Review: Fender Champion 40 Guitar Combo

The Fender Champion 40 is a 40W Guitar Amplifier Combo, loaded with a 12 inch speaker and an impressive number of effects, especially considering its size. It’s  designed for personal practice in the bedroom, or rehearsals and at small venues, unless of course you want to mic it up to FOH.

Featuring 2 foot switchable channels for setting up clean and driven sounds, which is pretty standard for the intended market of beginners, through to seasoned players looking for a rig that’s not too bulky. Then adding some classic Fender trademark tones with effects such as Reverb, Delay/Echo, Chorus, Tremolo, Vibratone, plus plenty more, this is a truly impressive piece of Fender workmanship in a small, easily portable package. We couldn’t be happier with the design. It has all the legendary marks of the Famous Fender image.

So, for testing, we found that it really packs a punch at loud volume, when cranking the clean section, which is something I look for in my amps. A clean tone that can cut through the mix, makes all the difference, especially if you’re rehearsing or playing a small area and competing against your mates, gear, which might be TOO big. Yes, we’ve all been there!

The tube drive options are excellent too. Some classic and modern amp voices to choose from. You can go from light blues drive to a cracking metal distortion very easily, using the Metal, British, Blackface and Tweed options. Be sure to check the manual first, so you can learn what the different LED colours represent, otherwise you might get a bit confused.

 

The Fender Champion 40 has the usual assortment of effects loop ins and outs, for adding to your sound diversity with FX pedals/Stomp boxes, Aux in, for media player accompaniment, Line out, for sending to the desk, or a bigger amp, and Headphones, for silent rehearsal.

 

8.5 Total Score
Review: Fender Champion 40

So to sum up……. You can’t have it all of course. If you want a Fender Reverb Deluxe Amp, or a Fender Tweed, then you will have to buy one……..and pay a fortune too! And if you want a larger choice of effects and amp voices, then take out a loan before you look. What we love about the Champion 40 is that it provides everything you need for either starting from scratch, or taking it out for gigging (according to venue size). It covers all the criteria required, to experience everything that is the electric guitar. It might be small, but this looks and sounds like a Fender……….because it is a Fender. The price truly reflects this. It’s great value for money.

Design
9
Usability
7.5
Price
9
Investment
8.5
PROS
  • It looks and sounds like a Fender
  • Great price
  • Rich strong Clean and Driven sounds
CONS
  • Could be bigger
  • Programming sounds takes a bit of getting used to
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