Telecaster Guitar Forum - View Single Post

fauxsuper · December 23rd, 2008, 12:27 PM

"Unfortunately, I DO need that volume. I play with a large horn band in our college's arena every week for sporting events. Also everyone in the band including the bass is mic-ed except for myself and the loud drummer. This isnt by my choice, the PA guy got mad when I didnt have a XLR line out on my '67 Standel!"

Wow, I remember playing withthe stage band at my high school and remember how much power it took to be heard. One of the reasons Fender made the twin in the first place.

Find yourself a Nice Twin (the best buys are Silver Faced ones) and you'll have a hand wired amp that will last a lifetime. Get a good pedal for overdrive. You can also use an attenuator like a HotPlate or Weber Mass. If you don't get carried away with it (like trying to get it down to a whisper to use as a bedroom amp) they can allow you to tame the Twin. There's also the trick of disabling two of the tubes and one of the speakers and you now have a 50 watt amp.

You're young enough that the amp's weight won't send you to a chiropracter.
The flip side of this is that a twin can sound glorius when you get it up to around 5 or 6 on the volume knob. There's also something to be said for learning to get a sound without a lot of gain. (BB King comes first to mind.) I've heard plenty of people get astonishing sounds out of an amp without cranking it. There are few devices on the face of the earth that can provide a better clean rhythm sound than a Twin.

Another posibility is using an amp modeler as a way to get your sound, (a POD or you can find a Vox Tonelab on E-bay for under $150.) and use the Twin as sort of a PA. The tubes in the signal path will warm up the digital sound and with some careful knob twiddling, you can end up getting a very good simulatiuon of a cranked twin at a volume that will make the sound guy smile.

Finally, there's a reason the Twin is a classic amp. They've gone a little out of fashion right now and have been saddled with the "heavy and loud" albatross. But that CAN work to your advantage. Right now a Twin is sort of like 60's muscle cars were in the early 70's when gasoline doubled in price. You could buy, say, a SS 396 Malibu for around a grand. It's probably a $30K car today. Find a nice one and maybe you can send your kids to college. (Wouldn't count on that, actually.) But you will have an amp that is at least worth Something when that Crate is in a landfill somewhere.

December 23rd, 2008, 12:27 PM	#8 (permalink)
fauxsuper Tele-Meister Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: San Diego, CA Age: 57 Posts: 316	That's why they make those things. "Unfortunately, I DO need that volume. I play with a large horn band in our college's arena every week for sporting events. Also everyone in the band including the bass is mic-ed except for myself and the loud drummer. This isnt by my choice, the PA guy got mad when I didnt have a XLR line out on my '67 Standel!" Wow, I remember playing withthe stage band at my high school and remember how much power it took to be heard. One of the reasons Fender made the twin in the first place. Find yourself a Nice Twin (the best buys are Silver Faced ones) and you'll have a hand wired amp that will last a lifetime. Get a good pedal for overdrive. You can also use an attenuator like a HotPlate or Weber Mass. If you don't get carried away with it (like trying to get it down to a whisper to use as a bedroom amp) they can allow you to tame the Twin. There's also the trick of disabling two of the tubes and one of the speakers and you now have a 50 watt amp. You're young enough that the amp's weight won't send you to a chiropracter. The flip side of this is that a twin can sound glorius when you get it up to around 5 or 6 on the volume knob. There's also something to be said for learning to get a sound without a lot of gain. (BB King comes first to mind.) I've heard plenty of people get astonishing sounds out of an amp without cranking it. There are few devices on the face of the earth that can provide a better clean rhythm sound than a Twin. Another posibility is using an amp modeler as a way to get your sound, (a POD or you can find a Vox Tonelab on E-bay for under $150.) and use the Twin as sort of a PA. The tubes in the signal path will warm up the digital sound and with some careful knob twiddling, you can end up getting a very good simulatiuon of a cranked twin at a volume that will make the sound guy smile. Finally, there's a reason the Twin is a classic amp. They've gone a little out of fashion right now and have been saddled with the "heavy and loud" albatross. But that CAN work to your advantage. Right now a Twin is sort of like 60's muscle cars were in the early 70's when gasoline doubled in price. You could buy, say, a SS 396 Malibu for around a grand. It's probably a $30K car today. Find a nice one and maybe you can send your kids to college. (Wouldn't count on that, actually.) But you will have an amp that is at least worth Something when that Crate is in a landfill somewhere.