Any Love for the `80's Super Champ?

[TM1]

I bought a 1982 Super Champ about 3 weeks ago. I did a little swapping of components. The Tone stack had a typical Fender .047, .1 & 250pf setup with the 100K slope resistor. I went with a pair of .022's, a silver mica 250pf and a 56K slope resistor and I put a pair of .047's between the Phase Inverter and Output section instead of the .022's. Basically I took away some of the bottom in the Tone section and added in the output section. It gave it better clarity. I also used a Mullard ECC83 for the first stage and a pair of Mullard EL37's for output valves. I've never been a 6V6 fan.. and I put a Celestion Alnico Gold 10" speaker in it! I've not really been able to use it above 3 1/2 to 4. It's Loud! I had one of these little amps back in 1982 but sold it around 1990 to help finance my 1969 Marshall 50 watt head. But, all in all a nice little amp that doesn't take up much stage room but has plenty of volume and nice tone!

 

[deytookerjaabs]

Never owned one but @Wally has been praising them for years, sounds like a lil' beast.

 

[Hamerfan]

I am the owner of PR II, the bigger brother. I got rid of the snupper caps and got much more clarity without oscillations.
Changed the cap for the mid boost to 1200pF (I used one of the snupper caps).
Here you can see some mods, which work also on the Rivera Super Champs.

mods to change the tone on the Princeton Reverb II

I still partial on about some foot switch mods I have seen on another forum.

 

[timmy 2 tone]

I regret selling mine that's for sure.
Great little amp with just enough head room to gig with.

 

[TM1]

I am the owner of PR II, the bigger brother. I got rid of the snupper caps and got much more clarity without oscillations.
Changed the cap for the mid boost to 1200pF (I used one of the snupper caps).
Here you can see some mods, which work also on the Rivera Super Champs.

mods to change the tone on the Princeton Reverb II

I still partial on about some foot switch mods I have seen on another forum.

Thanks! I appreciate the info. They're very similar so nice to see. I modded my Mid boost to a .001 a couple weeks ago. Nice to know it was in the right area.

 

[Dave P]

I've had 3 of them, killer little amps. I know there are better speaker options out there now than what is in those amps.

 

[TM1]

I've had 3 of them, killer little amps. I know there are better speaker options out there now than what is in those amps.

Yeah Dave, I bought one back when they came out in 1982. It certainly wasn’t loud enough to gig with back then, but the way club owners keep making bands play lower now, it works great. I’d love to windup my 100 watt amp now, but…

 

[akstrat61]

I also had one back in the day. Never could bond with a single 10 amp? Just not enough balls and bottom end.

Now two tens and you're in business. I even had to put a new baffle and 12 inch in my 68 PR, now you're getting close! MHO

 

[dnabbet2]

I had one that sounded HUGE recorded with a close mic.

When they first came out, I also toyed with the idea going stereo with a pair of them through the PA, but I agree that at the time they just weren't loud enough as stage monitors.

I can't believe what they cost now.

 

[Wally]

I have two of them…one for each pickup in my ‘66 E’s-345TDC. wide sound stage.
What are they going for today?? I turned down $1550 for one a few years ago when I had installed EVI Force speakers in mine just to hear the difference from the eminence ALK1028s I have been running in them since 1993 or so. I prefer the ALKs….they have more high end harmonic content.

 

[Tonekat]

I'd love to have one of the first issues, but they rarely come up and they're in black/silver face PR territory now, pricewise.

I looked at one site that states 11K were made.

 

[MojoJones]

I bought a 1982 Super Champ about 3 weeks ago. I did a little swapping of components. The Tone stack had a typical Fender .047, .1 & 250pf setup with the 100K slope resistor. I went with a pair of .022's, a silver mica 250pf and a 56K slope resistor and I put a pair of .047's between the Phase Inverter and Output section instead of the .022's. Basically I took away some of the bottom in the Tone section and added in the output section. It gave it better clarity. I also used a Mullard ECC83 for the first stage and a pair of Mullard EL37's for output valves. I've never been a 6V6 fan.. and I put a Celestion Alnico Gold 10" speaker in it! I've not really been able to use it above 3 1/2 to 4. It's Loud! I had one of these little amps back in 1982 but sold it around 1990 to help finance my 1969 Marshall 50 watt head. But, all in all a nice little amp that doesn't take up much stage room but has plenty of volume and nice tone!

Tossed mine out when I bought a Mesa Boogie in the 90's... a little beast but not really loud enough to play with a drummer. Great practice amp!

