Then the champion 100 is a modeling amp, i read your list of all the amps it is modeled after!Shane should correct his statment about saying it is not a modeling amp and that only the amp is solid state!
@@jimsimmons2674 The major difference between a Fender Champion amp and the modelling amps -- e.g. Fender Mustang GT series, Marshall's Code series, Boss' Katana and Katana Deux Cheveaux series -- is that the latter are programmable. You can tweak amp voicings and effects, edit factory presets, program and save your own presets, and include the onboard effects in your presets. With a Champion you can only select voicings and effects by turning a knob, and you can't program or save presets.
Yes i understand what you are saying,i have a variety of modeling amps myself some that you mensioned like the marshall code and fender mustang but it is the original version,the champion 100 may not be able to save and tweak presets ect... but the amp types are still modeled after all the amps you mensioned in your list!
@@jimsimmons2674 So the clean channel is not a modeling amplifier is what I said. The second clear channel is, thus the 35 effects and sounds I went through ;-)
No, is not only a good amplifier, IT'S THE BEST AMPLIFIER SOLID STATE COMBO ON THE MARKET, the most powerfull, most versatille, the most ligth. The Fender Champion 100 amp it's fabulous.
It’s not a true transistor amplifier rather it is a modelling amplifier with a an integrated circuit in it much like the Line 6 POD or amplifiers! If the integrated system fails I wonder what the cost would be?
It’s not a true transistor amplifier rather it is a modelling amplifier with a an integrated circuit in it much like the Line 6 POD or amplifiers! If the integrated system fails I wonder what the cost would be? Also, the Clean channel has no mid tone control and obviously the settings can’t easily be changed like switching foot pedals can! How many gigging guitar players would or are using these?
@@colineaton6748 There is one little Advantage to digital: it should usually run cooler which saves the electronics from aging by heat melting them down over time. Electronics do not age well under high heat.
@@squirelova1815 true, I used to teach electronics so I realise that, nonetheless my statement is accurate, how people judge is for them and them alone. I prefer valve amps for the kind of pick dynamics unattainable with solid state. However, there are relevant arguments in support of solid state and valve amps, each to their own eh?
@@colineaton6748 I Love them both but. I'm a bit stingy with my tube Amps usage and mostly practice with my really great sounding Peavey Vypyr VIP3 ($300 new) or Vibro Champ XD that only cost me $150 from Sam Ash on "clearance" brand new too and that has no tube biasing required with only a single 6V6 power tube in it. Just a bit of Amp tech maintenance could cost that much in one visit! I would play much more often through Amplitube 5 into iLoud monitors but it's a Computer program that has constant updates that could take "forever" or I can get rudely interrupted by my kids' Facetime calls and such. The Fender Champions aren't bad either. God Blessings and Peace to you.
I toured with a band using this amp. I was able to get away with a solid metal sound with a normal SSS player strat. These amps really are one of the Swiss Army knives of guitar gear
I bought a Champion 100 from a kid about 5 years ago. My amp wasn't even a year old. I love it. The clean is clean. The fact that I got it for 125.00 makes me love it even more. They are obviously liked as from what I am seeing they are going up in price. Good enough for a rookie like me.
Well, as a little comparison…I’ve been playing guitar for 30 years and I just bought this amp on sale. I’m impatiently waiting on its arrival. Lol. I had a Bugera V22 but I needed something with more power for live music and dedicated effects. I also own the Yamaha THR30II and that sparked my interest in the Champion. Portable, useful and light. Everything I needed! Skol!
@@AmericanVetMusicgood man! Honestly I really love my Fender Mustang GTX100. It’s amazing to me, sounds better than the champion, is only 22 pounds, has 100s of pedals built in, and you don’t have fiddle with a computer. This guy on the video acts like it’s so complicated. It’s a one time adjustment. For me once I got my tones and channels setup I’m set forever. No pedals. Just the amp and a foot switch. Plenty plenty loud for gigs and sounds amazing. I love fender distortion tones and clean. You can get that with this amp. How’s the Champion been?
@@aaronludwig8150 that’s awesome 😎. I’m loving my Champion 100 and using it wet/dry with my Bugera v22. That way I get some saturated, fat tube tone. But in all reality, the Fender has more low end. I love this setup and my wife doesn’t complain about it being harsh on her ears. I have quite a few amps, and I don’t think I’d give up the Fenders.
@@AmericanVetMusic ya definitely. It’s my 3rd year playing guitar and I have a gigging band and people are already complimenting my tone. But ya a nice warm more analog tone definitely the champion is better. But to my ear I can’t hear the difference in sound quality. I actually started with a tube amp and didn’t think it sounded good at all compared to my gtx 100
I have this amp and I love it. You're right, it's very loud if you open it up, but it sounds great. I mostly use the clean channel as a pedal platform to keep things simple. I'm a frontman singer and mostly a rhythm and support player on stage, with the occasional lead. I find this amp can do pretty much anything. Amazing amp for the price...
BigEdWo is there any other way to play these days? I think live music is dead. I was out with my girlfriend watching her dad perform jazz with the bass player and guitarist from Tony Bennett’s band. After the more local jazzy kind of band wrapped up, and the real band was about to take stage, half the room cleared out!!!!
@@voxpathfinder15r don't be shocked. i never heard the name tony bennett before. you must be american to know him. i'm german and more your dad's age. but live music is dead in germany too. well, not completely. and...in my experience ss amps are bad. my house is full of ss amps. lol they sound nice but they do not cut through. i think the fender mustang is one of those amps. 1 billion presets and only one sound is okay. i have two of them.
BigEdWo get your hands on a used Vox Pathfinder 15R amp. Put a tubescreamer in front and it will cut like mad!! 80s and early 90s fender solid state are great too. I put a modded boss SD-1 in front of a fender Princeton Chorus amp. It cuts like mad. The onboard distortion is the weak link though
During the NHS claps in the UK my friend turned his amp volume up to maximum and let it rip. Someone from 2 streets away complained. That’s 100w for you. Absolute machine
haha love it!Anything that drowned out the nonsensical undeserved clapping for that lot during the SCAMdemic has to be a good thing. You've literally just about convinced me to purchase one!
My neighbours used frying pans and pots to do the NHS worshipping cacophony brouhaha. I think cranked 100W amp comeback is more than fair in this instance.
I have one and I'm the same. Watching to feel good lol. It is loud, too loud for my room but it does help you familiarize yourself with different amp models and how your playing and gear will react to it. Good rehearsal amp.
I bought one of these Champion 100's at a pawn shop for 220.00 and I like it even better than my Marshall DSL 40 tube amp. This amp takes pedal's on the clean channel very nicely. I am running a wah , EQ and a noise gate with a Compressor and a clean boost , a digital delay and a chorus. I am a blues player mostly and the tone I get from this amp is awesome. I don't know why the person sold it to the pawn shop because it was BRAND NEW and not a single thing wrong with it at all, except I had to order the foot switch for it. I suppose it was because of X mas time and they must have needed a little money . This amp is a Keeper for sure. my American Pro HSS Strat and my SG standard both sound great thru this amp. I still have not gigged with it and have never had it turned up past 3 and it's LOUD as all get out. At 10 it would break my window's. LOL
@@duncanearley I had the hotrod b4 the champion,only used it as a clean amp for my pedals also,,,the hot rod stopped working 3 times in the 1st 12 months,the champ has run for 2 years no dramas so far,,cheers mate have a great week
I always regret not buying this amp when it came out. I got a Super Champ X2 instead and I do love it but this Champion is really cool. Shane you look like your in heaven when you get a tone from an amp that just agrees with your playing. Love your videos man.
