Fender Champion 600 at Long Last!

This week I landed a Fender Champion 600.  It is being shipped soon.  I bought a used one on Ebay a couple of years ago and reported on this blog that I was looking forward to playing my blues through this small, portable all tube practice amp.  Then, the seller shipped it as cheaply as possible, which meant that it rolled around inside a train for three weeks.  If it wasn't sad, it would be comical to report that the mail carrier couldn't make eye contact with me as he handed me a round box.  Inside was a very damaged amp!

Well, I worked that out and was refunded.  I moved on and two years went by.  I got to thinking that I still had a desire to own and play such a portable, practical tube amp that would allow me to sit outside and play my blues without disturbing neighbors or my sleeping granddaughter when she is visiting over here.

Since my first attempt, the Fender Champion 600 has become discontinued and now is a collectible amplifier.  I was fortunate to be the winning bidder for one at $102.00, whereas they last retailed for $175.  The one I purchased was listed as "new," which I took to mean that it was pre-owned, but never scratched and hardly played.  It should be a great amp to play stock or to modify as I posted previously one of the possible scenarios of alterations that are available.

One of the reasons I wanted this amp is that it will allow me to learn more about how to swap speakers, since I have now become accustomed to changing out tubes.  I will be looking at the Weber Alnico 6 inch speaker as a possible upgrade, plus maybe the tone circuit that a friend of mine, who is a professional, has experience upgrading.  There is also the Mercury Magnetics transformer as a possibility.  So many say the grill cloth changes the tone as much as any other mod.  It comes with a suede cloth that apparently holds back the speaker's ability to push sound.

So much to learn!  -- Guitar Man

P.S.  Here is a glimpse inside--

Post Script:  Right after I posted the above entry, I learned that there was a reissue of this amplifier in a new form, with slight color changes.  I heard it through the grapevine that this is a Fender Champion 600 limited edition, with only 200 units to start with, and an estimated time of arrival if you buy it now in October of 2013.  Here is a photo of the new mono-colored tolex.

Very nice look!  This older ones (above) that look like the '57 version are going to be disappearing from the landscape and going up in price, so I would grab one while you can.  -- Guitar Man

Fender Deluxe Lone Star Strat: Pick Up Upgrades Come Stock

It has been some time since I posted on my blues blog, and today I want to change the subject a bit to talk about the "pick up" composition of my Fender Stratocaster.  Specifically, the guitar you see in the My Blue Strat header on the top of this blog, is a Fender Deluxe Lone Star Stratocaster.  It has some upgrades over a Standard Strat, namely the finish on the neck and headstock, the tortoiseshell pickguard and the pickups.  The neck and mid PU's are Texas Specials and the Bridge PU is a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates humbucker.  A 1990's Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature Stratocaster reportedly has the same Texas Special single coil pickups that my blues machine comes with installed.  The Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates are used by ZZ Top lead guitarist Billy Gibbons.  He has a "Pearly Gates" Gibson Les Paul, but he only likes to use it in the studio.  In concert, he relies on Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates humbuckers, that which is found on my Strat, to replicate his guitar's legendary tone. Seymour Duncan's website describes this bridge humbucker as “sweet, but slightly rude, with great sustain and a bright top end that make harmonics jump out of the guitar.”

On various messageboards and chat groups for Fender Strats and Telecasters,  some refer to the Texas Specials as boxy or lacking tonal clarity.  Others say that the TS PU's will reproduce the good tone of the guitar unplugged.  I love the tone of my Strat when I am jamming on it unplugged, so that would explain why it sounds really natural and clear when I am playing it plugged in and turned on through my Peavey Classic 30 or my Crate Vintage Club 20 tube amps.

A guitar buddy with a lot of knowledge, reflecting on my style and use of my guitar recommended that I replace my round wound 10's with some flat wound 11's.  I did so and this really brought out the sustain and clarity of my ax.  I was so pleased as I played it in my weekly gig Sunday!  It had a bigger, bolder sound with the flat wound 11's, and for now, I will never go back to the lighter gauge, round wound strings.   It gives my Strat a versatility that I need when I want to strum it like an acoustic, or if I want it to stand up to the bends and blues runs I do when I am playing my traditional blues guitar riffs.  It holds the tune very well and has a much fuller low end, as well, than previously with a more typical electric guitar string.

I am enjoying this Fender guitar and it is currently in the number one position in my rotation, just ahead of my Epiphone Riviera Custom P93, which I love as well, for playing my blues. -- Guitar Man