Fender Champion 50XL - Whats the Verdict????? 

Jesus dude you are one of the best guitar players in the world. WTF are you doing just chilling on youtube?

I've been researching for two years to finally purchase an amp, guitar etc. I found your review of this amp the best of all the reviews that I can find and your information has really cleared up the process for me. I'm old at 73 but have always wanted to play a guitar and I'm now ready to pull the trigger. I'm gifted with my hands and have been a stained glass artist for 50 years and know the hurdles in front of me to learn something completely new. Thank you for your input and help. I'm most appreciative.

Always get a like when you start with Hendrix flavored blues! Well, you always get like because you’re a freaking awesome player and come off as incredibly humble and down to earth. Never change and thank you for the continued content! 😊

Just went from a peavey rage 158 to this! Couldn't be happier! Dave you are an absolute gem of a human! Love your videos and your playing style! Cheers!

Like watching a classic rock show gig by one man,brilliant play on.

Dude, you are easily one of the best guitar players I’ve ever heard, including all the huge guitar stars. So clean, full of feels, you make every guitar you touch your baby 😍. You deserve to be in some kind of hall of fame.

Oh my Dave - you had the moon burnin a hellfire red with that intro . Brilliant.

What a joy it must be to be able to play like that, seemingly at will! Wow!

Best review I’ve seen of the XL 50, I agree that there are areas for Fender to improve on but there’s a lot there to love as well, you really dialed up some classic Fender vintage tones, it’s not a 65 Princeton but it’s Definitely worth the $220-$250 you will spend on it, It’s got a very good tone for not being a valve lamp, I have one and I’m pretty thrilled with it, and it’s definitely gig worthy, the volume is much greater than expected.

If you told me that this intro from a Hendrix' show, i would believe you without any question. I really think that you should rearrenge and record this intro. It is amazing as it is anyways tho. It kinda deserves (like your other intros) more than being just intro to a video. Great video and playing as always Dave.

There's a tin shed over yonder that's where my XD stays That tin shed over yonder Is where my XD stays Gonna burn some notes now for ninety-nine and one-half days ... Righteous, Dave...

I could have sworn this thing had tubes from listening to some of thos settings! Phenomenal amp. Next on my list for sure!

Dave + guitar + Amp = Musical Bliss. Thank you so much Dave.

And that is how you dem an amp, folks. Brilliant.

Champion 50 XL is a great amp for practice, rehearsals, small room/ coffee shop gigs . Under those conditions I can get all the effects I need from my amp . I have a fender strat and use the volume on my guitar to crank the sound as opposed to using mainly amp volume. When Katana bosses first come out I looked at the 50 and the 100 watt . Didn't buy either. Love the fender champion 50 XL it's easier to carry and drag around to tight practice spaces.

You’re a god sent here from another dimension.

Spot on Dave, make the amp sound as intended. The Katana gets great reviews (rightfully so). Yet the sound and ergonomics (front panel instead of top panel) this I prefer. The Fender is also WYSIWYG while the Katana can do a lot more at a learning curve. As always awesome playing, stay awesome 🤠👌

Great Hendrixisms right at the beginning👏. “If six was nine “? Great touch, great feeling great guitar playing👍

Sounds fantastic. The fact that these are about 225.00 sure helps. There a 2 footswitches avail, one is wirless with I think 4 programable buttons.

Dave is a absolute Champion and a phenomenal guitar player of the highest kind . Wish you a million blessings .

PLUS! The face at @2:58 perfectly sums up this awesome piece of epic music!

51:25: Holy shit, talking about baring your soul as a musician... WOW! Great playing all along, as always. :)

Surprising that you like it so much after the unboxing video!

The modulations are outstanding!

