Fender Super Champ XD

[Gertrude Moser]

I hope you like your new amp but I don't think your experience with the Roland Cube is a common one. Given that you bought it used makes it even more suspicious.

[Doctor Jeff]

I use this amp at home and for gigging with a small combo. It works great in both settings.

I can confirm what was said above re' the clean Blackface channel and the voices. I had originally thought the clean channel was analog, but I have read that both channels go through a digitally modeled preamp. Interestingly, the clean channel has no background noise whatsoever, whereas the 2nd channel sometimes has a bit of noise. The clean channel is indeed clean, and I find I have to dial the treble back quite a bit on the guitar. There is no gain on that channel either, so there's no possibility to overdrive.

I have come to like the JazzKing setting a lot and use it primarily for my gigs. It takes off a lot of the high end, so I keep the guitar tone at 10. I set the amp volume at 10 and the gain at 5-7 depending upon where I'm playing.

The Acoustasonic model works OK with piezo pickups, for instance, a classical A/E I use from time to time. It doesn't really replace an acoustic amp, but it's good for occasional use.

I don't mess too much with the other models or the effects except hall reverb. The rotating Leslie vibraphone effect is pretty cool though, and sometimes just for variety I will put this on. When comping it really provides a Hammond organ-like sound.

At a price of $200 or so and 24 lbs., it is a great amp for home and smaller gigs. One can hook it up to a larger cabinet, but note it's 8 ohms, so this limits the choices a bit. The 12" SCXD cab is kinda pricey.

[mangotango]

I have one of these and was using it all the time ......until I bought my Blueskat.

I used the SCXD for a small gig with a quartet where we were background music and it was fine for most things - but when I pushed it slightly, it thinned out as I got louder. The Blueskat keeps the tone I set all the way up.

I use channel 1 only, never really played around with the modelling. I still like it for use with the duo (me and a double bass) and will continue to use it for that. Plus it records direct as well as any amp I have ever used.

[medblues]

Is channel 1 analog or digital (confirmed by the company- I heard both answers) ?

[Chazmo]

I'd like to try an XD. I had a Cube 60, but I could never get it to sound quite right, so I sold it. I was in a music store testing guitars and I was going to plug into an XD, but the store manager suggested a Princeton Reverb reissue. Man, that one sounds great. I know there is a big price difference though.

[va3ux]

I have a SCXD and it is a great little amp. Very versatile. There is a seller on eBay who makes larger cabinets for this amp, if you want a 12" or even 15" speaker. These are combo cabinets, not extension speaker cabinets.

[AlsoRan]

An important thing to know is that the original SCXD ( and apparently the Super Champ X@) is not set up to power an extension cabinet thereby creating a mini-stack, the way a few other combos can.

Also, there is an SCX2 head available and Fender offers a matching 12-inch cabinet.

This 12-inch cabinet can apparently also be used with the SCXD Combo, but only this external cabinet will play - not the internal one. You cannot play them both at the same time.

Finally so you might want to check out the owner's manual for the Superchamp X2.

Note that on voice 16 of the X2, you have a voice modeled after the Jazzmaster Ultralight, not the Jazz King.

http://support.fender.com/manuals/gu...nual_rev-C.pdf

[Flyin' Brian]

I have an XD that's been rehoused in a larger JD Newell pine cabinet with a 12" speaker. The difference between it and the stock SCXD is pretty amazing. Use it in various different groups, including drums and keyboard, or B-3 or with a 4 horn section.

It hangs clean and full with all of them. I just use channel 1, never bothered with the modelling.


http://www.newellamps.com/catalog.1.html

[Doctor Jeff]

SCXD 16 = JazzKing. SCX2 = JazzMaster UL.

[cosmic gumbo]

All said, a very versatile small amp with many options to how it can be used. I find clean channel 1 takes pedals as well as any amp I've used. It is a very sweet sounding, toneful amp for many styles. I know it can be modded with different tubes and speakers to make it a fuller, louder amp, but I've got a Deluxe Reverb and a solid state Carvin 100W 1x12 for those needs.

I leave the house 2-3 times a week with an amp and this cheap little guy will see a lot of use and make life a bit easier. The fact that it will keep up with a big band is a bonus. It was the best $150 I've spent in a long time, and these amps seem to be easy to find used regularly for $200, and even that is a bargain for the quality of sound these amps make. We'll see how long the honeymoon lasts...

[monkmiles]

I used to have a SCXD and played many jazz trio gigs with it. I now have a SCX2 in blonde (nice looking).

I totally agree it makes for an awesome sounding, light wieght grab & go. In fact I've got mine in m car now for a jam tonight. That's what I use it for...grab & go, small jams, at home, etc. It is more powerful than most would think with its 15 tube watts.

I've owned various Roland Cube amps over the years and strongly prefer these Super Champ amps. I typically just use channel 1 which is the blackface clean and it's really, really close to my Fender all tube amps.

The SCX2 does have some good voices though. One of them is called Jazzmaster and is a tonally flatter voice. There is also a nice tweed deluxe voice if you dig those old Kenny Burrell type tones.

[earsoup]

This amp is a good value, I love it. I mainly play the default channel 1 and the voice 15 (darker), for jazz and chord melody it's perfect. I found that with an el cheapo eq pedal you have even more possibilities. Highly recommend it. People say they're not very reliable, due to the modeling stuff....had mine for 3 years, no problemo.

[cosmic gumbo]

I used the SCXD for a big band gig this week and it did the job with a bit of volume left to spare. It didn't get crunchy at all on the clean channel. My first time ever gigging with an amp with only one 10" speaker. This is going to be interesting.