Do Fender Twins distort when you crank them?

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GuitarDemon666

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Do Fender Twins distort when you crank them loud enough? Or will I always need a distortion pedal for that? If they don't distort, I not worry. The Rat is where it's at.
 
Yes, they do - enough for hard blues and "classic rock" or southern rock. Not enough for modern rock, though - you'll need a pedal for that.
 
doesn't the fender twin have a distortion channel? unless your talking old vintage ones which i'm not sure would have one.. but the new ones definately do so you can get your distortion and switch back over to that impossible to beat fender clean tone.
 
eeb said:
doesn't the fender twin have a distortion channel? unless your talking old vintage ones which i'm not sure would have one.. but the new ones definately do so you can get your distortion and switch back over to that impossible to beat fender clean tone.
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Fender built in pre amp distortion is OK....nothing to write home about. The cleansound is what is outstanding....and the clean channel overdriven into distortion.

If you want great distortion out of a fender twin, at lower volume, you will have to use an outboard effect.

I have a hot rod deville and use the onboard pre gain distortion in live gigs...not because it sounds great, but because it's easy and I'm lazy.

I like to plug straight in to the amp and blast...pedals are a pain in the ass IMO.

The pre amp distortion dosen't suck...it just isn't stellar.
 
I would think that a power attenuator would be a must-have with a Fender Twin. Then you can really push it into power tube breakup without deafening your entire neighborhood.
 
I don't know about the current models, but older black face and silver face models don't have a distortion/high gain channel. I think that first appeared in the early 80s with the Twin II which was designed by Paul Rivera. I used to have one of those and it was a great amp, IMHO. Channel switching and pretty good modern rock distortion. Otherwise, yes, you would want an attenuator (I like Hot Plate) so your ears don't bleed. You buy Fender for its clean sound.
 
pohaku said:
I don't know about the current models, but older black face and silver face models don't have a distortion/high gain channel. I think that first appeared in the early 80s with the Twin II which was designed by Paul Rivera. I used to have one of those and it was a great amp, IMHO. Channel switching and pretty good modern rock distortion. Otherwise, yes, you would want an attenuator (I like Hot Plate) so your ears don't bleed. You buy Fender for its clean sound.
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Ahh, the 80s Blackface "Evil Twin". Wasn't that one 100 or 120 watts, compared to the 80 or so of the old Twins? Either way, those Rivera designs were fantastic! The Super Champ has always been one of my favorites, but the damn thing weighs nearly as much as my '60s Deluxe Reverb!
 
SoComSurfing said:
Ahh, the 80s Blackface "Evil Twin". Wasn't that one 100 or 120 watts, compared to the 80 or so of the old Twins? Either way, those Rivera designs were fantastic! The Super Champ has always been one of my favorites, but the damn thing weighs nearly as much as my '60s Deluxe Reverb!
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Yup. I like the Rivera Fender amps. I got rid of the Twin -- as I recollect it was 100 watts, loud and heavy. Now have a Super Champ which is a loud 18 watts. Yes, it's a bit heavy -- but nothing compared to that Twin. Now if I was gigging regularly in a decent sized venue the Twin would be great -- but at home and in small venues --- no way. The Super Champ sounds quite a bit different than the 64 Champ I also have (tweed circuit but with black tolex). The 64 Champ breaks up a lot easier -- Oh, and the volume knob goes to 12!!
 
It depends on the year. If your talking about a `50's tweed, then oh hell yeah! But truly, wear your ear plugs. If your talking about a Silverface, then, well, kind of, but not really, and not in a pleasing way.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I've got an old silver faced single channel 50 watt Bandmaster that breaks up good, the E Twin is loud, never owned one but always wanted one, and a power soak would be the way to go.
 
I've got a "The Twin" model, it has a selector which allows 50 or 100 watts output. The 50 watt breaks up nicely without quite blowing out my eardrums but the 100 is way too loud. On the other hand, the 100 is great for that classic Fender clean sound. I have to agree with others, for a 2X12 combo it is a beast to lug around.
 
i remember seeing Ted Nugent and a wall of Twins...in a Vetrans Auditorium (metal building!:eek:)

just thinking about that volume makes my ears hurt. I don't think he was using pedals that show, F it was loud!! geeez... thats my live impression of the Twin distorting...or maybe it was just my eardrums being blown out?:eek:
 
Johnny Winter used to tour with a pyramid of Fender Super Reverbs. Essentially the same effect. What?
 
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