Fender Champion 20 Jazz Tone Settings

[TheGentleTone]

For all you Fender Champion 20 users, what settings do you use to get a satisfying Jazz tone out of the amp?

I found this setting on Aaron Heisler's youtube channel that works nicely but am sure there are also other promising settings.
Voice: 05 - '65 Deluxe (name from list in manual)
Gain: 4
Treble: 1
Bass: 1

[chris32895]

Mine is essentially the same as yours except on the '65 Princeton setting and the bass up around 5 (I don't have it in front of me) and a reverb around 3. Seems to work.

Off topic but does your champ pop when turning off?

[John A.]

For all you Fender Champion 20 users, what settings do you use to get a satisfying Jazz tone out of the amp?

I found this setting on Aaron Heisler's youtube channel that works nicely but am sure there are also other promising settings.
Voice: 05 - '65 Deluxe (name from list in manual)
Gain: 4
Treble: 1
Bass: 1

I mostly have it set about the same way, though I sometimes have the gain a bit higher.

FYI, on a real Deluxe Reverb the closest you can get to a flat response is with B and T turned all the way down and volume between 1 and about 3 (maybe 4). Turning either B or T higher than 1 increases the effect of mid “scoop” that’s baked into the BF preamp design. Turning up the volume past ~4 increases the mids and reduces the scoop.

As near as I can tell, the controls on the C20’s DR model behave the same way. I tend to prefer a lot of mid-range (with volume affecting overall loudness but not timbre), so I tend to bump up the gain a bit.

I’ll also sometimes use the tweed bassman sound for an overdriven sound.

[TheGentleTone]

Off topic but does your champ pop when turning off?

Hi @chris32895, yes mine also pops and I am pretty sure all Fender Champion 20 make a popping sound when switched off - I tried out a couple at a local Guitar Center and the behavior is always the same. I know, annoying. It seems to be something common with several amps that could be avoided but Fender clearly didn't dedicate budget to it... perhaps not a big blame given the price of the amp. My work around is to plug a short headphone extension into the headphone jack before switching the amp off - see photo attached. I know... stone age solution but it significantly reduces the popping sound.

[chris32895]

Hi @chris32895, yes mine also pops and I am pretty sure all Fender Champion 20 make a popping sound when switched off - I tried out a couple at a local Guitar Center and the behavior is always the same. I know, annoying. It seems to be something common with several amps that could be avoided but Fender clearly didn't dedicate budget to it... perhaps not a big blame given the price of the amp. My work around is to plug a short headphone extension into the headphone jack before switching the amp off - see photo attached. I know... stone age solution but it significantly reduces the popping sound.

Thanks for verifying. Yeah, it's annoying but the amp is so cheap and sounds really good so it is what it is. I have mine rigged up similarly and may try to find a more permanent solution in the future like a speaker cutoff switch that acts similar to a standby (need to look into this more as I'm not sure if this will damage the amp but the headphone jack seems to have no problem cutting the speaker off...). I reached out to Fender and they told me they actually have a circuit to prevent this in all the Champ models past the 20 because otherwise the pop would be too loud. The Champ 20 is quiet (and cheap) enough that they didn't bother. Was more curious if this was an issue with EVERY Champ 20 or if I could see about shopping around and find one that doesn't. I think it seems they all do this.

[John A.]

Off topic but does your champ pop when turning off?

Yes, it does. IME, most solid state amps do (most tube amps also make a noise, but more of a thud than a pop). Not something to worry about.

[chris32895]

Yes, it does. IME, most solid state amps do (most tube amps also make a noise, but more of a thud than a pop). Not something to worry about.

Yes, but the Champ 20 is much louder than other SS amps in my experience. When I plug into the headphone jack and then turn the amp off, that's the level of pop I expected. Dang thing nearly made me jump out my chair the first time I turned it off!

[John A.]

Yes, but the Champ 20 is much louder than other SS amps in my experience. When I plug into the headphone jack and then turn the amp off, that's the level of pop I expected. Dang thing nearly made me jump out my chair the first time I turned it off!

I've had mine for going on 8 years and have used it on literally hundreds of jam sessions and gigs. It's still going strong. The pop might be annoying, but it's not harming the amp.

[darkwaters]

Silly question perhaps, but does it make the same loud pop if you unplug it instead?

[frabarmus]

For a nice jazz tone with my archtops I have two favourite settings on my Champion 40.

Channel 1
Vol: 5 (+)
Gain: 3
Treble: 4
Bass: 3

Channel 2
Vol: 2-8
Gain: 3
Treble: 4
Bass: 4
Voice: towards end of Blackface or Tweed

[chris32895]

I've had mine for going on 8 years and have used it on literally hundreds of jam sessions and gigs. It's still going strong. The pop might be annoying, but it's not harming the amp.

I agree, it's fine and Fender confirmed with me. It's just annoying especially in a small space and I would rather get rid of it.

Silly question perhaps, but does it make the same loud pop if you unplug it instead?

For me at least, no. I also tried plugging it into a power strip and turning the power strip off, instead. I still get the same popping sound. Only thing that lessens the pop is to plug something into the headphone jack before power off. Then it's OK.

[Abandoneur]

my settings ... note headphone cable. Definitely can't run volume at 6 in my apartment without headphones.