I was skeptical as to whether a $300 tube amp could be any good. I've owned lots of great tube amps, '69 plexi Super Lead, '62 Fender Bassman, '73 Super Reverb, JCM800 2203, Suhr Badger and many others. My other fave cheapie Fender is an early '90s tweed Pro Junior, which was also around $300 when I bought it. I went to the local music store to try out the Super Champ XD, plugged in a Telecaster, and I was floored at what a great sounding amp it was - especially at that price point. I immediately bought that amp and ordered a second for my brother. It's an ideal practice amp if you're into more of an old-school Fender sound. The preamp digitally models Fender tweed and blackface tone very convincingly. I guess Fender should know better than anyone how their amps are supposed to sound. As far as the other Voicings (channel 2) go, well, they're good but not excellent. Buy it for the Fender sounds. The effects are relatively few, but they all sound good. I really like the "slap" (short) delay and the tremolo effects. Another reviewer said that the amp's clean channel reminds him of a blackface Princeton. Couldn't agree more; I owned a '64 Princeton. This amp definitely gets you in the general ballpark of the Princeton clean tone. The stock speaker sounds quite good; but I'd probably upgrade before recording with this amp. It would be fine as is for gigs. And it sounds really impressive through a decent extension speaker cabinet. I was amazed at how much more punch and detail I got with the amp plugged in to a closed cabinet with a Celestion Vintage 30 12" speaker.

At $300, with a tube amp you're not expecting any fancy features. Surprisingly, the Super Champ XD has a decent list of features. Though limited in scope, the effects sound quite good. The amp also has a line out jack.

Getting a good tone with this amp is a no-brainer due to the simplicty of the amp's design concept. It's best to avoid extreme settings, though. The manual itself reminds users that particular settings work best with particular types of guitars, and that volume levels are vastly different from one voicing to the next in some cases. The manual is easy to read, but you could figure this amp out in a few minutes even without it.

Very cleanly assembled. Buy hey; it's cheap amp, so I'm not comparing the fit and finish to something costing 8 or 10 times as much. I think that such an amp is too inexpensively constructed to be expected to survive the rigors of the road. It's a practice/home recording amp.

Pretty tough to beat at the price.

Anything this cool for this price is definitely worth checking out.

Writer, indie musician

Very broad, from rock to classical to ethnic

I bought it for a pratice amp so I wouldn't have to break out my pedal board. After a few pratices, I took it to a club gig. I had a bigger amp just in case. However, the Champ did a great job. My bassist stopped after the first break and said that he was amazed by the little amp and was having a hard time believing that it was all I was using. No pedals, no extra speaker cabinet--nothing but the Champ. Since then I've used it several times and it sounds really good and the effects are useable. The spring reverb sound is really good and the others are useable. Good job Fender!

I like the fact that it is just a tube amp in one channel, and has some modeling in the other. I can go with the pure tone and still get some useful sounds out of the modeling.

Don't need a manual. Just spin dials till it sounds good.

Pretty dang good on the quality. Looks and feels like a Fender amp should.

Can't fault the price.

Haven't needed any support.

Pro

Rock and country

This is a great amp for the money. A sweet 3 tube 15 watt amp plenty loud for practice or small gigs. You have a range of very nice preamp voicings from super-clean to shred, and also some decent digital effects. My only complaint is that there should be a parameter knob for the effects to control speed. You can control effect intensity, but the preselected speeds for the delays, tremeloes, etc. are not always exactly what you need. But that's a minor complaint, you'll probably use your stomp box effects instead of the on-board ones. I cannot imagine a better amp for under $300...

none

semi-pro

various

Its a fender!,excellent sound,sweet tone.very happy with the tone from this inexpensive little amp. Unless you have a lot of money to spend your not going top get a better amp! Great response to my playing,tube tone,awsome..

Simple ,dial it in jam. if you dont know how to set an amp to the tone you like, play with it till it sounds good to you.

excellent quality, solid,sure this will stand up to moving around

well worth the money

dont need it but fender support is great

tube amp!

always learning

blues, rock,some jazz, whatever im feeling

Killer Strat tone. Pre-amp selections offer a wide variety of the real deal.

