is my fender twin reverb supposed to get dirty?

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endserenading81

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i have had a new Fender twin reverb 2x12 for about 6 months and have never heard any dirtyness until recently, since i've been playing steady with my band. before i could turn the volume to 6, and clean clean clean. but when i turn it to 4, it starts to distort now. whats happening? i'm not breaking it am i? i play my fender strat clean. what could it be?
thanks,
rob
 
don't know but i'm incrementing my post count by pretending to care, best of luck
 
maybe u need a tube swap?

are u using an attenuator?

sounds like you need the tubes swapped though...get that to some amp repair place...i know a guy in san francisco that can help you..but again, thats probably a tube related problem and you probably just need new ones. especially if you've been playing at that volume, repeatedly, in a band context, for a few months now.
 
Tubes should last a lot longer than 6 months but still its not a bad idea to get them checked. If you have been hauling the amp around a lot you may have just shaken one loose, make sure all tubes are seated tightly in their sockets, don't forget to check the sheilded ones too, those are the ones with a metal caseing around them. Cleaning the controls and contacts might not help but definately wont hurt and should be a regular part of amp maintenance.
 
It could be speaker distortion, too. Are the speakers original or maybe theyve been replaced with some that are lower power handling?

Hard to tell, just have it checked out. I had an early silverface Twin Reverb that was clean all the way up with Strat. You can break them up with a Les paul or other higher output pickups though...but the levels are insane.

H2H
 
sounds like the power tubes... what kind of tubes are they? Some of the stock Groove Tubes the reissues ship with are not of the highest quality. Plus Twins are known to eat power tubes, especially when you play them alot at high volume. Twin Reverbs are loud COMBO amps. The tubes and all the other circuitry is in the same enclosure as the speakers, so the tubes and all the rest of the electronics is subject to alot more vibration than if you had a seperate head/cab configuration.

I would also check the power tube bias/balance. Maybe they drifted a little... Have a tech check it out. I doubt you're "breaking" it or doing any permanent damage. Its probably a good idea to learn a little bit about tube amp maintenance.
 
everything stock

yeah guys, let me tell ya more about the amp............everything is STOCK! It has the 2x12 Jensen speakers, and GROOVE TUBES, i have consistently played the amp at about 4, which is pretty loud. should i buy new tubes anyway? how much do the best go for? this has been a problem for me, cause i bought the amp FOR the clean. i just want clean clean. oh yeah, and my strat is alittle different, cause i play it with the SEYMOUR DUNCAN INVADER, should have said that before. i've heard it's one of the loudest pickups there is. can that be the culprit?
thanks everyone,
rob
 
oh oh oh

oh oh, almost forgot. let me say the tone i'm going for, so you can suggest the PERFECT tubes for me..............super super warm, smooth, silky. very pleasing, not harsh AT ALL. just the warmest sound. you see, my guitar playing is on the high notes, i play apreggios galore. pluck pluck. so i need the right set up to make them sing and be beautiful.
thanks,
rob

i sound like : explosions in the sky
 
Duncan Invaders are very hot, and yes that will make the amp break up a little bit. Have you been playing this amp/guitar/pickup combo all along and you just started noticing distortion recently? Or did you notice that the amp started breaking up when you got the Invaders dumped into the guitar?

As for tubes, I dunno, I'm not a NOS tube conniseur so I use mostly new production JJs or Electro-Harmonix. The 12AX7 Groove Tube Mullard-copies are good, I dunno if they are worth the extra cash though... If you are interested in NOS, try www.kcanostubes.com and contact Mike K. He will recommend tubes for your amp.

I would replace the power tubes first (the big ones) there are four of them, and these need to be matched. I'm pretty sure the Twin reverb reissues run on 6L6s. Some guys recommend that you use a heavy duty 6L6 in the Twins.
 
This might sound silly and you probably already know - but no one has mentioned it yet.

I don't know what year your amp is but I have a 74 twin that has a built in overdrive switch in the master volume knob. It's a push/ pull kind of thing. Does yours have this? Im not sure offhand what years they produced amps with this feature but it's a tricky little design.

Best of luck.
 
yeah..

i have been playing this setup the whole time. the pickups and settings, everything. i heard that Groove Tubes arn't that good. I've read that Ruby will give me a warmer sound. and this amp is the reissue, NEW!
thanks,
rob
 
invisiblenemies said:
This might sound silly and you probably already know - but no one has mentioned it yet.

I don't know what year your amp is but I have a 74 twin that has a built in overdrive switch in the master volume knob. It's a push/ pull kind of thing. Does yours have this? Im not sure offhand what years they produced amps with this feature but it's a tricky little design.

Best of luck.
Click to expand...

