So I bought a twin reverb...

  • Thread starter Thread starter elenore19
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elenore19

elenore19

Slowing becoming un-noob.
I got it for $675 shipped off of Ebay. Pretty good deal in my opinion. I didn't think I'd win the auction, so I'm sort of shocked still...
But I'm super excited none the less, my first all tube amp (scxd is as close as I've gotten), and I think it should fulfill my clean headroom needs :D

Anyone have any experience with this amp?

EDIT: I forgot to mention that it's a '65 reissue twin reverb...I should've mentioned that...Probably not as prized as the old ones, but it still sounds great from all the clips I've been listening to on youtube.
 
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Yes that does seem like a good deal. Those are fantastic amps!

In the 60's when I started gigging that was THE amp.

On the negative side: I had one, and so did near every guitar player I knew. Most of us got tired of carrying them 'cause they're #$&@*!!! heavy. Two 12's in a cab is brutal. Most people I know ended up thinking that a Fender Deluxe Reverb was the limit for what they wanted to carry to gigs.

On the plus side: those amps are beautifully made, the sound is the classic Fender sound and if you were going to play Ventures, blues or country outside there probably isn't a better amp... except for the weight. As most guitarists get older they'd rather carry a smaller amp and get the soundman to mic it.

But for playing "Sleepwalk" there isn't a better amp - like you said it does have a lot of clean headroom. And the spring reverb is the classic surf sound. Good jazz amp too... rock... really anything.

Why did they put the wheels inset from the corners so it falls over?

On the gig I did last weekend playing drums the guitarist brought a Twin. At rehearsal he used a Fender Blues Junior and sounded great - I used brushes the whole time. But at the gig I had to ditch the brushes during the 1st tune and play sticks the whole night and the singer couldn't hear himself. I really think that this wouldn't have happened if the guitarist had used the Blues Junior at the gig. Many guitar players, with the power of a Twin, will tend to play too loud, so you've got to watch out for that because the potential is there and it's fun to do!

I would imagine that if you've never had a tube amp you will flip out because Twins sound sweet!

Many guys pull out the stock Fender speakers and put in JBL's... I like the stock ones better although the JBL's are warmer (and heavier). I never thought Mesa Boogie amps sounded as good as actual Fenders.

I think you'll be happy.
 
"Good old Fender Twin," I love mine. It's my go to amp most of the time. I have to admitt it is damn heavy for it's size and gets louder than I need most of the time. Lately though I have been using a Fender Pro 180 for gigging, it's very similar, but solid state and about half the weight as my twin. In my opinion any guitarist should own a Twin at some point, it's one of the most used amps around so us Fender fans must be onto something. BTW anything less than $700 is a good deal on one so be happy and enjoy it.
 
congrats ...... you won't have any lack of headroom with that bad boy.
 
I recently bought a '72 Twin from a friend and I love it. It is incredibly heavy but it is also incredibly loud (when it needs to be) and has been my go to amp for gigging. The clean sound is great and it sounds great no matter what effects processors I use. I think you'll be very happy with it. Enjoy.

-I play mostly classic rock and blues with it, for full disclosure.
 
I'm glad to hear all the good things about these amps. I'm definitely going to invest in some coasters due to the weight, but I'll just try and mentally prepare myself to carry this beast around.

Thanks for all the replies. Read my EDIT in original post...the amp is a '65 reissue twin reverb, so I'm not sure if that makes a difference for your opinions.
 
elenore19 said:
I'm glad to hear all the good things about these amps. I'm definitely going to invest in some coasters due to the weight, but I'll just try and mentally prepare myself to carry this beast around.

Thanks for all the replies. Read my EDIT in original post...the amp is a '65 reissue twin reverb, so I'm not sure if that makes a difference for your opinions.
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I would invest in a decent dolly instead.
Casters on an amp are a PIA.
They're small so they don't roll well over some surfaces plus you have to bend over to roll the amp around and that gets hard on the back all by itself.
And you need a good collapsible dolly for the other gear anyway.
I have one of these and it's killer.
http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Rock-n-Roller-R6-Mini-Cart?sku=699010
The large pneumatic wheels cushion the amp a bit instead of small casters beating the hell out of it as they bounce around in any cracks or unevenness plus it'll roll over grass .... gravel (unless it's real deep), cobblestones .... you name it.
I can't imagine carrying in shit to a gig without it.
 
