I love this statement - "If you have a 5-watt Fender and a 5-watt Marshall and one Fender style guitar and one Gibson style guitar you will be hard pressed to find excuses to not make classic tones all day long.". I definitely agree!

I love the smell of 12AX7s in the morning... it smells like... oh shit, my amps on fire again

This video validates what took me about 25 years to realize. A tweed champ, Hall of Fame pedal, and an LP is all that I need. Thanks. :)

I love my 1980 Silver Face Vibro Champ. I inherited it from my brother. My dad bought it for him brand new in 1980. Brother and dad have passed on. The SFVC is a little piece of them.

I love my little homebuilt tweed Champ but I still find it too loud if I want an overdriven sound. I built a quarter watt amp using 1950's battery radio valves and it's great for cranking up for a tweed Deluxe tone without others complaining. Yes, I love tiny amps.

I stumbled upon a 1978 Fender Champ in 1995 being sold on consignment at a music shop near Fort Knox, KY, for 75 bucks (I think that's what I gave for it) ... still had the paperwork in a plastic bag at the bottom of the cabinet. I still have the amp and that paperwork. A Frank Zappa fan, I bought it for the reference in the title track of Joe's Garage: "And a cheesy little amp/With a sign on the front said "Fender Champ" ... It's been a treasure lo these past 26 years.

My first guitar and amp was a Fender Mustang & Champ Amp that my mom and dad gave me for christmas back in '66 when I was 13. Wish I still had those today.

In about '93 I started getting decent studio work as a guitarist. I'd played out professionally for over 10 years by that time, and I really thought I understood equipment. I owned excellent gear, and not to brag but I was known among other players for having really good tone. I did a couple of sessions that the artist and producer really liked, and before I knew it I was being called regularly for all sorts of projects. On one of these sessions I was booked for a singer-songwriter at an old-house-turned-recording-studio. I showed up with my usual tool box: a Tele, Strat, and Les Paul, and for amps an '87 Marshall Silver Jubilee with 2x12 cab and a Mesa Boogie Mk III 100 watt Simul-Class, and of course a rack of effects. I was READY! Except I wasn't. EVERYTHING I threw at the tracks were USELESS! I had all this wonderful, LARGE and POWERFUL equipment, yet my tone SUCKED!!! Everything sounded small and buzzy in this particular studio. At about hour 3 the engineer had enough. He said, "I've got an idea" and left the room. Two minutes later he returned with a 1973 Fender Vibro-Champ and an original TS-808. Ten minutes later (I swear on all that's holy) I was recording the absolute most massive tones of my life! I've still got those recordings somewhere, and they changed my life forever.

I don't have a champ but I play through a Blackstar ht5 at home and usually run it at 0.5w. Unless I'm trying to rattle the neighbours, half a watt is enough. ✌️🇦🇺

I had never heard of Julian Lage until this morning. Thanks for the heads up and the info on the Champ. Today was a good learning day 😀👍

I've playing live, outdoor, rock, keg party gigs with a mic'd tweed champ and an EQ pedal. We had to tape the amp to the tarp/stage and the Mic to the cab. The other guitarist used a tiny PV exactly the same size as the fender and an EDI. The bass DI no amp, just sidefill. The soundman Loved Us. He had total control, the singer get could hear clearly through the crap wedge monitors because they contained only him as we played through only sidefill and our 5 watters. The drummer used what is normally the bass amp as a monitor. This was a teen kegged party so we only had a portable 1500watt generator to run the whole show and it worked fukkin great.

"An old blackface Champ is actually what I did ‘Funk #49’ on. A blackface Champ and a Tele, straight in.” -Joe Walsh, from an interview in Guitar World Magazine, June 2012

...I have the prototype for the "Super Champ"....it has a label on the rear of the chassis that reads, "when done please return to Paul Rivera in R&D"............

I purchased a Super Champ Fender amp New in the early 80's, an it is still Rockin ! It is truly a Super Champ living up to it's name , in Tone & Dependability .

Another guy who makes a GREAT amp is Terry at D-Labs from Battle Creek, MI. He makes a unique little 10w called an Opti-Plexer. Push/Pull V/T/B and the "Opti-Plex" control. Got mine hooked up through a pair of 8" Celestion vintage speakers. Great amp. D-Labs has a KZfaq channel where he repairs vintage amps and all.

