$$ no object : the Tweed Twin RI or Victoria?

[bulesdejalisco]

After many years playing Blackface Fenders , I have decided to step into the land of TWEED. I have played the latest Fender Tweed Twin RIs and was impressed. I have yet to play the Victoria Tweed Twin copy but I have heard great reviews. Any comments and/or opinions ?

[Bill E.]

Mark Baier hand-wires all the Victorias with hand-picked (and some especially manufactured for him)components matched to no more than a 1% tolerance. "Custom" Shop or not, I wonder if Fender will manufacture theirs to such a tolerance.


Bill

[stantheman]

is a Victoria BUT it ain't the "Low Powered Twin"
it's The Double Deluxe"after playing my Pal Al's
everything else is....well, everything else.

** "Most Lusted For"

[dafack01]

Originally Posted by Bill E.

Mark Baier hand-wires all the Victorias with hand-picked (and some especially manufactured for him)components matched to no more than a 1% tolerance. "Custom" Shop or not, I wonder if Fender will manufacture theirs to such a tolerance.


Bill

Do you actually think the originals were made to such tolerances? If so, you're nuts. Anyways, the Victoria isn't technically a true clone. It doesn't have the 2 rectifier setup. The 2 rectifiers produce less sag than one rectifier and does alter the sound slightly. Plus, the Fender has superior speakers. I'd trust ANYTHING Ted Weber's hands have been on to the Jensen RI's. I know Ted doesn't manufacture the speakers (too small of a company), but he WAS intimately involved in the development.

I've got a victoria amp; a 1X12 Tweed Champ clone, but in this case, I'd get the Fender. Any other tweed amp -Bassman (the Vicky bassman is superior to the Fender ri), super, Deluxe, DD- I'd say get the Victoria and swap the speakers. However, I'd say get the Fender.

[stantheman]

Key of "F" is appropriate. ah 1, ah 2....
"If Leo was alive"
"If Leo was alive"
"If Leo was alive"

The better the tolerences, the better the Amp, or any other product for that matter....Take this into consideration please: If the Tolerences had been more strictly adhered to We'd probably have all those people
who died on the Space Shuttles here today....
Who would You want to build YOUR SPACE SHUTTLE....
Fender or Victoria....think about that.

[telemann51]

Originally Posted by stantheman

Who would You want to build YOUR SPACE SHUTTLE....
Fender or Victoria....think about that.

Well, neither, actually. :D

Amp is another story. I am tempted by the double deluxe.

[Bill E.]

Originally Posted by Bill E.

Mark Baier hand-wires all the Victorias with hand-picked (and some especially manufactured for him)components matched to no more than a 1% tolerance. "Custom" Shop or not, I wonder if Fender will manufacture theirs to such a tolerance.


Bill

[KBR]

If $ is no object,
Look for an Original Fender Tweed Twin w 2 P12Ns, get a spare pair of P12Ns from Ted Weber (Bless His Heart)
Have a Great Tech go through the Amp for caps, tubes, etc. and wail



OR

Get a Vicky and get Weber VST P12Ns some 1958 Tung Sol 5881s and look for a Good Fender reverb tank, 5751, Mullard 12AT7 & an RCA 6K6

toss the Blackface am,ps,

IMHO
YMMV
Tweeds Rule,

But I use and like, Allen Old Flames w (Latest cabs) 2 P12Ns.

[andrew]

If I were going to go the tweed route it would be the Double Deluxe. Bruce at Mission Amps has been putting together a kit in case your intrested. The best thing about that one is you build it with any custom options you might want, i.e. speaker, tubes, etc. :D

Andrew

[Wally]

If you have the money, buy the best example of the original amp that you can find, imho.

[dafack01]

Beware, though, the originals would make CRAPPY boutiques. Knotty Pine, unmatched caps, lower tolerances, yet these amps are what everyone is trying to recreate.....

[Paul B]

Hi

Just grab your guitar and plug it into a original, Victoria, the new fender and try the different tweeds also - Bassman, Tweed Super, Double Deluxe etc.

You have the cash therefore with patience and careful listening you can make the right choice.

All depends on your taste. Remember one mans tone is another man's poison - if you get what I mean.

I am sure they all make a good products.

The only benefit is if the original is kept in original condition you could have a chance to make some money if you are ever interested in that angle.

Happy hunting.

Personally I would build it because of the funny factor and sense of acheivement.

Regards

Paul

[hearmytrain]

I can't speak from personal experience, but, a good friend of mine just sold his Vic on eBay because he had played the new Fender and, for him, it was a better sounding amp...

[Tim Swartz]

I'm curious as to the price difference between the Fender and the Victoria? I'm guessing the Fender is more $$$.

[tom grossheider]

I'mpretty sure Mark doesn't do the assembly work himself, he has folks hired to do that. At least that's what I saw when I visited the shop. Whether the components are 1% tolerance would have to be verified, I honestly don't know. They pull parts out of a bin like most everyone else. I like Victorias, they are well built and sound great. Leo used 20% tolerance for most components, which probably leads to tonal variance within a product line.