Nice throw in feature. My only suggestion would be an independant reverb.

It took all of about 2 minutes to tweak the sound I was after.

At this price point- NO ISSUES !

I'll be picking up another one soon.

Active musician

Ray Charles said "There's only two kinds of music-good and bad"

Amazing variety of tones. All very good. This amp shines when plugged into an external cab. Try a Celestion loaded 1x12 and you'll be impressed! I bought it for session work. Very convenient to have a good sounding tube amo with a variety of amp models. Sounds far better than the new Line6 Spidervalve tube modeling amps. They sound like they have a blanket over them!

Great combination of features but Fender cuts corners in the effects department. All effects are presets whose parameters can't be adjusted. Even the cheapest VOX Valvetronix lets you adjust every effect setting. Point off for that, otherwise an amazing amp for the money.

Couldn't be easier. No manual needed. No menus or screens, just turn the knobs and listen!

Chinese PCB manufacturing scares me, but Fender has a good reputation. Time will tell how reliable this thing is.

Excellent value! Buy one!

Fender is a sales organization first and foremost. If you're persistant, you'll get service.

Great sex appeal. I bought it after 10 minutes of running through the presets.

Semi Pro

Rock, metal, blues-rock, classic rock, prog.

the sound of this amp was good out of the box. But once I swapped in a celestion tube 10 speaker it truly came to life. Ive only played (obsessively) for 3 years and Ive only heard 3 tube amps (carvin mts 2x12,vintage marshall 100watt thru 1960a cab, and epi. valve junior head thru marshall 1x10 with celestion tube 10,the latter of the 3 the only one Ive played through) in my life, so I dont know jack about jack but I know a beginner would be better of saving the bones to get this amp over any other solid state beginner amp, because if you have an overdrive or clean boost pedal you will be able to jam or possibly handle small gigs with it. I swapped in the celestion because the fender speaker farts at bassy high volumes and turns muddy. A few changes and the amp's a keeper, tube change will be next.

if you hate pedal wire muck and only use effects sparingly then the dsp effects are cool. They are presets but have varying settings. If they were footswitchable they would be more useful. The manual says they are but you might need the specific footswitch for that. the line out I havent tried yet but it seems like the way to go if this is all you have and you have to play a big place or record. The speaker out is accesible so you can unplug the internal speaker and connect a cab that isnt lower than 8 ohms. I tried it with a closed back carvin 2x12 with carvin g70 speakers. Once again it brought the amp to life, much louder, more responsive lows and everything I love about tube amps. But the reason I bought this amp was so I wouldnt have to lug the cab around. Thats why you'll want to change the speaker.

any one who can play a chord can work this amp, I cant get into much here because if your considering buying it pat yourself on the back. If you cant figure this amp out then seek help(with the amp or with your self). Seriously though, I sorted through the effects and amp voices in one day.

This one I only give an 8 because the grill. If you have an unruly kid or dog they could poke through it easily and ruin the speaker. The fit and finish of mine was immaculate. The cheap speaker reflects the cost so that was ok. The back panels on the amp are seriously thin, like pop-tart thin, but all should be ok if your careful. I plan on changing the red light for giggles one day.

This should be anyones first amp if its within their budget. It has enough sounds to help a beginner find a tone they are comfy with so they can focus on practicing. Its tone and versatility make it a lifetime investment. At this price I would replace it immediately if it broke after warranty.

who knows? I hope I never have to find out. I just filled out the card for warranty and mailed it in.

I wanted a combo that was loud enough to keep up with a hooligan drummer(Bonzo and Bill Ward) and a line6 lowdown 1x12 which is what my bass player uses(if you've ever heard one you know they are pretty loud for their size) and this works but barely without the speaker change and the boss superoverdrive. As is it was hardly loud enough on clean channel with it maxed. And channel 2 was only a little better. After the speaker swap and the overdrive pedal,however, my bass player was turning up his amp. That was a first.

hobbyist in a serious band

all

I've had many amps before and I have to say this is the best10 inch speaker amp I ever had I will use it in the studio although it is very loud for 15 watt and you could gig with it in a small club mike it in a large place i will use my 120 watt Vampire more in the large clubs or outside.The super champ XD is what it is a good studio tube amp and the stock speaker sounds great to me,I've been playing for 40 years professionally.

