Fender Champ impedance

preben · 20th August 2004

I've very recently got a Victoria Tweed Champ (model 518). I know it's designed to run at 4 ohms but does anyone know if it's safe to run a single 8 ohm speaker with the champ..?? I often run the amp at full tilt and I don't know if I can damage anything by impedance mismatching.

Jack Pettit · 23rd August 2004

It won't work well, I don't know about damage.

preben · 23rd August 2004

thanks for the reply. What do you mean when you say it won't work well..?? I have read somewhere that an 8 Ohm load will make the Champ sound dull and lifeless - is this the kind of thing you mean..?

Jay Kahrs · 25th August 2004

You can go higher but not lower. Say, run an 8 or 16 ohm speaker off a 4 ohm drive. However, running a 4 ohm speaker off an 8 ohm drive is most likely bad and will damage the amps output transformer and possibly eventually take out power tubes and cause other cool things to happen...well...cool if you like fireworks and pyrotechnics. Why not get the right impedance speaker for it?

preben · 25th August 2004

Jay, thanks for your response. The reason I want to use it with 8 ohm (and possibly even 16 ohm) speakers is that I have a rather fixed 4-speaker iso-box setup where all speakers are 8 or 16 ohms (and the Champ sounds GREAT with a Celestion Vintage 30 for dirty sounds).

I tried it first with 2 speakers in parallel to reach the nominated 4 ohms and this works well but since I am only miking one speaker at a time and trying to keep the noise levels down a bit it would be better if only the speaker with the mike on it made a sound.

Jack Pettit · 26th August 2004

psytechguy · 28th August 2004

Just put one of these in my primo condition '66 Vibra-Champ.

http://store.yahoo.com/triodeel/tfchxfwi48oh.html

Didn't have to drill any holes. I covered the 8 ohm tap wires with heat shink and routed them out between the cabinet and chassis.
Used one of those bullet shaped female Switchcraft external jacks.

It jst dangles right below the 4 ohm RCA connector.

I use an 8 ohm Celestion 12 in an extension cab and it sounds great!

You can also run the amp's speaker and the extension at the same time.

Not bad for under $20 and 30 minutes work.

20th August 2004	#1
preben Lives for gear Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: London Posts: 900 Thread Starter	Fender Champ impedance I've very recently got a Victoria Tweed Champ (model 518). I know it's designed to run at 4 ohms but does anyone know if it's safe to run a single 8 ohm speaker with the champ..?? I often run the amp at full tilt and I don't know if I can damage anything by impedance mismatching.

26th August 2004	#6
Jack Pettit Gear addict Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Reno Nevada Posts: 385	Yes

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23rd August 2004	#2
Jack Pettit Gear addict Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Reno Nevada Posts: 385	It won't work well, I don't know about damage.

25th August 2004	#5
preben Lives for gear Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: London Posts: 900 Thread Starter	Jay, thanks for your response. The reason I want to use it with 8 ohm (and possibly even 16 ohm) speakers is that I have a rather fixed 4-speaker iso-box setup where all speakers are 8 or 16 ohms (and the Champ sounds GREAT with a Celestion Vintage 30 for dirty sounds). I tried it first with 2 speakers in parallel to reach the nominated 4 ohms and this works well but since I am only miking one speaker at a time and trying to keep the noise levels down a bit it would be better if only the speaker with the mike on it made a sound.

28th August 2004	#7
psytechguy Gear maniac Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Austin TX Posts: 205	Just put one of these in my primo condition '66 Vibra-Champ. http://store.yahoo.com/triodeel/tfchxfwi48oh.html Didn't have to drill any holes. I covered the 8 ohm tap wires with heat shink and routed them out between the cabinet and chassis. Used one of those bullet shaped female Switchcraft external jacks. It jst dangles right below the 4 ohm RCA connector. I use an 8 ohm Celestion 12 in an extension cab and it sounds great! You can also run the amp's speaker and the extension at the same time. Not bad for under $20 and 30 minutes work.