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Fender Twin Reverb

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sunvalleylaw

sunvalleylaw

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This in the local paper's classifieds today. I am not looking for an amph, and would normally consider a Bassman first if I wanted a big Fender amph, but this caught my eye. Any thoughts on this amph? Is the price in the ball park given good condition as described?


Fender Twin Reverb, blackface mod & complete service/recap by Doyle's Broadway Music in Boise. Original cone Altec 417 speakers, all vintage tubes. $950. Tone to the Bone. 578-xxxx
 
Is it a Silver Face? That doesn't sound like a great deal to me. The Twin is a great amp but won't satisfy your Bassman cravings. I see reissue Bassmans going for $500-700 on Ebay all the time.
 
Robert said:
Beware, Twins are LOUD.
Click to expand...
+100! These are really "big venue" amps.

And it does indeed appear to be a Silver Face that's been "blackfaced" to enhance tone/value. I'd also be kind of concerned that they don't explicitly mention the year. That would seem to indicate that it's a less than desirable vintage.....
 
Ok, thanks guys. Now I know more about twins. I searched for a twin specific thread but did not find one. I agree, way louder than I have use for, and my ear tends to go for the slightly dirtier Bassman sound over the sparkly blackface sound, but can one doctor up a Blackface sound to get some Bassman dirt going? Bottom line, way too much loud, clean headroom for me. If I were going for the sound, it seems a Deluxe Reverb would be more in the ball park. But again I like the Bassman sound more, and my C-30 works fine for now.
 
I agree with DVM and the rest, they are loud amps. You have to turn them up to ear bleed levels to get some warmth out of them.

My own personal opinion is that while it is possible to mod a blackface amp to get tweed sounds, it isn't a good idea. You devalue the amp if you have mods done to it. A Twin is still going to be a very loud amp no matter what you do with.

You're on the right track, though. I would look into a Deluxe Reverb or even a Princeton Reverb. But these still are going to give you the loud clean BF sound. If you're more into the dirty tweed sound, go for a 5E3 Deluxe. Your best bet is to buy a kit or buy one from someone who built a kit, though.

tung


sunvalleylaw said:
Ok, thanks guys. Now I know more about twins. I searched for a twin specific thread but did not find one. I agree, way louder than I have use for, and my ear tends to go for the slightly dirtier Bassman sound over the sparkly blackface sound, but can one doctor up a Blackface sound to get some Bassman dirt going? Bottom line, way too much loud, clean headroom for me. If I were going for the sound, it seems a Deluxe Reverb would be more in the ball park. But again I like the Bassman sound more, and my C-30 works fine for now.
Click to expand...
 
Yeah agreed, why buy one of the BF sound amphs and mod it? Not what I would be looking for. I was more trying to ask can you dirty it up with a pedal or something? Like one of those tweed pedals into the BF type amph. But I can get one of those pedals for my C-30, or just keep fiddling with it, and get close enough I bet. The C-30 is darker than a BF, but I think has good sounds and is pretty darn versatile. I liked mine just as well or better stacked against a Blues Junior (admittedly not a BF sound) when I had a chance to go head to head with another guy last year.

But back on topic, just the idea of a Twin caught my interest. Someday maybe I can have room for stadium sized amphs that I have no real practical use for. ;) :D
 
One more thing I'd mention, Steve.........when it comes time to re-tube a Twin, it costs serious money. They do sound good for clean/loud stuff, though.
 
Sorry Steve, I misunderstood you. Of course you can dirty up a Twin with a pedal. That is the only way to get OD tones out of it at low volumes. But you still have to turn it up a bit to let it breath. I had an early siverface Pro Reverb back in the 80s. A buddy of mine came over and played through it with a vintage TS-808 Tube Screamer. Instant Robben Ford. I ended up getting rid of the Pro as it was too loud for my needs. And it is only a 40W amp. I did have a Blackface Princeton Reverb with an EV 10" speaker in it that I really regret getting rid of. Very clean like a Twin, but with some 6V6 sparkle. I've always like 6V6s in amps more than 6L6s. You might check out Allen Amps 6V6-based amps.

tung


sunvalleylaw said:
Yeah agreed, why buy one of the BF sound amphs and mod it? Not what I would be looking for. I was more trying to ask can you dirty it up with a pedal or something? Like one of those tweed pedals into the BF type amph. But I can get one of those pedals for my C-30, or just keep fiddling with it, and get close enough I bet. The C-30 is darker than a BF, but I think has good sounds and is pretty darn versatile. I liked mine just as well or better stacked against a Blues Junior (admittedly not a BF sound) when I had a chance to go head to head with another guy last year.

But back on topic, just the idea of a Twin caught my interest. Someday maybe I can have room for stadium sized amphs that I have no real practical use for. ;) :D
Click to expand...
 
It is possible to get some nicer earthy tones from a Twin or some of the other big black face amps. The tone controls also change how loud the amp is. On many of the older blackface amps, and some of the newer, like a Re-Issue '65 Twin, if you roll the tones down to 0 and turn the volume up to 6 1/2 - 7 1/2 the amp is quiet. Next bring the bass pot up until you hear the amp start to come alive. Then bring up the mids and treb just enough for a balanced tone. You'll probably be around 2 1/2 on bass and maybe 3 to 3 1/2 on mid and treb.
It also works if you use the 2nd lower powered input. And when you combine the low power input using the tone control approach, you'd be surprised how very versatile a Twin or a big blackface can be.
 
Interesting. I'll have to try that with my Blues Jr., just for grins. I did the ridiculously simple mod that makes its tone controls act like a Twin's, i.e. zero output with the three tone controls all the way down. Even with its modest 15W output, I rarely dial the Master volume up above 3 here in my little back room.
 

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