2024 Fender Champion 100 Solid State Amplifier

It’s not fancy, but it’s loud.

This is overkill for my needs. I had a wonderful Fender Princeton Stereo Chorus amplifier that I picked up for around $180. It was one of those “never should have sold” things that I regret to this day.

I wanted a basic, solid-state, non-modeling amplifier. This fits two of those criteria. While it is considered a “modeling” amp, the clean channel produces outstanding Fender “Twang” and (so I am told) is very good with pedals.

Lightweight (compared to its valve cousins) and extremely well-built, this will last for years and sounds great at lower volumes while providing more than enough power to keep up with an acoustic drum kit.

I slowly traded up to this starting with a BOSS Katana 50 Generation 3 Modeling amplifier which I did not like at all. The sound was “thin” and “digital” so I returned it to Guitar Center, gave them another $20 or so and got a Fender Mustang GTX50.

The GTX50 was a major improvement over the BOSS, but still did not have the “thick” sound I was craving. So, I went back to Guitar Center again and came home with the Champion.

Now, about four years ago, I was in Guitar Center and played a Telecaster through one of these First Generation 100s. The sound stuck with me. And spending another $20 was a small price to pay for the sound I was looking for all of these years.

So, ultimately, it was $310. Not a great deal, but a deal nonetheless.

Fender Vibro Champ XD Hybrid Amplifier

The Vibro Champ is a second-generation Fender digital signal processing (DSP) amplifier that derives its power from a single 6V6 tube with a 12AX7A for the amp’s phase inverter.

As it turns out, this is an amazing little (5-watt) amplifier with beautiful tone. The two best built-in effects are the Tremolo with three settings and the Vibratone with two settings.

It’s an unassuming and often-missed amplifier when considering a “practice” amp. Given the amazing tonality, it works great in studio applications as well.

While the OEM Fender speaker is solid, I am a confirmed Jensen speaker fanatic. Thus, my XD received a C8R, which has refined and given a genuine “Vintage” feel to the little guy’s tone.