I know this is an old thread at this point, but I have this little amp, and it is truly a game changer, at the home office bedroom level. Full disclosure, I am a novice to middle ground player. (open and barre chords, minor pentatonic riffs, and all the typical noodling stuff that we all do when we are not very good.) So, I think many folks looking to upgrade from a crappy Crate or POS solid state amplifier, would really like this Amp (and more than you think.) it WILL get you playing more, because you'll sound like a big-boy amp. The little amp is very warm, and if you front it with a nice delay and fuzz pedal, or a multi-efx unit, you'll have all you need for a respectable all-in practice rig. And as has been said on other videos, you can slave it out to a 12" cabinet, and easily adapt it to DI the amp if you don't have a recording Mic. Vibro Champ XD, is for the win. And Vaughan, you did a good job playing the Amps strengths. Good playing.
Your review was Great. I bought one online last night not knowing anything about it. I was going to buy the Vox VT 40x. I hope I made the right decision going with the Fender??
I have a mint used Super Champ XD which has similar functionality to the Vibro Champ XD (but extra 6L6 tube, 15w, 10" speaker, two channel). It's a great amp, I much prefer it to the VT40+ that I had. The amp models are good, but I now mainly use my choice of pedals into the clean CH1. The spring reverb is good enough; so much so, that I sold my Boss Fender 63 Reverb pedal (for nearly the cost of the SCXD).
Hey Vaughn. I have a Super Champ XD and toyed around with this idea the other day. You might want to check it out with the Vibro. Run the line out into the power amp or even the guitar in another amp. I did it into a silver faced champ. both at once with the trem or reverb sounded pretty incredible. hardly any extra noise. Thanks for all the vids
Nice review and nice playing, I'm an old Skool fender amp guy but am looking for a decent bedroom amp, old Amps are cool but loud lol, the Princeton reverb is about the lowest wattage I have and it's loud lol
Hey Vaughn I was wondering cuz I really need a good sound practice amp at low volume have you tried the Blackstar ht1 and if you have is this better or also have you tried the Fender Champion 20 is it seems very similar to amp only without tubes I'm really looking for the best sound at very low volume thank you so much
I have this amp and got a great deal on it too. What possible settings could you have it on not to distrurb your sleeping wife and daughter upstairs? Is your studio or practice room sound treated?
Great review! I just got a "new" in the store 2010 model that may be slightly different than yours. Mine has 4 Reverb settings, #4 is Reverb + Delay otherwise they seem identical. Thanks and great job. I've only had the amp for about a month but loving it!
Pathfinders are a better value. Discreet analog circuitry with Texas Instruments components and spring reverb, and it actually has a characteristically Vox sound...by comparison, late-model fenders are built cheap as possible and tend to run noisy, with thin pcb's and tube sockets directly mounted to them...they have a decent sound to them but their lifespan will be considerably shorter since the digital front end is practically unrepairable
Do you still have it now? Why coz I saw it for sale here online in India n wonder if I just about might buy it. Any advice from almost a decade of experincing it n against all the new digital amps that have come up since then? As for gigging, we can always mic it up. No issues.
I still have the bigger Fender Super Champ XD, love it. Had two, gave one up in a trade for a rare Fender Super Sonic Twin combo with some cash (blond tolex with oxblood grill). I kept the special edition Super Champ XD CA Blond Tolex one (1,000 made), but it is not quite as broken in yet on the speaker as the black face one I traded. I gigged a lot with that one. But, hey, the blond tolex with oxblood grill was just too cool to let go..... (and matches the Super Sonic). Nice video. Love your Frankenstrat, real cool. OBTW, putting a Jensen P-10R into an empty Fender 90 something or another cab before too long, to see how it does with the Super Champ XD, TBD.
Hey Vaughn, I got the amp and of course I love it, exactly what I was looking for. I wonder though have you really just kept your hands off it? No tube upgrades recommended or speaker improvements to be made? Can we make this sleeper a killer? I was kinda expecting you'd work your magic on it to be honest. Thanks and if I haven't told you before I LOVE your videos! Alex
The reason I came here is I found one of these amps on CL for $150. Love your playing and presentation. The only problem is you moved around so much when speaking the volume was inconsistent and often difficult to hear. Sorry don't mean to troll.
Nice vid. I really like it. Just got a used Pro Junior and it's such a good amp but i need to get one of these because i think they might have gotten discontinued and so we can expect their prices to triple
What do you mean $100 these amps are for sale in the UK for £328 that's over $500. If they were that cheap I'd buy one tomorrow. Are you SURE these cost $100.
Hey Vaughn. What an awesome little practice amp!! Holy S! so affordable too. Oh by the way, can you do me a favor amigo, 'n squeeze one more pup in your strat ? :P
Love the vid, man. I was thinking of this as a low volume practice amp, but ended up changing my mind to the Yamaha THR 5. I know, I know... Not tube... But you should check it out, it's pretty sweet.
The mics were AKG 451's ... always a favorite of mine. Since I was in my studio for this one, I had some cool prees available, and I used 2-channels of my vintage Nightpro PreQ3 into 2 channels of vintage DBX 160 (VU)s ... from there it just went to the input of my super-cheap little flip-cam! No post processing or anything like that...