I bought a new Fender Champion 50XL today for $299AUD (161GBP or $210USD). I wasn't expecting it to be perfect in every feature, but I thought for the price (of about 4 cheap pedals) I'll grab one and give it a go. There's some really nice tones tones to be had, either with a Strat or a Les Paul. Finding the 'sweet spot' is a bit fiddly with the combination of the voice, drive, volume and bass+treble, but there's some really nice classic jazz, blues & rock tones this amp can produce, depending on one's playing style / picking technique. It still sounds solid state, but I like the 'dynamics' ... making the guitar more touch sensitive, and if anything, you don't have to work as hard to make the guitar sound more expressive. If you want to sound like SRV, Joe Bonamasa, Rory Gallagher, Billy Gibbons etc, this amp can certainly inspire you to play some bluesy chops that you've always wanted to churn out. I think it's a great practice amp that does want to make you play more, so that can't be a bad thing. And the volume can be lowered without sacrificing tone too much. It's not too heavy cart around and didn't cost the earth. And by the way, it's certainly not worth the RRP that Fender dealers are asking. My score is a 6 out of 10.

I ended up opting for this instead of the katana because I play the blues and the clean sound is amazing on the fender , if you have built up your own pedals then the fender is great for you ! If you have no effects then perhaps the katana is the way for you

I actually liked this more than the katana, maybe it'd be helpful to show the sounds you didn't like just for a comparison

Holly cow!...while I was surprised with fender guitars and the amazing sound you manage and I was wondering "ok with single coil pickups, but what the heck with HH and Les Paul style guitars" , you gave me the "coup de grace" at 25:05 with your best way!...thanx so muck for this review !..I was heading for a Katana 50 , but you already changed my mind with this amp!...

Dave you can never waffle too much, man that was one hell of a vid, freaking awesome man, that bassman tone was to die for, love it, rock on my good man, 😉👏👏👏🤘🙏

This is the second time this video has caused me to click buy on the 50XL. I regretfully sold my prior 50XL. Never again! It's a great backup/practice amp.

To quote the late RonnieVanZant (endearingly)-" That boy IS, a guitar playin'FOOL". Great informative review, Dave'ol bean.👍

Got one for $120 usa dollars, open box like new, my fav voices are clean, crunch and British.

well you make this amp sound really outstanding ...nice tone from your fingers !!!

My comment is nothing revolutionary but I think this amp would suit those who play mostly clean or slight breakup. That’s been Fender’s bread and butter since Leo invented the Telecaster and the original Fender amps.

Love it Dave. That country playing on the tele......ace!

Not really interested in this amp at all if I'm brutally honest. What I am interested in is watching & listening to Dave play and share his insight. Really enjoyed this video, thanks Dave

Unexpected Jeff Buckley! So cool to hear that. In fact I'd love to see you do a how to play of Grace. Such a cool set of chords.

I had the katana paid $500 and didn't like it, and I ended giving away for free to a friend. I like the fender champion 50xl more. I use the clean chanel with my boss gt 100 and it sounds amazing.

I really like the Champion and the Les Paul combination.

You could always run the fender and the katana at the same time give you a real cool sound

Your amp reviews are impressive. Thanks for your time and entertainment.

The verdict is Dave is a soulful blues ripper. And the amp sounds great as well.

Veredit ! .... the Intro - Tweed Bassman with the hole tone down and the spring reverb sounds really amazing !, don't sell it, I am afraid you're not going to get such beautiful tone with your other amps ....

I love this video. Some awesome sounds flowing out of you here Dave. I've been coming back to this video for a long time.

I swapped out my speaker to a Redcoat cause I felt like the British + OD (which you have as Tone 10) just needed some touch of higher end and push. Yep. Amazing. It’s my go to metal tone now on this amp.

Superb Dave, keep on rocking those blues my friend.

The amp is in the mail, thanks for the review, appreciate it bud. I will come back with my own opinion in a week or two.

The fender 50xl beats the katana hands down

I chose this amp over the Katana for it's simplicity, and it's clean tones. The katana is a great amp, but I would rather spend more time playing, not fiddling with settings. GREAT playing Dave, I love your videos! I shall Subscribe now.

I think the clean channel is the selling point, the speakers give it a bright clear sound (not too many solid-state 50 watts are going to give you that.). Probably the reason the Boss Kitana came out this year with a new version with upgraded speakers.

