Fender Champion 100XL Amplifier Review - Everything You Need to Know!
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- čas přidán 2. 08. 2024
- This is a review of the Fender Champion 100XL guitar amplifier.
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► Sky Music - bit.ly/3SuJD0k
(affiliate links)
The Fender Champion 100XL is a 2x12" guitar amplifier designed to cover a wide range of guitar tones including Jazz, Blues, Rock, and Metal.
0:00 - Jam Track
1:33 - Amp Overview
3:43 - More Info
4:45 - Clean Channel
6:58 - Second Channel
14:39 - My Final Thoughts
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Please note: I do not take a cash payment from guitar companies nor have I been paid by Fender or Sky Music to produce this video. If you want to help support the channel please use the affiliate links through to Sweetwater or Thomann. Many thanks!
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I rocked a champion 100 in a surf band for a long time. It wasn't my number 1 amp or anything, but I had no problems using it. The thing rocked. And I've been so impressed with the new iteration. It's super underrated. Blows away a lot of SS amps away in its price range. I still feel the champion 100 is among the best bangs for buck out there if you want a basic pedal platform with lots of volume. The cleans are great.
It has been updated again... in the past year, I believe
I have a Champion 100, a Champion 40, and a '65 Deluxe Reverb re-issue. I play at home almost every night, and I use my Champion 100 the most. While I may not like every effect the amp has, there are many effects that I do like, and it is a matter of getting the knobs set on the tones you like best. Another factor, is the type of guitar being played through these amps, and the pickups they have. It is often said, that it is hard to beat the sound of a Fender guitar, played through a Fender amp. I think that dollar for dollar, these are great amps for the price. My wife (and my neighbors), would be complaining if I played my Deluxe Reverb every night, so these amps give me a variety of options, and are very reliable. I just ordered a Champion 100 XL, as I was able to try one out at a local music store recently, and was impressed enough to buy one to play in my garage at night. I love tube amps, but for me, they are not practical to play every night.
Always love it when Shane channels his inner Knopfler
He doesn't do enough Sultan's though :-)
@@Gjuby Probably would get a copywrite strike if he does too much.
Great seeing the PureSalem and the PRS in action!! 😎 Great demo of the Champion ! 🎸🎸🎸🎸
I love your videos and laid back attitude. Of course, the content is excellent. Keep it up.
Great intro tune ! And a very good review as always.
I lean a little more into heavier music, but l love your channel. Great video/audio/editing quality and great playing! I like that you’re laid back and super-detailed and informative, with honest tips on who the amp is best for and how to get the most out of it. Thank you!
Thanks, Brian! :)
The beginning intro if it was all that amp was amazing sounding.
It was all amp, no post-processing on the guitars either.
Nice to see you with a PRS. If it’s new, welcome to the club. If it’s not, you should play it more often! One thing I’ve noticed about my cu24 over the years is that it really allows everything to speak for itself. Amps, pedals, my fingers, everything. It’s a really neutral, high definition, blank slate that brings out the character of whatever you give it.
Notifications work! The amp sounds great in the Intro, Imma enjoy the rest od the video, thank you for your content!
Great vid!☺ Have this amp your review is spot on! Speakers are something special... Very loud amp just waiting to gig with it!😮
Nice review Shane.
Thanks for the review on this Amp. I know this is almost a year after the fact. I was considering this amplifier a few months ago. Your review basically confirmed what I thought this amp would be (Great for a starter amp and as another commenter mentioned, it worked in a surf band, and that is some of the music I play). Your video confirmed I would not have wasted my $$$$ if I had chosen to purchase this amplifier. Please keep videos like this coming!!
