How to Date a Tweed Fender Champ Amplifier by the Tube Chart
You can easily date a vintage Tweed Fender Champ amplifier by the code stamped on the tube chart on the interior of your amp. The code chart below can help you figure out what it means. Fender used a very simple two-letter code across all of their vintage Champs:
| First Letter is the Year of Manufacture
A – 1951 B – 1952 C – 1953 D – 1954 E – 1955 F – 1956 G – 1957 H – 1958 I – 1959 J – 1960 K – 1961 L – 1962 M – 1963 N – 1964 O – 1965 P – 1966 Q – 1967 |
Second Letter is the Month of Manufacture
A – January B – February C – March D – April E – May F – June G – July H – August I – September J – October K – November L – December |
1959 Tweed Fender Champ Tube Chart and Date Code
In this photo, you can see the stamped code of IC in the upper right corner. IC stands for 1959 March. So, I have an amp that was made in March 1959.
This tube chart is located on the interior, left vertical side of the amplifier (when looking at it from the rear). The labels don’t seem to have a consistent positioning, always in one spot or the other. After all, these things were made by a human hand!
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