Fender Champ 5F1 Tube Amplifier (1962)
LOADING IMAGES
This item has been sold.
Item # 10068
Prices subject to change without notice.
Fender Champ 5F1 Model Tube Amplifier (1962), made in Fullerton, California, serial # C-17747, tweed fabric covering finish.
This is a stunningly well-preserved and later example of the final version of Fender's tweed Champ, one of the finest we have seen. It has a tube-chart ink-stamp "LA" indicating it was assembled in January of 1962. By that point only the Champ (intended for students) retained its 1950s Tweed livery; the other larger Fender amps were well into their white and brown Tolex eras. Leo never wasted anything and one assumes they used up all the tweed covering in stock before re-designing the model to wear Tolex in 1963-4!
The serial number is C17747, indicating Fender had so far built nearly 18,000 examples of this classic model in just over five years! This 5F1 features the slightly larger cabinet and an 8" speaker, an upgrade from earlier mid-50s models. As with any tweed Champ, it features just one "chicken head" volume knob and a single-ended 6V6-driven power section, yielding about 5 watts of output power. Like pretty much all of them, it sounds fantastic!
Height is 11 3/4 in. (29.8 cm.), 13 1/4 in. (33.7 cm.) width, and 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm.) deep.
Externally, this cabinet is in fantastic shape for a nearly 62-year-old amplifier. There's some typical minor wear to the tweed fabric covering, including some edge wear and very minor scuffing overall. The faceplate is very clean, save for very minor signs of corrosion and some very light scratch-wear and some of the stenciled numbers partially missing around the volume control. The grille cloth is in great shape with no notable tears or fraying and the leather handle is a very fine handmade reproduction by Bob at Brookwood Leather.
Electrically, the amp is nicely original, save for the speaker, which is a replacement Weber 8" AlNiCo CVA8, which sounds fantastic. Both the power and output transformers are the original Schumachers, reading 606-207 and 606-113, dating them to the 7th week of 1962 and 13th week of 1961, respectively. The amp has received routine maintenance, including standard replacement of electrolytic caps, as well as a grounded 3-prong power cord and cleaning of all sockets, pots and jacks as well as biased to spec.
Overall this is a very clean and fabulous sounding example of one of the great tweed classics, nowadays the popular vintage choice for an under-the desk modern home studio rig and always a shop favorite here. Excellent - Condition.
This is a stunningly well-preserved and later example of the final version of Fender's tweed Champ, one of the finest we have seen. It has a tube-chart ink-stamp "LA" indicating it was assembled in January of 1962. By that point only the Champ (intended for students) retained its 1950s Tweed livery; the other larger Fender amps were well into their white and brown Tolex eras. Leo never wasted anything and one assumes they used up all the tweed covering in stock before re-designing the model to wear Tolex in 1963-4!
The serial number is C17747, indicating Fender had so far built nearly 18,000 examples of this classic model in just over five years! This 5F1 features the slightly larger cabinet and an 8" speaker, an upgrade from earlier mid-50s models. As with any tweed Champ, it features just one "chicken head" volume knob and a single-ended 6V6-driven power section, yielding about 5 watts of output power. Like pretty much all of them, it sounds fantastic!
Height is 11 3/4 in. (29.8 cm.), 13 1/4 in. (33.7 cm.) width, and 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm.) deep.
Externally, this cabinet is in fantastic shape for a nearly 62-year-old amplifier. There's some typical minor wear to the tweed fabric covering, including some edge wear and very minor scuffing overall. The faceplate is very clean, save for very minor signs of corrosion and some very light scratch-wear and some of the stenciled numbers partially missing around the volume control. The grille cloth is in great shape with no notable tears or fraying and the leather handle is a very fine handmade reproduction by Bob at Brookwood Leather.
Electrically, the amp is nicely original, save for the speaker, which is a replacement Weber 8" AlNiCo CVA8, which sounds fantastic. Both the power and output transformers are the original Schumachers, reading 606-207 and 606-113, dating them to the 7th week of 1962 and 13th week of 1961, respectively. The amp has received routine maintenance, including standard replacement of electrolytic caps, as well as a grounded 3-prong power cord and cleaning of all sockets, pots and jacks as well as biased to spec.
Overall this is a very clean and fabulous sounding example of one of the great tweed classics, nowadays the popular vintage choice for an under-the desk modern home studio rig and always a shop favorite here. Excellent - Condition.