.. Oct 2022 .. I am thinking .. either this or the Mustang GTX 100 which has built in looper and comes with a 7 button footswitch .. I am bedroom guitarist but that doesn't mean that I don't like it loud 😬
@@fondoman3884 I went with a Roland JC-40 (I already had a JC-120 and a KC-990 when I made my original comment) for my bedroom amp. My thoughts...If I "love" the Big Brother, I'll probably love the Little Brother, too. I was 100% correct!! Of course, I'm "OLD" (over 3/4 of a century old) and I play mostly cleans with some delay, reverb, and tape echo. Zero Distortion. Probably not your preferred sound. (I'm not being judgemental when I say that. I just know because I'm old, most players even 20 years younger than me think I'm crazy because I "their" preferences are not mine. Everything about guitars and music is personal preferences. There is no universal right or wrong. It's only what's right or wrong for each individual.)
Thanks for watching folks! Timestamps and links are below! :)
► Sweetwater - imp.i114863.net/1nxyB
► Thomann - bit.ly/3jM7T9A
► Sky Music - alnk.to/5jffBlP
(affiliate links)
0:00 - Jam Track
1:33 - Amp Overview
3:43 - More Info
4:45 - Clean Channel
6:58 - Second Channel
14:39 - My Final Thoughts
Nice. Yeah, those speakers sound really good. I'm with you. I wish that Fender would put a mid control on. Because if it naturally scoops the mids, then at least give us a chance to put some in
A First-class demo from Shane, it sounds really good lots going on just right if you are starting out or if you just want something different.
Solid state amps have come a very long long way up! Gone are the days when we could not even listen to the frequencies properly....thank you once again for a really nice video!
Solid state is fine, it's just about DC current. AC moves like an actual sound wave. Call it mumbo jumbo if you want, it just needs to make sense in my mind.
Solid states did not come a long way. Actually they were way better before. Try a Roland jc120 or a yamaha 212 100 II (something like that), or some fender from the 80, they sounded way better than the digital stuff. They had there own caracter instead of trying to sound like tubes...
@@guitareMTL A really nice point indeed. I have an ampeg VH70 combo from 1993 and it is a beast of an amp. BUT, Roland was very expensive and Ampeg was very expensive as well. Today 200 usd brings you heaven. As far as I remember Yamaha was the only company that had actual nice sounding small combos!
@@guitareMTL . You cannot do much with a tube amp, to achieve a nice distortion you have to crank the volume until your ears bleed, with a digital amp you get distortion at lower volume, I think you are way out of context and missing the point. Very few ss amps like the ones you mentioned were great back than, and the others from that era sounded horrible in comparison to a digital amps nowadays, now the newer versions of ss amps today with analog signal made by Peavy like Peavy vypper like for example kick ass, sorry but I have to disagree with you to certain extent.
@@metallion0738 lol! I'm not missing any point! When I play the digital stuff, I can hear the "pixels". I would be so glad to like it cause I'm not a tube snob, and I'm not rich. I would choose a vox pathfinder 15r over any fender mustang...
I am trying to buy one here in Elk Grove Ca. From Music Go Round. I hope it is still there. Again thanks for a great review.
Time to clean the PRS fingerboard!
Great demo, thank you.
Pretty nice overall if you like all the onboard effects. Who needs 12x2 these days? It's still a nice one and great review as usual.
..."Love" the Pure Salem!!!...Season's Greetings from Southern Illinois,my Brother!!!...Peace...
I'm from St. Louis and Indianapolis so not too far off from you myself!
Shane, you have to be one of the hardest working musicians on CZcams. You are a man on a mission. When I’m researching a piece of gear I’m ecstatic to see that you’ve reviewed it because I know I’m going to see it used to its full potential. You’ve reached and helped so many people.
You have such a great picking hand touch , just want to know what brand , shape and gage thickness pick do you use, Thanks so much!!!
Wow those overdrive tones actually sound very usable (not so hot on the metal one but I think metal presets always sound ropey). It actually sounds like it's projecting pretty well too, I'd guess owing to the speakers. Seems like it'd be a very solid gigging workhorse.
Hey man,great video ...Can you run through the settings again on how you got that sweet bluesy sound around 10:29?
Nice seeing the Pure Salem is being taken out for a spin.
