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Post subject: My Thoughts on the Super Champ X2 Stack after 5 months
Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:12 am
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I posted this on the Modern Amps discussions, but I just noticed that a Super Champ X2 section was created.

I purchased my SuperChamp X2 head and matching 1x12 cabinet at the end of January, and after playing with it for almost 5 months, I have some further thoughts about it.

Let me first of all say that I really love this amp. I am getting the best guitar tones that I have ever gotten from this. I am pretty surprised that Fender is not marketing these with more fervor. $300 for a 2 channel combo with the great champ tone + 16 digital channels with endless possibilities. That deal is unreal. Not to mention the stack, which I own being awesome as well.

1x12 vs the 10 inch combo
A few people have asked if I would advise them to buy the stack or the combo. I have played both and my thoughts are that if you play a lot with the voices that have more gain, (ie the Marshall tones or the modern rock stuff) you would probably benefit from having the ability to attach the 1x12 or another larger external cab. The 10 inch lacks some of the low end and presence on the louder gain stuff. However, some of the tweed tones sound really cool through the smaller speaker. It kind of gets that tele "honk" a little better than the 12 inch cab.
Also the Champ clean channel sounds amazing with both options but it sounds more like a champ through the smaller speaker. The clean channel takes pedals really well too. My OCD into the stack might be one of the best straight forward rock tones that I have ever produced through any amp that I have owned.

Now that I have Used the Fender Fuse to Tweak My Tones
After tweaking my tones through the Fender Fuse software for the past few months I can also say that this amp has a pretty endless array of tonal possibilities. I have had a lot of fun matching the different amps with different modeled cabs. The modeled cabs make a big difference. I am a King's X fan and over the years have tried to match some of Ty Tabor's tones. I can not believe that after tweaking it around a few times I have found a great tone that sounds much like his recorded tone on the Dogman CD as well as a tone that matches some of his tones from earlier cd's. I was playing my dogman cd next to my amp while a friend (who is a much better guitarist than I) walked by my office, his first comment was: "holy cow. howd you get your guitar to sound exactly like the recording?" He walked in and paused the recording to listen to them right next to each other. I was so excited that he thought they were so alike.

I love the fact that I can re-program all 16 digital voices and pick and choose which I want and in which order. The fact that all 16 voices are my creations with my own titles on them is really cool to me.

Who is This Amp For?
I personally think that this amp will perfectly appeal to people who like to have a really great tone for recording and practicing, tweaking and learning. I'm not sure that I see a lot of gigging musicians choosing to use this amp live. Not because you can't get great tones, but your 16 voices are only changeable on the actual amp itself, not through a pedal. You can switch between your channel 1 tone with your pedals and one of your digital voices, but if you are one of those guys who likes to really hop between tones during a song or performance, you might find it a tad cumbersome. I also assume that performers who play the heavier and gainier stuff are probably getting bigger amps with more wattage. (although one of my pet peeves are all of the guitarists with huge high wattage stacks in smaller clubs and shows with small crowds. most of these guys would be better served by taking an amp like this and putting a mic on it. they would get better balance with the vocals that the soundman can control himself.) Taking the X2 combo to a blues jam is a pretty perfect application from this amp and you will wow people with some of the tones that you can generate.

Drawbacks
There are only a few drawbacks to this amp. The number 1 drawback though is the lack of a Mid knob. The complaint of the XD combo was the lack of the mid knob. Of course when you plug in the Fuse, they give you a mid knob in the Fuse software. So as long as you don't have the need to adjust the mids when you are not connected to the computer you'll be fine.

Also, this amp seems to be begging for a footswitch with more features. It would be great to be able to switch voices with a pedal. Right now with a 2 button switch you can switch between the Non Digital Champ tone and the Digital Channel where all of your 16 voices live.

Part of me wonders if Fender has only put this amp out in an early limited distribution to determine if there is a market for it. I kind of wonder if we will see some sort of Mustang Valve amp that combines the Mustang Interface along with the Tube power. (btw, the digital tones in channel 2 are all using the same 'processing' brain as the Mustang Amps.) It will be interesting to see where the future goes. Perhaps there will be a whole line of Hybrid amps and combos.

All I know right now is that I am totally satisfied with the tones that I am getting and the fun that I am having with this stack. I have kept a few of my favorite pedals to run through Channel 1 (the Fulltone OCD and Zvex Fuzz Factory) they sound great through the Champ. I also have 16 really great voices all of which I have tweaked at least a little, they span from gorgeous fender cleans, to twangy blues, heavy blues, classic rock, and hard rock.

