I’ve been offered a straight up trade for my ’64 BF Champ. I’m being offered a 1957 Premier 120. The Premier has been recently serviced, re-capped and re-tubed. I believe it has a 12" speaker as opposed to the Champ’s 8” speaker.
The Champ is mint throughout, the Premier is cosmetically rough.
yes, even though that is in my opinion the best year for champs. i like the 64 better than any number of the 50s tweed champs i've tried. tweeds can be squirelly. the premier has a bit more depth of tone. ---------- MP affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
Not so fast - First off - both amps are like money in the bank. They wont loose value. Keep both of them if you dig them and can afford it. If you like your tone through the Champ - don't let it go so easily.
I would also guess your BF Champ is worth more. It's easy to ship being small - meaning you could fleaBay it and get what it's worth then pay for a Premier with cash left over. I didin't look up the Premeir but my guess is that its not worth as much - especially if y ou've got the earlier 64 Champ
2009 vintage guitar price guide - there where two 64 BF Champs 1964 BF "old cab, black, 1x8" last F51 low $1,000 hight $1,225
1964 New cab black A764 circuit $400-$500 ----------
Thanks for the responses so far. The Champ market is fairly volatile right now. A search on Ebay clearly demonstrates that the Champs in very good condition are commanding some strong prices.
Just as a point of reference, here’s what’s been happening on Ebay over the past two months and the actual SOLD prices.
Mine is a ’64. The older style '64 had control knobs in the rear, (old cab). Later in '64, Fender revised the cab and brought the knobs to the front and slanted that section of the cab (new cab). What you see in my photos and was named the Blackface series. This Champ was the 1st in the BF series.
Last Edited by on Aug 17, 2012 12:20 PM
Keep the Champ and buy the Premier. Look at it as an investment.
After all, to paraphrase those Freewheelin' Franklin, amps will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no amps.
No, but I did have to think about it. I need to assemble my amp collection for a photo, I have at least 10 of these small amps. These amps are mostly for show or recording so I'd prioritize market value. Fender is the name and condition is paramount -keep the fender. BTW, I have an early black champ that is one of the best sounding amps I've ever heard. Just remembered, I traded a black face bassman head for it. An iffy trade, I thought, but the champ kicks ass.
My recommendation to make the trade is based on my personal opinion that I would rather play the premier than the Champ. I have a couple of Champs and the Premier is a 12-15 watt amp with a larger speaker, and not so common. However, I would want to play through the Premier first to see how I liked its sound. If you are just buying and selling to make money or increase the"value" of your collection, then my opinion is not relevant.
I found this ad for 1957 PREMIER Electric Accordion Attachments. Some of the Premiers have two 3-inch tweeters in addition to the main speaker. The one in the ad also had a metal grate over the speaker. From what I’ve been reading, Premier amps were originally used as “house amps” by music stores for prospective buyers who couldn’t afford Fenders.
I have never played an amp with this kind of tone and crunch. To my ear, it really hits the sweet spot. Side by side, the Champ put up a fight but it was no match for the '57 Premier 120. I had to have it.
3 instrument inputs 1 mic input tremelo foot-switch input 2 channels each with volume and tone controls tremelo pot tremelo speed pot original 12" Jensen new tubes and caps and a ton of balls
Last Edited by on Aug 18, 2012 6:32 PM
While I disagree that a '64 Champ is boring, I have a '55 Premier 110 that is very similar to the 120, and it would be among the very last amps I would let go........love that amp!
I have bought, sold, and traded many amps, some of which I regret letting go. You will probably feel that way about the BF Champ at some point. But for me the real joy is owning as many cool harp amps as possible and learning more and more about them. They all have a different flavor in their tone.
A 2x 6V6 amp is a classic configuration in the history of harp tone. You will hear it. I think you will be very happy with this trade.
---------- -Rick Davis
Last Edited by on Aug 18, 2012 7:04 PM
I had three Premier 120's the first one was like new 100% original & sounded amazing. The second one was idenitical & in the same condition but had been re capped & re tubed & it didn't sound anyway near as good, it feedback more & the tone / volume didn't sound as strong. The 3rd Premier 120 was a different style but it was old & beat up it sounded OK , the speaker sounded abit flappy. Judging by the condition of the two amps I'd a probably kept the champ but I hope it works out.
There's no doubt that tinkering inside of vintage amps can dramatically impact it's performance. But, you can't avoid maintenance on some of these units. It's really in the hands of the tech and whatever instructions he's given at that point. Luckily, the gent I got it from is a professional guitarist who's been dealing with this sort of thing for 40 years. He got this amp gig-ready by a tech he's used for years on several vintage amps. I can tell you that it sounds as good or better than the videos on this thread. It destroyed the Champ. No buyer's remorse.
Congrats on the amp swap. Now for the cool stuff which you may already know…
As you mentioned there are 3 instrument inputs and 1 mic input. There will be a volume and tone knob for the instrument and the same for the mic. If you plug into the instrument only that set of knobs has any affect on the some for the mic.
Now, if you use a short cable and jump mic with one of the instrument inputs well, that’s a whole new game…
On my Premier 71 I take a short (9” cable) and plug one end into the mic input and the other end into the number 2 instrument input. Now when you plug your mic into the number 1 instrument input both sets of volume and tone controls can be used to dial in the sound.
Then you can experiment with plugging the mic into the number 3 instrument input or jumping the 3 and plugging into the 2 etc…
Rick D.: I won't tinker with the internals. I like them just fine. The cosmetics is where I put my mark on this little beast.
As an aside... I fired it up today to let my wife hear it. These are her words... "Now THAT sounds like a harmonica. The old amp was too shrill for me."
Last Edited by on Aug 17, 2012 12:34 PM