Great video
Does chorus setting sound like stereo chorus? Not all 2x12 amps do. Can you get a Roland JC sound? If you included this info 2 speaker amp demos would help and surprisingly most you tube demos dont
Excellent tone and a very good amp, the 2/12 Combo makes it a great home - practice amp, the only drawback I see is that you can not combine the effects, it’s not the
Tone Master but it’s a fun amp to play, very usable tone and great effects
Typical fender amp SS distortion is rubbish,
not important, just buy a pedal like boss blues driver or big muff pi.
@@johncollins5552Definitely do NOT use a Big Muff. It's too hot for the Champion's preamp to handle. The built in distortion is bad enough.
If you can't beat em join 'em (katana). I really like it. Great price point with the footswitch plus it being 2x12. Most importantly, sounds great and more fendery with better upper midrange. Already having a katana, I'm still looking to go back into all tube land.
Tried it and really liked it. However spend the money and bought the other Fender solid state, Fender Tone Master deluxe instead.
I'm so happy I've got this amp before it got discontinued while the 50xl still lives on. Idk why they did though.
Amp sounds killer . Sounds alot better than just one great fender amp . It sounds like a bunch of great amps . Very impressive
If you end up not liking it, it will make a nice speaker cabinet.
The preamp in mine went out and rather than having it repaired I just use a strymon iridium and plug my pedalboard straight into the pwr in. It sounds like a beast.
Can you do that without modding it?
I owned a Fender Champion 100 years ago!! Shudda kept it....
Muito bom!!
I got the Champion 50XL for Christmas and it is great and plenty loud enough for home use. Either versions are great beginner amps.
Shane I’m a guy that loves Celestion speakers, I used to build cabinets but there is a lot of difference in Celestions too I’m wondering what you think of this in between it and the regular champion 100 because the regular version to me seems like has warmer tones. Are these actually both the same amp just with speaker and grill color knob changes or are they totally different and which would you rather have I like playing a lot of 70s 80s classic rock stuff, Ozzy Osbourne that kind of stuff. I’m wondering if I’d be better to put a green back and a cream back in the regular version? Any thoughts and thanks for your videos Rob
you know I'm still playing out of my last amp purchase a few years ago and that's the katana KTN 100 the original version being blind using the computer and or the third party phone app which I might try because my phone is very very friendly to me being blind wise I use the accessibility settings but I'm not able to navigate around those things with any type of speed that would make it a useful for me so I've been playing this amp as is since I boarded a couple of years ago maybe three two years ago something like that when it was pretty much the latest and the greatest from boss katana I haven't upgraded it at all I plug and play and I find it satisfactory or should I say that I like it. I thought of I thought of switching the speaker out but after much searching not soul searching but internet searching :-) I've come to the conclusion that on an amp like this the speaker swap will not be all that much better than what's in there already. I've been told if I'm wrong someone correct me and I reply that the speaker swaps work much better in a tube amp then in some of these newer solid state amps and that's what a what my katana is although most people call it a modeling amp it is not a modeling amp it is solid state especially if you're not using any of the online effects and upgrades and stuff like that can't route for that cuz I don't own that but I enjoy it I actually before Black Friday tried buying a monoprice 15 watt tube amp which is the rage on reviews and demos due to the fact that I'm a blind schmuck I kept making mistakes in the typing IE my email and when I would go back to it I couldn't figure away to delete it so by the time I got it right they were sold out till July I then tried Amazon sold out had a third party seller that they suggested to me at a price of the upper 300s now I'm sorry it was the mid 400s that Amazon was selling it for according to the sales rep which I got online was through a third party which is what they do I guess if they run out of stuff to keep it as an offering and I'm not paying for $450 or whatever for that kind of an amp so I'll wait I'm a patient guy anyway thanks again Shane excuse the long off topic and on topic comment that's just how I am that's how I roll LOL that's how this blind guy rolls you got to roll with the punches anyway sincerely yours, andI got lost here so I don't know what I said what I didn't say but I'll just end it with yeah you know I need to get a tube and because I never played through one and see what the difference is if I notice a difference and yeah that's about it but I don't want to spend a thousand bucks to find out that through my old poor ears there isn't that great of a difference sincerely yours, Bob the blind bedroom guitarist sincerely yours, Bob the blind bedroom guitarist sincerely yours, Bob the blind bedroom guitarist I guess you can figure out why this text or comment looks as it does I have no idea cuz I can't tell so hope you get to just a bit stay safe everybody
hey Shane great video!! this or the fender superchamp x2?? similar price although the SC I believe has some tubes? thanks.....
