2010s Fender Champion 600 5w Tube Amp (Modded)

I remember when these Champion 600 models came out and folks bought them up like crazy because -- ya know -- they're cute, lightweight, and tube. The modding and hack-n-slash change-ups began immediately, too, because people are endless tinkerers when it comes to anything small and tube. The original voice on these is slightly dark and the original speakers are fairly apathetic, though, so I get it.

This one's obviously well-used but has been upgraded and modded a bunch. The owner crammed an 8" Voice of Rock (US-made) speaker under the hood, fit a nice JJ power tube and modern Mullard preamp tube, and then modded the circuit a bit. There's a flip-switch that bypasses a tone-sculpting section and lets a lot more treble through. I figure this is an "always-on" switch because the amp tone improves greatly with that bypassed. There's also another switch that functions like a big, old, fuzzy "dirty boost." It's not a beautiful sound but it could be totally useful in the right situation.

So -- yep -- the upgrades make this a much more useful, fuller-sounding, and fun-to-use little tube amp. I could easily see taking this along to a small jam and enjoying it greatly. I don't have a proper crystal mic hanging around to test but I expect it would make a good harmonica rig, too.

It does have wear and tear, though -- plenty of small scratches, nicks, and scuffs in the covering, broken "amp jewel" glass, and of course it's been modded a fair bit and the grill cloth is not original. It seems to be burlap and hangs slightly loose. Fair enough!

Like most single-ended amps, it has a faint idle hum that becomes more noticeable the louder you turn it up when you're not playing. I found plugging it into my filtered power supply helped a lot, though. We have a ton of odd wiring in our old building.