The Ugly Truth About The Fender Super Champ X2

For the most part I'm a typical guitarist and tone-snob. I like my amps tubey and my effect true-bypass (even though that might be the best thing for your tone). I don't like digital effects or multi-effects processors. I'm also kind of a Fender fanboy. So when my "session" amp was changed from a Fender Blues Jr. to a Champ X2 I was worried. I had worked with that Blues Jr. for some time and I like how my set-up was set-up. Not knowing any of the features I dialed in a clean tone and adjust the Eq so that it was balanced. It is small and has build-in effects. I feared the worst.

It's Small


15 watts, 10" speaker, petit enclosure it was not looking good. I was afraid it would sound small and boxy. I bypassed my pedal board to hear the amp clean. It was surprisingly dark and moody. Not at all thin. I balanced my Eq and adjusted the volume and that was it. What I didn't know about this little combo was that it is all tube. Pre-amp and power are driven by tubes. 15 watts was plenty to act as my monitor with a full band. The 10" speaker kept the lows nice and tight. I did switch from my EHX OD Glove to a Tube Screamer for my dirt. The Glove has a lot more low end which I might have been ok with if I worked with a bit more to find a sweet spot, but the TS was able to rock and roll without much fuss. This amp might not fill up an entire room, but for this application it was good fit


It Has On-Board Effects


This is one of my pet peeves. I know why amp makers keep putting out amp with effects built in. A beginner is going to buy an amp with 10 knobs over one that has three. Its an easy and cheap way to add features to amps. It also allows player with little or no effects to experiment with different sounds. On-Board effect are all bad (in theory), but ever amp I've played with DSP up till now has been underwhelming in the highest order. When I adjusted the amp, I noticed that the effect were turned all the way down and I left it there. Yes. I have bias. I don't want digital effect on my amp. but this amp didn't suffer from any of the symptoms of having DSP. In fact I forgot all together that it even had them. Which in my mind is a complement. Disclaimer: The effect on this amp might be very useful or even beneficiary, I just have had a chance to run though them.

My Conclusion


This a great little amp. It's all tube, It has some really good clean sounds, and it is pretty flexible. If you traded you DSP for a reverb tank and ran it into a 12" speaker then It would be great amp, period. As it is, Its most comfortable in the bedroom or as a live monitor. The biggest downside is that this amp disappears in the mix if you aren't right in front. I was rather close to my amp, and all amps have a cone shaped "optimal listening area", but this amp seems to be a bit smaller. Of course it is a trade off. Compact, lightweight amps are great when your are traveling or tight for space, but they come with some drawbacks. Fender seems to have made a lot of good decisions when designing this amp.