 

[Dr. Green]

there is a killer version with a EV speaker - stock .... anyone here have one of those like shown below that they want to sell me ?

 

[Wally]

there is a killer version with a EV speaker - stock .... anyone here have one of those like shown below that they want to sell me ?

FYI, there is one on Reverb.com right now from Austin, TX that has a non-OEM EV Force, which is the aftermarket labeled EVI that we see In this amp you picture in your post. They are asking what I turned down for one of my Super .champs about three years ago when I had EVI Force speakers in the two Inhave owned for over 25 years. I had been running Eminence ALK1028s in mine for over two decades when I acquired three EV Force speakers that were in a MM 410HD130 I took in trade. The EV Forced added 8 3/4 pounds to each SC….24 up to 32 3/4 pounds. I pulled those two EVs for 8nstallati9n in a Pro Sonic cab that just happened to accept a 1964 Dual Showman amp that I had gotten without a head cab. That DS fit like a glove, and the EVs were great speakers for that combo. The ALK1028s went back in. Fwiw, the ALKs have more high end harmonic content than did the EVs…and nearly as much volume.
I still have one EVI Force speaker.…..waiting for an application.
When the SC came out in 1982, their list price was $295. They increased over their producti9n years to $349. The EVI was a $100 upgrade. The LTD. ED. Oak cab Super Champ came stock with the EVI. David Gilmour sold his Ltd. Ed. With the matching 1x10 extension speaker about 22 years ago on eBay for something close to $1500.

 

[Dr. Green]

thanks for the info .... thats interesting

 

[rays44]

I have the Champ 2, Super Champ, Princeton Rev 2 and the Deluxe Rev 2. They also made a Baseman 2 and a Twin 2 (don't own). I like them all for their traditional Fender tone. The weak link in all was the Pyle speaker (all replaced). The Champ and Super champ are gig able with extension cabs and sound great. The overdrive on the Super is massive in a very good way (best heard through an ext cab). The overdrive on the PR and DR have much to be desired. Not at all like the Super champ, but they are all pedal friendly. In all, the last of the great hand wired Fenders from that era.

 

[Wally]

I have the Champ 2, Super Champ, Princeton Rev 2 and the Deluxe Rev 2. They also made a Baseman 2 and a Twin 2 (don't own). I like them all for their traditional Fender tone. The weak link in all was the Pyle speaker (all replaced). The Champ and Super champ are gig able with extension cabs and sound great. The overdrive on the Super is massive in a very good way (best heard through an ext cab). The overdrive on the PR and DR have much to be desired. Not at all like the Super champ, but they are all pedal friendly. In all, the last of the great hand wired Fenders from that era.

I came across a dead mint Bassman 20 …20 not ‘2’….a few months ago…first one I have seen . 1 x 15 closed back combo with 2 x. 6V6s. There was also a Concert that came in various arrangements…1x12, 4X 10, and head. The TRII also came in a head. I have one of the cabs for those heads….a 2 x 10 Open Back Deluxe cab that Has two OEM EVI 16 ohm speakers wired in parallel for an 8 ohm load.

 

[rays44]

I came across a dead mint Bassman 20 …20 not ‘2’….a few months ago…first one I have seen . 1 x 15 closed back combo with 2 x. 6V6s. There was also a Concert that came in various arrangements…1x12, 4X 10, and head. The TRII also came in a head. I have one of the cabs for those heads….a 2 x 10 Open Back Deluxe cab that Has two OEM EVI 16 ohm speakers wired in parallel for an 8 ohm load.

The bassman 20 is like chicken lips. Never seen them. Congrats on a great and rare score. I forgot about the Concert and didn't know about the TR2 head configuration. Nice collection.

 

[Wally]

The Champ II is rare, but the Bassman 20 is the rarest of the Rivera era, Ime. These two were built only in 1982 and 1983, iirc. The number of cabinets available for the TRII is a long list. Fender extended itself with this line, imho. Imho, it was an excellent effort for the end of of the handwired era. Go find some handwired, switching gain amps with reverb. You don’t find many of them, do you.
the only,problem with the Concert and TRII is that they do not come into their own until they are putting out a lot of volume. I need an attenuator for my Super Champs becuase I run all thre of the gain controls at 10. In all three modes…clean, mid boost and Lead boost…..everything works and the output levels are equal due to the compression that happens in the high gain mode. Clean, hot mids and high gain all at the same volume. Some think it is loud, though. I love it!!! Beautiful cleans, hot mids and screaming high harmonic sustain…all at the same level. I need a Fryette PS.

 

[rays44]

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.