Tweed Fender Champ 5F1 C-02433

Today I’ve got photos of Tweed Fender Champ 5F1 model serial number C-02433.  The photos are a little dark and my photoshop skills aren’t all that great, so I’ll roll with what I’ve got.  Dating this amp by serial number tells us it was made in mid 1956.  Taking a look at the two letter tube chart code usually helps clarify the month of manufacture but this one is a little hard to read.  I can make out an F, which corresponds with 1956, but the second letter is a bit of a mystery.

It looks like it might be an I which would mean September but that would mean it was made after  C-02499 which has a nice clear date code stamp of FH (August 1956).  Not sure what is going on with this one, it just could be typical lax record keeping during this time or trying to read too much into a photoshopped photo.  If anyone has a better guess, I’m all ears.

The amp looks to be in pretty good shape.  The power cord looks replaced, as does the speaker.  There is a new handle and a couple of new capacitors as well.