@MrStormshadow999 thanks so much for all the info!!
I still feel that when tone is the biggest consideration those bandits still are hard to beat. The bandit has got to be one of peaveys best sounding products.
I think the delta blues is the best amp peavey ever made.
I think the delta blues is one of the best too but closely followed by the Mace, Classic vt and VTX series. Think Lynyrd Skynard.
Lynyrd Skynyrd should be required viewing on CZcams.
I agree when tube amps are brought into the discussion. I have also noticed that when stock peavey speakers are replaced their amps get much better. I also keep coming to the conclusion many people don't really know how to use the tone stack on the bandits as well as the tone control on their guitar.
Peavey makes kick ass amps in general
Wish it was silver faced.cheers from Chicago.👍
I bought the Fender Champ 100 before this came out. Is it any better than the champ 100? Besides the Celestion speakers?
I really like that "80's tone" at 12:50. Interesting amp but, could have used a little better cosmetics. Kinda blah in appearance. Speakers are a nice step up.
Do you think it is a good amp to gig with and a great value over Boss Katana 100 2x12 MkII?
“Steak a look” Lol. Hope Sky Music makes you an honorary employee or at least has you covered on health benefits. Great vid Shane.
Just bought a Champion 100 in my never ending search for the true Fender "Quack" tone.......... Have tried a Fender Strat (Jap) with 2 Seymour Duncan California 50's and 1 Seymour Duncan "Duckbucker" with no success. Have also tried a Fender Tele with standard pickups which has just a hint of "Quack" in it.
Any suggestions before I go broke trying everything from Boss pedals to other new guitars??
Thank y'all in advance!
If you really don’t care about the speakers, would you recommend the champion 100 or the champion 100xl? Which one and why?
what does it weigh? not as much as their valve amps i hope
Im planning to move to the Caribbean and thinking of solid state amp will be less sensitive to humidity, sea air, etc. Thanks partly to your reviews im weighing this vs a Peavey Bandit, which is more pricey. Or the AMT Stonehead, mainly because it's yellow. Any thoughts? I have a JC120 but struggle to get a decent distorted sound even with pedals
Sooo.. This is Fenders answer to the Boss Katana? It's interesting, but I'd still go for a Tonemaster amp!
How does it work with the VS audio Royal Flush?
Witch amp is higher out of the fender champion 100 and the 100xl
Better cleans or worse than old Mustang 3 v2?
Hello Fellow Musicians, I'm planning to get this amp but am wondering what kind of limitations does the absence of Master Volume Knob impose? How do i control the amp volume if i directly go into the "PWR IN" ( return) using a multifx such as BOSS GT1?
Yup, sure does sound like a solid state amp.
Don't care how it looks but it sounds pretty damn good!!
I own the previous model the Champion 100 non-XL. As far as I can tell I dont really see a reason to upgrade. Pretty much the same functions except the different Voice mods and the build in compressor. Would you say the new speakers are a reason to upgrade to the XL? Hard to tell by video.
I was hoping to hear you compare its tones to those of the Champion 100. Does the change of speakers make a big difference?
I think it does
Hey there ✌️🎶 i Need some Help for build a Blues Rock Pedal Setup .
Style: Muddy W.. RL Burnside
With Maximum 4 Pedals. I start with the
Caline Pure Sky.
So .. what next . Chorus first ?
Or delay
Or reverb?
low.cost Pedals ideas pls .