It's such a shame there's no good tutorials for Voodoo Chile (not slight return!) I think it's one of the best pieces of blues to grace this world! Well played Dave :)

Dave Simpson just fried me alive with his hex vision. Mega video

You channeled the great Randy Rhoads really well, Dave 😊💪🏾

This amp/guitar combination has a distinct Fender tone about it that probably will not be had by many other amps on such a low-end scale I would like to hear you play on some high end gear.

Playing like that!!... You'll sound amazing through anything!! Thank you man!!

Great intro ...had a few Fender modelling amps find it hard to believe that most of the Fender factory setting are unusable...the Fender Fuse software allows you to mod the amp default settings (and volume) or download and install other users modded settings which is a great...but why don't they get the factory default right out of the box !...great to see the Les Paul with those sweet Fender tones

Late to the table, but...came for the review, stayed for the show. Nice playing, friend.

Fantastic playing! I look forward to the comparison with the Katana.

That tone in the beginning is SPOT FUCKING ON! Unbelievable playing man. Wow. Just wow

I aspire to be able to play as clean as you

One of the more tasteful players on yootoob no doubt about it. Nice playing man, could listen to you all day.

Dare I say that most of these extracts sound better to me than when I heard you playing on the katana artist mk2 ?! And thanks Dave for the great sharings and the great playing !!

Dave , the valveless man full of soul. Bravo !

Dave, I like the product reviewsbut I love the lessons. When’s the next, and who’s the artist. I hope it’s Rory; although, I’d love to see the next Hendrix. I. Can’t. Wait...

Just a tip. You should try positioning your mic more toward the edge of the speaker rather than the center. The center contains the magnet and is a dead spot so you only get ambient tones.

It has a nice bell tone really good blues amp I think

Randy Rhoads! Its nice to see you playing some Metal! Cheers from Portugal 🍺🤘

Man every one of your videos always makes me say "do want".

I really enjoyed the sounds with the Tele and the SRV jams with that Strat. Looking forward to the comparison video.

When I first heard the Andertons demo of this up against the Katana 50 I thought the Fender had it beat for tone (I'm not considering all the effects etc.). This was due to the Celestion speaker in the Fender. When I visited the UK last year I tried a Katana50 in PMT and was disappointed in it, preferring the Katana100. I didn't want to believe all the comments about the 100 being superior due its superior speaker and larger cab size, but alas it was true. The 50 was lacking in guts and bass (and I don't even like a lot of bass). I couldn't afford the Katana100, so I forgot about getting a Katana at all. I'd be tempted to get the Champion50XL for gigging and leaving it on the bassman voice set "clean" with my pedals all night. Is it heavy?

Oh man, sent chills dude!

That was a pretty wicked intro jam. Smooth....🤠🎸🤘

My kind of music

Beautiful playing and excellent music choices. Cheers from American!

I know this is an old video but this video caused me subscribe to David's channel! Now I've watched tons of David's videos clear up to the very present. David probably won't see this post because he's in the south of France with some cute French girls, but kudos David, really nice work on showing us all these excellent clean Fender sounds from this Amp! If you do happen to see this post David (Or somebody else who owns this amp) could you all please check to see if the 1st channel that david says is uninspiring is voiced more for an acoustic guitar input? When listening to it, here on RU-vid it's not exaggerated in anyway and it is indeed quite flat, but that just may work very well with an acoustic guitar! I'd love to know if that is true or not! Anyway thanks again David! Keep on jammin' man!

This thing stomps the Katana. Ive had the 50 watt Katana and it sounds like a toy. The 100 watt 1x12 isn't much better. I now have the Champion 100 and the sound is MUCH more full and there is actually some balls to the sound. the 50XL sounds huge too. The CR120 with a great 2x12 cab is the only match IMO

What an awesome player !!!

Very well done maestro!!! You got it! Tone and chops.

Thanks for this video. You play great man and no commercial bullshit!

