Original '59 Fender Champ - is @£940 an 'OK' price?

Richardj

Have just been offered a '59 Champ by a pal who is in a spot of bother. It isn't in great cosmetic condition, the tweed is worn and frayed and it has a replacement speaker.  I am led to believe however that it works just fine.

They are a fairly simple thing, so even if it needs a bit of fettling what would it be worth and could it be worth buying?

He's also got a mucked about with '67 Jaguar and '64 Duo Sonic up for grabs..........

Richardj

Bump with a bit more info.

ICBM

Seems like an unbelievable amount of money for a 3-5W (depending on how you measure it) amp with one control and an 8" radio speaker.

But then I thought that when I sold my one - which was in quite good condition with the original speaker - for £450 about fifteen years ago too…


Given the condition you describe it still sounds like way too much though.

Richardj

ICBM said:

Seems like an unbelievable amount of money for a 3-5W (depending on how you measure it) amp with one control and an 8" radio speaker.

But then I thought that when I sold my one - which was in quite good condition with the original speaker - for £450 about fifteen years ago too…


Given the condition you describe it still sounds like way too much though.

........and this is the common sense answer I was expecting/hoping to see.  There seems to be a lot of mystique surrounding these amps, almost sending them into holy grail territory and it is possible to get caught up in it.  I haven't found a decent price guide as yet, but the yanks seem happy to pay the equivalent of £800 to £1200 for them.  It would just be a toy and that's a big wedge for something with not a huge amount of practical use.

Have I talked myself out of it yet?

AllthegearNoidea

Have you heard Julian Lage play on  with a flint in front.of it. Sounds amazing. That said I'll buy anything and I wouldn't pay £940. 

ICBM

There's no doubt they sound great, if you want the one thing (or two, if you count the low-volume clean sound) they do - but they are not versatile at all. I used mine in a 50s-style rock'n'roll band, for which it was ideal for smaller gigs - but when I stopped doing that and needed something a bit more modern-sounding it wasn't very good, so I sold it. It took pedals well at low volume, but no better than any other small amp that costs a fraction as much, is louder and has more controls.

Essentially they sound a bit like a trumpet - a brassy, raspy tone which is great for lead - but become very boxy and congested-sounding for chord rhythm if they're pushed hard. The speaker is a big part of this, the 5F1 with 12" speaker amps you can get nowadays are far more suited to a wider range of sounds, and are usually cheaper than this too.

DJH83004

For what it is worth, I think it is a bit over the top price wise if it is not in great condition. Have repaired / serviced a good number over the years, and sound wise as per ICBM, very simple to maintain but cosmetics are everything with these for some strange reason.   

menamestom

Sounds a lot, I'd personally go for something like an Ampmaker kit and 1x12 cab.  It would be much cheaper and sound better.

richardhomer

It 'might' be the going rate for a collector - but from a utilitarian point of view - quite ridiculous.

That said, I don't particularly like the sound of tweed amps generally. I you do a used Custom Shop Deluxe (or similar) would be a much more usable option.