By far the best demo playing , actual useful examples of chordal playing , lead lines and basic chiming notes so we can HEAR AND UNDERSTAND what the amp is doing. Not blazing through boomer blues licks to show off the fingers, Fantastic .
It's been a while since I had a chance to test a Fender Champion 100! Let me know what you think of them. This video was actually shot a few weeks before testing out the Tone Master amps. Overall, these are a pretty great value amp. Let me know what you think. Buy it here: Buy a Fender Champion 100 Amplifier here: ► Sweetwater (USA) - imp.i114863.net/rdmMR ► Thomann (Global) - bit.ly/2HVyPDX ► Amazon UK - amzn.to/3aSCyOx ► Amazon Canada - amzn.to/2Rii9e4 (affiliate links)
After seeing this great demo, it makes me wonder towards who the new Champion 100XL is marketed? It’s $50 more and seems to have less features. I don’t know why Fender won’t put a dedicated reverb on their XL models. Lots of folks use the Fender amps for clean tone with reverb on it. I like this amp a lot and if I needed a bigger amp, this would seriously be in consideration. At this point in my life, the Katana 50 that I use works well for the gigs that I play. Of course this amp has a better clean tone (no surprise) but I don’t need a 2x12 these days.
I went with the 100XL. The celestion midnight speakers gave it a better tone in my opinion. I was considering the ToneMaster Twin Reverb, but on consideration felt like that was too much for me at this early stage of learning the guitar. The Champions and the Mustang GT’s give me options to play around with different effects as I advance without having to invest in pedals. Later on as I advance and learn more, I may reconsider the ToneMaster options.
I wanted an amp that has a strong percussive/ attack quality to it for dynamic strumming. And I needed the strums to be even, balanced and musical at lower and higher volumes. This is the amp. I like how adding reverb and delay ( onboard or from my own pedals) softens the feel. Makes it feel tube like. I use an OCD through the clean channel with gain up about 1/4. And volume of the pedal at about 1/2. This sounds great through a loud clean channel. Awesome sound.
Idk if people understand but if you don’t, having the amp on 5 inside is legend status. I completely get why you’re smiling. I had mine at 4 ONCE in a big back yard outside when no one was home and that lasted about 3 minutes before the neighbors whined. I was using a Dunlop wah into a J rockett archer ikon, into a boss BD2 through the clean channel. Sounded sick af tho for that 3 minutes or so before I got whined at. I’m subscribed ✅
Great video... really appreciate your 'real world' review... i.e. testing an affordable gig-ready amp using a MIM strat and a "non-Gibson" LP. I have two of these, one that stays in my band's rehearsal space and one I take to gigs. Both combined are still cheaper than a lot of equivalent tube amps and the tone difference is hardly discernable, especially when using pedals for all the OD & FX.
I've gigged with one of these for the last year. I never could get with the overdrive, too fizzy. Also, if you hit the modeling side of the amp, the built in compression wouldn't allow a volume increase, at least not with my setup. The clean sounds are great, super reliable, and very affordable.
Thanks for another great vid Shane. Your videos are so informative. No ego, just good info. A rarity on UA-cam. I watched a stack of your videos trying to decide the best amp for me. I compared so many amps but finally settled on the Champion thanks to this video and I couldn't be happier.
Please consider Champion 100 before dropping 1k on Twin Reverb/Deluxe new toy because you think you actually need it. This is somebody's review I've pulled off Amazon, worth reading: "For the price, I truly wasn't expecting too much at all. Maybe like good beginner practice amp. But WOW was I blown away!!! Up until today, I ONLY played through high-end tube amps. And I have been playing for more than 40 years, both professionally and for personal enjoyment. I unpacked the amp. And was surprised at how light it was for its size. I plugged her up and after an hour of playing clean chord songs, I hit the foot switch channel selector and got it nasty. I ripped into some Vai, Satriani, and Malmsteem. Then switched to my Gibson Les Paul and tore into some Billy Gibbons and took it from the bottom to the TOP. Made another guitar switch to a 60's LP and broke into some Bonamassa and a few other blues greats, before switching it over to the Tele and a little Country. This amp handled every bit like a "CHAMP"! (Pun intended) 5 different guitars.....from big band to shredding....it handled it all. Different volumes....modelings...effects sounded like they were coming from a 3k rig. UNBELIEVABLE. And the head room? Forget about it. These two 12's could be pushed much harder with no problem. To tell you exactly how much I like it, I am retiring my old amps and using this Champion at every gig I play. And the nice thing, I van up in a head set and practice with the same amp I will gig with and never bother a soul. Do yourself a favor, especially all you close minded guitarists that believe a '59 and a tube amp is the only way to go, spend the $400 and get the surprise of your life. I did! And no more $175+ every 3-6 months on new tubes. Bottom line.....this jewel is for ANYONE & EVERYONE. Two thumbs up!!"
For the money, a great amp. Fender really does know how to model their own amps .... the cleans play with a full-bodied presence that is very pleasing, esp. when coupled with some reverb and/or delay. I've owned a couple of the Super Champ's in the past, which are the tube-circuit versions of these Champions. Frankly, i think this SS amp is a better deal, because it eliminates the "compulsion" many players have of swapping out tubes right away. Also, the Fender has upgraded their own speaker compliment to their amps which also saves time & money. A 2x12" layout is a perfect compliment to the modelling this amp provides. Overall, an excellent amp for the money .... Plus it's not heavy :-) thx for another great video.
I simply love the smile on your face while you’re playing this. It makes me feel better now about my new purchase of my Fender Champion 100! Thank you, man.
I have this amp, and his clean channel with a Tele, slapback echo and Boss CS3 and you got a HUGE 90s Country tone... Thanks for the review Shane, salutes from Spain!!!
Just demonstrates how much more real and full 12" speaker(s) sound. All settings sound excellent to my ear. Ditto others, compare this to the expensive Fender! Thx!
The Fender Mustang GTX 100 is simply better from my experience. Saves you waaay more money in the long run. If you get the foot switch you have access to hundreds of pedals built in. Also you don’t have to “fiddle with a computer” it’s a one time thing. You get the presets and EQ you want and you’ll never have to connect a computer again. Just dial in the tone, save, and play. No pedals needed. Also it comes with a full feature looper, tuner, pedal board. Amazing value and plenty loud for my gigs. Also worth mentioning I first got the Katana 100 mk2 and tried the champion 50xl. Neither were anywhere near as good.
Love this Amp got a smoking good deal used on consignment at a music shop...most for your money and great old school and clean sounds..had to watch this channel to help use it better...great video
I can dig this amp. Great demo. Must have upgraded in the last 10 years or so. Demoed one then that didn't seem to have the fx on both channels. Actually got a better tone from a FM212 earlier (bought the guitar ;) Had a Princeton 112 from the mid '90s. All this brings back good memories.
@@CarlitoM77 CyberTwin that hasn't been gigged in almost 15 years but still works great, Peavey Vypyr 15 I bought for under $50.00 used, great headphone/stereo amp and first gen MicroCube.. basically gave4 away 3 good amps, Peavey SP 112, Vox Pathfinder 15R and Crate GX60. That's life.
We have a couple of Champion 100s at the rehearsal place. Pros: reliable, easy to use, affordable, and plenty loud. Cons: to my ears it is very boomy in the bass and personally I really don’t care for the sound characteristics. Also it’s limited compared to competitors who offer more effects to be used at the same time. Fine as a shared budget amp in a simple studio.
