Oh, man! This one was seriously tough not to take home… Here is a link to the listing on our website
1957 Fender Tweed Champ – 5E1 – Narrow Panel.
A very cool vintage piece with all the personality of a 60-year-old amplifier. This is an all-original, great sounding amp that has all the wear and tear that any tweed lover wants! With a single volume knob, indicator light, and dual input, this is what an amp is all about. It has a nice clean sound from about 1 to 3 on the volume knob, but who wants that?? Turn the knob from 4 to dime, and it’s what all overdrive pedals strive to be. The perfect amp for studio work.
From Wiki…
The Fender Champ was a guitar amplifier made by Fender. It was introduced in 1948 and discontinued in 1982. An updated version was introduced in 2006 as part of the “Vintage Modified” line.
The Champ had the lowest power output and the simplest circuit for all of the Fender tube amps. The Champ had only one power tube, which meant that the circuit is single-ended and class A. Five watts and the simple toneful circuit allowed the Champ to be used easily and often in recording studios.
By 1955 Fender started putting its amps in the “Narrow Panel” tweed cabinet with a plastic oxblood color grill cloth, and by this time the Champ was officially named the Champ (model 5E1). Through 1957, Champs only had a six inch speaker, but the 1958 model 5F1 featured an 8″. The 5E1 and 5F1 circuits used a 12AX7 dual triode in the preamplifier to provide two stages of voltage amplification, and a single 6V6GT power tube to produce about 5 watts. A Champ from this era can easily be dated by the code stamped on the tube chart, by the code stamped on the speaker or by its serial number.
Once again, an amazing piece of history comes in the store. I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted this one. It took me about 3 days to even put it on the floor for all to see!
As always, check out and buy all our used gear on the website… www.musicgoroundstlouis.com