Wish the 5 amp doctrine was more popular back in the 70s, would have made life as a roadie so much easier. I've managed to get my dosage down from 50 to 5 watts by a careful reduction programme. Keep spreading the word brother. Thanks.

My first amp in 1967 was a used Champ my mom bought me for $40 at a yard sale! It wasn't loud enough for me at the time. My mom scored another garage sale amp the next year: a Silvertone head atop a 6x10" speaker cab. I graduated to a silver face twin reverb in the 80s. Then in 95 I got a newly introduced hot rod deluxe 40 watt, which is what I use today still. It's a little too powerful but I still like it. I wish I had that old Champ. My brother still has a silver face Champ he uses at home.

Well done on the history lesson! I am building a 1958 champ clone currently and this is inspirational!

I just built a 5f2a. Used the iron from a crate v5 cheapy amp So ive got a bridge recitfier. I added a master vol and an amazing addition, a negative feedback pot. Taking the nfb from 5k headroom to 100k filth. Glorious glorious amp. Ive got a nos soviet 1515 power tube ( 6v6) and a nos mullard 12ax7. 20 watt greenback seems to be my favorite speaker so far (from what i have laying around) Im a big fan of Big Sugar . Gordy uses a Garnet Herzog, which is basically a champ used as a preamp . Ill be making that mod. Beutiful organic sounds.

I have a 79 Silverface. Got it used at a guitar store with a broken tube socket .Fixed the socket and retubed for $30. Best amp I ever had.

Small amps with less knobs are teaching me how to find it with my fingers instead of pedals. My whole rig is a National 1210, a Victoria 5112 and a Dr.Z M12 with a Strymon Flint and a Sacred Cow Klone. I have one a Strat made from a warmoth neck and MJT body. I always record people with the bare essentials before adding any other colouring or effects to the mix. I find that if you record it right in the dry run with simple tools, you can pretty much throw it into an LA2A as is and master the whole thing with two knobs.

I got a fantastic deal on a slightly used Custom Champ and I have to say it’s fantastic. The cleans with the volume at 4 on a Strat are amazing... punchy, clean and smooth. You’d never expect it. So responsive with the volume at ten, using the guitar volume to control your tone. It doesn’t sound or feel like an 8” speaker.

Yet another thorough, concise and extremely educational presentation on a fantastic piece of equipment. Many years ago I was fortunate enough to be good friends with the great Tom Dowd. When he saw the 100 watt Marshall stack and the 50 watt Soldano amp I was trying to record with, he sat me down and gave me the talk. I was living in a 5 watt world and never knew it. You as usual are spot on agin. Can't wait to see your next presentation.

I got a Hand Made 5w Champ and every time i turn it on i get more in love with it. It's amazing how good it takes drive/distortion pedals.

I just want to go on record and say the "electric" version of Layla is hands down better than the acoustic version. No contest imo.

I make tube amps for a hobby and 5w is the IDEAL power output for home and recording

I have a 1964 Fender “Vibro Champ” In great condition & less than 25 Hours on it.. It had less than 18 Hours when I got it, along with booklet, etc. . It had been sitting in a ladies closet for years.. I also used to have a 1965 Fender “Champ” that I inherited with a 1972 Les Paul that had belonged to my uncle.. The Champ was in good shape, but had a few nicks on it, but still a great little amp.. I sold the ‘65 Champ.. The ‘64 Vibro Champ sounds amazing, & I’m hanging on to it.. At least for now. I sure enjoyed them both..

I totally agree. I have a few amps, but my hands down favorite is my “Champ” (in the form of my hand built Tungsten Mosaic, the best “Champ” I’ve ever played👌)

This is a sweet little amp. I love low wattage amps. I have a Black Heart Little Giant 5 watt class A head with two Blackheart 1x10 cabs. Like a mini-stack. It sounds so good. And plenty loud enough. This would be a nice addition. I also had the Marshall Class 5 combo amp. I had to sell it to pay for a lawyer, but that's a whole other story. I was going to try and find another, but this may take it's place. Nice review and back story. A lot I didn't know. Liked and subbed

Keith - always love what you do. Never miss a thing. Just a point of feedback for this one: maybe turn off the blues in the background; we’re here to listen to you brother. Again, always love your work.