Thanks for Help . 🙂☺️
Is it better than the original
Is this a digital modelling amp? Or entirely analog?
Sounds decent, but again Shane can make a tomato can sound great!!!
PIcking up riffs from Dire Straits, Hendrix, and even White Zombie.
But does the volume knob go to “11”?
Wait was that White Zombie???🤘🏽
Boss Katana MK2 100W 2X12 or this?
Not bad at all, but it's up against formidable competition in the Katana 100... A cage match would be really cool.
This isn't really Katana competition, that would be the Mustang amps. This is a much simpler amp with good speakers.
How does it take pedals?(!)
This one or the katana 100 ?
I've been playing guitar for nearly 20 years now. I've used a fair bit of solid state amps. They all sound good. Even a small ass Fender Stageright that I use all the time sounds good. There's just something about tubes that feel way more fun to play. Way more touch sensitive. It's like volume knob on my guitar doesn't exist in the same dimension as me when I use a Direct Current Solid State amp.
Agree
Shane,
1, This is an analogue amp?
2, Is the power amp Stereo?
3, Is the perceived volume up their with at least 80 watt tube amps?
A big enough Test for a Saturday - though it's probably already Sunday, compared to New York where it's Saturday morning.
Cheers, Pete.
3, no. The twin reverb blows up your house. This is just enough to keep up with a loud drummer.
Yeah man sounds delicious and nutritious!!
This or the original version as a gigging amp?
What are your 5 favorite blues albums? My playing is feeling dead and needs inspiration.
What's the different between the Champion 100 and the Champion 100XL?
The 100xl had the celestion speakers
Through headphones, very hard to tell the difference between a valve amp and a good solid state nowadays.. In person though, different story.
I have one. With master volume pot added (extremely easy) you can play all night, when children sleeping behind the wall. The clean tone is amazing. It's 100% Fender.
A master volume is the only thing im missing on my Champion 100. But I dont have a clue about how to DIY one 😅
How loud is this amp
Any chorus on this?
Looks like a beast. Get out those earplugs!
Has the reverb on those things gotten better? I had the 50 wat version about 2 years ago and was disappointed in the reverb. I was just shocked that a company known over the whole world for their reverb was selling an amp with such a poor reverb.
I didn't notice any issues with it at all but I didn't wind it up too far either.
i mean isnt the reverb digital? theres no tank
@@soofitnsexy no there is no tank. Most digital reverbs use the same chip also. It's tough to find a cheap amp that has a good reverb.
@@ericnelson9370 agreed!
Sounds great bet it's too loud for home though
i mean its not tube....i think you can dial the volume in for home
HEY Shane. Can i play the the Dsl 40Cr in an apartment?
@@MrBogut23 Perfect answer thx ;) Thinking about getting the Dsl for few months now..played it in the stores amp room....and the footswitch for the jvm works on the Dsl too, yeah
Great one as usual Shane, I bought what might have been the last (at the time) Champion 100 a few months back, it's more than adequate for me at home. A friend who's a professional guitarist said as soon as he tried it, "that's a giggable amp". I don't see any real difference between the new XL & mine, Fender might have re-named a thing or two on the voice effects control. My speakers just have a Fender sticker on them, sounds like your saying the Celestion speakers are better, if so why ? The weight ? 18kg on the spec sheet I received with the amp. thanks again Shane all the best mate.
The speakers in the XL are way better.
@@christophergarrido2802 Thanks for your reply Christopher, how & why are the XL speakers way better?
@@christophergarrido2802 Thanks for your reply Christopher, how & why are XL speakers better ?
@@christophergarrido2802 ?
@@rogerrussian9750 Celestion designed these Speakers specifically for the technical specifications and power of this Amp rather than Fender using an "off the shelf" brand.
If you do not believe that Celestion are up there as arguably the best manufacturer of speakers for Guitar amplifiers today in the World then there is nothing else I can add to you.... Best regards, Pete.
