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Any Love for the `80's Super Champ?

TM1

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Jun 27, 2003
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8,349
Quick history bit.
Paul Rivera was the guy that a lot of studio guitarists went to back in the day. A good example of this is the amp Lukather used on their hit, "Hold The Line". That scorching lead tone was a Deluxe Reverb modded by Rivera. At Fender, he was the R&D guy and Ed Jahns was the production engineer. The Rivera era amps are not to be confused with the "red knob" amps that immediately followed under the eye of Mike Lewis. In the opinion of many, a very inferior design.
I've known Paul at least 30 years.Great guy and a genius amp guy!
 

Don

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Dec 1, 2001
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5,732
I had a Concert II 4x10 combo. It weighed a ton! I found the clean channel was too clean and the dirty channel was too dirty for my needs.

A friend has a Fender Twin Reverb that was modified by Paul Rivera. His father, Jim Cruickshank, was an executive at Fender and he has a few unique Fenders.

ScannedImage-5.jpg
 

Wally

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I had a conversation over the phone with Paul Rivera back in the 1990s when I was working on a Rivera Fandango. I owned Two Super champs, which I still own, so I was curious about the ‘Rivera Era’. When I asked him about his employment at Fender, he informed me that he functioned as a contracted consultant rather than as an employee.
Ed Jahns‘ design work in the 1970s broke new ground for Fender. I believe that the Super Twin and the Super Twin Reverb
were his design, correct? The Super Twin Reverb does that Texas Flood SRV sound with no effort at all, ime.
 

rays44

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Jul 24, 2001
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I had a conversation over the phone with Paul Rivera back in the 1990s when I was working on a Rivera Fandango. I owned Two Super champs, which I still own, so I was curious about the ‘Rivera Era’. When I asked him about his employment at Fender, he informed me that he functioned as a contracted consultant rather than as an employee.
Ed Jahns‘ design work in the 1970s broke new ground for Fender. I believe that the Super Twin and the Super Twin Reverb
were his design, correct? The Super Twin Reverb does that Texas Flood SRV sound with no effort at all, ime.
Rivera was trying to get away from the high power amps and concentrate more on tone. Weren't those super twins rated at 180w? I could well be wrong as I'm relying on what I remember reading in the Fender Amp book many years ago.
I spoke with Paul at a NJ amp show many years ago and he was a kind and gracious gentleman. I really hoped that he would get the acclaim he deserved with his own line.
 

Wally

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Yes, the Super Twin and Super Twi; .reverb were 180 watts…6 x 6L6s. Ted Nugent was a proponent. He ran 6 of them with a 2x15 Dual Showman cab running on the Ext Spkr Jack of each amp…1080 watts and 24 speakers on stage while he was using a solid wood, hand carved spruce Gibson Byrdland!!

I am a fan of some of them. Rivera amps. R55, Fandango R30. I owned a .Chris Duarte LTD Ed…1x15, 4xEL34s….great amp. With the 5 button footswitch pedal, there were 10 levels of gain available in a certain configuration Since it also could switch the Effects loop in and out…and you can use that loop for a gain stage. I have a 1999 Knucklehead here on consignment at the moment….basically very much the same amp as the Duarte but without Reverb. All of these amps are R Series, I believe….very similar.
Paul Rivera has always been helpful when I have needed help with an amp…kind gentleman indeed.
 

Crooner

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May 10, 2022
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Hello All.
I have an '80's Super Champ that I bought new in 1983. It's an amazing little amp but lately I've been wondering if it would be possible to place the chassis in a 1x12 cabinet. Anyone done this or know a great amp place that could do this?
 

garywright

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Aug 17, 2002
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Hello All.
I have an '80's Super Champ that I bought new in 1983. It's an amazing little amp but lately I've been wondering if it would be possible to place the chassis in a 1x12 cabinet. Anyone done this or know a great amp place that could do this?
I’m sure Mojotone could help you with a custom cab ..they did this
 

Gitfiddler

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Apr 25, 2003
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1,194
Hello All.
I have an '80's Super Champ that I bought new in 1983. It's an amazing little amp but lately I've been wondering if it would be possible to place the chassis in a 1x12 cabinet. Anyone done this or know a great amp place that could do this?
Another option is to simply connect your SC to a 1x12 ext. cabinet. I have my Super Champ connected to and sitting atop a Mesa 1x12 cab w/Black Shadow speaker. It sounds killer. The advantage is that I still have the stock Super Champ in its original cabinet.
 

Wally

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Feb 27, 2003
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Or….get a really good 10” speaker. Emi Rajin’ Cajun. Emi Ramrod. I have used Eminence ALK1028s in my two Super Champs for almost years. I put some EVI Force 10s in for a while. I liked them, but the ALKs have a better high end harmonic thing going on.
I have had my Super Champ with an ALK 1028 side by side with a Princeton Reverb II with its 12” cabinet. These amps have the same preamp. The little Super Champ yielded nothing to that Prin Rev II.
The weakest piece of the stock Super .champ is the speaker. The OEM Eminence has a frequency response that I did not like…very midrangey. The other OEM was a Pyle, which has a wider frequency range but is inarticulate. The other stock speaker was the optional EVI.
I have an openback 1x12 cab with an EV I;not. You might be surprised in what difference there is…because it is not a night and day difference.
 

TM1

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Jun 27, 2003
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I have a Celestion 10" Gold Alnico in my Super Champ! Never was a fan of the EV's or anyother high powered ceramic speaker. Almost all the speakers I use are alnico and mainly Celestion's except the Cerwin-Vega ER-123 I have in my `61 brown Princeton. It had been cut out for a 12" before I bought it. The C-V sounds wonderful in that amp!
 
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