No boomy tones from mine but the room you play in can make quite a difference to how your amp Sounds. I’ve been in situations where had my amp dialled in just right during practice at home go to rehearsals with the ban and have to start over to get the sweet spot. Guess that why the pro’s do sound checks 😎
I get very pleasing O/D sounds out of my Champion 100 by using channel two as follows: Gain 6-10 (depend on song and guitar), Volume 6, Voice #6 ('65 Deluxe), Treble 6, Mid 6, Bass 2 (TMB subject to adjustment based on song and guitar), no in-amp effects, then I use an attenuator, an EHX Signal Pad, in the effects loop to make the volume appropriate. I like the overdriven sound this amp makes without using pedals. Similar set up works on Channel one (Twin Amp Model) with the volume 8-10. Thanks for a very well done review.
Just got one of these used absolutely love it ...its plain simple with great capabilities...had a Peavy 1 viper did not like it ...gave it on consignment to store owner and he had the Fender champ 100 used for great price... and your right it is enjoyable with clean and easy to use sounds...great review
Love the Fender tones. The high gain settings sounded a little harsh to me. I own the Champion 20 as my living room amp. Have it set to a Twin with a little slap echo and reverb. Sounds great. Takes effects well.
It’s because the speakers are cheap I spent 300$ getting the patriot and the dv-77 speakers and I’m only running a boss metal distortion and it sounds great now I love it for the money I have in it
Nice to have someone like most of us playing. Enthusiastic, humble (doesn't know everything and knows it), all around nice guy. Why no aux output? C'mon Fender!
It's kinda confusing that there are now two Champion 100 amps, this one and the new Champion 100XL, which is the 100 watt 212 version of the 50XL. You should do a video of that one too.
I have never heard A better sounding amp. For the price point to get those classic Hendrix and Stevie Tones. Most amps in this price point are geared toward Heavy metal, Grunge or 70's rock. This is the second video I have watched on this amp and didnt know it was A solid state until you just said it. How the hell does it sound so good? The last video I saw the guy just played it in room with Cell phone Mic and you could actually hear better how good this thing sound in an open room. Great sounding amp.
Great review/demo of this amp! Definitely fits the bill for what I need tonally and otherwise. Liked you review so much in fact that I went and bought a gently used on on eBay! Expecting delivery next week,,, Bonus is that you're a lefty just like me!!
Hey bro, can I just say the more I watch your videos the more I’ve come to like you & find your uploads some of the most helpful and informative on UA-cam
I don't gig, but I am sure glad the loudness is there if I ever feel like EVH and need to krank it. On a side not I love my Vox VT20 gives you voicing and effects, mem banks, with reverb all in separate channels. Sounds and plays amazing for a hybrid.
@@erictoniaschwab1009 works great. I put the gain at about 3 on the amp, then use the mxr micro amp clean boost and the ocd as my overdrive. Sounds really good to me. Effects loop works great for delay and reverb as well.
Pls excuse my ignorance as I’m new to this, when you say a good pedal platform, does that mean you shouldn’t buy this amp unless u will use pedals? I’m a rookie so I have no pedals and no intention on getting any in the near future. Thx
I have noticed that with the British and Metal amp voicings the volume will drop significantly, and you need to turn the volume knob clockwise to compensate. Otherwise it's been a bloody good amp for me, and in the very unlikely event I turn pro I don't think I will need to upgrade.
Amir Khalid are the voicings digital or are they all analog...I have a fender gt200 and I enjoy many(not all)of the sounds....but honestly, it can be a bit much with the effects and all of the little things like tube bias, cab sims,sag, pre or post gate....you see where I’m going?....I’ve been looking to Downgrade (I guess) to something more simple....
@@dddd717 I reckon the voicings are basically in-the-ballpark approximations of the real thing, and as Shane demonstrates you can tweak them to get a very useful sound.
I have mine sitting where my ex used to sit right in my living room about 6 feet away from me hahaha …and I just love it !! My only complaint is that even with the volume between 2-3 it is EXTREMELY LOUD!!! I mean this thing could literally shatter windows !!! But it does sound great !! Has a ton of features for everything from country to jazz to surf rock and obviously any fender rock n roll you want. It loves pedals and the effects loop is really nice! Another thing , it isn’t necessarily a great amp for metal but it’ll do the job. I’ll never get rid of mine !! One day I might put some really nice speakers in it but for the money you pay it’s totally awesome and I get compliments on its looks all the time too! Definitely has the blackface vibes
I bought this amp a couple years ago to replace my 15w line 6 spider. I wanted the twin reverb but just didnt have the money and was hoping this was loud enough. It indeed is. When playing with my drummer i usually keep it bewteen 7 and 9 and dont go farther than 4 for bedroom practice. I would turn it up to 10, but im worried doing that with distortion and gain will blow the speakers like i did on my line 6. Great buy for 300 bucks vs spending a grand on a "fancier" amp.
Thank you for your honest measured approach to these amps. No frills just the basics. My question is: has the Mustang Gt improved enough with updates to be a realistic option? Or will it ever get to that point? I need an amp quite soon but am in the paralysis phase. I should say I don’t play metal, more Beach Boys, Raspberries, Dictators, Jan and Dean. Any comments on my “”best bang for the buck?” Thank you so much.
H. Mark Horton For your kind of music Mark, I don’t think you could go wrong with this amp. It’s old school plug and play, you could use it the same way someone would use a traditional Fender amp and it would work great for the 60’s pop/rock music that you play.
Bought this amp a few years ago, second hand for 180euros. The guy who sold it to me used it a few times before upgrading to a bigger Marshall amp. Literally transformed my lowly Bullet Strat. Looking to get a new axe now, will go nicely with it. Then it's time to get into the universe of pedals. :D
Love amps, guitars, pedals... GEAR. Nice review there Shane :) a fun looking amp I’m just finding out about that you might look at is the Ibanez TSA15 head. Cleans are supposed to be ‘Princeton-like’ and it has an embedded tube screamer (second channel) that’s foot switchable. Has a “collectibility” kind of vibe. Cheers!
Great sounding amp...I happened to play through one at a Guitar Center when I did a video on a couple Tele's... an Ultra and a Richie Kotzen! Cool amp man! 😎🎸
I have one of these and it will roar on metal with pedal and without. A lot of how you sound has to do with the guitar and pickups. I like the jazz channel with a full bore metal pedal it’s extra loud boost. I played sound effects on the Wah channel called drain cleaning using Wah to hydro jetting and drain gargling with pick taps and scratch.
I have a few tube amps. Custom Shop 57 Pro, Blues Deluxe RI, Bugera V22. The Champion 100 is one of my favorite gig amps. Used to play through 100 pound fender Twins. This one is a whole lot lighter with great sounds. Have had it for three years. The 2x12 gives such a full sound regardless of the settings. Get one.
I didn’t know which one to get. I was deciding between this Champion 100 and the Super Champ X2. I went with the Super Champ but I keep wondering about this Champion. No regrets about the Super Champ though.
Shane the cleans sound very fendery, then you got up to the British and my heart sunk a bit with the strat. But once you plugged in a humbucker equipped guitar, it bought all the glory with how it should sound - much better. Looks pretty easy to dial in - my style of amp. And if you hit the wrong note...keep repeating it like it was meant to be! The only thing missing would be an attenuation switch and maybe split some of those effects out like they do on a katana (dual controls or similar)
Peter Schmidt with it being non valve amp an attenuation switch’s like those found on katana and Roland Blues Cubes are a pointless waste of time. By the way I own both those amps and they sound crap when set on lower power. Put them on max power and control the loudness with the master volume and then you get all the headroom and tone of a big amp with practice amp volume. Attenuators are more useful on valve amps because they need the power going through them to sing. As for effects reverb, delay, tremolo, are the most used ones. The katana has a lot of effects which is more for beginners who don’t have much money and want to know what they do which is great, but if you have to plug in a computer to tweak the settings and patches it’s actually terrible because you waste valuable playing/ practice time. I like the Champion. I own a lot of valve and Solid state amps so I have a lot to compare it to. The katana is an over rated amp it doesn’t sound as good as any of the other amps I own. That being said learning guitar in the 90’s I would have killed to have a katana over the crappy gorilla practice amps that a lot of beginners had to put up with. Have fun now.