Thanks for your reply

Hi Dave. Mesmerised again, twice in one week. Excellent performance 👏. I have just bought a 50 xl and would love to know how you got the John Mayer, Gary Moore and SRV tones. Sounds amazing.

If Fender is watching... lose the clean channel volume knob and add a Mid knob. Then this amp is close to the perfect budget amp that everyone will have on hand that can be mic'ed up if needed. Oh and for a couple bucks more add a tweed and a brown version. It will then become the iconic amp that it really could be. Everything else checks the boxes, speaker, tone, user-friendly, lightweight, great value. It must be a tough job at Fender to figure out what features to include and more importantly what not to include so the budget amp does not take away sales from mid and higher-end products. So many Fender products come out that are so close to being the perfect amp but just lack simple but important features. I guess I could get the new Mustang LT or the GTX but I have or had all of the prior Mustangs and I am tired of fiddling with the software (I can't help it). I just want to plug in and go like this Champion 50LX. Dave here pointed me toward the Peavey Bandit years ago which I love because I can walk in flip a switch and play. I spend too much time dinking around with the Mustang's Fuse and don't play. Very distracting over time. Analysis paralysis. I figured out simpler is better. But I must have a good tone that is inspiring like the 50XL. I have the Fender Super Champ X2 Head with NOS RCA tubes that is close to perfect tone... missing Mid knob, headphone out and aux in!! Best Fender clean tube tone ever though. So frustrating to get a good lower wattage amp that can do good Fender tones and have the simple features I and everyone else is looking for. The 50XL is almost there. Give me a Mid knob. Please.

It's a great amp to put in your stack,I play 3 at once,XL50,Vox VT, Line6 Jam75

There is a one-channel Fender Champion amp with multiple voicings; it's the Champion 20 the runt of the litter.

I'd be interested to see what you think of the 'Fendery' Champion 40 and see how you like those Fender options and tones. Here in the U.S., they are the same price.

I'm eyeing this amp more now after watching your review. I play only at very low bedroom levels with minimum gain. Would I still benefit from your gaffers tape secret or does that mostly improve the tones when you crank it up? Thanks for your wildly entertaining reviews. You're a hoot!

Hot dang, you totally nailed the vibe of Voodoo Chile!

THanx dave!!

At first, I thought you were saying "defecate" regarding the dark strip across the grill. Oops! I was glad when I finally realized it was "gaffer's tape." That amp sounds pretty good. Thanks for the demo.

Two word _____ Fantastic guitarist !

Thx Dave I am about to watch this. I may get the fender instead of the Katana. Hard choice though

Didn't know you tried my amp, been waiting to hear your opinion...

Hey from Atlantic City!! Dave... The Amp is not as bad as it seems... Try a Celestion -80 Speaker, it's a Bright Speaker It's Way Better than the Midnight 60, What a Tiny Magnet... Troy from Atlantic City

Love your blues bro

I know this demo is not about the Orange Pedal Baby but bare with me if you will I don't like the idea of fiddling around with an amp's knobs while both my hands are busy playing... I have a Harley Benton FXL8 Pro which allows me to program any combination of 8 pedals under 4 footswitches and stomping on any of these switches deactivates the rest... On top of that I can switch between 8 banks! What's not to like? No more tap-dancing! Well I'm honestly getting tired of using analog pedals really... All these cables and stuff! Call me lazy but I'm looking for a digital multi effects pedal that can do the same for me... Still looking I'm getting rid of it so it's yours if you want to demo it... I'll send it to you free of charge as a thank you for all your hard work... Just say the word! I know the tone purists among us don't always appreciate the overdrive and distortion on multi effects pedals but meh... I'm just tired of the hassle! I'm a simple man and not that picky myself... I'm a bedroom player and deaf af so not that bothered with anyone other's opinion as long as it sounds good to me

Wow love the sound. Great play as always Dave :D

U killed it bro, im very impressed..

As always excellent playing ! The Jeff Buckley was a great match for this amp.

Thanks for the honest opinion of the 50XL What’s trick you did a cross the front of the amp.

I have heard others sound crappy with this amp. Sounds good here. Not sure how that happens.