I built a Champ kit supplied by Trinity Amps - The Tramp. It's the basic circuit + tone stack you can toggle in and out of the circuit and bias switches to allow all kinds of octal tubes in place of the 6v6. I've been running it with an el34 and it's a wonderful thing. It sounds like heaven when I run it in stereo with a Vox AC15.

First amp I owned was a brand new SF in '73 my Mom bought for me with the condition I worked and paid her back. Great amp and a life lesson ta boot! Blew the speaker and sold it to a friend in '76. Wish I still had it.

You can build a 57 Tweed Champ amplifier kit - no cabinet - no speaker - for under $275 US + shipping - build the cabinet for under $40 - put in the speaker of your choice from $50 to $110 . But of course you need to be able to solder and have a basic understanding of electricity. Still you could get away with a Champ for around $425 or buy one already done for about $800 - 850. Sweetwater sells them new for about $1000. It all depends on your abilities and your budget as you chase the "Holy Grail" of guitar sound.

Since I got 57 Champ reissue, the search for the perfect tone is finally over :) Sometimes I need something louder, but the Champ is the perfect one.

I got my first electric guitar in '69 at age 14. Rented a blackface Vibro-Champ from a local music store for $4.00 a month. Hogan's House of Music, Lawndale California. Loved that amp. Went through the "bigger is better" phase for a lotta years. Now, rarely use any Fender amp without "Champ" on it! My Super Champ XD has been my go-to for 13 years now......even large venues. Either miced or use the line out feature. Great video.

I've been in love with Fenders since I started playing guitar. When I bought my first electric after saving for a year, my Dad got me a silverface Princeton for Christmas. I upgraded that to a Silverface Vibrolux Reverb. Sold that when I moved to New Zealand and started teaching at university. When I started playing again, after a few years of not, I got a first edition Blues Junior. When I cam back to Canada for good, I told my Dad I was leaving an amp behind and he bought me a 68 drip edge Silverface Twin Reverb which I still own. In my band, I've gigged with the Twin and then a Traynor VCV40 (go Canada!) but I just got my first Vox, an AC10, and I love it to pieces. Not sure if I'll gig with it mic'd or just leave it in my basement, but the small wattage amps are amazing.

The Swart “Atomic Space Tone jr” amp takes everything about the 5w Fender Champ circuit, but does it much better with better quality parts and construction.

I slowly came down from 100 watt 412 to 50, 20, 12... I think I did it with age and not gigging. What was said about the Champ at 3 is the same for the 5E3. I run mine a bit higher at 7, but it depends on what I want to do. At 7 the 5E3 is a gut punch and pairs great with my Laney Lionheart in a wet/dry rig. My pedalboard slowly dropped pedals until I had no use for a board at all. With 2 Lovepedal's, Black Deluxe and their JTM and a Mr Black Deluxe Plus in the effects loop, I'm happy. The digital reverb on the Laney is fine for me and does the job, if I want more, I can use the Mr Black; which has a ton on reverb. The Laney Lionheart 212 is such a great amp, it's certainly it's own sound, not Vox, closer to Fender, just well rounded and neutral. I can easily get the sound I want from it. Haven't tried their 5watt, but I assume it's similar. You can get great deals on used ones, as I did. Great video, I subscribed after seeing your Princeton video--great video.

Great to bump into this channel ... For quite a long time, (Since 2001?) I've owned a 5Watt TopHat Prince Royale. (EF86 Pre-amp, EL84 Power, 5Y3 Rectifier) The Cone is an 8" Top Hat custom. Gigged with a mic, but mostly studio and practice sessions. Note also: Rhett Shull (/rshull07) recently suggested a similar bedroom rig (my go-to, all this time.) Teeny amp and a reverb pedal. It's a way of cleaning up bad habits, that's for sure.

Having recently restored a circa 1954 5D1 I noted that the earliest versions had a single 6SJ7 preamp tube , and from the 5E1 onwards they used the 12ax7 . This Champ is now my favourite amp that's ever been through the workshop . I couldn't make a bad sound with it .

Another wonderful and Informative Session. I happen to have a custom made Champ with an Amperex 6SJ7 Preamp tube and a 6V6, amazing sound!

