You can buy an original 1973 Fender Vibro Champ cheaper than a reissue, but should you though? 

Love em !!! Have a 71 paid $150 for 10 years ago and a late 64-early 65 with no fender badge all original with the paperwork that came with it for $900 4 years ago. Prices are crazy right now.

Awesome amp! I have a 73 Super Reverb, they were still well made in these days. Just picked up a 1966 Vibro Champ yesterday. I can’t believe how big the tone is out of such a small package. Amps of this size made today just can’t get to this sort of tone. Awesome vid, really cool one👍

Awwww Dude! That’s really sweet of you! Blessings and Merry Christmas 🙏🏼💜🎄🎸🎶 From LA, CA. Tom

A couple years ago I had to get rid of my Fender Twin Reverb (best amp ever). I needed money and it had become totally unpractical, too big, too heavy, and too LOUD! I got another slightly smaller amp, Ibanez TSA30. Great amp, but still kinda loud and not really the Fender thing. Then I found a ‘79 Champ for $400. It’s not a Twin, but it’s much closer, and way more home/apartment friendly. I love it.

Great video, and another cool fact of this amp is that both Eric Clapton and Terry Reid used this model on the 461 Ocean Blvd, this is on the top of my wishlist of amps to have.

Man that sounds sick I can’t wait for mine

Sounds amazing!

I have a 1965 Fender Champ that was fabricated 1 month before my wife was born. It was my first eBay purchase like 20 years ago; paid $250 at the time. When I got it, it still had the original 2 prong plug; shocked the heck out of me when I was playing my ‘52 Tele reissue and simultaneously palm muted the strings while pulling the ceiling fan chain! So I had the three prong power cable installed and had the amp tech check out the tubs, caps, speaker, etc. It’s is perfect condition. Love it.

My 10yr old DR RI has long since died.It sucked from day one and blew up in less than 2 years. My 50 plus year old vintage still going strong.

Awesome brother spread the Joy

love the sticker on the back!!

Great video. I picked up a 100% original 1966 Fender Pro Reverb a few weeks ago. It is the best sounding amp that I’ve ever heard. Needs some maintenance and a 3 prong cord....scheduled next week. But it is amazing and clean!

I picked up a 1974 Fender Champ for $76.00 USD at a pawn shop. This was in 1996 this amp can now be sold for 800 or better it's in perfect shape. The Used Music Gear Market and the New Gear markets have gone up about 30 percent since January 2021.

I have a '79 Vibro Champ that I bought new for $150. After a few years, I built a new cabinet for it and installed 2 - 10 Inch Fender Speakers. It's plenty loud and has much more low end than the stock 8" speaker. Great recording amp and takes pedals well. Of course I kept the original cabinet with the 8" speaker which is in near mint condition, just in case I ever decide to sell it.

Only $550? Great deal on a great amp! Sounds excellent. FWIW the new '68 VibroChamp with Reverb is an amazing upgraded version, despite the pcb construction. I used to have a '66 VC which was great but I always missed having reverb and I wanted a 10" speaker. The new VC+R model has those features and is excellent. But you got an excellent deal.

My ‘76 became my favorite tone and a studio engineer will tell you they pump out plenty of bass. Most amps have too much bass for the mix anyway. Since getting it I have collected more silverface amps of each size that I use to get that tone for larger rooms but mic’d the Vibro Champ kills. I use a reissue reverb tank to get that real spring sound with it. A Vibro Champ will take you a long way, not to forget that the tremolo rules.

Love Silverface Champs. I’ve owned a ‘72. Now, own a ‘79 Champ. Great, tiny, tone machines. Still affordable and beats a reissue any day. Just get a ‘verb & trem pedal, and you’re set.

Love the story on this one. Small world and all the more fun for it!

70's Champs are really cool. I got a 79 Champ, and it sounds so great.

