You can see a much clearer version of this on page 78 of Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970. Terry features a great photo of Fender product catalogs where this is evident, scroll all the way down the page. Just by switching ink, you could have a “new” catalog. This is one of the reasons why the early Fender catalogs were used for two consecutive years only changing the color between years. Back then if you made a change, entirely new metal printing plates had to be cut and that got to be expensive and time consuming. It wasn’t like today where a digital file can be quickly altered, a new print run can be complete in a matter of hours and your only real additional expense is buying a new stack of blank paper. Back in the late 1940’s printing was a rather expensive endeavour. Terry also clued me in to the thinking behind using up all of the old Champion 800 labels in the newer Champion 600s. It was featured in Teagle & Sprung’s Fender Amps: The First Fifty Years (). This particular model is a bit of a celebrity. Terry tells me that he’s only ever see 3 of these green tweed models in more than 15 years of collecting and this one is in the best condition of those. We know that Fender made only about 1000 of these green tweed Champion 800 models.
I’ve got 13 positives and counting! Terry’s sent me some gems before, like this 58 Champ in NIB condition, or this Champ lineup, but this has got to take the cake. If you don’t have it yet, pick yourself up a copy. If you aren’t familiar with him check out his new book available on Amazon – Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970. These wonderful photos come to all of us courtesy of Terry Foster. Note how the weave is horizontal, not diagonal like the later tweed models. The color scheme is utterly a product of its time, yet by some stroke of coincidence looks in-style by today’s standards. What really stands out on these early Champion 800s is the green tweed covering and deep purple mohair grill cloth. This revision was so quick that Fender hadn’t used up all of the old Champion 800 tube chart labels so they modified what was left over by hand rather than letting them go to waste. This new configuration was to help distinguish the Champion in Fender’s amp lineup from the slightly larger cabinet and tone control of the Princeton. The 600 featured a smaller 6-inch speaker and about 3 watts of power. The change from the Champion 800 to the Champion 600 was a relatively quick revision of the Champ line. I’d venture a guess that this change in cabinet style was made to help the low powered Champ project sound better. If you look at the 600 cabinet style, the front is slightly angled back. The 800 cabinet was completely flat fronted. In addition to the change to a two tone vinyl covering there was another very noticeable difference that is easy to overlook. The cabinet styling is similar to the two-tone TV-front Champion 600s that started production in Spring 1949. The Champion 800s featured the TV-front cabinet style, about 4 watts of power, an 8-inch speaker, two inputs, and a single knob for power and volume. This tube configuration would remain standard until the 5E1 circuit revision at the tail end of summer 1955. It was a Class A amp with a 6SJ7 preamp tube, a 6V6 power tube and a 5Y3 rectifier tube. Just like all of the other Champs, they were targeted toward the student market and were small and affordable. Below is info on the 800 (thanks to Jason Isadore) original post can be found at: These were the first amps produced under the Champion brand and were manufactured starting Summer 1948 until approximately the Spring 1949.
I am not sure if the plug is original or a replacement, either way it works I suppose. Has some small holes in the purple grill cloth. At some point, someone added a headphone jack (see picture 4). There are two holes in the back of the cabinet that have been covered with tweed (see picture #7). The speaker number on the jensen is 4798. It is fraying on the bottom and could use some repair.
Tweed has some wear, please see pictures. I turned it on and plugged in my lap steel and it works. I am unsure if this one is from 1948 or 1949. Here it is, the ultra RARE Fender Champ 800.
0 kommentar(er)