The clean sound with re verb.

takes about 30 seconds.

just like all Fenders.

hell yes

no

Never saw a amp I thought was sexy.

Active Musican and Recording

Country & Bluse

I would say the quality of the voicings in this model is almost unsurpassable. You have 16 amp models to choose from in the drive channel that are very convincing, the clean is classic fender(almost better in my opinion), and the effects options are excellent and better than most pedals you can get(I've played many). One complaint is that channel switching has a slight click/pop when using the footswitch, which is probably the only issue that makes it less practical.

Great amp modeling, better than most that I have heard. Plenty of effect options, but not all you can think of and you cannot really tweak them that much, but there will definitely be something useable in there.

Everything is quick to dial. Just missing a mid control, but no big deal to me.

Seems solidly built, and it is fender. But it is cheap so you generally get what you pay for, and in this case you get nice extra features too.

Everything you get in this package at this price point makes it the perfect practice amp, not really great for much else though. Maybe some lighter music, and perhaps mic'd and isolated you can make it work in a harder rock setting. A few more watts in there and it might cut through better on it's own.

Fender has a great warranty program though I have never had to use it in the past. They seem to know what they are doing.

Well you can't really be seen with it due to it's size and volume levels, though it is very light and portable. All this questioning is making me question my purchase. Regardless I will say she is great in the bedroom though.

Hobbyist, active, writer, critical listening.

Rock and/or Roll and more of everything

this amp has a very good clean channel, the over all sound is good but i am more drawn to the acoustic channel. the speaker needs to be upgraded.

the features are good no accessories i like the reverb delay wish it had an extra out jack to hook up an extra cab.

easy

product seems to be made well, good finish product seems to be reliable i always worry about breakage would probably last on the road if miked or run through sound system. worst aspect of quality would be the speaker. last;; depends how much it's abused.

yes

no

practical addition

hobbyist

r, alt,co christian

I would characterize the sound of this product as complete garbage. I own 9 pro quality Fender all tube amps. I play full time as a professional musician and have for the last 26 years. Please read on...

The amp came with NO COVER and NO FOOTSWITCH. Has built-in effects and amp modeling. Fender should have went ahead and put in a built-in tuner, but did not. Cheap fiberboard amp cabinet and the knobs seemed fragile.

Hard to get any good sound. This amp sounds like a plastic Line6 spyder or similar. Very thin and flat sounding. Very disappointing.

Quality is minimal at best.

Compared to other cheap amps, it is in a similar price range.

I have dealt with Fender service many times. Basically their 5-year warranty is good, but since spending a thousand dollars on a Fender Princeton Recording Amp and it constantly overheats when using the power attenuator, Fender claims it is not a design flaw...but just ask ANY owner. For this Fender gets a low score for selling an amp that does not live up to its promise.

Sex appeal=0

Full time guitar operator

all styles

I own 9 professional high-end Fender Tube Amps and have been a full time musician for the last twenty-three years- gigging over 200 shows per year. This amp was to be my small solo/duo act rig, and I cannot tell you how disappointed I was when I plugged it in. I chose the Super over the Vibro because I felt I would need the extra power if I had to turn it up a little bit. No miking at the small gig for an easy in-easy out rig. I also chose the Super because it had channel switching. When I turned it on and played through it... I swear to God (and I'm not even religious) that this is the whimpiest amp I have ever heard with a Fender logo on it. Let me compare really quick: My Blackstar HT-5 watt head is 5 times louder and fuller, The cheesy Fender Frontman solid state is bigger and fuller sounding at less than 1/3 the price, my Blues Junior is about 20 times louder and fuller at the same 15 watts, so I suspect a lot of digital/transistorized crap is what this amp is about. Using the clean channel (#1) I could play cleanly at maybe 2 or 3, very low volume, then it would go into simulated tube breakup and not enough clean headroom to play a solo/duo gig that a 15 watt amp should render. It sounded thin, ratty and boxy. No depth or clarity..and yes, I checked the tubes and such. If you listen to some YouTube video demos it can be very misleading because they close mic it and record it at low volumes. It sounds good, but you might as well save the money and get the 5-watt Vibro for much less, because you can't gig with it either! I am still on the fence if I got a lemon or not, but I am not taking the chance of paying a return shipping fee -do to my disliking. The amp operated well, but not near loud or full as any 15 watt all-tube Fender amp would be. Pass on this one unless you enjoy wasting money on less than desireable gear.