Worked in a little two bit studio years ago and it was kind of funny how a large majority of guitar players chose my little Champ to record with!Most everybody usually made big fun of the Champ but when push came to shove it was always that Champ that saved the day!

Dan Lurie just got another sale thanks to you. I just got the desktop version of the champ and it has proven to be a beast. Thank you for all the well researched and easy to follow content for us vintage gear enthusiasts.

Your thing about a Fender style guitar, a Gibson-style guitar, a Marshall, and a Champ, and making music all the time is so true! I'm in a creative state of grace right this moment, with my Jazzmaster and my Riviera P93 (which I keep in open G), and my British-style amp (in this case, an AC4), and my Fender - in this case, a Princeton. Lovely channel, I respect your clear passion for history!

Right now I’m using an Ibanez tube screamer amp that I’m in love with . It’s the fender style 2 6v6 2 ax7 style , with a tube screamer circuit on the front . It’s switchable 5 or 15 watts .

Just discovered your channel, love what you're doing here ! The Fender Champ was my fav amp for doing studio work and often used it as a pre-amp into a Marshall stack on live gigs, such a powerful little beast !

I paid $35 for a Fender vibrochamp amp in Des Moines Iowa in the early 70s. The guy threw in a cable and a dynamic microphone I used that amp for 30 plus years! Great tone. In that time I only had to replace one tube!

1990's Fender Pro Jr. with a nano+ pedaltrain is life changing! 2021 minimalist approach for sure.

A cheezie little amp, with a sign on the front said Fender Champ and a second hand guitar, it was a Stratocaster with a whammy bar.

Fascinating stuff. I've used 15W amps for most of the last 15 or so years (except a brief foray in a metal band when they just didn't cut it). Recently stepped down to a pair of 10 watters. I guess the main reason I've never looked at 5W (other than the Lionheart, which I think is an awesome amp, that I've been meaning to pick up once I sell 3-4 of my current collection) is that I like 12" speakers too much. And a little bit more headroom than Champs typically offer IME.

I have one of its grandkids, a blackface Vibro Champ rescued from the landfill. Played a H54 Harmony Rocket through it in a swing band for 10 years. You could not break it. Loved humbuckers and harmonicas too!

I'm building one from scratch. Adding an on / off switch to the negative feedback. Will run the amp through a Celestion Blue alnico 12" speaker.

Nice video. I've got a '59 Gibson Skylark and an HT-5 Metal so I definitely appreciate what you're doing here. Might be a good channel for me.

I have Tone King Imperial MK II and I can get those Champ sounds on a lead channel with attenuator. Also love my Marshall SL5 amp. Great KZfaq channel! subscribed! :)

For the past several years the amp I use most has been a mid-1950 Oahu Sunshine by Valco with either the Les Paul or the G&L. 4 watts into an 8 inch speaker. The big stuff hardly gets used, except by my metalhead grandson. But he is 16 now and starting to come around. I can't believe I spent so many years thinking a Deluxe Reverb was too under powered to cut the mustard.

Great presentation, thanks. I had a Princeton from about ‘75 to around ‘82 when I traded it for a Hiwatt Custom 50. I still have the Hiwatt, but I do miss the Princeton. My guitar teacher back in the ‘70’s had many Fender amps, tweed and black tolex, including a Champ.

To add the tweeds dont like 125 @ the wall either so pairing those with brown box and lowering the voltage and % to find the sweet spots is KING on those amps. I Own a Dumble 50 in bassman platform and using the brown box and lowering the voltage and % down instantly makes that circuit sound better.. It is far too aggressive @ 125 but bring it down and suddenly it behaves and you can also bring up the volumes to let the amp breathe more. The Dumble is a hybrid of other circuits and instead of 68 its something else combined.. Regardless its two other designs with borrowed ideas from other pre existing amps such as tweeds and even circuits from across the pond. What I know is they behave better at lower voltages which the amps were originally designed to run on... You set both volumes on 7 and adjust to taste but running it lower instantly sounds better less strained. The amp belongs in a nice studio to be recorded somewhere so its for sale....

Around 2010 I had some cash burning a hole in my pocket, so I bought a showroom condition bone-stock 1965 Super Reverb from Eric Bradley at 30th street Guitars in New York. He tried to talk me into an early 60s Champ instead, and like a dumb kid I went for the big Super because it looked cooler. Since I live in an apartment, the Super doesn’t get much use. I wish I could go back and get the Champ instead.

