NAD - Fender 57 Custom Champ
I’ve had the Champ for about two weeks now and I’m absolutely thrilled with it!
I’m having a blast plugging straight into the Champ and think that it sounds fantastic. I’m still in the process of breaking in the speaker, but it sounds very nice already (and I’m sure it’ll only continue to sound better as time goes on). I really enjoy the clean tones with all of my Telecasters and it’s definitely fun to get natural drive by setting the amp to 6 or 7 (out of 12). The sound is fairly distorted at that point and it sounds incredible. It sounds fine dimed (very loud!) but I think it sounds better, and still plenty crunchy, when the Champ is set below 8 (out of 12).
The real surprise to me is how great the amp sounds at about 4 (out of 12) – the cleans really are inspiring. I don’t find the amp boxy-sounding in the least. In fact, when I’ve plugged in my pedals, I’ve not felt the need to engage reverb. And I think the natural EQ’ing of the amp is spot-on. I do have the amp raised off the ground, on a wooden end table, and have the open back of the cabinet about a foot away from a corner.
Perhaps shallowly, I was on the lookout for a small Fender amp covered in tweed. I was looking at the Fender Pro Junior IV and the Fender 57 Custom Champ. Although they’re nothing alike, I personally felt that the quality – both sound and build – of the Champ exceeded the Pro Jr enough to justify the cost of the Champ.
I’ve had the Champ for about two weeks now and I’m absolutely thrilled with it!
I’m having a blast plugging straight into the Champ and think that it sounds fantastic. I’m still in the process of breaking in the speaker, but it sounds very nice already (and I’m sure it’ll only continue to sound better as time goes on). I really enjoy the clean tones with all of my Telecasters and it’s definitely fun to get natural drive by setting the amp to 6 or 7 (out of 12). The sound is fairly distorted at that point and it sounds incredible. It sounds fine dimed (very loud!) but I think it sounds better, and still plenty crunchy, when the Champ is set below 8 (out of 12).
The real surprise to me is how great the amp sounds at about 4 (out of 12) – the cleans really are inspiring. I don’t find the amp boxy-sounding in the least. In fact, when I’ve plugged in my pedals, I’ve not felt the need to engage reverb. And I think the natural EQ’ing of the amp is spot-on. I do have the amp raised off the ground, on a wooden end table, and have the open back of the cabinet about a foot away from a corner.
Perhaps shallowly, I was on the lookout for a small Fender amp covered in tweed. I was looking at the Fender Pro Junior IV and the Fender 57 Custom Champ. Although they’re nothing alike, I personally felt that the quality – both sound and build – of the Champ exceeded the Pro Jr enough to justify the cost of the Champ.