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!
Trackbacks and Pingbacks
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i have in my possesion , since 1974, a fender vibrochamp……all original purchased in 1974……….outlet cord a little cracked but the amp absolutley hops off the chair when warmed up……..tweed cover, fender scroll in upper left…. O G On back panel with production #6……………. whats it worth,,,,,,intrinsically? and on the market………..
Sounds sweet! The one owner amps are real gems. Usually really well taken care of. I specialize in the tweed era champs, 1948-1964 so I can’t speak confidently about mid 70s Champs. If you are looking for a great way to figure out what your amp is worth, I suggest watching similar amps on eBay. By looking at similar items where the auction has completed (there is an option to see completed auctions for the last 30 days) you should be able to get an idea real quick. Just as a bit of a bench mark, tweed era player amps, ones that are not in all original mint and collector quality condition, have been going for under $1000 recently, usually bouncing between $700 and $900.
I have several vintage guitars and amps (55 Les Paul Gold as an example) (57 Telecaster as an example) (59 Tweed Bassman as an example) etc etc as well as a few tweed Fender amps. I have two of the two tone late 40′s (?) Champ amps.
I see quite a bit of info on the Fender Champion 600 but nothing on just the Fender 600 (I have both.) What is the story on the amp that just says Fender 600? I know it is the same amp as the Fender Champion 600 and I assume the 600 was just before the Champion 600 but can anybody tell me anymore about the 600 please?
Note none of my stuff is for sale or trade thank you.
Does it look like this one http://myfenderchamp.com/2010/02/28/tweed-fender-champion-600-4082/