Fender Super Champ (Rivera Era)

[BeBob]

I think that EV is a Force 10, not an SRO.

[BeBob]

I recommend checking on the cost of re-tubing before pulling the trigger on any amp that requires a 6C10. You might not like what you find.

[Gitfiddler]

Can anyone tell me, were the 'Woody' Super Champs the only ones to come stock with the
magical 10" EV speaker?

Thanks.

A Fender branded EV speaker was an upgrade to the Concert II (EV12L), Deluxe II (EV12L), Princeton Reverb II (EV12L), Super Champ (EV10L) and Champ II (EV10L) amps. It came stock in the Super Champ Deluxe (aka Woody) amp. Only 100 SC Deluxe amps were produced.

Fender Super Champ (Deluxe) | Ampwares

1986 Fender Super Champ Deluxe

Here's a link to a site dedicated to the Fender PRII and other Rivera-era amps:

schematics for Rivera era Fender amps

[rabbit]

Thank you, Gitfiddler!

[Larry Feldman]

I have a Fender Concert from that era. I'd agree about how it can sound sterile. But with the right amp repair guy, it can also roar. Mine is very fickle like that.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I owned an 83 Rivera SC for a few years back in the 90s. Great rock amp, usable clean tones, snap-your-neck dirt.

As noted above, no reverb on the dirt channel. The clean channel was good for blues but I wasn't really big on it for jazz tones -- mind you, I was playing jazz on an early 70s LPD, not the ideal jazz rig anyway.

Compact, club-volume tones that work. If you like to rock out as well as get your jazzbo on, great amp. If you're looking for Wes-tone, it ain't gonna happen. My one big gritch, no matter what I was playing, was not only the speaker, which came across as brittle to me, but the cab itself -- sounded boxy, but then all small cabs do to a former half-stacker like me.

For what it is, it's a good amp, and if I found a good deal on one I'd grab it -- but I play rock and blues as well as jazz, and it's the first two that I'd pump through the RSC. It's great for those, and only passable at jazz.

[Jimmy Mack]

Like I said before, the SC is a cool little package, with great tone, but in the field.....mine just didn't cut it, even thru 2 - 12's. Good tubes, great guitars, minimal effects (mostly none), and it still had a small sound.

I wanted to like it because it had great tone, but no girth. I much prefer a Princeton Reverb.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Maybe the "boxiness" I was hearing was a function of the circuit and not the cab?

I've always preferred big glass anyway, myself ... I'm 6L6 guy in most cases.

[Robertkoa]

I've owned the 80s hand-wired Super Champ twice over the years. I had one until a few weeks ago when it went to fund a guitar which I could not pass up. It's a really handy tool, great for anyplace you would use a Deluxe Reverb.

The original SC is essentially a single-channel Fender Deluxe Reverb, with a tacked-on switchable distortion stage but no tremolo, jammed into a Champ-size box and driving a 10". It's a great amp with a great sound once you replace the Fender speaker. I particularly dig it with the Eminence Lil Buddy hemp-cone -- an highly efficient driver with some added thickness in the bass. More volume and more bottom tend the reduce the inherent weaknesses of single-10" amps.

The clean voice is great -- right down the pike classic Princeton Reverb but with enough volume to get the job done. The distortion "channel" is not what I'm interested in. Note that the distortion stage pirates the reverb recovery stage so if you're in the distortion mode the reverb is gone. Personally I like the shorter 3-spring reverb tank -- it's less 'surf-y' but suits my ear really well. I don't miss tremolo either.

If you can find an extra 12-pin 6C10 compactron tube do it. That reverb recovery stage is gonna go some day; nobody has made the tube since the 80s and there is no 100% substitute.

I remember when they first came out.

Classic Fender Cleans really really nice but the OD channel was too harsh.
Surprised they are so expensive now used.

Another one was a Champ 12 which was single ended with a 6L6 and I think a 12" speaker and about 12 watts .