broken in yet! Maybe my ears just aren’t as sensitive (which is a huge possibility) as the other reviewers…
Now addressing the lack of bottom end in the Champ, I decided to drive my Hot Rod’s speaker with it, using an extension cord. This is where the amp really shined, in my opinion. You still get the ringy tone, but with a larger speaker, the tone is oh so very rich.
Click here to listen to the song I recorded using just the Champ with three different guitars:
- Gibson ES-335: I used this for the main rhythm track using the stock amp with the little 6″ speaker. For effects I added a smidgen of reverb, and layered chorus on top of that. The result was a gorgeous ringing tone!
- Fender Strat with ’57 Tex-Mex Reissue pickups – This provided the second rhythm track with mild distortion. For this track, I drove my Hot Rod’s cab with the Champ. To fatten out the tone a bit, I employed about a 2.5 to 1 compression. Because my Strat doesn’t have a lot of natural overdrive, I added just a touch of drive using a combination of my TS-808 and OCD pedals, both set to very low drive levels.
- Epiphone ’58 Korina Explorer Reissue – Again, I used my Hot Rod’s speaker cab. But there’s so much natural drive and sustain with this guitar, that I didn’t have to use ANY effects with it. This added the extra kick in the chorus of the song.
Of course, no sound engineer – amateur or pro – would be worth their salt without some mastering tricks. But truth be told, the ONLY thing I did with the guitar tracks on the song was to adjust their volume levels, and add just a touch of reverb (about 7%) to the Strat track. That’s it! I’m very pleased.
Live Performance
As a test, I brought the Champ to play at my weekly Church service. I figured that I mic my amps anyway, so it would be a great test to see how it performed. In this venue, I’m not worried about cutting through the mix – just having enough volume so I can hear it. Since we employ active mixing, our sound guy knows to pump up my house volume when I do leads or play the main rhythm parts for a song. So how did it perform? Well… a lot better than I expected, but I did miss the bottom end in my output signal. It wasn’t that I was dissatisfied, but in a performance situation, this amp will sound A LOT better driving a large speaker in a bigger cab. Other than that, I was generally pleased with how it sounded.
So to sum it all up, the Champ is a dream in the studio, and with the help of an extension cab, will perform great in small-venue/low-volume performance situations.
Guitar Gear 
I must agree in fully with mr. goofydawg here. I own several amps for my gigs and rehearsal, among them 3 Marshall 2210/2205 heads, one Fender, Twin, one Fender Deluxe reverb, and one engl Special edition amp. I was so looking for an amp I could use at home. I’ve tried several digital/modelling amps from Fender, Roland, and solid state amps from Marshall, but none of them could give me that rich warm tone of crystal clear tube sound at a level even my wife accepts. This little wonder does it fully. I’ve added on a T-Rex reverb pedal the Room Mate (also absolutely excellent), and a Tonebone Radical for overdrive when needed. When recording the amp, I use a SM57 directly in my soundcard e-mu 1616, and no other adjustements what so ever. It’s really hard to hear the difference between my twin amp and this little baby on the recordings. Actually, when using me Tele, I get maybe a little more twang in the bottom, but then again less harsh top treble than when using my twin. And this to a level where you can put the amp on full, and still hear the rest of the band though the headphones, even when having the amp in the same room. So instead of having these modelling amps, which gives you tons of nothing, this little baby delivers what it promises. Actually it can be compared to the Orange Tiny Terror, but the TT needs a lot of volume before it sounds as great as this one, and then – why bother?
I looked at a Tiny Terror, and you’re absolutely right – it doesn’t really start sounding good until you crank it. So right: Why bother going for a small amp that you have to crank anyway.
Good review g-dawg, I tried one and I agree with you totally. I think if they really wanted to give it a bit of a fatter sound, they should have given it a 12-inch Jensen C12N or something similar. One 6V6/Class A configuration reminds me of the Supro Corsica from the mid-60s (they came with a 12-inch alnico Jensen blueframe). Jimmy Page made the first Zepplin album’s using this configuration. I bet then you would see the real beauty of this little rig.
Using my Hot Rod Deluxe as an extension cab really brings out the rich tone that the Champ can produce. Then again, its diminutive size also means that I can easily lug it around. I’m planning to bring it on an upcoming trip so I can have an amp in my hotel room.
Hey Goofydawg, I was looking around the web for stuff on the Fender Champion 500, and I came across your articles about it. I’ve had mine for about six months now, and it is a cool little amp. I was wondering, what’d you do to mic it? I’ve been trying to use an SM 57 on it, but one of the things I like about the amp is that really hot, high end sound it has, and its just not coming through how I’d like it to. I actually normally use a small MXR condenser, but I’m trying out the 57.
Thanks,
Mike
Mike,
To mic that amp, I used a Sennheiser 835 stage mic placed 1/2″ from the grill cloth, and placed off-axis, not directly in front of the speaker cone. I’ve found that off-axis placement is the best way to record this amp. If you’re cranking it to get the drive out of it, then you either should move the mic a couple to a few inches away so you don’t overdrive the mic.