No Accessories. You must buy a fitted cover (twenty bucks) and the optional footswitch (thirty-five bucks)making this amp cost almost as much or more than a quality all-tube amp.

Playability is minimal at such low levels for a clean sound. Flat, dull, ratty, boxy and lifeless. I suspect that this amp does not run a proper 300 volts through the 12ax7 preamp tube, but rather just glows enough to fool you into believing that the tube is actually doing its "full workload." This amp is well-suited for a nursing home rec room, where nobody wants to be able to hear it anyway.

As with most Fender Amps, it is well-built in Mexico.

I didn't give it the absolute lowest rating because there are many amps out there just as bad or worse.

Most Fender products carry a five-year warranty. Very good, unless you get stuck with an amp you do not like or able to use as desired.

If I went blind, and this was the only amp I had to play through, I would kill myself or simply play without it. I can think of many other amps in this price range that would do much better overall.

Full Time Professional Guitar Operator for 23 years.

All styles that pay.

Player for 10 years mostly amatuer with some gigging experience.

Blues, classic rock, Christian music.

Great product. I play blues and classic 60s rock. I use the 2 setting and this amp responds wonderfully. Just the right amount of distortion and it responds well to the style of playing (lighter attack and almost no distortion -- Harder attack and distortion responds).

No accessories -- but the amp models are cool.

Just need to play around with the settings o get your tone.

Solid build quality. No buzzes or fuzziness on the one I got.

Outstanding ampp. Prie is great for how well this product is built.

Hav not had to use so put rating in middle. A "NA" option was not available.

A tweed version would be really sweet. I know a blonde version is out there but I don't like e looks of the blonde stuff

hobbiest -- recording

bues -- classic 60s rock

The only way i give this a 10 is replacing the stock speaker with a celestion vintage 10. This speaker adds a different dimension and depth to the sound, not to mention the volume. It easily performs well with a small club gig. The speaker switch allows the amp modeling to really come through.

The only thing i would add is a mid control

super easy layout

I Cannot complain with the build

you cannot beat the price.

Fender stands by all their products

great classic Fender looks

recording musician

classic rock , blues, country

This amp is superb. I payed 229 for mine when the model first came out. Now that it's caught on, it's still a steal at $300+. The reason is the flexibility and quality of the sound. The models available by the "voicing" knob really do offer rich, convincing tones that cover a few different genres (rock, metal, jazz). I particularly like the bassman sounds and the plexi tone.

I had to deduct a couple of points here because the amp doesn't come with a footswitch and that cost me $50 more. Also, the speaker is a 10" instead of a 12". For what it's worth, plugging up another cabinet with a 12 or two makes this amp sound stunning.

I took about 2 minutes with the manual and was getting a huge variety of cool noises out of this beast.

Looks great. Sounds great. The cabinet rattles a little for me. I think it will hold up well so long as I don't abuse it.

This little gem made me abandon my otherwise excellent guitar processor. It's just too easy to get great tone.

Never needed them

While the Blackface sparkle is super-smexy, the true beauty of the SuperChamp XD is its tone. It's nearly impossible to make this amp sound bad. For the price it's a great alternative to the pricier Blues Junior and Hot Rod series. Only drawback here is that a gigging musician will likely need an extension cab or too feed the PA to get enough volume to compete with a loud drummer.

Recording Engineer

Rock, Blues, Trance