@@sid35gb I'd agree about having to access effects via a computer and I've said it before the Katana's and the like could really benefit from a phone or iPad app. I've got the Katana as well and think they were over hyped when they came out. They're OK, but I much prefer the Blackstar TVP I have. But we'll have to agree to disagree on tube vs SS attenuator's. They actually work pretty well on a SS because it doesn't matter what signals going through the transistors, they sound the same (unless it's clipping the signal). A power tube on the other hand needs higher signal to clip and compress in the power tubes. So depending on HOW they attenuate the signal would determine whether it was beneficial or not. Some definitely work better than others. And yeah, the gorilla's were pretty horrible. But check out Johan Segeborns channel. He made one sound pretty good.
I exchanged this amp for a Orange Crush 60.... and I do not regret it one bit. Still the Champion is a good amp, the orange just had more.... personality.
It’s funny how you can justify buying an amp or any piece of gear!!! 😂😂 I’ve figured out what I need/want as far as amplification and although this Champion 100 is a great sounding solid state amp for the price, I have my heart and wallet set on the Tone Master Twin 🤩🤩. This is way better of an option than the modern GT series in my opinion with the Champion being a great pedal platform. My brother is getting into playing guitar and I feel this would be a great first amp!!!👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾 Thanks for the review and insight. Cheers!!!🎸🎸🎸🤙🏾🤙🏾🤙🏾🤙🏾🤙🏾
Agree. But it's fun looking and shopping around. What's nice about the internet is I don't have to go anywhere. LOL years ago we had to drive miles to look at things. The internet has made me lazy.
I gig with this amp, running a Strat into a tube screamer & compressor. It does all I need it to for emo math rock stuff. The voicing are based off old fender models which is great because it’s a 100W amp that sounds decent but costs 1/10th the price of a twin reverb.
Loved the clean. And the blackface drive. Nice simple setup. Is there a footswitch to change between channels? I'm also happy they DID include an fx loop, so you can combine however you like. Throw a nice chorus and tremolo pedal in there and... (or whatever you like) I'm an old fart- I prefer to have the real thing, with all the parameters and actual knobs to turn. And a simple click to turn it on and off. TBH, even with how nice the Mustang III's chorus was, I mostly just used a TC Corona in the FX loop for that, and a Phase 90 or univibe in front. The amp provided the reverbs and that sweet Vintage Tremolo effect it has. The Champion series would be nice for those of us who are easily distracted by a million whiz bangs, as well. lol. (for a home use amp) It's too easy to get lost in all the neat options...
Instead of onboard effects (except for tremolo and reverb), I wish these Fender Champion 100 amps had an effects loop. Some of us already have our effects sorted out, or prefer to keep our effects external to the amp; I like to use my effects with different amps so I rarely rely on any in-built effects in the amp. The Boss Katana, Line 6 Catalyst, Fender Mustang, etc amps. all try to do it all amp models, effect models, etc. and miss the mark for many of us. Sure I don't have to (and won't) use the internal effects, but I'm still paying for it. I would rather have a few good amp models and an effects loop in a 1x12 or 2x12 with gig volume capabilities. Maybe that's just me? Now the Vox MVX150C is close, and it won't hold its own on a loud gig, but US $999 puts it in competition with many other options. If it was closer to US $699 I'd have one - if I could find one in stock. IMO. The search continues. So far it's an one-channel Quilter Cub 1x12 50 Watt with effects loop at the top of my list.
Just for reference, I had mine up to 7 once... I was visited by law enforcement.
Did they enjoy the gig? Hope they bought tickets.
I had a cop beating on my bedroom window with a flashlight once. He told me it sounded good. But the neighbor was pissed.
Guitar Ocd case of Good Cop Bad Neighbour
Isn't that our life story "turn it down!!!". If I only had a dollar for as many times as I heard that.
Guitar Ocd 0.5 watts is your friend my friend. Rock n Roll.
If anyone's interested, here's a list of the Champion 100 amp voicings that I found on the interwebs.
Tweed:
-- Fender Bassman
-- Fender Tweed Deluxe clean
-- Fender Tweed Deluxe dirty
-- Fender Tweed Champ
Blackface:
-- Fender '65 Twin Reverb
-- Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb
-- Fender '65 Princeton clean
-- Fender '65 Princeton dirty
British:
-- British '60s (like Vox AC30 clean)
-- British '60s (like Vox AC30 dirty)
-- British '70s (like Marshall 1959 SLP/Plexi)
-- British '80s (like Marshall JCM800)
Metal:
-- Fender Super Sonic
-- 1990s metal (like Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier)
-- 2000s metal (like Peavey 5150/6505)
Jazz:
-- Flat solid-state clean (like Roland Jazz Chorus)
Then the champion 100 is a modeling amp, i read your list of all the amps it is modeled after!Shane should correct his statment about saying it is not a modeling amp and that only the amp is solid state!
@@jimsimmons2674 The major difference between a Fender Champion amp and the modelling amps -- e.g. Fender Mustang GT series, Marshall's Code series, Boss' Katana and Katana Deux Cheveaux series -- is that the latter are programmable. You can tweak amp voicings and effects, edit factory presets, program and save your own presets, and include the onboard effects in your presets. With a Champion you can only select voicings and effects by turning a knob, and you can't program or save presets.
Yes i understand what you are saying,i have a variety of modeling amps myself some that you mensioned like the marshall code and fender mustang but it is the original version,the champion 100 may not be able to save and tweak presets ect... but the amp types are still modeled after all the amps you mensioned in your list!
Thanks for the info, Amir!
@@jimsimmons2674 So the clean channel is not a modeling amplifier is what I said. The second clear channel is, thus the 35 effects and sounds I went through ;-)
No, is not only a good amplifier, IT'S THE BEST AMPLIFIER SOLID STATE COMBO ON THE MARKET, the most powerfull, most versatille, the most ligth. The Fender Champion 100 amp it's fabulous.
It’s not a true transistor amplifier rather it is a modelling amplifier with a an integrated circuit in it much like the Line 6 POD or amplifiers! If the integrated system fails I wonder what the cost would be?
It’s not a true transistor amplifier rather it is a modelling amplifier with a an integrated circuit in it much like the Line 6 POD or amplifiers! If the integrated system fails I wonder what the cost would be? Also, the Clean channel has no mid tone control and obviously the settings can’t easily be changed like switching foot pedals can! How many gigging guitar players would or are using these?
@@colineaton6748 There is one little Advantage to digital: it should usually run cooler which saves the electronics from aging by heat melting them down over time. Electronics do not age well under high heat.
@@squirelova1815 true, I used to teach electronics so I realise that, nonetheless my statement is accurate, how people judge is for them and them alone. I prefer valve amps for the kind of pick dynamics unattainable with solid state. However, there are relevant arguments in support of solid state and valve amps, each to their own eh?
@@colineaton6748 I Love them both but. I'm a bit stingy with my tube Amps usage and mostly practice with my really great sounding Peavey Vypyr VIP3 ($300 new) or Vibro Champ XD that only cost me $150 from Sam Ash on "clearance" brand new too and that has no tube biasing required with only a single 6V6 power tube in it. Just a bit of Amp tech maintenance could cost that much in one visit! I would play much more often through Amplitube 5 into iLoud monitors but it's a Computer program that has constant updates that could take "forever" or I can get rudely interrupted by my kids' Facetime calls and such. The Fender Champions aren't bad either. God Blessings and Peace to you.