BTW, I absolutely dig the Sennheiser 835. It has great feedback protection, and a nice, dynamic range. I run that mic through a Presonus TubePRE which, for the money, is about the best pre-amp you can get. I swapped out the stock 12AX7 with a Mesa Boogie tube, and that warmed up the sound incredibly. But irrespective of the tube, using a good pre-amp will help A LOT. You’ll be warm up your tone considerably.
Another thing to consider is to run the amp at a much lower volume (around 5 or 6), and use an overdrive pedal in combination with a good, transparent compressor. For the song I recorded for this, to get my overdriven sound, I used a Maxon CP9 Pro+ compressor, feeding in to an Ibanez TS-808 Tube Screamer, which then fed into a Fulltone OCD. The Tube Screamer adds a nice, midrange hump, plus lots of sustain, and the OCD brings out the harmonics and overtones. It’s a great combination.
Finally, make sure the room you’re playing in is acoustically flat. I record in my garage, where I’ve laid down some utility carpet so I don’t reverb from the concrete. You can also elevate the amp (I put mine on a padded drummer’s stool) so I lessen the chance of picking up vibration from a hard surface.
GD
Just read your review of the Fender Champion 600. I also have a Hot Rod Deluxe that is just too hot for bedroom levels. I have a couple of smaller amps, MicroCube and a Vox ADVT30 but they dont have the same open-ness as the Fender tube amps for low volume practice. My question is would I get more versitility by using an attneuator (the Leash from Bad Cat is amazing) on the Hot Rod through rather than the Champion? I think the 12″ speaker may be the key.
Jerry
Never tried the Leash – I have the Dr. Z Airbrake, though the Weber MASS 50 or 100 will work as well – and it’s cheaper than either Dr. Z or the Leash at around $100. But price/product aside, I wouldn’t use an attenuator on the Champ. If you want grind, use a Tube Screamer, or a mid-rangy type of overdrive pedal. These seem to work best.
Definitely attenuate the Hot Rod. My recommendation would be to get into the Drive channel so you can get the power tubes to break up a bit. However, do not go past 6 or 7 on the drive knob. It doesn’t make much of a difference when you do this, and you just end up shortening the life of your power tubes.
Of all the attenuators I read about, the Leash and the Ultimate Attenuator get the most praise for thier transparency. I read somewhere that an attenuator will help you “manage” a powerful amp at lower levels but if you’re looking for a saturated tone at bedroom levels, you’re better off with a low wattage amp like the Champion or similar. Do you agree or can you get it from both?
The answer is… You can indeed get it from both, but remember, what makes a bigger amp sound good is also a function of its speaker moving air. For instance, I just tried out this wonderful 18 Watt amp that had a Tweed-size cabinet and an awesome Red Coat Governor speaker. Played at low volume, it sounds great, but it really didn’t shine until the speaker was working in concert with the amp.
I’ve recorded with my Hot Rod Deluxe on several songs, and always used an attenuator with it. But the overdrive tone at bedroom levels is admittedly harsh. I almost always turn to tiny amps that were built to operate at relatively lower volumes so I can push them hard, and not shatter my eardrums in the process. So in answer to your question, yes you can use a bigger amp, but you just won’t take advantage of its tonal virtues.
However, all that said, even driving a small amp hard can still be kind of loud, so to “help” things along, I always have some kind of overdrive or booster pedal handy to push the input gain or add some overdrive character. Top pedals on my list for this purpose include:
Ibanez Tube Screamer (TS-808)
Fulltone OCD
Creation Audio Labs Mk.4.23 Clean Boost
Creation Audio Labs Holy Fire Overdrive/Distortion
I’ve reviewed all of them here. Just do a search, and you’ll find the articles.
Finally, mic technique is extremely important at bedroom levels. I use a close-mic’d dynamic mic about an inch away from the grille cloth (I prefer to record at an angle along the speaker cone), then boost the low freqs when I’m EQ-ing the recording. You can make a tiny amp like the Fender Champ sound like a full stack that way!
Hello goofydawg, how would you compare the champion with the pro junior? I mean for home use and some jigging with old friends. I have an 1972 sg pro.
Thnks for your nice review!
I think you could pick up that comment and use it as a blog post. What you wrote is great advice any way that you look at it.
THAT sounds very interesting indeed… I’ll have to get my hands on a Pro Jr. mess with, and perhaps take home.
But perhaps a better comparison would be with another 15 Watt amp, like a Marshall Haze. I’ll have to try that out.
Does any one know what kind of sound i would get if i used a blues deville 410 as an extension cabinet for the champ 600?
You’d get a pretty nice sound. I run my Champ 600 through a 2 X 12, and you’d never know it was a tiny 5 Watt amp – especially when it’s cranked. It’s bright by nature, but your 4 X 10 will do well to add bass.
But note that the Champ 600 has a 4 ohm output. If you can switch the output to 4 ohm, you’re golden; otherwise, you’ll effectively cut your output to 2.5 Watts. That might not be a bad thing though as 2.5 Watts is plenty loud.
I am just curious for back up amp reasons.