Fender Super-Champ X2 HD 15W Tube Guitar Amp Head Black

Most Liked Positive Review

Nice tube tone, usable amp modeling

Very usable tuber. Just a couple pet peeves, one sound, one build, neither one makes me regret purchase. I have an 80's vintage Super Champ and if you are wondering, this is a different animal. The tube tones deliver a sweet ride, the thing is easy to carry around and the amp models have more settings out of the box than I need. I like it a lot but ain't in love with it...yet. I gig with this paired with the 80's Super Champ and I use the champ, bassman, and deluxe voice settings. I have a multi-effect amp modeling pedal that had me very skeptical of modeling and maybe it's the hybrid thing but the models in the X2 sound very natural to me. This amp with a full range cabinet has more low end than the 80's model, rounds out the mids and highs of the 80's amp and the two 15 watt amps come across like a much bigger amp. For me this is enough for most clubs, just one wasn't doing it without mic-ing. One reason I didn't give this 5 stars is the clean channel doesn't use the master volume. The 80's amp master volume rules all settings - clean, mid-boost and lead. I like that, a lot. I use the 80's clean channel with the gain up around 8 a lot and use the master to bring volume up and down. It gives soft, tuby distortion when you hit the strings and warm, clean sounds when you don't. Leaving settings the same but pulling mid-boost gives me a nice Stones-ish distortion and the lead channel puts it up over the top. Can't do that with the X2, at least not the way it's delivered. The clean channel on the X2 breaks up nice when cranked, but only when you're using most of the 15 watts - great for a club but for me means practice settings and club settings are different. Maybe there's a way to set that with the programmable feature. Observations on the amp build - the box, handle and exterior feel solid but the knobs feel cheap and plasticky to me. When I touch the the knobs I feel like it's a toy and have to remind myself I'm getting the tube sound, portability, etc I want.