I found a '73 Fender Twin at a pawn shop and bought it for $200. It was a piece and needed a lot of work, but sold it on eBay for $650.
 
dintymoore said:
Yes that does seem like a good deal. Those are fantastic amps! Twins sound sweet!

Many guys pull out the stock Fender speakers and put in JBL's... I like the stock ones better, although the JBL's are warmer (and heavier).
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You're talking about the JBL D120F's, which are really heavy. If you want something even warmer and a lot lighter, try some JBL D123's. They won't handle as much power as the D120F's, but they work better if you don't really crank them.
 
I played through a Super Six Reverb for years. It was Twin Head in a 6 x 10 combo configuration. It had a boost/overdrive function built into the master volume knob (pull out the knob to engage), so you could get some overdrive out of the thing without having to blow the walls off.

It was a fine amp but I never was entirely happy with it. I just couldn't get it voiced exactly the way I wanted it. At some point I ran it though a 2 X 12 closed-back extension cab and that helped a lot, but at the time I was looking for a more Marshall-y sound and it couldn't get there.

Anyhow, I'm sure you will get many years of pleasure out of your twin! :)
 
one of my all time favorites, and i wish i still had mine... in fact i wish i still had any fender, theres nothing that can beat the sound of a cranked fender tube amp, and also nothing that can beat fender reverb imho anyways. if you ever decide to sell at a major loss let me know!:cool:
 
Good info Harvey on the speakers - thanx.

One funny note on this thread:

I doubt there's many pieces of gear you could post on this forum that everybody would unanimously agree was great.

Not one person said they didn't like the sound.

And everybody agrees they are heavy pigs.
 
Congrats on your Fender twin. NO more worries about clean headroom, or much of anything else for that matter. I'm sure you'll be happy with it for yrs to come. Seeing as how fender's MSRP for this amp is $2090.00, I'd say you got a damn good deal. It's kind of strange, to me, that we can buy amps such as these at such a lower price when they're "used"--even slightly used. I mean, with a little maintenance, we all know there's no logic in the idea that a "new" amp is going to perform or sound better than a "used" one. It makes me wonder why/how Fender, Marshall, etc can justify their MSRPs?...and why anyone would ever buy these amps "new" when so many "used" ones are so widely available for MUCH less? Glad to know there will always be a few consumers around for whom "price" is NOT a concern. GOOD thing, too, because they're really the only source of quality/affordable gear for the rest of us.
Tho, I am wondering about your total cost? If you don't mind me asking--how much of the $675 was for shipping? It had to be pretty steep $ to ship and insure (maybe $125) which means the actual cost of the amp was $550?--KILLER deal.
I bought my 80's fender red-knob evil-twin (at a local shop) several yrs ago for $425, and it's a truly amazing-sounding amp. Of course, it doesn't exactly compare to the sound of most of the "vintage" Fender amps (like an old Bassman, or whatever), but it certainly gets me (us) in the ballpark.
 
I'm giving away a secret that anyone would have figured out anyway, so what the heck. If I feel like playing my Deluxe Reverb and I want to do 'medium size' gigs, I replace the speaker with a Red Fang. A little tweaking to the circuitry, and I have a giant killer that can hang with loud drummers. Remember this, and I'll come back to it in a second. If I have a Twin Reverb mood, and the band usually bitches how loud it is, I replace the speakers with a Jensen Mod 50. Now for the science and math.
A 3dB increase or decrease in speaker efficiency will give the apparent effect of doubling or halving the power to that speaker. As one example, a 50-watt amplifier with a speaker rated for 99dB and a 100-watt amplifier with a speaker rated for 96 dB will appear to have excactly the same volume. It's not magic or abstract math. Still with me? The stock P12R in a Deluxe is rated for 95dB, which is actually not so hot. The Eminence Red Fang is rated for 103dB. You do the math. Without too much BS'ing, a Deluxe with a Red Fang can hang with some 50-watt Marshalls. The C12K's in your Twin are rated for 99dB, which ain't too shabby. However, to tame some excessive volume, I use the 94dB Mod 50's. You have just enough power handling, so be careful. But the huge loss in SPL's means you can turn it up a little to get some grind and not get complaints from the rest of the band.
That's how I do it when the situation warrants, but feel free to disagree with everything I've just said.
 
ranjam, that's an excellent post, particularly since many people just don't think about how speaker efficiency affects their amp's volume. High speaker efficiency is the reason why an AC30 outfitted with Celestion Blues (published SPL of 100dB, but closer to 105dB at midrange frequencies) can hang nicely with many higher-wattage amps.

