Fender Champion 20 Review

Key Features

Sound Shaping

You can shape your sound with this amplifier. It features an equalizer section with both bass and treble functions. You can also use the various effects to change your sound. Effects include chorus, delay, vibratome, and reverb. You have plenty of options when it comes to making high-quality sounds with this amplifier.

It’s easy to dial in the amount of gain you want with the gain control. You get 20 watts of power with this amplifier so it's perfect for basic practicing or small gigs. The speaker is 8 inches and puts out a good sound for its size.

Voicing Control

Unique aspects of this amplifier include voicing control. You can use this knob to dial in everything from clean tones to distorted effects. You have 17 different amp models to choose from and they are very varied enough to cover most of the genres of music. You have the control you need to sculpt your own sounds with this control. Amo model styles include blackface, British, metal, and tweed.

Amp Models

The amplifier features for main amp models but these are adjustable. Here is a rundown of the four main models that come with this amplifier

Tweed - This model creates early Fender tones. Some famous twin amps include the Twin Deluxe and the Princeton. You'll be able to dial in these types of tones with this amp model.

Blackface - the blackface amp model is an amplifier that came out after the Tweed amps were produced. These are the amplifiers that have the small controls that look like little hats. during this era, there was new circuitry created and the way these amps look today is much like they did during those early days of the blackface.

British - This amp model offers you both British and American atones so you can get a wide range of different voices to help your playing. These amp models are like the classic rock sounds from the 1960s and 70s.

Metal - This setting gives you the extra gain you need for playing a more metal type tone. This tone will give you that classic metal sound from the 1980s and 90s

Jam with Ease

This amplifier makes jamming along with your own MP3 tracks easy as it has an auxiliary input. You can simply plug your smartphone or another device into this Jack and jam along with your favorite tracks. For quiet practice sessions, you can use the headphone

Effects

There is no need to buy additional effects pedals with this amplifier because it has them built-in. This can save you a lot of money and the effects give you a wide range of sounds. You can set your delay and tremolo amount with a tap of a button. The effects are all accessible by a dial and they include:

+ Reverb
+ Delay
+ Chorus
+ Flanger
+ Tremolo
+ Wah
+ Vibratome

Pros

+ Wide range of amp modeling settings to choose from
+ Has plenty of built-in effects
+ Classic Fender amplifier look
+ Perfect for practice sessions

Cons

- Not powerful enough for large gigs
- Power switch on the back of the unit is cumbersome

Alternative: Fender Champion 100.

Who Is It Suitable For?

This amplifier is suited for those that want to do a lot of practicing. It's small enough to take with you to practice sessions and to use in your bedroom. While it might be suited for a small gig such as a coffee house, it's not going to be large enough for a proper gig such as a bar band.

You will need more power for that sort of gig as the 20 Watts it produces simply is not enough. for anyone that wants an amplifier for practicing however, this is the ideal Choice thanks to its robust features.

Why We Like It

The Fender Champion 20 packs a lot of punch in a small package. We like the fact that it has excellent amp modeling so you can find a decent home without spending a whole lot of money on your amplifier.

The built-in effects make easy to change your overall sound and to do a lot of experimentation with your amplifier. The auxiliary jack makes it easy to jam along with your favorite music and you can also use headphones with this unit.

Alternative Product

Fender Mustang

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