I'm not exactly sure Fender ever produced a twin with a master knob let alone an overdrive. ?

I'm not an expert; I dont even know the difference between a silverface and a blackface (should read up on this). I do have that same amp though and haven't had the problem you speak of. or at least haven't noticed. maybe it was played a lot at the store before you bought it. I really wouldn't sweat it though...your ears probably distort more than the amp does at that volume. if the breakup is really that noticeable, I would get the tubes switched. Probably best to get it done if you dont know what you are doing cuz you can probably kill yourself if you don't. I've always had to switch the tubes on every amp I've bought. after that they last for years unless they get messed up moving the amp around.
 
if you want decent tubes cjeck out JJ's, from eurotubes...its the hotest thing out there at the moment, plus the guy builds them at your own request...name a sound and he'll make that tube for you...

i wouldnt rush to buy new tubes..if the amp is new you should take it back to the store..Fender dealers (normally) have somekind of tech in the back..thats why fender has no costumer support whatsoever.

humm...i hope you're happy with the sound..but a twin wouldnt be my choice for explosions in the sky kind of thing...you can get a different warmer clean sound with an ac30 maybe? my hotrod deluxe has very warm cleans as well...i hate the damn thing btw.
 
yeah, you should probably take it to a tech regradless. It might be tubes, it might be something else... If it is the tubes, they won't be covered under warranty though.

Fender made a bunch of variations on the Twin Reverb, including a 70s silverface with a master volume. They also made a few "Twins" with gain channels too, including the "Evil Twin" of the early 90s (I have one) and a Paul Rivera-designed "Twin II" in the 80s. I think they still make a (slightly updated) version of the Evil Twin as part of their Pro Tube series.

I don't think Ruby Tubes manufacture their own tubes, rather they test and re-label tubes manufactured by other companies. And if I'm not mistaken, Groove Tubes mostly does the same thing, although apparently they are starting to manufacture some 6L6s and 12AX7s.

As far as I know, JJs are manufactured at the old Tesla plant, but not to customers requests. Eurotubes sells/distributes JJ tubes, but I did not think they actually had anything to do with manufacturing them. I could be wrong though...

Stay away from Chinese tubes and Sovteks. Groove Tubes aren't necessarily bad, in fact I'll bet that the new 6L6s that they're making at the old GE plant are pretty good. They got a bad rep from using re-labeled Chinese and Sovteks, but I think they are trying to get away from that. If you buy Groove Tube that say "made in the USA" then you're probably in good shape.
 
I've got a 73-74 Twin with the push/pull master volume.

What you want for clean tones out of a Twin is NOS JAN/Phillips power tubes. The Chinese and Russian stuff just won't get it. I don't know if the new Twins need to be rebiased or not, or if there's even a pot to do it. I think the JAN 6L6's go for about $180/pair.

Also be sure and turn on the Standby first and let the grid heat up before hitting the ON switch. That will help your tubes last longer.
 
?

I dont know about the Fender circuit, but heat from the amp could be affecting the bias resistor/pot, and this making the power tubes run hotter than normal, thus bringing in early distortion?
 
hot hmmmm...

well i don't know how hot these things are supposed to be after a couple of hours playing. .....they have burnt my fingers before, is that normal hot?
rob
 
I don't know if this means anything but most of the Fender amps I've played through work better with single coil passive pickups for that super clean sound. Dual coil, humbuckers and active pups may be too hot for the circuit design, I don't know, just an observation.
 
FALKEN said:
I'm not exactly sure Fender ever produced a twin with a master knob let alone an overdrive. ?

I'm not an expert; I dont even know the difference between a silverface and a blackface (should read up on this). I do have that same amp though and haven't had the problem you speak of. or at least haven't noticed. maybe it was played a lot at the store before you bought it. I really wouldn't sweat it though...your ears probably distort more than the amp does at that volume. if the breakup is really that noticeable, I would get the tubes switched. Probably best to get it done if you dont know what you are doing cuz you can probably kill yourself if you don't. I've always had to switch the tubes on every amp I've bought. after that they last for years unless they get messed up moving the amp around.
Click to expand...

Yup, they do and I've got one and it is heaven. Mine came originally with RCA Made in India, eventually they ran out of curry so to speak and they were replaced with Sovteks and didn't sound as good, but I've got used to the sound now.
Back to the original subject, you state that you want a smooth silky sound, that will come from your pre-amp the first stage with the small tubes. It would pay you as has been already suggested to talk with someone who really knows tubes as changing the 12AX7 to a 12 AT will give you a different sound, plus the power tubes which basically amplify the soud produced in the pre-amp also will colour your sound to a degree. So pay someone for their knowledge, it's worth it in the long run.
Clive
 
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