I bought a 1967 blackface Vibro Champ in April 2018. I love it. I don't play out much these days, but it's great to play with in my apartment and occasionally to jam with friends. I was surprised how loud a 5-watt tube amp can get.

My favorite tweed Fender is the Pro Jr. Two knobs, no waiting, but I do love me some Champs. I was in a music store in Tampa in 1980-something, auditioning one that may have belonged to Duane Allman, when the transformer started smoking. I was mortified, but the Thoroughbred rep told me it was fine; they had a tech on staff, and it was better it happened in the store, than after I'd brought it home.My experience has been that it's perfectly okay to crank it past three, then navigate the sonic surf with your guitar's volume knob, but the advice in the video may hold true for folk and country players.These days, my studio jam is a VHT Special Six, cuz six is one more, innit?

I picked up a 1969 Champ-Amp for.... wait for it............$20! And yes, that as this year, 2020.

Super cool series! I have a fender champ 600 ri. I’m gunna mod it to the original specs of the original champs. Great find for under 100 bucks, but are hard to find under 180 now!

In 70's I got a '64 Gibson Firebird, because that's what Johnny Winter played. Being short on $ to buy it, got a '67 Supro Trojan for $25. The rig sounded great but being the 70's and all, wasn't loud enough!😄 So later I got a '63 Fender Super Reverb. But now it's too loud, hear it down the block loud and it wouldn't "break up, or overdrive" until past 5-6 volume? So I picked up a EV microphone, mic'd the Supro with the volume on 7. Plugged into the Fender set on 1 with the reverb on 4 and eureka! Just an amazing all the way around sound at a tolerable volume! The Supro's overdriven crunch with classic blackface Fender clean and creamy reverb! It sounded like it was a dimed tube amp in an empty theater! And I remember being embarrassed about it thinking this can't be cool? Remember it's the 70's😎 That is until I saw Elvin Bishop in '77 do his hit,"fooled around and fell in love"! Elvin had a tweed Champ on a folding chair with his ES335 and a guitar cord. That was miked into the PA, straight up awesome tone and feedback if he was inclined!

Longtime Champ lover here. It’s been my #1 since I had it recapped and the speaker swapped out for the Jensen. Just got Lovepedals Amp 11 got to say the Vibro Champ loves it like no other. I run the pedal at a low drive but it’s enough to send the amp into The Sweetness while allowing me to roll off the guitar volume for full, clean tones.

Had an original late 50's tweed Champ, bought it at a yard sale for $75 ...yes traded it and a non reverse Gibson Firebird with P90"s for a Fender twin. Don't miss the little fart box at all, do miss the Gibson.

Had a Champ, liked it a lot, but went to a Princeton Reverb. And with the a/b push pull output and early phase inversion circuit it may not get as clean, but getting Fender spring reverb and trem, makes sounds I prefer.

I got a custom 57 a few weeks ago. I found it used and practically brand new condition. I love it! I’ve been playing the guitar straight through the amp. It has become a new way of playing and I’ll never go back to another amp. Thanks for the video!!

Cool video. I've got a little amp with what's basically a Champ circuit. It's a Silvertone 1481 from the early 60's. My Papa gave it to me in the mid 90's. Was my first real amp.

I used to be all about 100 watt Marshalls when I was a young man. Now that I'm older I wish I'd have discovered the magic of low wattage and 6V6 tubes earlier...

It seems as I get older, my amps have become smaller and better

Thanks for your historical videos, you have a wonderful speaking voice. Very professional. Cheers

I have scratch built three Champs. Two with the upgraded 18 W power trans... One built with a custom aluminum chassis. The third was a custom cab out of Oak with mahogany trim. The idea was point to point, minimum wiring with vintage cloth wire. Amazing little amps.

I use my 1959 Champ with a Weber 8” speaker.

I have a 1962 Champ and a 1962 Fender Music Master guitar. Treasured possessions.

Shoutouts to these videos. I'm sure you could easily make extended, like 30-60 minute episodes of these, that were enjoyable as well.

I discovered your channel through this video just last night and, low and behold, a 5-watt Bad Cat Cougar appears today (via the local GC). The cosmos is speaking to me, so of course I picked it up. (I've owned a number of Champs, including a Super Champ, but none any more recently than 2006 or so)

Watching this after ordering a 40w marshall

Just came from Ricks live chat, subscribed!

