Fender Cyber Champ opinions?

[Karma1]

I tried posting this question in the amp forum but only got one response, so I thought I'd try here. I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has one or has used one. Although it's a solid state amp, I'd be adding some tube tone to the signal by running through a Mesa Boogie V-Twin pre-amp first, so I imagine it would sound pretty good and be fairly versatile with all those different amp models it has. I like my Blues Jr., but it's pretty much of a one trick pony compared to all the features of the Cyber Champ. Any comments?

[Godot]

I've tried the Cyber Champ, and found it to have about a million unusable tones, and a couple of decent ones. To me, it's about a two-trick pony.

 

Get a Tech 21 Trademark 60, instead. It's cheaper, better sounding, and MUCH easier to dial in a good tone on.

[Prages]

 

Originally posted by Godot I've tried the Cyber Champ, and found it to have about a million unusable tones, and a couple of decent ones. To me, it's about a two-trick pony. Get a Tech 21 Trademark 60, instead. It's cheaper, better sounding, and MUCH easier to dial in a good tone on.

 

 

The same thing holds true for a Cybertwin. I got about 5 decent tones out of it, 2 or 3 that I liked a good bit. The effects for the most part are not too good. I liked the reverb and delay. The tremolo effect wasn't bad, but the phase and flange sucked.

 

None were as good as my Peavey Classic 50 or Classic 30.

[markas214]

I have a Cyber Deluxe based on the same circuitry. I find I mainly use the Blackface or Tweed presets so I won't argue the point of only a couple usable presets. You really need to tweak the settings and create your own patches. The amp works for me because the Fender setting are excellent, the amp is loud enough to gig with and can be turned down for practice at home and still get nice distortion. In the $299 ballpark they're a bargain especially when the closet thing is a G-Dec for $240. The Cyber Champs 65 watts gives you plent of headroom so if you don't gig but decide to or need to jam with a drummer you are covered. You can't do that with a G-Dec. You could get a Peavey Valve King or Fender Bues Junior for another $100 but if you are mainly an at home player you just don't get the true tube distortion until the volume becomes a nuisance to those around you. Believe me I know this. I had a Hot Rod DeVille 410 that kicked ass but I could never turn it up at home. You could easily hear it 2 blocks away.

[jds22]

I've played all of the modeling amps. IMO, Fender was the worst, followed closely by Roland.

 

You really should check out the Vox Valvetronix line.

 

Jerry

[markas214]

 

Originally posted by jds22 I've played all of the modeling amps. IMO, Fender was the worst, followed closely by Roland. You really should check out the Vox Valvetronix line. Jerry

 

 

My impression were nearly opposite. Just shows how everyone has there own perceptions. My advice, go out and play one and compare for yourself. Fender doesn't "model" the way Vox, Roland, Line 6 do. There drive circuits are split between pre and power sections where-as the modelling amps mainly get there tone from sampling. The Fenders are a lot more interactive. Hence the perception by some that the tones aren't great. You really need to learn these amps and tweak them. The Others are pretty much preset for a certain sound with much less variability by the user. So if your looking for plug and play go with Line 6, Vox, Roland, Tech 21, etc. If you want to have a little more versatility I'd go with the Cyber series especially if you're into Fender amp tones. I may be a bit biased owning a Fender so again you really need to check them out yourself. As you can see from the few replies there are differing opinions. You can find lovers and haters of any gear. It comes down to personal preference.

[blind radish]

Originally posted by jds22 I've played all of the modeling amps. IMO, Fender was the worst, followed closely by Roland. You really should check out the Vox Valvetronix line. Jerry

 

 

WORD ... the VT 212 is an ass kicker!

I have one ... rumbles .... the living room floor from .. the basement

[rhinocaster]

Of all the modelling amps I've heard, the Fenders are by far the worst sounding. I would rather play the "One trick" Blues Jr. than any of the Fender modellers.

[Karma1]

Thanks for all the responses - much appreciated!

[Mosby]

I was just going to say: In my experience, when the Cyber-Twin came out it was probably the best modeling amp out there at the time. It was better then the 1st generation Line6 stuff, and the Vox stuff hadn't come out yet. Now, today, I would say it's probably solid, but doesn't match up to the Vox stuff (though i have very limited experience with the Vox stuff) and it doesn't really match up to the Line6 Pod XT pro I have now. I would say the Vox is probably your best bet.

[Prages]

 

Originally posted by Mosby I was just going to say: In my experience, when the Cyber-Twin came out it was probably the best modeling amp out there at the time. It was better then the 1st generation Line6 stuff, and the Vox stuff hadn't come out yet. Now, today, I would say it's probably solid, but doesn't match up to the Vox stuff (though i have very limited experience with the Vox stuff) and it doesn't really match up to the Line6 Pod XT pro I have now. I would say the Vox is probably your best bet.

 

 

I have the first generation Cybertwin, and the other guitarist in one of my bands has the first generation Vox Valvetronix.

 

The Valvetronix wins in every category except maybe cleans. Both are okay for higher gain stuff, but the Vox blows away the Fender for low to medium gain. I mean, it just blows the Fender away.

 

His Valvetronix was the reason that I became dissatisfied with the Fender. I thought I had it sounding pretty good until he got his Vox. After that first practice, I realized that the Fender sounded pretty weak in comparison.

 

EDIT: I do like the Fenders' output options more than the Vox. On the Cybertwin you can run a dry digital, effected digital, 1/4" left and right, or XLR left and right, and can chose between XLR stereo and XLR dual mono...and all of them have speaker simulation.

 

If I'm not mistaken, the Vox only has 1/4" outs with speaker simulation.

[maxnew40]

I don't agree that the the LIne 6 stuff is plug and play. Most of the Line 6 presets are useless for me. I had to tweak to get a good sound.

 

Max

[rangerkarlos]

The opinion of this geezer:

 

When the cyber twin came out, the salesman said "watch this", fiddled with something, and the amp played Cliffs Of Dover by itself.

 

 

When the cyber champ came out, I thought I'd give it another chance, plugged in and spent 3-4 minutes trying to get it to make any sounds at all. No luck.

 

You could say that I didn't give it a chance, and you'd be right. If it ain't intuitive enough to make some sounds after 3 minutes of fiddling with it, it's not for me.

 

And I'm a Fender guy.

[Prages]

Originally posted by rangerkarlos The opinion of this geezer: When the cyber twin came out, the salesman said "watch this", fiddled with something, and the amp played Cliffs Of Dover by itself.

 

Wow...I've had my Cybertwin since 2001 and I've never heard it play Cliffs of Dover or anything else by itself. I've got it on consignment now, but if it doesn't sell in the next month or so, I'll probably get it back and see if I can make it play me some tunes.

[rangerkarlos]

Originally posted by Prages Wow...I've had my Cybertwin since 2001 and I've never heard it play Cliffs of Dover or anything else by itself. I've got it on consignment now, but if it doesn't sell in the next month or so, I'll probably get it back and see if I can make it play me some tunes.

 

I swear, there was a demo mode and it played Cliffs of Dover by itself.

 

Maybe it was a dealers' demo model or something, but I doubt it.