I toured with a band using this amp. I was able to get away with a solid metal sound with a normal SSS player strat. These amps really are one of the Swiss Army knives of guitar gear
Same, just this amp and a sd1…and a strat of course😅
I bought a Champion 100 from a kid about 5 years ago. My amp wasn't even a year old. I love it. The clean is clean. The fact that I got it for 125.00 makes me love it even more. They are obviously liked as from what I am seeing they are going up in price. Good enough for a rookie like me.
Well, as a little comparison…I’ve been playing guitar for 30 years and I just bought this amp on sale. I’m impatiently waiting on its arrival. Lol. I had a Bugera V22 but I needed something with more power for live music and dedicated effects. I also own the Yamaha THR30II and that sparked my interest in the Champion. Portable, useful and light. Everything I needed! Skol!
@@AmericanVetMusicgood man! Honestly I really love my Fender Mustang GTX100. It’s amazing to me, sounds better than the champion, is only 22 pounds, has 100s of pedals built in, and you don’t have fiddle with a computer. This guy on the video acts like it’s so complicated. It’s a one time adjustment. For me once I got my tones and channels setup I’m set forever. No pedals. Just the amp and a foot switch. Plenty plenty loud for gigs and sounds amazing. I love fender distortion tones and clean. You can get that with this amp. How’s the Champion been?
@@aaronludwig8150 that’s awesome 😎. I’m loving my Champion 100 and using it wet/dry with my Bugera v22. That way I get some saturated, fat tube tone. But in all reality, the Fender has more low end. I love this setup and my wife doesn’t complain about it being harsh on her ears. I have quite a few amps, and I don’t think I’d give up the Fenders.
@@AmericanVetMusic ya definitely. It’s my 3rd year playing guitar and I have a gigging band and people are already complimenting my tone. But ya a nice warm more analog tone definitely the champion is better. But to my ear I can’t hear the difference in sound quality. I actually started with a tube amp and didn’t think it sounded good at all compared to my gtx 100
I have this amp and I love it. You're right, it's very loud if you open it up, but it sounds great. I mostly use the clean channel as a pedal platform to keep things simple. I'm a frontman singer and mostly a rhythm and support player on stage, with the occasional lead. I find this amp can do pretty much anything. Amazing amp for the price...
Fender has been making great solid state amplifiers since the 80s. At least with the cleans.
at least when you play alone in your bedroom
BigEdWo is there any other way to play these days? I think live music is dead. I was out with my girlfriend watching her dad perform jazz with the bass player and guitarist from Tony Bennett’s band. After the more local jazzy kind of band wrapped up, and the real band was about to take stage, half the room cleared out!!!!
@@voxpathfinder15r don't be shocked. i never heard the name tony bennett before.
you must be american to know him. i'm german and more your dad's age. but live music is dead in germany too. well, not completely.
and...in my experience ss amps are bad. my house is full of ss amps. lol
they sound nice but they do not cut through. i think the fender mustang is one of those amps. 1 billion presets and only one sound is okay. i have two of them.
BigEdWo get your hands on a used Vox Pathfinder 15R amp. Put a tubescreamer in front and it will cut like mad!! 80s and early 90s fender solid state are great too. I put a modded boss SD-1 in front of a fender Princeton Chorus amp. It cuts like mad. The onboard distortion is the weak link though
@@BigEdWo Bennett is well known world wide. I am not particularly a fan, but he's well known in jazz circles, including Germany.
During the NHS claps in the UK my friend turned his amp volume up to maximum and let it rip. Someone from 2 streets away complained. That’s 100w for you. Absolute machine
haha love it!Anything that drowned out the nonsensical undeserved clapping for that lot during the SCAMdemic has to be a good thing. You've literally just about convinced me to purchase one!
My neighbours used frying pans and pots to do the NHS worshipping cacophony brouhaha. I think cranked 100W amp comeback is more than fair in this instance.
I've got one of my own..watched this video just to feel good about my amp :P
Me too lol. Wanted to see what other ppl think.
Yep, same here.
What do you guys Think about it? Is it too loud?
@@cooper2616 no
I have one and I'm the same. Watching to feel good lol. It is loud, too loud for my room but it does help you familiarize yourself with different amp models and how your playing and gear will react to it. Good rehearsal amp.
I bought one of these Champion 100's at a pawn shop for 220.00 and I like it even better than my Marshall DSL 40 tube amp. This amp takes pedal's on the clean channel very nicely. I am running a wah , EQ and a noise gate with a Compressor and a clean boost , a digital delay and a chorus. I am a blues player mostly and the tone I get from this amp is awesome. I don't know why the person sold it to the pawn shop because it was BRAND NEW and not a single thing wrong with it at all, except I had to order the foot switch for it. I suppose it was because of X mas time and they must have needed a little money . This amp is a Keeper for sure. my American Pro HSS Strat and my SG standard both sound great thru this amp. I still have not gigged with it and have never had it turned up past 3 and it's LOUD as all get out. At 10 it would break my window's. LOL
How bout the dsl40? Is it takes pedals really good?
@@manfx7 Yea, perfect
@@randysnewbiebluesrockguita7782 what do you think about the fender gtx100
@@agostocobain2729 Haven't had a chance to experience one yet.
@@manfx7 Yea, it's great. I really shouldn't compare it to the SS because they are totally different but yes it takes pedals great.
The thing I love the most is how much he loves doing what he does
used one for 50 gigs,works great as a clean amp for my boss pedals,has plenty of volume
Yeah thats where this is at. The gain is not right.
@@duncanearley I had the hotrod b4 the champion,only used it as a clean amp for my pedals also,,,the hot rod stopped working 3 times in the 1st 12 months,the champ has run for 2 years no dramas so far,,cheers mate have a great week
How does it sound with boss ds1? =)
@@gregoriozito1 It doesn't disappoint, thinking about getting the amp? :)
Try the champion XL with the black casing and celestion midnight speaker. They are tremendous amps.
I always regret not buying this amp when it came out. I got a Super Champ X2 instead and I do love it but this Champion is really cool. Shane you look like your in heaven when you get a tone from an amp that just agrees with your playing. Love your videos man.
Oh wow! That X2 and this Champion 100 are on my list. I think your comment sold me on the Champ!
@@Netriderceoif you can find a used one, go for it. Half the price.
By far the best demo playing , actual useful examples of chordal playing , lead lines and basic chiming notes so we can HEAR AND UNDERSTAND what the amp is doing. Not blazing through boomer blues licks to show off the fingers, Fantastic .
You should compare that with the tone master. Would be interesting.
I might borrow this again and give it a shot soon.
The clean Channel is a Twin 65 replica more or less, interesting versus!
tone master vs blues deluxe?
Great idea.
Damn this has been a year already.
It's been a while since I had a chance to test a Fender Champion 100! Let me know what you think of them. This video was actually shot a few weeks before testing out the Tone Master amps. Overall, these are a pretty great value amp. Let me know what you think. Buy it here: Buy a Fender Champion 100 Amplifier here:
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(affiliate links)
After seeing this great demo, it makes me wonder towards who the new Champion 100XL is marketed? It’s $50 more and seems to have less features. I don’t know why Fender won’t put a dedicated reverb on their XL models. Lots of folks use the Fender amps for clean tone with reverb on it.
I like this amp a lot and if I needed a bigger amp, this would seriously be in consideration. At this point in my life, the Katana 50 that I use works well for the gigs that I play. Of course this amp has a better clean tone (no surprise) but I don’t need a 2x12 these days.
