POWER TOOLS
1964–82 AMPLIFIER FENDER CHAMP/ VIBRO-CHAMP 1967-80 FENDER BRONCO CATEGORY: COMBO
BY CHRIS GILL
ALMOST EVERY INTERNET forum discussion of classic late-Sixties and Seventies-era recordings where an artist vaguely cites using a “Fender Champ” will result in some belligerent blowhard insisting that it was a tweed Champ.
Sometimes this is correct, but more often than not the amp in question was more likely a blackface/silverface Champ or Vibro-Champ from the mid-Sixties onwards. The main reason is pretty simple: blackface and silverface Champ family amps were commonplace new products during those eras. Studios bought them because they were inexpensive, highly useful, reliable tools, and guitarists picked them up for backstage warmups or hotel practice.