Fender the Twin Red Knob, Black face opinions?
Count DeMonet (fka MZ)
if anyone here has owned or owns one of these http://www.daddys.com/used/?itemnumber=FEN1476B
because I am thinking of making the long assed drive (2.5 hrs. one
way) to check it out but don't want to bother if it doesn't even come
close to a circa 1970's Twin. Any opinions on this amp from anyone
would be great.
TIA
Les Cargill
I remember them being very much not the same. A whole lot not the same.
--
Les Cargill
Count DeMonet (fka MZ)
> Count DeMonet (fka MZ) wrote:
>
> > Yeah I know it's OT, but I have begun to loathe AGA so I was wondering
> > because I am thinking of making the long assed drive (2.5 hrs. one
> > way) to check it out but don't want to bother if it doesn't even come
> > close to a circa 1970's Twin. Any opinions on this amp from anyone
> > would be great.
>
> > TIA
>
> I remember them being very much not the same. A whole lot not the same.
>
> --
> Les Cargill
That's what I thought. I hadn't read any reviews yet because I trust
real time, real world opinions much more than some screaming meemie on
Harmony Central.
Dr. Zontar
wrote:
> Yeah I know it's OT,
A lot more on topic than some of the stuff posted lately. . .
> if anyone here has owned or owns one of thesehttp://www.daddys.com/used/?itemnumber=FEN1476B
> because I am thinking of making the long assed drive (2.5 hrs. one
> way) to check it out but don't want to bother if it doesn't even come
> close to a circa 1970's Twin.
The red knob "Evil Twin" has it's fans. I seem to remember seeing
David Lindley use one at some point. Maybe it was Ry Cooder. . .
If you want a 70's Twin sound, at a decent price, look for a
Silverface Pro Reverb. The silverface version was basically the same
as a Twin, but put out 70 watts instead of 100 (still VERY loud). You
can still find them at fair prices, because they don't say "Twin
Reverb" on them. But they're still vintage Fender tube amps with 2
12's, tube tremolo and beautiful Fender spring reverb.
Oh, and they weigh a ton, just like a Twin.
- Rich
rct
> > if anyone here has owned or owns one of thesehttp://www.daddys.com/used/?itemnumber=FEN1476B
> > because I am thinking of making the long assed drive (2.5 hrs. one
> > way) to check it out but don't want to bother if it doesn't even come
> > close to a circa 1970's Twin.
> The red knob "Evil Twin" has it's fans. I seem to remember seeing
> David Lindley use one at some point. Maybe it was Ry Cooder. . .
Robben Ford. Or Eric Johnson. Can't remember. A red knob is a thing
unto itself. If you wanted a nice representation of each of the eras
of Fedner, it'd be one to have. But not as a Silver Face Twin, not
even close really.
> If you want a 70's Twin sound, at a decent price, look for a
> Silverface Pro Reverb. The silverface version was basically the same
> as a Twin, but put out 70 watts instead of 100 (still VERY loud). You
> can still find them at fair prices, because they don't say "Twin
> Reverb" on them. But they're still vintage Fender tube amps with 2
> 12's, tube tremolo and beautiful Fender spring reverb.
> Oh, and they weigh a ton, just like a Twin.
Aye. Good suggestion actually. Three quarters the amp at half the
price. Or something. Just buy two of every pedal to put in front of
it, you'll need them.
rct
Dr. Zontar
> Aye. Good suggestion actually. Three quarters the amp at half the
> price. Or something.
I used one back in my surf band days. I had other guitarists come up
to me after gigs and say, "Nice Twin".
> Just buy two of every pedal to put in front of
> it, you'll need them.
I got by with just a Big Muff for fuzz and a Marshall Guv'nor for OD.
But I didn't use many FX back then. Just the built-in trem and tons of
reverb.
- Rich
DeeAa
> Count DeMonet (fka MZ) wrote:
>
> > Yeah I know it's OT, but I have begun to loathe AGA so I was wondering
> > because I am thinking of making the long assed drive (2.5 hrs. one
> > way) to check it out but don't want to bother if it doesn't even come
> > close to a circa 1970's Twin. Any opinions on this amp from anyone
> > would be great.
>
> > TIA
>
> I remember them being very much not the same. A whole lot not the same.
>
> --
> Les Cargill
Aye, they be not the same at all.
It has a nice versatile sound; two channels with quite a nice drive
channel for legatos and saturated leads and with the power halving
switch it can yield it at reasonable levels too, although it is loud
enough indeed. I remember it as the best Fender I ever had. I swapped
it later to a DeVille, which was louder, crunchier and much less
versatile but its raw punch appealed to me then. The red knob was more
like in the vein of MesaBoogie or something. In retrospect, the red-
knob was a much better amp. It also had a handy bias adjustment on the
back.
If you go to my webpages - http://deeaa.pp.fi
...and scroll the page way down to No Class tunes from 'Free World'
live to 'Deep' (20 songs), ALL the 'main' guitars (not solos but the
main riffs and melodies, pretty much whicever guitar starts the songs
etc.) were played on a Les Paul and a red-Knob Twin.
Cheers,
Dee
Don Evans
Count DeMonet (fka MZ) wrote:
Completely different animal.. IMO. I've played through a few, and I didn't
really dislike them at all, but you have to treat them as a different amp
from the classic Fender Twin.
Don
obladee obladah
wrote:
Stay away from them. I had one... and I service Fender amps. It is a
really bad pain in the back to lug this thing around... even with the
stock speakers it weighs about 85 lbs. Easily the heaviest thing you
could try to throw into a trunk or backseat. They sound a little
lackluster, you could do better. They do have an onboard preamp based
overdrive that is good for practicing... but it sounds "buzzy" when
you turn it up to performance levels. The clean channel sounds OK and
if I remember correctly... either or both channels could be selected
to run through the onboard reverb. There is at least ONE serious
defect with these amplifiers in that the power supply is not sturdy
enough for constant high output playing. Eventually the transformer
or something else will fail. You are better off with a real amplifier
like a siverface Twin-Reverb made before 1976 or a blackface amp.
I converted a Fender 30 (vint. 1981 designed by CBS Fender & Rivera)
back to true blackface specs... as it was the last eyelet board
amplifier manufactured by Fender. It has a Fender Bassman style
output transformer and two 6L6's for about 50 watts although it is the
same physical size as a Fender deluxe-reverb. It is my favorite.
--
Someone@somewhere (over the rainbow...)