I went with the 100XL. The celestion midnight speakers gave it a better tone in my opinion. I was considering the ToneMaster Twin Reverb, but on consideration felt like that was too much for me at this early stage of learning the guitar. The Champions and the Mustang GT’s give me options to play around with different effects as I advance without having to invest in pedals. Later on as I advance and learn more, I may reconsider the ToneMaster options.
Dude your enthusiasm is so contagious. The pure joy you’re experiencing using this amp inspired me to buy one 😂
I wanted an amp that has a strong percussive/ attack quality to it for dynamic strumming. And I needed the strums to be even, balanced and musical at lower and higher volumes.
This is the amp. I like how adding reverb and delay ( onboard or from my own pedals) softens the feel. Makes it feel tube like.
I use an OCD through the clean channel with gain up about 1/4. And volume of the pedal at about 1/2.
This sounds great through a loud clean channel. Awesome sound.
Idk if people understand but if you don’t, having the amp on 5 inside is legend status. I completely get why you’re smiling. I had mine at 4 ONCE in a big back yard outside when no one was home and that lasted about 3 minutes before the neighbors whined. I was using a Dunlop wah into a J rockett archer ikon, into a boss BD2 through the clean channel. Sounded sick af tho for that 3 minutes or so before I got whined at. I’m subscribed ✅
If you get whined at just turn it up louder to drown out the whining.
Yes it is, I have two. Takes pedals really good, really reliable!
Great video... really appreciate your 'real world' review... i.e. testing an affordable gig-ready amp using a MIM strat and a "non-Gibson" LP. I have two of these, one that stays in my band's rehearsal space and one I take to gigs. Both combined are still cheaper than a lot of equivalent tube amps and the tone difference is hardly discernable, especially when using pedals for all the OD & FX.
I've gigged with one of these for the last year. I never could get with the overdrive, too fizzy. Also, if you hit the modeling side of the amp, the built in compression wouldn't allow a volume increase, at least not with my setup. The clean sounds are great, super reliable, and very affordable.
I'm considering picking one up to use as a loud, clean pedal platform.
Thanks for another great vid Shane.
Your videos are so informative. No ego, just good info. A rarity on UA-cam.
I watched a stack of your videos trying to decide the best amp for me. I compared so many amps but finally settled on the Champion thanks to this video and I couldn't be happier.
Still sounds awesome to my ears, still have one on my want list.
Please consider Champion 100 before dropping 1k on Twin Reverb/Deluxe new toy because you think you actually need it. This is somebody's review I've pulled off Amazon, worth reading:
"For the price, I truly wasn't expecting too much at all. Maybe like good beginner practice amp. But WOW was I blown away!!! Up until today, I ONLY played through high-end tube amps. And I have been playing for more than 40 years, both professionally and for personal enjoyment. I unpacked the amp. And was surprised at how light it was for its size. I plugged her up and after an hour of playing clean chord songs, I hit the foot switch channel selector and got it nasty. I ripped into some Vai, Satriani, and Malmsteem. Then switched to my Gibson Les Paul and tore into some Billy Gibbons and took it from the bottom to the TOP. Made another guitar switch to a 60's LP and broke into some Bonamassa and a few other blues greats, before switching it over to the Tele and a little Country. This amp handled every bit like a "CHAMP"! (Pun intended) 5 different guitars.....from big band to shredding....it handled it all. Different volumes....modelings...effects sounded like they were coming from a 3k rig. UNBELIEVABLE. And the head room? Forget about it. These two 12's could be pushed much harder with no problem. To tell you exactly how much I like it, I am retiring my old amps and using this Champion at every gig I play. And the nice thing, I van up in a head set and practice with the same amp I will gig with and never bother a soul. Do yourself a favor, especially all you close minded guitarists that believe a '59 and a tube amp is the only way to go, spend the $400 and get the surprise of your life. I did! And no more $175+ every 3-6 months on new tubes. Bottom line.....this jewel is for ANYONE & EVERYONE. Two thumbs up!!"
My neighbours are going to love my 100 watts of unlimited power!
Loved his expression when he plugged in the LP and started rockin'. THAT told me everything I needed to know about this amp.
Wild guess: you don't know a whole lot about amps 😅 nah but I get it
For the money, a great amp. Fender really does know how to model their own amps .... the cleans play with a full-bodied presence that is very pleasing, esp. when coupled with some reverb and/or delay. I've owned a couple of the Super Champ's in the past, which are the tube-circuit versions of these Champions. Frankly, i think this SS amp is a better deal, because it eliminates the "compulsion" many players have of swapping out tubes right away. Also, the Fender has upgraded their own speaker compliment to their amps which also saves time & money. A 2x12" layout is a perfect compliment to the modelling this amp provides. Overall, an excellent amp for the money .... Plus it's not heavy :-) thx for another great video.
I simply love the smile on your face while you’re playing this. It makes me feel better now about my new purchase of my Fender Champion 100! Thank you, man.
I have this amp, and his clean channel with a Tele, slapback echo and Boss CS3 and you got a HUGE 90s Country tone...
Thanks for the review Shane, salutes from Spain!!!
Just demonstrates how much more real and full 12" speaker(s) sound. All settings sound excellent to my ear. Ditto others, compare this to the expensive Fender! Thx!
The Fender Mustang GTX 100 is simply better from my experience. Saves you waaay more money in the long run. If you get the foot switch you have access to hundreds of pedals built in. Also you don’t have to “fiddle with a computer” it’s a one time thing. You get the presets and EQ you want and you’ll never have to connect a computer again. Just dial in the tone, save, and play. No pedals needed. Also it comes with a full feature looper, tuner, pedal board. Amazing value and plenty loud for my gigs. Also worth mentioning I first got the Katana 100 mk2 and tried the champion 50xl. Neither were anywhere near as good.
Love this Amp got a smoking good deal used on consignment at a music shop...most for your money and great old school and clean sounds..had to watch this channel to help use it better...great video
I can dig this amp. Great demo.
Must have upgraded in the last 10 years or so. Demoed one then that didn't seem to have the fx on both channels. Actually got a better tone from a FM212 earlier (bought the guitar ;)
Had a Princeton 112 from the mid '90s. All this brings back good memories.
What do you have now?
@@CarlitoM77 CyberTwin that hasn't been gigged in almost 15 years but still works great, Peavey Vypyr 15 I bought for under $50.00 used, great headphone/stereo amp and first gen MicroCube.. basically gave4 away 3 good amps, Peavey SP 112, Vox Pathfinder 15R and Crate GX60.
That's life.
We have a couple of Champion 100s at the rehearsal place. Pros: reliable, easy to use, affordable, and plenty loud. Cons: to my ears it is very boomy in the bass and personally I really don’t care for the sound characteristics. Also it’s limited compared to competitors who offer more effects to be used at the same time. Fine as a shared budget amp in a simple studio.
No boomy tones from mine but the room you play in can make quite a difference to how your amp Sounds. I’ve been in situations where had my amp dialled in just right during practice at home go to rehearsals with the ban and have to start over to get the sweet spot. Guess that why the pro’s do sound checks 😎
I used its predecessor, the 100 watt Frontman, as a backup to my Marshall for 10 years. It never failed to work as advertised. A great value.
I get very pleasing O/D sounds out of my Champion 100 by using channel two as follows: Gain 6-10 (depend on song and guitar), Volume 6, Voice #6 ('65 Deluxe), Treble 6, Mid 6, Bass 2 (TMB subject to adjustment based on song and guitar), no in-amp effects, then I use an attenuator, an EHX Signal Pad, in the effects loop to make the volume appropriate. I like the overdriven sound this amp makes without using pedals. Similar set up works on Channel one (Twin Amp Model) with the volume 8-10. Thanks for a very well done review.