Champs are awesome.some of the greatest rock and blues sounds ever recorded were done with nothing more than a champ.keith used champs to get the sound on many stones classic.clapton and many others used champs often in the studio.there simple to use and the sound is legendary.

Love love love Champs! Got a ‘62 tweed, and a pair of ‘65 Vibro-Champs that I often run together. The tweed is all original, including the filter caps and two-prong power cord. The caps spec out as new after 56+ years!

Great content. My daily driver is a Marshall jvm one watt combo. The 50th anniversary one. I will never part with it.

I'm going to have to call you out regarding the statement that Fender was an Amp company before a Guitar company . Leo Fender was making guitars back to the very beginning of K&F ... Steel Guitars . Long before there were ( vertical ) solid body guitars . The very name of the Champ comes from it being introduced as the companion piece of the very sucuessfull Champion Lap Steel .

Doesn’t almost every conversation about soulful amps eventually involve a tweed. There IS just something about an old tweed & a Tele 👍 Great segment as usual !!!

I play 5 watters probably 90% of the time. Honestly, Bugera G5 is my favorite for a modern sound, and a heavily modified Epiphone Valve Jr for a vintage crunch. Also the Crate Palomino V8 is a great pedal platform.

I've been playing guitar for about 5 years now, and in that time I've been through a lot of different amps, guitars, and pedals. I started cheap and not knowing anything about anything, then worked my way up to expensive, crazy huge pedal boards with effects that I thought I needed but almost never used. About a year ago my main setup was a Boss Katana Artist with the Boss footswitch, 8 presets worth of effects, two Boss wah pedals that were specifically programmed, and a custom guitar with various mods, upgrades, effects, switches, push pull pots, reversed magnets in the pups to get every sound I possibly could so I had all the options I could ever need. And I found myself lost... I was tweaking and playing around with all the settings more than I was playing trying to find "my sound", I lost the reason why I got into playing guitar. I sold it all. Every pedal, the Katana Artist and the guitar, I had to make a change. So I decided to go simple, if I wasn't happy with being overkill on everything. Maybe I'd be happy with the polar opposite, something that was about as simplistic as I could make it. With the money I made from selling all my gear, I was able to pick up a '59 Princeton Tweed with it's one tone and volume pot, I then followed up with an EHX Holy Grail Neo, it too has just a single knob and a small switch for the three different reverb options, in front of that is my Polytune 3, and to finish it off a 2014 Gibson Memphis ES-335 Studio. The guitar is no frills, no fancy bindings, stripped down with a single master volume/tone, 3-way switch, and no scratch plate. I've never been happier, and to see that a lot of other players are following a very similar setup and I didn't even know it makes me feel like I'm on the right path. Love your videos can't wait to watch more!

I've always wanted an old Champ but they do not come up for sale up here very often[Canada] and when a Champ comes up for sale they are quite pricey. I found a 1970's Garnet Gnome hand wired 5 watts not a Champ but for the price i cannot complain!

great offering!! ha, i demoed a Rivera Super Champ at a local shop in '06. Got a killer tone in like 2 seconds. Went back to buy it and the owner changed his mind and took it home. Sammy Hager 'Moneys burning a hole in your pocket..." after TG day. Bought an out of box Blues Jr, Diamond Series. its long gone. Good amp but spikey vols. sounded great in the shop but not a bedroom amp.

Although my studio is in NY, just ordered a Honeyboy 5 from Andy Smith, a custom tube amp builder in the UK. Have experienced tremendous custom service from Andy and eagerly await delivery.

Excellent video, thank you! I've just discovered your channel & subbed!

In the seventies and eighties every bar band had to have stacks of amplifiers. Not bands get better sound out of small amps and effective PA systems. Music doesn’t need to leave listeners deaf for two days after a night at the club.

Awesome Keith!! I miss my 50s champ and deluxe that were stolen in the 70s. I had a late 60s champ that was awesome. Now I use super champ xds modded one in a tweed cab with 12 in spkr. Aerosmith got hip to the champs allegedly thru the Stones.

I discovered this channel yesterday and what a pleasure! More of this classics, please! Great job.

