Quote:
Originally Posted by McFly
Thanks for the great posts. I have heard a PR is like a small version of a twin whereas a DR is a different animal. Not sure how that translates but I'd be interested to hear about more experiences.
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I don't know how myths like that get started. All the BF Fenders share a common preamp structure and tone stack (with minor variations); all the reverb circuits are identical and the power amps just vary according to wattage as one would expect. Fender was very much creating a "family" of similar sounding amps.
It is also cheaper to produce a lot of identical circuits, and Fender certainly had that in mind. Most of the variations between the amps concern cost saving measures, not decisions based upon sound.
The PR and the DR have identical tone stacks, with the minor exception of a small treble bleed cap on the DR which provides a minor bright boost at low volumes only. This cap is frequently removed, which makes the tone stacks 100% identical.
(I have always removed this cap from DRs because I play Fender guitars and use JBL speakers. No need.)
The significant differences between the PR and DR are really power amps and speakers. The PR uses a paraphase splitter to drive the 6V6s and the DR uses a long tail splitter. This is a logical choice, as the paraphase is cheaper to produce (it only requires 1/2 tube instead of 1 tube) and is adequate for lower power amps.
Many of the small tweed Fenders with push-pull outputs (such as the 5E3) use the paraphase splitter. It is cheap and effective, but lacks the headroom of the long tail splitter in the larger amps.
Almost all of the bigger Fenders (20 watts and up) use long tail splitters, really out of necessity. That includes the Twin for certain.
So really a DR is closer to a Twin than a PR - both DRs and Twins use long tail splitters and 12" speakers. The PR will of course break up sooner with its smaller power amp. The breakup characteristics are only slightly different.
As to which one sounds better with some pedal - that probably has a lot more to do with speaker and volume differences than "PR vs DR" per se. It probably has a lot to do with whatever pedal you use. Needless to say, many people find the PR to be a very effective little amp, pedals or no.