I recently purchased one of these, absolutely love it and it doesn't break my back moving it. Great info video !
Yes, please do a comparison vs the Tone Master!
Exactly! Why isn't there any video on UA-cam comparing those two amps????
Just got one of these used absolutely love it ...its plain simple with great capabilities...had a Peavy 1 viper did not like it ...gave it on consignment to store owner and he had the Fender champ 100 used for great price... and your right it is enjoyable with clean and easy to use sounds...great review
I managed to pick up a mid 90s Champion 110 at a steal of a price, spring reverb, clean, gain, that's it, great amp!
Watching this to find out if it had a spring but sadly not
@@DANYALLAYNAD It's a shame, I know the boss Rv 6 has a decent spring setting but that's just more money and more length in your signal
Love the Fender tones.
The high gain settings sounded a little harsh to me.
I own the Champion 20 as my living room amp.
Have it set to a Twin with a little slap echo and reverb. Sounds great.
Takes effects well.
It’s because the speakers are cheap I spent 300$ getting the patriot and the dv-77 speakers and I’m only running a boss metal distortion and it sounds great now I love it for the money I have in it
Decent sound for nice price. My beef is they are pretty heavy. I don't mind gigging SS but it's gotta be lightweight. Great review!
Nice to have someone like most of us playing. Enthusiastic, humble (doesn't know everything and knows it), all around nice guy. Why no aux output? C'mon Fender!
It's kinda confusing that there are now two Champion 100 amps, this one and the new Champion 100XL, which is the 100 watt 212 version of the 50XL. You should do a video of that one too.
Your passion toward the affect music has on people is magnetic. Can see you're loving the tones. Captivating, mate. Subscribed!
I have never heard A better sounding amp. For the price point to get those classic Hendrix and Stevie Tones. Most amps in this price point are geared toward Heavy metal, Grunge or 70's rock. This is the second video I have watched on this amp and didnt know it was A solid state until you just said it. How the hell does it sound so good? The last video I saw the guy just played it in room with Cell phone Mic and you could actually hear better how good this thing sound in an open room. Great sounding amp.
Great review/demo of this amp! Definitely fits the bill for what I need tonally and otherwise. Liked you review so much in fact that I went and bought a gently used on on eBay! Expecting delivery next week,,, Bonus is that you're a lefty just like me!!
Are you still liking your Fender amp?
Thx
@@vitocasola4309 Yep, very solid investment. Thanks!
Thanks for the re-visit mate ! :-)
Hey bro, can I just say the more I watch your videos the more I’ve come to like you & find your uploads some of the most helpful and informative on UA-cam
I bought one of these amps. Very load. So much to choose from. Exactly what I been looking for to create sounds.
I don't gig, but I am sure glad the loudness is there if I ever feel like EVH and need to krank it. On a side not I love my Vox VT20 gives you voicing and effects, mem banks, with reverb all in separate channels. Sounds and plays amazing for a hybrid.
I own this amp and love it. It's really good as a pedal platform and simple to dial in the tones you want. I use the blackface model as my clean tone.
Brett Hackett how does the black face model work with your pedal board?
@@erictoniaschwab1009 works great. I put the gain at about 3 on the amp, then use the mxr micro amp clean boost and the ocd as my overdrive. Sounds really good to me. Effects loop works great for delay and reverb as well.
@@erictoniaschwab1009 and I use the mission engineering vm pro volume pedal
Pls excuse my ignorance as I’m new to this, when you say a good pedal platform, does that mean you shouldn’t buy this amp unless u will use pedals? I’m a rookie so I have no pedals and no intention on getting any in the near future.
Thx
I have noticed that with the British and Metal amp voicings the volume will drop significantly, and you need to turn the volume knob clockwise to compensate.
Otherwise it's been a bloody good amp for me, and in the very unlikely event I turn pro I don't think I will need to upgrade.
Amir Khalid are the voicings digital or are they all analog...I have a fender gt200 and I enjoy many(not all)of the sounds....but honestly, it can be a bit much with the effects and all of the little things like tube bias, cab sims,sag, pre or post gate....you see where I’m going?....I’ve been looking to Downgrade (I guess) to something more simple....
@@dddd717 I reckon the voicings are basically in-the-ballpark approximations of the real thing, and as Shane demonstrates you can tweak them to get a very useful sound.
Awesome, rich sound, several amps in one.
getting the 40 for intimate small events, but got to get this too for clean pedal platform, REALLY like the JAZZ voice!
I have mine sitting where my ex used to sit right in my living room about 6 feet away from me hahaha …and I just love it !! My only complaint is that even with the volume between 2-3 it is EXTREMELY LOUD!!! I mean this thing could literally shatter windows !!! But it does sound great !! Has a ton of features for everything from country to jazz to surf rock and obviously any fender rock n roll you want. It loves pedals and the effects loop is really nice! Another thing , it isn’t necessarily a great amp for metal but it’ll do the job. I’ll never get rid of mine !! One day I might put some really nice speakers in it but for the money you pay it’s totally awesome and I get compliments on its looks all the time too! Definitely has the blackface vibes
I bought this amp a couple years ago to replace my 15w line 6 spider. I wanted the twin reverb but just didnt have the money and was hoping this was loud enough. It indeed is. When playing with my drummer i usually keep it bewteen 7 and 9 and dont go farther than 4 for bedroom practice. I would turn it up to 10, but im worried doing that with distortion and gain will blow the speakers like i did on my line 6. Great buy for 300 bucks vs spending a grand on a "fancier" amp.
Great video! I'm looking forward to the next video with your pedalboard connected
Fender made the Ultimate Chorus back in the late 90’s looks like the amp 😎
Thank you for your honest measured approach to these amps. No frills just the basics. My question is: has the Mustang Gt improved enough with updates to be a realistic option? Or will it ever get to that point? I need an amp quite soon but am in the paralysis phase. I should say I don’t play metal, more Beach Boys, Raspberries, Dictators, Jan and Dean. Any comments on my “”best bang for the buck?” Thank you so much.
H. Mark Horton For your kind of music Mark, I don’t think you could go wrong with this amp. It’s old school plug and play, you could use it the same way someone would use a traditional Fender amp and it would work great for the 60’s pop/rock music that you play.
Bought this amp a few years ago, second hand for 180euros. The guy who sold it to me used it a few times before upgrading to a bigger Marshall amp. Literally transformed my lowly Bullet Strat. Looking to get a new axe now, will go nicely with it. Then it's time to get into the universe of pedals. :D
Love amps, guitars, pedals... GEAR. Nice review there Shane :) a fun looking amp I’m just finding out about that you might look at is the Ibanez TSA15 head. Cleans are supposed to be ‘Princeton-like’ and it has an embedded tube screamer (second channel) that’s foot switchable. Has a “collectibility” kind of vibe. Cheers!
Great sounding amp...I happened to play through one at a Guitar Center when I did a video on a couple Tele's... an Ultra and a Richie Kotzen! Cool amp man! 😎🎸
Liked the review have been thinking about getting one I think this made up my mind, hell yeah.
Can't believe you busted out out some thunder kiss 65. Epic sir ;)
I have one of these and it will roar on metal with pedal and without. A lot of how you sound has to do with the guitar and pickups. I like the jazz channel with a full bore metal pedal it’s extra loud boost. I played sound effects on the Wah channel called drain cleaning using Wah to hydro jetting and drain gargling with pick taps and scratch.
