I have a cool little 1980s Fender Super Champ. It’s one of the amp models that was designed by Paul Rivera. This little guy puts out about 18 watts through a single 10″ speaker. It also features Reverb and an overdrive mode. This is a great little amp to take to jams or recording sessions. It’s an all tube design and one of the last point to point hand-wired Fender amps. A few shortcomings of this amplifier are:
Two of the three shortcomings can be fixed pretty easily and for not too much money. The one that cannot be fixed is the footswitch circuit… I’ve tried and it’s just the design… oh well. First thing is to ditch the stock speaker and put in one that’s more efficient with more clarity and better bass response. I chose an Eminence Ragin Cajun and the amp totally came to life. You can do a gig with no problem once you install the Cajun.
If you want to take the amp up another level or two then you have to replace the puny output transformer. I removed the stock unit and replaced it with a Mercury Magnetics FBFDR-O model. This is the clone of the blackface Deluxe Reverb output transformer. It is definitely bigger and if you install in on a slight angle you can catch a mounting screw hole for a terminal strip so you do not have to drill any holes in the chassis.
The result is absolutely astounding!! It has been a long time since I upgraded a transformer in an amp and this swap reminded me how effective upgrading an output transformer can be. The whole amp just opened up and the bottom end got much tighter and defined… almost piano like. The overall volume of the amp increased and the dynamic range was broadened. There was much more harmonic content and overall the amp sounded and felt much more solid. Besides sounding and feeling better this amp was now a lot more gig worthy. A simple transformer swap did all that and only took about an hour from the time I dropped the chassis until I hit the first note. To me that’s a total home run!!
If you have an amp that sounds and feels good but want to take it up a level or two then let me suggest two reasonable upgrades: New speakers and a transformer swap… at least the output transformer. These two upgrades can transform your amp into something magical. Plus it is a lot less expensive than getting a whole new amp, not to mention the time you have to invest trying a bunch of them until you find one that works for you.
I am affiliated with both Eminence and Mercury Magnetics. If you have any questions and are interested in upgrades please email me and I can help make a recommendation or two on speakers and/or transformers. You will be amazed… I am every time!!
