Red Knob Fender Champ 12

[JeffB]

My brother has one he is no longer interested in keeping. It's in fantastic shape, all original (even the tubes I'd wager). It's possible he may sell it to me for a an extremely good price (a friend of his has it right now contemplating buying it as well)

I have not played it since, oh..1989 or so. At the time I really liked it- but that was a LONG time ago.

Anyone fam with the amp in more recent years? How does it take dirt boxes?

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Red Knob Fender Champ 12

Had two of those things, used for a mini recording setup....
Hmm kinda ok....if memory serves me right.

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Red Knob Fender Champ 12

I remember all those red knob Fender amps being really fizzy sounding...maybe as a clean platform with boxes they'd do alright but if thats the case I might rather have a Pro jr or some other small amp of today...

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Red Knob Fender Champ 12

The fizzzzzhhh wears off if you get the master up....but it is 80's for sure.
Likes pedals ok.

[JeffB]

Re: Red Knob Fender Champ 12

Thanks folks

I did a little research and I know Torres has some mods for them to make them more "vintagey". My brother had looked into them as well, but has not gotten around to modding it. It's my understanding that the (re)Tube kit they sell as well as a new speaker works wonders (even without their internal mods and new pots.)

I'll have to see exactly what he's willing to let it go for-I'm thinking around $150-in that case with the mods (+ $150) it will probably be worth it. I'd def prefer the 2 channels, and especially the 12" speaker vs. a Pro Jr or such.

[WhoFan]

Re: Red Knob Fender Champ 12

ya i knew a guy that recorded an album that never got released with one of those... he had it in a sound booth in his privite studio in his home... when he was done recording he got pissed at the end results and the tapes were wiped...

but it was not a great amp but he made it work with his 80's era strat... he just used it for mostly cleanish and slight OD sounds for recording

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Red Knob Fender Champ 12

I don't think they take pedals all that well. A tendancy to mud out. I liked em with just the clean Ch cranked though.

[JeffB]

Re: Red Knob Fender Champ 12

hmmm...me thinks I may need to vist home and give her a play before I say yay or nay

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Red Knob Fender Champ 12

It sounds good on other cabs....used to have it plugged into my old 2x12" cab with G30H's......
No mud

[eggman]

Re: Red Knob Fender Champ 12

Howdy,

I love the clean tones from my red knob Super 112 (60 watts) and "The Twin". That Champ 12 is lower output and I've never played one. I wouldn't be surprised if it had good clean tones.
As for the cursed gain channel? I never use it! I say that Champ 12 is worth a look.

[kmcguitars]

Re: Red Knob Fender Champ 12

I own a Champ 12 Great Lil' amp ! AVOID THE TORRES MODS ! Just keep the gain below 3 and it sounds fine. Need more gain? It takes pedals well. The only major issue w/t this amp, And the entire red series is the plastic input jacks. I've hardwired a switchcraft into mine, No more problems! Get a good NOS 6L6GC in there, And it sounds even better. Need more info? PM me.

[JeffB]

Re: Red Knob Fender Champ 12

Thanks for the extra input folks! I'm gonna hold off until October when I go home to VA to see my family, and I can bring my Tele to try through it. If it's sold by then to his bandmate, oh well, not a big deal.

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Red Knob Fender Champ 12

I have a 1x12 60 watt red knob similar to eggman's. Nice clean, and I have found the OD to be useful to a certain extent. Better to use a decent OD/dist. pedal, though. IMHO, it takes an OD pedal well. I would say the same about my bro in law's red knob Twin.

Of course, the much lower power model that you're looking at may be different. It certainly is worth checking at $150, but not a big deal if the other guy buys it.

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Red Knob Fender Champ 12

The Red Knob Champ is quite a bit different from the typical two or four 6L6 Class A/B Fender amp. This Champ uses a single 6L6 in true class A and is not high headroom, tight and bright, in the tradition of say the Twin.

[RomanMtz]

Re: Red Knob Fender Champ 12

Hey guys... new poster here...

I bought one of these in craig's a couple of weeks back for $100 bucks... it had a busted Input 1, no Input 2 and the third prong on the power supply cord had been knocked off.

So I replaced both inputs with some I had left over from when I repaired a Red knob Twin a couple of years back, I cut off the power cord and installed an IEC jack and while I was at it, cut off the footswitch and installed a jack for that in the back...

Mine came with an EL34 for some reason (it sounds and works fine) and stock Fender 12AX7.

Single ended 6L6 output amp (similar to the valve jr. but with a little more complicated circuit). I like the clean channel... a little gritty, not completely clean, not much headroom but not necessarily a bad thing. Great for cleanish, mildly overdriven blues.

OD channel is a little harsh for my taste. I do use it but with the gain way down. The difference in volume from one channel to the other is also apparent. I have to turn the volume on the OD channel way down if I want to switch from one to the other.

Reverb is OK i guess... don't use it much.

Overall it keeps up with the drummer in my rehearsals and is light to carry around than my modded V33 with 1x12".

I downloaded the schem and have been trying to figure out the circuit to see how to simplify it and tame the OD channel some... I just can't figure out the LDR switching scheme. Also, I'd like to maybe use the second half of the second 12AX7 for something other than buffering the line ins (which I want to remove and use as bias test points).

I dunno... a lot can be done besides the torres mods (which I haven't tried) I guess... I'd just like to figue some mods on my own... any opinions?

Thanks!