Fender Champion 600: Amp Review

I purchased a new Fender Champion 600 brand new in 2007. With a retail price of $179 it was a sound investment (no pun intended) towards a small recording and small venue duo gigging amp. Armed with the original Electro-Harmonix 6V6 tube and 12AX7 tube I recruited this amp into full duty service with my then active jazz guitar/sax duo for practice and small gigs.

Several studio recording sessions with a jazz combo and a light rock quartet were made successful with the recipe of simple ingredients: Epiphone Casino, cable and amp; Epiphone Broadway, cable and amp; and Fender Stratocaster, cable and amp. The thick clean sound when turned low and through the amps low  input and the growling crunch when cranked up to 12 (yes the single volume control goes to 12) and through the amps high input were always agreeable when laid down onto tape.

The small size and low power make the amp a great fit in small venues when playing for background music. I can easily tilt the amp up for more sound dispersion or place it on top of a grand piano. Also, in the studio I made use of the amps speaker output which allows connection of an external speaker enclosure. To harness the full overdrive potential of the amp I took the output into my Marshall 4x12.

Effects pedals are put to good use in the studio when put in front of this amp. I have used a Boss RV-5 for a little depth and an Ibanez TS-9 for an edge in fusion style playing. After playing the amp regularly for 3 years I changed out the EHX 6V6 to a vintage 1950s Zalytron smoked glass 6V6. This noticeably warmed up the mid range and makes the amp more useful for jazz tones.

Now that these amps are discontinued we will have to cherish the ones we have. I am happy with this amp and continue to use it for recording and small gigs to this day. If you have never tried one you might be surprised at the punch this 5w amp with a 6" speaker can put out.