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Pros:
- Great for home/studio practice
- Affordable
- Quite versatile
- Very loud
Cons:
- Has a slight pop while powering off
When you play electric guitar, it is crucially important to have good gear. You need to own the equipment that will accentuate the character of your instrument and assist you in creating mind-blowing performance. Therefore, you cannot do without an amplifier, because this way, your sound would not be audible enough to find its faults during practice. Investing in a good amplifier will make your job so much easier and will spare you a great deal of headache. There is an array of badass models on the market, one of them being Fender Champion 20, which we will be discussing today. This unit is not only super affordable and easy to use, but it also delivers professional sound with a simple tweaking. Keep on reading and let’s see together, if this amp will become your chosen one!
Features
Fender never disappoints its users when it comes to the diversity of features. Champion 20 is no exception to this rule. This bad boy is a solid-state amp with one 8” speaker and 20 watts of power. Best suited for practice, this device offers the most elaborate clean tone along with well-balanced effects. It can deliver four voicings, which can make your sound even more versatile. The voices it provides are Tweed, Blackface, British and Metal, which can easily go from subtle to extreme and really saturate your sound with character. With this feature, this amp can deliver Fender’s signature sounds and give you a wide range of options to choose from. Champion 20 has 1/4” instrument input, 1/8” auxiliary input (which enables its utilization with media player) and 1/8” stereo headphone jack. What is more, this amp has a number of onboard effects, which means you have all the essentials in one package.
Controls
The above-mentioned features would be hard to nail if they were not accompanied with complementary controls. Fender knows this perfectly well and has equipped Champion 20 with all the needed knobs, which make its usage easy to master. Plus, it offers the ability to tweak even the meticulous parameters of your sound, allowing for perfecting your tone.
Let’s start with basic controls. Here we have Volume and Gain controls. The former changes the level of the output, while the latter adds some strength and dimension to your sound. Next we have Voice knob, which allows you to choose between four voicings (i.e. Tweed, Blackface, British and Metal). These bad boys are followed with tone shaping, namely Bass and Treble, which help you shape either low or high end spectrum in your sound. Then we have FX Level, which sets the volume of the effects. Last but not least, we have FX Select, which enables you to choose between various effects, including reverb, delay/echo, chorus, tremolo and Vibratone. Surprisingly, Classic 20 also has a Tap button that sets the speed and rhythm for these effects. Pretty good deal, don’t you think?
Fender Champion 20 Sound
It is clear as day that all those features and controls play a huge role in defining the quality of the amp. However, none of it matters if the sound it produces is not outstanding. Luckily, Champion 20 does not have this problem. It can create both pristine and colored tones beautifully and, at the same time, provide versatile sonic options. We have to keep in mind that this is a practice amp, which means it will not be employed with mic. Considering this fact, Champion 20 sounds amazing. Tweed delivers classic Fender sounds from ‘40s and early ‘60s with just a bit of crunch and a lot of character. Blackface is also reminiscent of those good ol’ days. British produces the tone that has the style and vibe of UK, while Metal goes to the extreme (but considering the size and power of this unit, it will not be the most mind-blowing metal you will hear). The audio effects themselves are quite thick and vibrant, which diminishes the need to get individual effects pedals.
Conclusion
All in all, Champion 20 sets the high bar when it comes to affordable practice amps. It combines versatile sounds of various amps, as well as number of effects that you would need in your performance. Plus, it is easy to carry around and flexible to utilize. Champion 20 has everything you would look for in a practice amp and more. Fender has once again brought out something spectacular, which is not surprising at all. I would highly recommend this unit and if you trust me, I am sure you will not regret a thing! Good luck!
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