'61 Tweed Champ

[Shrapnel]

See it here: http://fortsmith.craigslist.org/msg/2514030308.html

Thing is, with a new power cord, two new caps, and "darkened" tweed (excuse of when it was done included in listing)... Is this person's expectations even realistic, or is he trying to cash in on the old-fender craze a few people have?

[Fresh_Start]

I'd pay $500 for it if the speaker is original, the insides are un-touched except for a couple of capacitors plus a 3-prong cord, and it sounds right.  But I'm not a collector or a dealer.

Chip

[Iannone]

With the '57 Champ reissue selling for a grand (gasp!), the price doesn't seem too weird or outrageous.

[Shrapnel]

With the '57 Champ reissue selling for a grand (gasp!), the price doesn't seem too weird or outrageous.

YIKES! OooooooooooooooKaaay, I guess if anyone is cashing in on and raping wallets for a very simple design, it's Fender themselves.

[bigsbybender]

I've seen Tweed Champs fetch $1500 before in very clean condition. I showed some eBay auction results to an old timer that has worked ~50 years at a local music shop. His quote: "I couldn't give those away when they were new. They sounded terrible, all distorted." Myself and another guy at the shop just looked at each other in disbelief thinking "this sounds bad?" While he was handing over his 59' Champ for me to work on.



j.

[tubeswell]

Tweed Champ vs BF Champ A/B

Clean Vintage Fender Champ's

[Fresh_Start]

That comparison of clean tones was nice, but I'd really like to hear the difference in the overdriven tones and touch response between clean & dirty.

Cheers,

Chip

[HotBluePlates]

If the speaker is good, it's worth the money.

More than a decade ago, I bought a '54 Princeton with some very ratty tweed (I mean very ratty) for $450 and got more than that for it when I sold it.

It might be a toss-up how much the painted tweed, or recovering with new tweed, would drop the collector value.

Play it and see if it sounds good to you. If it does, the price is decent.