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Posted by: Velvet Roger Oct 19 2009, 08:17 PM

Hi guys,

I decided that I would keep my Fender HotRod Deluxe 40W combo at the rehearsal place with my new band, but I would like to have a 'similar sounding' small (and cheap ) replacement for at home, so I can practice band songs etc appropriately.

I only need the same 'clean sound', and am not interested in the gain/overdrive settings, as I am using my G9.2tt / Satchurator pedals for that instead. I will keep all my effect pedals etc with me at home at at rehearsal.

I am thinking that I would need to stick with a Fender tube amp in order to reach my goal, so I could come up with 3 amps with the same 6V6 tube inside:

Fender Champion 600
Fender Vibro Champ XD
Fender Super Champ XD

I tend to lean towards the Champion 600 (I will miss the EQ on there, but I can do the EQ externally instead), the other two are nice, but are a bit too 'digital' for me I think.

I could also decide to use PodFarm for all this, however I would like to use my pedals for practice, which is not ideal using PodFarm as well as far as I know.

I know I have to test them, but I would like to hear anyones thoughts on how I could deal best with my goal?

Thanks for your help!

Roger

Posted by: Fran Oct 19 2009, 08:35 PM

I see you are set on 6V6 tubes, but I thoroughly recommend a VOX AC4, though I'm no expert, my experience with tube amps is very limited

Fender Champion 600 is ok, but the speaker is a bit small in my humble opinion. AC4 combo has a 10''.
I have a the head + 112 cab version, and I just love it.

Just my thoughts!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Oct 19 2009, 08:55 PM

Thanks Fran,

I am not really set on 6V6 in general, but as my main amp for gigging/rehearsal currently is a Fender HotRod Deluxe, I just wanted to have an as close as possible sound for at home to practice.

I am pretty sure that I will grab other amps in the future, however since my last buy I am a bit tight on cash (or at least my girlfriend demands me to keep quiet for a while ).

Posted by: Boson Oct 19 2009, 10:24 PM

Hi

I am no expert in amps either but have just bought the Blackstar HT5. I Looked around at a lot of small amps including modelling amps and decided that I wanted a tube amp, as I want a good blues tone. I narrowed my choice down to the VOX AC4 and the Blackstar. Both I felt sounded great to me but I went for the Blackstar as it does have more flexibility.

One drawback is that evan at only 5W it is quite loud and I can't really play it above 1 or 2 without fear of upsetting the neighbours. It does hve a headphone socket though.

You might like to know that Boss have a pedal that mimics the Fender delux (the FDR-1) I have bought one to add reverb to my Blackstar.

Hope this helps.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Oct 20 2009, 12:45 AM

Why don't you get a SS amp for home practicing? It wouldn't be tube amp, but Fender amps have several useful low wattage SS amps for practicing at home, and you said you need clean sound primarily. It will also run you a fraction of a cost.

Posted by: sted Oct 20 2009, 08:28 PM

Without a shadow of a doubt the 57 champ re-issue is the one to go for, pricey but just listen to that spanking tone!!

Posted by: Staffy Oct 20 2009, 08:42 PM

What about this little Baby ???
I'm no kidding, I've been playing through this on my veranda all this summer, and in fact it sounds GOOD for it's
size. (do not compare to the Marshall battery ones, they sounds awful)
I will do a review on this as well as record it, and You will see what I mean, it even sounds pretty good with the built-in distorsion. And it's just 60$......

//Staffay

Posted by: JVM Oct 20 2009, 08:55 PM

I always wanted one of those... my friend has a similar fender mini amp, he joked that he wanted to do a gig with it mic'd up

Posted by: Staffy Oct 20 2009, 09:09 PM

Yeah, I think it will sound pretty good.... as I said I will try to record it, Im pretty convinced that it gonna sound good, even thought it seems lika a joke....

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Oct 20 2009, 11:50 PM

I'm going to get one of those and try to play it miced in the club, sounds like a cool thing to do

Posted by: blindwillie Oct 21 2009, 07:42 AM

I didn't like the Champion 600 at all, except that it was cute.
I didn't like the sound of it, the sample provided earlier in the thread, well that's it. That's how it sound. No more, no less. It lacks in power, there is no low end in it and it never really reach the point where the tube breaks up. With a standard Fender Strat you'll get at most a very modest bluesy overdrive. At full volume you have only just reached the point where you hear a hint of it starting to break up. Maybe hotter (high output) PU's would help. (I can't for my life remember if I ever tried my EMG's through it)

Also it had a buzzy noisy sound that shouldn't be there and on top of that it had a mechanical rattle from somewhere inside that was very disturbing and if you google it you will find that's a common problem on the 600. Without investigating it further I'd guess it's speaker related, the mounting or something.

I returned mine and went for Blackheart and later on a Blackstar instead.

But that's just my opinion and my preferences.