Rick Davis
1733 posts
May 04, 2013
8:45 AM
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I saw an ad for the new Fender Super Champ amp head and what caught my eye was the cab it was sitting on. Since the demise of the Epiphone Valve Jr cab there have not been a lot of economical choices for players looking for a cab to go with their cool vintage tube amps. I have not tried this, but I'd like to.
Fender SC112
$199.99. It has a Celestion G12P-80 speaker in a closed back cab. That should mean big bass thump.
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-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
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Last Edited by Rick Davis on May 04, 2013 8:51 AM
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Kingley
2587 posts
May 04, 2013
8:54 AM
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It's a nice looking cab and no doubt sounds great. In this day and age though I suspect pepole are looking more for portability. Carrying a head and cab around is a pain in the @%$&! Carrying a combo around is usually much easier. Unless it's a big heavy Fender Twin Reverb of course.
What I'd really like to see is Fender produce a new 1X10, 15 Watt, 6V6 powered amp in the same size cabinet as the Pro Junior and at a price point close to the Excelsior with a line out feature. Using just a volume and single tone control like the Pro Junior does. I reckon it would sell like hot cakes. Sadly though I don't think they ever will.
Last Edited by Kingley on May 04, 2013 8:59 AM
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MJ
620 posts
May 04, 2013
9:00 AM
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The cab seems a bit undersized to me Rick. I would have to test it first before getting one. My experience has been that thin speaker cabs don't give good resonance. The cabs I build for my own use I make in a trapezoid shape giving the bottom 2-3 inches more to allow the speaker to tilt slightly up. But that is just me, and I have learned that tastes in speakers vary widely. I am also not a bid fan of Celestion speakers for harp. They usually seem too bright.
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1847
709 posts
May 04, 2013
9:09 AM
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Kingley
couldn't the pro jr be re-biased to use 6v6?
or perhaps use a yellow jacket?
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tipjar
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Kingley
2588 posts
May 04, 2013
9:12 AM
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1847 - Maybe. I have no idea, as I have very limited knowledge in the modification of amplifier circuits.
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Rick Davis
1736 posts
May 04, 2013
9:17 AM
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Kingley I agree a combo is much more convenient, and MJ I agree that Celestions are often bad harp speakers. But I once heard Ronnie Shellist play through an amp that had a cheap Celestion Tube 10 that sounded great.
Yep, I'd have to give it a thorough test before buying one but I am curious. Lots of my blog readers have asked about affordable cabs. It looks like this one is not available in stores yet. I'll snoop around the local Guitar Center and see what I can find out.
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-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar
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Rick Davis
1737 posts
May 04, 2013
9:23 AM
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1847, the Pro Jr used miniature 9-pin EL84 power tubes. As far as I know the Yellow Jacket converts these tubes for use in amps built for 6V6 tubes, not the other way 'round.
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-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar
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HawkeyeKane
1646 posts
May 05, 2013
11:30 AM
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Rick's correct. To my knowledge, no adapter has ever been developed to allow octal power tubes to be used in mini-noval amps. I truly wish there were one though. It'd give a lot more versatility to a number of amps out there. Any amp can be modified to use 6V6's instead of EL84's in theory, but by the time it's done it can run up a considerable bill and the amp really won't be the same amp anymore.
It really is a pity on Fenders part these days. Do you all realize that the only true Champ circuit amp of any variation being made by Fender right now is the Eric Clapton Vibrochamp, which runs for about a thousand bucks? They appear to have discontinued the Champion 600, the '57 Champ reissue (which was also grossly overpriced) , and the Vibrochamp XD. The Superchamp X2 is still made, but I dunno if I'd call that a true Champ.
On the original thread topic though, that is a nice looking 1X12 cab. I think that's the same Celestion they put in the Greta extension cab a while back. I'm gonna recommend this SC cab to my band's guitarist. He's looking for something like that. And I do agree that us harp players prefer the portability of combos for the most part, but I can see where it might have its applications as an extension to a combo. Or even for use with something like an EH 44 Magnum.
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Hawkeye Kane
Last Edited by HawkeyeKane on May 05, 2013 11:37 AM
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Rick Davis
1756 posts
May 05, 2013
11:42 AM
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Tim, it has not been announced yet but Mission Amps will be building a 5F1 tweed Champ clone voiced for blues harp in the near future. It will be called "The Memphis Mini." Bruce Collins is pretty excited about the project.
Also, I plan to sell my prototype Delta Sonic amp, the only one that exists right now. I would prefer the buyer to be local to Denver and someone I know so I can "borrow" the amp back from time to time for development work. This will happen in the next couple months and the price will be $750. I'll post a lot more detail when I am ready to sell it.
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-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar
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Kingley
2611 posts
May 05, 2013
11:47 AM
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The Memphis mini sounds interesting. The original HarpGear 5F1 was a killer little amp. It had a huge sound for a small amp. I really wish I'd never sold mine on. I miss that little HG 5F1 amp a lot.
Last Edited by Kingley on May 05, 2013 11:48 AM
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Rick Davis
1757 posts
May 05, 2013
11:49 AM
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The HG2 is a great little amp.
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-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar
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HawkeyeKane
1647 posts
May 05, 2013
2:27 PM
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That's awesome about the planned Mission Champ, Rick! I look forward to seeing and hearing it!
Very true about the Champ-based HG amps. Wasn't the HG Rock Bottom also Champish? And there are a couple other amps out there that are pretty much Champ copies, just not made by Fender. Like the Chickenhead Little Juke, the Blues Luggage Sonny Boy, and the Ampeg GVT5 seems pretty similar too.
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Hawkeye Kane
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