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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 1180
Location: Vermont USA | I am looking at a Fender Vibro Champ XD and a Frontman 212R.
Can you guys give me a little feedback about these?
Pauly |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | What is your intended use? |
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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 1180
Location: Vermont USA | I mostly play in Church so I dont need anything to big. |
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Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | I don't know those too well, but I was never very impressed with any of the frontman amps. You might want to check out the Super Champ XD. I got one as a present earlier this year and it's very sweet. 15 watts all tube and a 10" speaker. Plus the digital voicings and dsp effects. Great size and it'll handle a lot of situations. And it came in blonde/oxblood. It's inexpensive but it is what it is ... a Chinese-made vintage reproduction with modern electronics. I think the Vibro is the 5 watt model in this line. I'm having a LOT of fun playing through the Super Champ.
Good luck. All the best Pauly. |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4049
Location: Utah | Ditto on the Super Champ XD. The smaaler speaker in the Vibro concerns me. I would want to plug my guitar into one before buying.
I suspect that the digital front ends are the same or based on the same electronics. The emulations and effects are quite excellent. If you run it straight through the clean channel you have an unadulterated tube amp.
Check into the Vibro's line out capability if it has one. If you plug into a PA you don't have to mic it. The SCXD line out is after the digital front end before any tubes. Fine sound but no tubes in the signal path.
If you get the SCXD the Rajin' Cajun speaker swap is worth it. |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Two questions . . . are you using acoustic electrics, and do you intend to use the on-board FX? If you are using an A/E, then I would shy away from anything that emphasizes a fatter crunch tone and go for the clean side. If you're using outboard FX, then the built-ins would likely be something you wouldn't use. Nice to have, but not used. If you're using an A/E, have you checked out any of Fender's Acoustasonic line? They're really made for this application. There are numerous others on the market as well. For $300, you could get into a used Acoustasonic Jr. DSP or a Genz Shen Jr. Other members here have good things to say about other amps designed for acoustic/electrics. I have what probably amounts to an early solid state 2x12 platform version of the 2x12 Frontman combo series. It is called an M-80 and was built by Fender in the late 80's up until 1994 reportedly for the Grunge bands of the day. Mine is a single year '94 model called the M-80 Chorus. Built in the USA, it has reverb and stereo chorus with variable levels of distortion and drive. The M-80 models morphed into the ultimate chorus models, then were eventually dropped by Fender at about the time the entry level Frontman series went into production. The front panel controls and other features on the Frontman 212 have some similarity to the original M-80 models. I bought the M-80 new in 1994 and used the clean channel with reverb and chorus exclusively with a Legend Ltd for about five years. It is very powerful and provided much more output than I ever really needed. Again, I don't how many other features or characteristics have changed between 1994 and today on Fender's 2x12 solid state amps, but these two models look similar and you can the lineage. That said, these days I would always recommend against buying more amp than you need. It is fun to have, but the high output is really not very usable in an indoor environment, particularly if you are also using a PA or other sound reinforcement system. One more comment on the Super Champs . . . the originals have developed a cult following and are expensive to buy on the used market. They were built as a practice and small venue amp for metal bands in the early 80's but their appeal expanded to other styles as well. The new Super Champs don't have the reputation of the originals and unless you intend to play a lot of fat overdrive, it may not be the best choice for your application. It would probably work, but praise bands were not the likely target market for the original Super Champs back in the early 80's. Just my $.02. Good luck in your quest. |
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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 1180
Location: Vermont USA | I looked at a 212 today way bigger than I need. I have a custom Tele i'm using. For acoustic I use a Acoustasonic 30. So today I saw a Por Jr. any thoughts there? There also was a Marshall 5W tube amp Ma series? |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | with electric tubes are the way to go IMHO
genz benz for acoustic |
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Fender Amp for Electric