While it does sound good, for the price you could have a Katana and access to the Tone Studio. Fender should have included a USB out for greater flexibility. But for a kid just starting out this is a pretty good bargain. Kids these days have no idea how good they have it with all the available gear out there.
I actually think the champ 20 (8 inch speaker) sounds better at lower volumes. Significantly easier to get decent sounding apartment sound tones compared to the katana 100.
Agreed. I have a Champion 20 and it’s great for an apartment. I’m on the hunt for an upgrade though
Champion 20 is an awesome amp, kids these days have really great options
I have one of them 20s and I got a 10 inch Celestine cabinet so I wired up mine and put it to the 10 inch sounds good probably really sound good through a 12
What's the difference between the 100 and the XL? Which is better?
????
The XL is better quality sound bro
I feel like falling in love😏🕊
The difference is the speakers. Celestions in the xl-model.
you know not for nothing I thank you always for your content Shane but just to put my two cents in I really don't bother I stopped listening to pedal demos and basically amp demos too cuz I listen mainly on my phone and to think that I'm actually here in anything that sounds closely related to the amp itself out of my phone it's a joke so I don't waste the time I would think that most people this is just the guess on my part I believe that the majority of people are listening to small are listening on small devices and even if they have it plugged into some kind of stereo system there's the CZcams compression factor again don't believe that any platform or I should say that any device this is listen to coming from CZcams is a close facsimile to the real thing I don't believe it is at all so I just don't bother anymore so I just skip ahead to where you discuss your opinions cuz I value those greatly especially like you and others that I listen to whom I will use sort of as a engaged towards what I'd be interested in the real world and buying so yeah that's what I think please excuse the long sentence most likely grammatical and other areas of much to do I'm not a bad typerbelieve it or not I'm not a bad typer I'm not a little bit although many people will think and tell me I am specially my friends LOL using speech to text has its own take a very unique one on the English language and how it's written or tight sincerely yours, Bob the blind bedroom guitarist say it once more cuz it usually messes that up sincerely yours, Bob the blind bedroom guitarist
What's that red guitar?
Pure Salem
not what bad if you hear from radio cant tell solid state or not
One day you're going to test out a metal setting without playing Thunder Kiss '65 and I'm going to fall off my chair from shock 😜
haha challenge accepted. Metal is something I have put zero time into learning because it doesn't at all motivate me to want to learn it. That was the one riff I loved enough to learn. I love the music, not really into the guitar side of it like I am other stuff.
I'm only stirring, it's a great riff. If you haven't seen it you should check out Keith Urban playing Devil Went Down To Nashville, where he starts playing a heap of classic rock & metal riffs during the breakdown. I was shocked how familiar he was with that genre.
I hate tap tempo and never does what it’s supposed to
i loved it when you said "im not a metal player" and you proceeded to definitely not play metal.
Facebook market is swamped with Fender Tube 40watt 1-12" Deluxe models $300 to $500 for a real, non headphone or phone input having ...amplifier. Btw, the Deluxe won't sound tinny and meek.
I'm a massive fan of the styling of Fender amps, but I can't help feeling this one's a bit boring looking!
Some more black
I mean I'd take the Celestion speakers but simply judged by looks im happy I own the non XL version ^^
Actually, I thought the metal tones sucked lol. THe cleaner tones are pretty great.
In all fairness it is a Fender amp 😆 but yeah high gain on almost all solid state and modelling amps suck.
@@misterknightowlandco That's true, but the super sonic is one of the better gain amps to me, man.
Sounds like...
The saying "Jack of all trades and master of none" springs to mind to me at least. Dont think this amp will be on my xmas list.
Its good but with the boss katana existing any other similiar amp isnt worth it
Not everyone likes the Katana.
@@misterknightowlandco Exactly. I tried one out after seeing all the hype. I was not impressed at all. I'm sure it is great for some people, just not me.
@@russellives6069 yeah I wasnt a fan either. Just another practice amp to me.
btter grab the gtx100 way better this sound horrid tbh XD
It's a good sounding amp, but sounds very little like a Fender.