[Jammin'John]

I play BOTH Victorias. :D
The Low Power Twin is the better all 'round amp. :?
By that I mean it has great headroom, warm sound , is aggressive, & has clear chords & nice overdrive. :)
However the Double Deluxe has the BEST lead tone, sustain, harmonics, FEEL, and is generally more fun !!!!!!
If it's a gig & I'm gonna sing a lot I bring the LP Twin.
If it's a jam & I'm gonna blow a lot I bring the DD.
JJ

[MandyMarie]

If it was me, I'd absolutely go with the Victoria.

I've never played a Victoria that I wasn't impressed with (it's a pitty really that we only own one...I want that little Deluxe!).

I'm sure the Fender Tweed Twin is a great amp too, but I've had such good experiences with Mark & his Victoria line I'd definitely stick with it. Great, great customer service in my experiences and he personally has answered every single question I've ever had about the Victoria line. His guarantee is pretty tough to beat too.

I'd never buy an amp blind though - play 'em both... see what feels better to you.

[Jammin'John]

I've never played a Victoria that I wasn't impressed with (it's a pitty really that we only own one...I want that little Deluxe!).

MandyMarie, do you play the Bassman or the Bandmaster ?
JJ

[stevedenver]

money no object or otherwise,

you owe to yourself to contact bruce at mission-you will get an extraordinary product at a very good price-

i ab/d a vic tweed deluxe with a mission and the mission left the vic in the dust-due to the weber speaker i imagine-but it was at that point i left the security of name brands and just used my ears...i couldnt be happier.....

up unti lthat point i was convninced id have to spend about 1200 or more for the vic, i was willing to pay for the VIC......until i heard the mission-then i was willing to take a weekend and build the bloody thing ( my first..but i was that in love with this amp to undertake the project cold) -(bruce will build for you for $)

unless the name plate is important to you, mission really is excellent-he knows all sorts of little tweaks and mods and really makes a first class product....

[jumpnblues]

...yeah I know what you mean by the speakers Mark puts in Victorias. I have a Bassman and a Pro and replacing the RI Jensens with Webers made a MAJOR difference in tone. I'm not sure why he uses the Jensens but I heard there were "problems" between Mark and Ted Weber. Otherwise, the Vics would be offered with Webers, just like Clark, Mission, and some others. Too bad. IMHO Webers really wake those amps up. 8)

[Jammin'John]

Yea, I did the same thing with mine..... :? ....... dumped the Jensen R.I.'s...... :evil: .......did the Blue Dog & Silver Bell.

JJ

[MandyMarie]

I've got a Vicky Bandmaster...I think the speakers sound fantastic - I've yet to play a gig where someone hasn't came up and asked me something about this amp so I must be doin' something right. I'm using Barden's though so that may say a little bit about my ears haha! Different strokes for different folks :D

My husband and I both play music for a living and at any point in time we could be in different states doing shows at the same time - I know NOTHING about electronics (I'm just one of those plug and play kinda gals :D ) and it's great having an amp you can always count on...but knowing if something goes wrong it'll be fairly easy to fix. When I have to use my RI Vibroverb I keep my fingers crossed it won't fry up on me...but I've still got a long way to go until we can buy another Vicky...*sigh*

[jumpnblues]

...your certainly right, the Vicky with stock speakers sound VERY good. However, IMHO if you heard your Vicky Bandmaster with 2 Weber P10Q's (the low watt ones sound best with tweeds and the 30 watters sound best with blackface amps) and 1 Weber C10N you just might want to pitch the RI Jensens. Either way, you have a killer amp. 8)

[Jammin'John]

My friend Dave plays a Victoria Bandmaster with a Weber alnico Silver Bell, an alnico Blue Dog, & a ceramic Silver Bell We also put a Load Dump & a Speaker Eliminator, 5751 in v1, & a 5u4. It's a very cool amp for blues & classic rock. 8)

JJ

[MandyMarie]

Thanks so much JumpNblues, I'll definitely have to give that a go at some point!

That Victoria has completely changed the way I play - we do hopped up hillbilly/honkytonk/rockabilly kinda stuff but I've always used a delay pedal. Once we got the Victoria (and once I would get to steal it from my husband!) I had the hardest time adding delay...just the amp itself sounds so dang good! Now depending on the gig if I can get it loud enough I use my Barden equipped Tele, a cord, the Vicky...and that's it. Talk about an easy load in! It just breaks up so nicely - you get gritty without losing any twang. Before the Victoria I didn't think I'd ever be able to play without a bit of delay or reverb - now I'm playing honest and love it. It's made me a cleaner player and I "think" differently...has anybody else had this kinda thang happen with different amps?

But when I have to use my RI Vibroverb I've always got the reverb on about four...it's just not the same!