Really nice job on recording the amp and demoing the sounds...I use to have a bf champ years ago, and I was wondering if people prefer the sound of a champ to a vibro champ?

i wish i could get a second hand vintage vibrochamp in my country, but unfortunately, there aren't any, i also can't find any clone amps. getting one imported would cost a lot, because of the shipping and import fees, and i've heard many horror stories about the customs department sending amplifiers back because they mistook it for a radio (which can't be imported without a permit i believe), and even if they get cleared without issue, our national post is quite rough when it comes to handling packages, and its common for shipments from abroad to get damaged during delivery. I do a lot of international shopping, and I've had many experiences where a packaged i ordered took some damage during shipping. Usually, the damage is only present in the packaging and the item itself is fine. But there were instances when the item itself was damaged, such as one where a guitar I ordered from Thomann had a broken pickup selector, or when a glass sculpture was completely broken. That glass sculpture was packaged very carefully, but the guys at the customs opened it up to inspect it, and put it back in the box without re-packaging it. While "fragile" was written on the box with a thick marker, it didn't really help as my mailman doesn't speak English, so he didn't know what that word meant (no disrespect to him, it wasn't his fault). So yeah, i'd probably just spend a couple extra dollars rather than taking such a gamble lol.

I've had a 1980 silverface VC for at least 20 years. You hear this term about bedroom amps. The Champ is still the ultimate "bedroom"/pedal platform amp. Unfortunately, mine has been rebuilt it's been rebuilt a few times. It was. I bought it used and the previous owner had it modded for more gain and output. It has been restored to original spec but with a Schumacher and TungSols. I've also put in a Jensen reissue speaker which broke in fairly quickly. I've got my eye on a buddy's 1973 Champ which would really be nice for a stereo rig with the VC.

I enjoyed this video

"Guitah Huntah" awesome stuff brother, love looking for gear! The GoldTop is so cool. Would be a cool comparison the vintage Vs. the reissue vibro champ

Always liked your guitar hunter logo and just realized the head stock has 6 machine heads but only 4 strings going down the fretboard. Stop hiding the truth from us ukulele hunter, hahahah. Another great video, keep it up.

I just got my 71 vibrochamp restored a couple days ago

Do you have any videos on settings for these types of amps?

Champs were $100 for years I live had my 1978 Champ since 1982 when I was 15-one of the best classic fender amps😎

I have a 71--fantastic amp. Yes, it's an 8" rather than the 10" in a reissue and doesn't have reverb, but the amp w/ a TC HOF or an EHX Holy Grail Nano and a drive pedal is phenomenal.

I bought my SF VC for 75.00 about 20 or 25 years ago... hock shop... still plays great

I have a “77, bought it brand new, they all came with 3 prong as far as I can remember

Here from your insta Live :P

Super awesome

That's a really cool find. I am conflicted on the reissue Vibro Champ Reverb. The 57 Custom Champ is hand-wired. I am leaning toward getting one of those.

I bought one Champ then sold it when I needed money. I’ve been looking at my local Craigslist for one to come out at a decent price.

Just found youre post im an collector of old marshall plexi amps a guy gave me a silver face champ im confused about the fender dateing it says 43904 anyone know is that 74? Im 70 now and out of the loop with this stuff cool show BTW cheers !

Did you go into the Second and Charles? They are trying to get full retail almost for used guitars in there..

This and a chorus pedal would be all I ever need lol

Very cool! I've got a '78 Vibro Champ that I adore. I put a Warehouse G8C speaker in it to give it a little more headroom and they weren't kidding! This bad boy gets loud. I cannot imagine turning it up past 6 inside my house. Diming it would probably be the last thing I'd ever hear. In other words, it's a completely gig-able amp for small venues. I've got a Tube Screamer and a reverb pedal in front of it and it just sounds sweet. I also swapped out the tubes for some nice NOS, but I'm not sure I can tell a difference. I kept all the original stuff so maybe some day I'll get around to properly A/B-ing them. If you find one in good condition, grab it if you can. They're great fun and only getting more expensive.

Hey Jeremy you seem to be a man in the know. I know on vintage guitars people don't even want a refret on vintage guitars but how does it work with amps? I know the 3 prong cord is ok but what if you change the grill cloth to a newer reissue or recap with original values or in the case of tweed, recover the amp? What does and doesn't hurt the resale value 💸? Would it be better to leave bare wood and ripped grill cloth on a old fender tweed?? Speakers 🔊 ? If I could pick your brain 🧠 for a min or maybe this would be a good subject for a video. Thanks man 🖖🤘👍🎸🎼🎶🎵🎶

Great sounding '73 Silverface VibroChamp! This specimen is nearly 50 years young, and ALL of the electrolytic caps would/should have been replaced - likewise a few of the carbon comp resistors. Is this repair something that you can have done well at your local mass market guitar seller shop? Do you know an amp tech? Just something to think about when shopping for a great deal in a vintage tube amp.