I hadn't heard of anyone using a "library" of speakers to swap out in their combos for specific situations like you do, but it's a great idea.
 
Go Ramjam! :)
Speaking of the JBL thing, I was running the 2- D120's, then we all went to/or added Sunn dual D130 cabs (I ran two :rolleyes: Just stupid loud:rolleyes: :o
Anywho.. after paring down some later.. dropped the 2 120's out made a new face plate and put one of the 130's in. Perfect :) Yeah warmer', but most of all... -13.5 LBS! :eek: :D
 
mixsit said:
Go Ramjam! :)
Speaking of the JBL thing, I was running the 2- D120's, then we all went to/or added Sunn dual D130 cabs (I ran two :rolleyes: Just stupid loud:rolleyes: :o
Anywho.. after paring down some later.. dropped the 2 120's out made a new face plate and put one of the 130's in. Perfect :) Yeah warmer', but most of all... -13.5 LBS! :eek: :D
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The only difference between the D120F and the D130F is the basket size and the cone size; everything else is exactly the same.
 
I was using my Twin for synth when I had it 25 years ago, so I made a new baffle board for it and used a 15" JBL and added a horn.

I learned later that Fender had made a model with a 15" and that steel players liked it a lot, it wasn't called a Twin... I forget the name.
 
ranjam said:
I'm giving away a secret that anyone would have figured out anyway, so what the heck. If I feel like playing my Deluxe Reverb and I want to do 'medium size' gigs, I replace the speaker with a Red Fang. A little tweaking to the circuitry, and I have a giant killer that can hang with loud drummers. Remember this, and I'll come back to it in a second. If I have a Twin Reverb mood, and the band usually bitches how loud it is, I replace the speakers with a Jensen Mod 50. Now for the science and math.
A 3dB increase or decrease in speaker efficiency will give the apparent effect of doubling or halving the power to that speaker. As one example, a 50-watt amplifier with a speaker rated for 99dB and a 100-watt amplifier with a speaker rated for 96 dB will appear to have excactly the same volume. It's not magic or abstract math. Still with me? The stock P12R in a Deluxe is rated for 95dB, which is actually not so hot. The Eminence Red Fang is rated for 103dB. You do the math. Without too much BS'ing, a Deluxe with a Red Fang can hang with some 50-watt Marshalls. The C12K's in your Twin are rated for 99dB, which ain't too shabby. However, to tame some excessive volume, I use the 94dB Mod 50's. You have just enough power handling, so be careful. But the huge loss in SPL's means you can turn it up a little to get some grind and not get complaints from the rest of the band.
That's how I do it when the situation warrants, but feel free to disagree with everything I've just said.
Click to expand...

The Red Fang is a great upgrade, I put one in a 15 watt tube amp and it screamed after the change.
I recorded a part and then installed the Red Fang, being sure that the settings on the amp and the mic stayed the same. Rerecorded the same part with the same guitar and there was about 1/3rd more output according to the graphic display-and you could sure hear the difference too!
 
That's why the Red Fang is my favorite for Deluxe-style amplifiers. Plus I have a Gibson Falcon (GA-19RVT). It has the sickest Reverb I have ever heard. With all my Fender stuff, the extra speakers are easy to swap out; the 1/4" plug and wire are reused on each 'alternative'. A screw gun, a nut driver, and ten minutes later, I'm good to go. This is sometimes cheap fun. I get the recording comparison, Anfontan. An SPL meter would do as well, but not many of us have them. And it's an excuse to record! I do just that with pickups, pedals (a stock Blues Driver vs. a Keeley version really stands out), the works.
 
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