Every amp has its own sound, where one man’s dream amp can be another’s nightmare. I run a fairly large studio and associated media lab (one of the largest and most advanced in the country), where we are doing a range of philanthropic and for profit recording, mixing, mastering and other things. When setting up the studio I noticed that many of the newer amps (Class A tube, hybrids/push-pull, D’s. AB’s and others) had to make various compromises to reach their markets. This was much less the case with some of the older Vintage amps, where costs and markups were much different than they are now. We eval’d dozens of brands, hundreds of amps, as well as their Helix, AxeFX, Headrush, Kemper amp sim and related alternatives. While the purchase of the Line 6 Helix and Kemper profiler were easy decisions for us, finding top amps was much harder. Many of the top 60’s and 70’s vintage amps with some work were solid and supported getting the sound many of us grew up with and often hear live and recorded today, some of the Italian and US (e.g. The Amplifier Company Bimbo and 3100 of Italy and the Jackson Amp Company of Texas) were phenomenal in their depth and breadth of available power, clarity and control. Also, they were 15-25% the price of the vintage Fenders, Marshall’s, Trainwreck’s, Dumble’s and others, while offering better options for studio work. In the studio, having a low true class A power 5-7 Watt and below, provides the greatest flexibility- at least when using the right recording techniques and mics. Some of the biggest disappointments were the new Fender, Vox and Marshall’s. You can say they are very different than what their vintage and boutique equivalents are, but you cannot really compare them to what they are supposed to represent. If they provide what you want and like, that’s great. However, for us, there was a pronounced lack of consistency within the model lines, tendency towards uncontrollable microphonics at various levels, a lack of core transformer power and various associated issues resulting from those and other factors. This results in newer amps amps that lacked the ability reach soaring power and control, and the effortless stability across a wide range of frequencies and dynamics. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is amazing that they can do as well as they do given the necessary cost constraints modern manufacturers work within. Specifically, the intrinsic 4-5 fold markup from manufacturing to retailer means to sell a $500 - $1,000 amp they must be able to make it at under $200. While that may be reasonable for a Class D amp and certain digital hybrids, there is no way to do that well on a true Class A, given that a vintage level of reserve power transformer alone will cost almost that. Unfortunately, this fact, coupled with nostalgia, component scavenging and other factors have pushed the process of many of the great amps out of the reach of many musicians. For many amp sims, post production tricks and the like are better options. We had hoped to really like the newest Marshall, Fender and Vox, and initially thought that $1,000 was a relative bargain to the vintage they are supposed to model. However, while they have their own sound that some may find desirable, they do not compare with the real vintage, nor the top amp sims in the hands of someone with a bit of knowledge and patience. I believe this is why the boutique market is so large and diverse (and almost i possible to do profitably- hence how many come and go quickly). In any event, if you want a true rock sound of the 60’s, 70’s that you cannot get out of the newer amps (and you don’t have the time to track down one of the great boutiques at a reasonable price), consider checking out one of the latest Amp sims. It takes a little time and effort to find or create great virtually equivalent sound to almost anything, but they are a hell of a lot closer in fidelity, significantly cheaper and more flexible than any of the $500-1,500 vintage reissue style modern amps that we’ve come across.

The only thing better than Fender guitars is Fender amps :-)

My daily driver is a Victoria 5112. Absolutely love that amp ❤️

Wow... this makes me happy. Being a bassist forced into guitar work, I have an untrained or less than discriminating ear when it comes to the nuances of electric tone. Your show (along with That Pedal Show and Pete Thorn) has been invaluable. Because I didn’t know which of the many mass produced, yet fabulous, combo amps to buy (I still love a Vox 30 and Fender Blues Deluxe, but they’re too much for my trio), I had a friend of mine build a Fender Champ clone for me. Flipping amazing sound! Thanks Keith!

You should show us how to gig with a Pignose 7100

It is very interesting but....personally I always end up listening to the music or guitar playing not the tone. Fundamentally if the song is crap it doesn’t matter about the tone. Also in my opinion joe Walsh playing that tune would sound great on any old cheap amp . However some sounds can inspire you and that’s different

Nice job!!!! Thanks for your time

I picked up sweet little used tweed Swart Atomic Jr a year ago. It's got a beautiful champ vibe and the reverb is lush beyond words.