I'm having a blast with this amp and would love to see it distributed more and marketed with some energy.


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Post subject: Re: My Thoughts on the Super Champ X2 Stack after 5 months
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 7:16 am
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Hi. Good post. Ive been playing my superchamp stack for almost a month now. Ive always been play with one tone kind of guy so the limited channel switching doesnt bother me at all. Ive hooked it up to some different cabs but all said a 412 doesnt make a huuuuge difference over the 112. a little bigger sounding but not really enough to justify hauling around a 412 vs 112. I agree about stacks in bars also. Ive been playing a while and the sound guy has a hell of a time dealing with getting a stack to sound good in the mix. I have been using my SCX2 for live playing by pairing it with a tech 21 power engine 60.works very well for the added volume if there is no PA to run through. I mainly use the clean channel with an analogman boss DS1. sounds buena buena! I do like customizing all the models also. I dont use them all the time but its nice to know you can build a tone for whatever you need.


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Post subject: Re: My Thoughts on the Super Champ X2 Stack after 5 months
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 10:45 am
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I have never had the ability to get great cleans, raspy blues tones as well as roaring high gain tones out of the same amp before. Before I owned this amp, I kept 4 other amps and since I purchased it, I have sold three of the others. I still have my GDEC3 30 for playing around with in my office with headphones on and backing tracks.


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Post subject: Re: My Thoughts on the Super Champ X2 Stack after 5 months
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 12:49 pm
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I've had a bunch of various amps over the years and for all around usefulness and versatility it's the best I've ever had. Is the Marshall stack sound better than a real Marshall stack? No. But if you want more than that one sound and don't have the space or funds for all that stuff... It still sounds reeaaal good to me. I've been running the line out into a power engine 60 and it roars! The line out tone is very good to my ears.


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Post subject: Re: My Thoughts on the Super Champ X2 Stack after 5 months
Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 3:43 am
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I hooked up a Y cable between the combo 10" and the 12" cab and it is working really well. From what I understand, they are both 8 ohm speakers and running at 4 ohms shouldn't hurt the amp.

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Super Champ Stack Demo http://youtu.be/FLzy9K5iSIY
Check out my YouTube Video's http://www.youtube.com/user/tribrach71


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Post subject: Re: My Thoughts on the Super Champ X2 Stack after 5 months
Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 7:38 am
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Hey tribrach (surveyor? ) does the mustang have stereo outs? I'd be curious to hear what those two champs sound like run in stereo from the mustang floor!
Cheers


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Post subject: Re: My Thoughts on the Super Champ X2 Stack after 5 months
Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 9:15 pm
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Yes sir, there is a left and right unbalanced 1/4" out jacks and you can EQ them separately.

I guess I didn't need to go to Radio Shack last night after all. I bought switches, jacks, shielded cable and a project box because Guitar Center didn't have a Morley ABC switch in stock.

Trouble is that I only have one Audix i5 instrument mic and the rest are Sure SM58's. It would be nice to record the two amps into two mic's in stereo with slightly different settings.

I bet it would be cool to set the tremolo to different speeds on each amp. Although, it would probably make me sea sick!

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Super Champ Stack Demo http://youtu.be/FLzy9K5iSIY
Check out my YouTube Video's http://www.youtube.com/user/tribrach71


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Post subject: Re: My Thoughts on the Super Champ X2 Stack after 5 months
Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 6:55 am
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Thatd be some swirling madness FO sho! I have an ehx pulsar tremolo pedal that has stereo outs. When you run it in stereo with 2 amps it ping pongs between the two. Pretty cool. I might need another champ after watching yer vid!


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Post subject: Re: My Thoughts on the Super Champ X2 Stack after 5 months
Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 6:07 pm
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I don’t have a problem with the missing midrange knob. If you want to peak the mids, just turn down the high and low. To scoop the mids, turn up the other two.

Even if it had all three knobs, I probably wouldn’t put them in a configuration that couldn’t be fairly well recreated with the two knobs. Especially if I utilize the tone control on your guitar and select the right pickup for the tone I’m after.

That being said, I understand the psychological effects of turning all the knobs all the way up.

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Super Champ Stack Demo http://youtu.be/FLzy9K5iSIY
Check out my YouTube Video's http://www.youtube.com/user/tribrach71


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