I have a 78 VC...they didn't change the circuit from 68-81 models. all the same.

I miss my 74 era Vibro Champ! I left it at church in Tacoma two decades ago and it disappeared by the next time I came back. Sigh. It was a gift from my grandparents, now long gone, when I was first learning guitar. I tried all sorts of things with it: modding it with a tweeter once, trying a different speaker in it once (yuk), cutting up a political bumper sticker to spell out 'SNORF' on the top! (Ha, I was 14...) I sold my Tele to buy an engagement ring and I'm fine with that trade, but I wish I could play through that old amp again. It's where I really learned electric guitar.

Yes

What speaker is in the amp?

TS808 + Dispatch Master + '78 VC is heaven. Any suggestions for a replacement speaker?

I bought the reissue for a good chunk of change, haha. But, I live in Japan where it's hard to find vintage and they're much more expensive. And you can't use the ones meant for the US because of the mains power differences.

It doesn't sound too bad. Is it the typical Fender, 1 quiet, 2 a little louder and 3 blasting?

Yeah, 800 bucks is a bit steep for a 5 watt Fender reissue amp with digital reverb. I want it but wow.

You bastard!! Kidding! Lol! I want!!

Strange about buying an amp from someone in a parking lot and not being able to try it first, I guess you know and trust that dude

I have a 63 d18 Ive tried to sell, and have only been offered about the price a new one costs

Pretty sure by 73 they were coming with factory 3 prong power chords. I could be wrong though

I couldn't understand why anyone would buy a reissue either, unless you're not interested in the vintage aspect more into something that might be a little more reliable by being new! Great video & love the channel!

I just bought a 1969 Fender Champ-Amp…drip edge…for 600 Canadian dollars…which is 475 USD…..so the deals are still out there if you look…

Love my mint 72 Vibro Champ.... great video btw ...

I have a 70 champ i paid 500....the reasons the reissues are more$ The speaker is bigger its a 10 inch and handwired. But the reverb is digital...which to me is a downgrade. But as far as this vids model ...it sounds great

I couldn’t even build a proper clone for $550. That’s a steal! The Bassman 100’s are awesome bone stock and still cheap. A modders dream with no guilty conscience over destroying a valuable vintage amp.

Hey Jeremy, What changes were made to the amp after 73? I’m the original owner of a 75 Champ and while it sounds good at around 3 or 4, the breakup at higher volume is brittle and ice picky. Sounds nothing like yours. All original with the exception of new filter caps and NOS RCA tubes. Thoughts?

Had a 72 Twin and a white 3 pickup 73 Les Paul Custom back in 76. Please don't say anything. I can't believe I sold them.

Filter caps and speaker stink on the new ones

Funny how a few months ago you would probably pay half the price for an old Vibro Champ compared to now since Fender announced a reissue of the '68 Vibro-Champ! As a result: Good luck finding a vintage one at a reasonable price! As far as I'm concerned the prices are way too high...

Their is a 1970 vibro champ for $850 i want to ask him $550 lmao but your is. 1973 maybe the 70 is at a fair price ? Nice video btw

This is one case where the reissue is probably better.

Beginners wash themselves in gain from Marshalls, eventually one learns how to play and wants a fender and those who have been in the know for a while now play vintage fenders. Best deals out there are the smaller silverfaces- they remained pretty much unchanged throughout the decade.

Not cheaper anymore...

I got one for free it’s being fixed right now

Maybe in the US, here in the UK.... vintage fender anything and rocking horse poo share the same degree of obscurity

It was from my sisters new husband

History he’s gonna look back on us on how naïve and gullible the American people were. Other than that I like the video.

I Wish you could play more and talk less, anyhow thanks for a good video!

It’s really old all rusted and stuff

Why wearing a mask? 😷