I imagine that Jazz setting is so bright because it’s a solid body guitar you’re playing
I have a few tube amps. Custom Shop 57 Pro, Blues Deluxe RI, Bugera V22. The Champion 100 is one of my favorite gig amps. Used to play through 100 pound fender Twins. This one is a whole lot lighter with great sounds. Have had it for three years. The 2x12 gives such a full sound regardless of the settings. Get one.
I didn’t know which one to get. I was deciding between this Champion 100 and the Super Champ X2. I went with the Super Champ but I keep wondering about this Champion. No regrets about the Super Champ though.
The whole Champion line is really good. I've got a "40", & I like it just as much as my tube amp. I did put a Jensen Alnico in it.
They can get very loud.
I used one in a band setting, I didn't have any chug, but I could be heard clearly.
I like your Fender Tele aesthetics/setup, looks and sounds great with no Single-coil Hum!
Shane the cleans sound very fendery, then you got up to the British and my heart sunk a bit with the strat. But once you plugged in a humbucker equipped guitar, it bought all the glory with how it should sound - much better. Looks pretty easy to dial in - my style of amp. And if you hit the wrong note...keep repeating it like it was meant to be! The only thing missing would be an attenuation switch and maybe split some of those effects out like they do on a katana (dual controls or similar)
Peter Schmidt with it being non valve amp an attenuation switch’s like those found on katana and Roland Blues Cubes are a pointless waste of time. By the way I own both those amps and they sound crap when set on lower power. Put them on max power and control the loudness with the master volume and then you get all the headroom and tone of a big amp with practice amp volume. Attenuators are more useful on valve amps because they need the power going through them to sing.
As for effects reverb, delay, tremolo, are the most used ones. The katana has a lot of effects which is more for beginners who don’t have much money and want to know what they do which is great, but if you have to plug in a computer to tweak the settings and patches it’s actually terrible because you waste valuable playing/ practice time.
I like the Champion. I own a lot of valve and Solid state amps so I have a lot to compare it to. The katana is an over rated amp it doesn’t sound as good as any of the other amps I own. That being said learning guitar in the 90’s I would have killed to have a katana over the crappy gorilla practice amps that a lot of beginners had to put up with.
Have fun now.
@@sid35gb I'd agree about having to access effects via a computer and I've said it before the Katana's and the like could really benefit from a phone or iPad app.
I've got the Katana as well and think they were over hyped when they came out. They're OK, but I much prefer the Blackstar TVP I have.
But we'll have to agree to disagree on tube vs SS attenuator's. They actually work pretty well on a SS because it doesn't matter what signals going through the transistors, they sound the same (unless it's clipping the signal). A power tube on the other hand needs higher signal to clip and compress in the power tubes. So depending on HOW they attenuate the signal would determine whether it was beneficial or not. Some definitely work better than others.
And yeah, the gorilla's were pretty horrible. But check out Johan Segeborns channel. He made one sound pretty good.
Have to go back to the other videos and check, but I don’t remember the 40 and 20 sounding that muffled on the drive sounds.
This amps gain channel sounds so bad to me. I just bought one and I’m sad I bought it because I’m a rock guy.
I gotta admit too, it looks so cool in my living room! The way it looks is definitely a big part of the reason why I bought one
i love how on the metal tone part you played what sounded like boomer blues with a lot of gain
Great review. Been using one for years.
i bought this exact amp,
like mine is the actual one in the video
Thing sounds like any tone could be pried out of it. Not bad for a solid state.
I exchanged this amp for a Orange Crush 60.... and I do not regret it one bit. Still the Champion is a good amp, the orange just had more.... personality.
Thanks so much for sharing, just amazed at the price of that 100 watt Fender, almost 1/6th price of the Orange 100 watt
I need that amp . Price is awesome..
Nice review... For a fairly simple no nonsense amp this is great. In this price bracket and with the re-voiced clean the Kat MK ii takes some beating
It’s funny how you can justify buying an amp or any piece of gear!!! 😂😂 I’ve figured out what I need/want as far as amplification and although this Champion 100 is a great sounding solid state amp for the price, I have my heart and wallet set on the Tone Master Twin 🤩🤩. This is way better of an option than the modern GT series in my opinion with the Champion being a great pedal platform. My brother is getting into playing guitar and I feel this would be a great first amp!!!👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾
Thanks for the review and insight. Cheers!!!🎸🎸🎸🤙🏾🤙🏾🤙🏾🤙🏾🤙🏾
Nowadays I think you could go into a music store blindfolded and come out with something good.
Guitar Ocd right? Everybody’s arguing about which is best, but they’re all alright...
Agree. But it's fun looking and shopping around. What's nice about the internet is I don't have to go anywhere. LOL years ago we had to drive miles to look at things. The internet has made me lazy.
It sounds good. I checked your link to Sweetwater. The first amp they show is the 100 XL. I wonder if it's worth the extra $50.
I gig with this amp, running a Strat into a tube screamer & compressor. It does all I need it to for emo math rock stuff. The voicing are based off old fender models which is great because it’s a 100W amp that sounds decent but costs 1/10th the price of a twin reverb.
Great review, Shane. I have one of these and love it.
These are on Amazon for 250 might have to buy one soon
Shame it doesn't have the input and switching features of the red knob amps
Brilliant review. Your playing is an absolute pleasure..........and I’m a drummer! 🏹🥁🌻
I use a 65 reissue Twin and my other guitar player got one of these. With his RAT pedal it sounds pretty damn good.
Loved the clean. And the blackface drive. Nice simple setup. Is there a footswitch to change between channels? I'm also happy they DID include an fx loop, so you can combine however you like. Throw a nice chorus and tremolo pedal in there and... (or whatever you like) I'm an old fart- I prefer to have the real thing, with all the parameters and actual knobs to turn. And a simple click to turn it on and off. TBH, even with how nice the Mustang III's chorus was, I mostly just used a TC Corona in the FX loop for that, and a Phase 90 or univibe in front. The amp provided the reverbs and that sweet Vintage Tremolo effect it has.
The Champion series would be nice for those of us who are easily distracted by a million whiz bangs, as well. lol. (for a home use amp) It's too easy to get lost in all the neat options...
I used one for a while when I was in a big band. It did come with a two button footswitch to change channel or turn the effects on and off.
what s the best between this and the boss katana 50 in terms of tones?
Great; I reckon that tapping is a winner, love to see more metal riffs in future 😂.. Ozzy’s Crazy Train is a fun one
My amp is set up the exact opposite of this, my gain channel is on the left, and my effects channel is on the right, and so is my tap tempo button.
This is an Australian one. Everything’s upside down
Instead of onboard effects (except for tremolo and reverb), I wish these Fender Champion 100 amps had an effects loop.
Some of us already have our effects sorted out, or prefer to keep our effects external to the amp; I like to use my effects with different amps so I rarely rely on any in-built effects in the amp.
The Boss Katana, Line 6 Catalyst, Fender Mustang, etc amps. all try to do it all amp models, effect models, etc. and miss the mark for many of us. Sure I don't have to (and won't) use the internal effects, but I'm still paying for it.
I would rather have a few good amp models and an effects loop in a 1x12 or 2x12 with gig volume capabilities. Maybe that's just me?
Now the Vox MVX150C is close, and it won't hold its own on a loud gig, but US $999 puts it in competition with many other options. If it was closer to US $699 I'd have one - if I could find one in stock.
IMO.
The search continues. So far it's an one-channel Quilter Cub 1x12 50 Watt with effects loop at the top of my list.
The Fender Champion 100s all have FX Loops…
The only issue I have is the effects loop is a serial loop and you can't blend the dry and wet sound to your taste