The Tweed Twin Club

[Chris Clemens]

Hey, FenderPeet! You should know! ;)

[JohnK24]

Can anyone comment on the stock Weber/Emi alnico speakers in this amp ? I'm trying to find if Emi sells something close. I want a good alnico speaker in my Tweed Hot Rod Dlx. Or is there an equivalent weber ? Love Clapton's tone with these amps. Do ya'll run 12AX7s or 12AY7s in the pre-amp slots ?

[mad dog]

John:

I love these stock speakers. Weber designed, Emi built. Equivalent to the 12A150A weber model. Pretty much the same as the old P12N Jensen, only with a different cone.

MD

[cacibi]

I have a 57 Twin Amp that I bought new in 2007.

A couple months ago it started acting up....it would basically lose 95% power and sound and this happened a couple times. I had to sit out a gig because it simply was not putting out enough signal to be heard.

All external causes were eliminated....power, cables, guitars and I had the amp gone over by two techs who could find nothing wrong. Finally - I took it back to the store I bought it at and asked them to look at it. The tech there recommended changing the value of the screen resistors. Now - I am not a tech, but I will try to relate what he told me:

He said basically when Fender reissued the amp - they did a straight up job, including a known issue of improper values for the screen resistors. He said that what happens is the stock screen resistors can cause oscillations so that the amp will be putting out sound, but in inaudible frequency ranges. So that - what was probably happening was that my amp was amplifying extremely high frequency sound and that's why it seemed to lose power.

He changed the screen resistors and I took the amp to practice last night and had no issues. The problem was intermittent before so...I'm going to keep an eye on it - but it sounded pretty good at practice last night.

Just thought I'd share this experience with other owners. Again - I'm not a tech so, I hope that I relayed what he told me accurately.

[Sterling Indigo]

Interesting. But sorry to hear about that. It does have a 5 year warranty. Keep us informed.

[cacibi]

On another note...anyone ever try copper caps in their Twin? I ordered a couple as I like to keep them on hand for tube rectifier amps for emergency swap out purposes. But I have never popped them in yet.

[Gavindale]

Still love my Twin.....no problems...... love to turn it up to get natural power tube distortion and felt comfortable with that volume In a bar gig. But I also use a Barber SS and Barber compresser. Use them all but ya still can't beat natural distortion!

[Gavindale]

And by the way thank you for the kind comments on
my amps. They fill in with my Carr Rambler, Victoria 45410, 1968 Bandmaster head, Original Blues Deville 2-12" (Blonde Tolex Oxblood Grill), Fender Super 60, and just picked up a beautiful 1972 Fender Twin Reverb (4-6L6) powerhouse, Gibson Goldtone 30-RVH, and a 1968 Kustom 4.

My Wife asks: How many more?


Just one more........

[RivercitySonic]

I bought my twin in the fall of last year & have done all kinds of gigging & recording with it & I love it man!

Stirling Indigo had asked if anyone yanked one recto & played like that, I attend Blues Jams in Ottawa every Thursday I have free & I usually just bring the amp & one guitar. (No pedals unless I'm hosting) When I do, I always yank one recto & play straight in on about 4 - 4.5 for some decent breakup. When you pull one recto, not only do you get more sag, but you decrease the headroom considerably. This means that the amp breaks up at a lower volume so it's quite nice to be able to pull it out & play like that. When I'm using pedals, I usually run both recto's as I'm getting the dirt from the pedals & not the amp so much. Great amp, super versatile. If I could only have one amp, this would be the one!

[Dawg]

Recently got my 80W 'high power' Twin replica - built for me by Martin Garton in the U.K. I've used it on 3 gigs so far - an incredible amp. Celestion gold speakers - needs a little more breaking in, but the tone is something else. I've got a 5E3 replica built by him too, 18watts instead of 12 though, so it's gig-able in small venues.


His website will be up + running soon -

gartoneamps.co.uk








And with the Deluxe + Nocaster

[wstrnswingster]

I also am in.
I love a Blackguard Tele or 335 and there's something about a no pedal steel be it a Ricky Bakelite, Fender Stringmaster or Epiphone Model M. I think acoustic archtops are the best and true works of luthier art. But amps are my REAL weakness. Especially tube amps and especialy the last of the tweeds.
I play non pedal steel mainly. Some guitar. I'm not a collector but I have a collection like must guys. My main steel is a 52 Bigsby. If an amp didn't sound good with it it didn't stay around very long. Though some good ones got sold out of necessity.
After I got it I knew it was "the one" and my search was for the most part over. I plowed thru amps for years, had several dozen. From 1935 on. Ampeg to Epiphone, Gibson to National, Standel to Webb. Mostly tube, a couple SS, and mostly Fenders.
I never cared for 2x12's. They always sounded "mushy" to me with that steel. Some nice examples that just passed thru are a SF Twin Reverb w/ grey frame JBL's, a mint 66 Pro Reverb and a kinda rare 62 Ampeg Super Echo Twin but they didn't stay long cause they didn't sound good with the Bigsby. I kept the D120F's though!
About 7 years ago I scored a pair of real early 50's JBL 12's (D131's). I tried them with my 58 Super and they sounded pretty darn good. In 07 I got the chance to run a Bigsby thru an original owner's ( a fiddle player) 57 5F8A twin and was flat out stunned! Then a few months later I was able to use a 55 5E8A model that belonged to a dealer pal of mine for a week.
That was it, FINALLY I found a 2x12' amp that sounded good to me. I had to have one! Of course they carry a price tag out of my range so I was looking at the 57 RI. Then the same dealer pal came up with a 56 that was "restored". "Rescued" probably was a better term.
Recovered/regrilled, missing the badge, new back panels, changed choke, all new caps,(victoria labeled orange drops, I kinda think Mark Baier did the restoration) and period P12P's, reconed of course. That stuff is ok to me since it makes the amp affordable and what matters most to me is the iron, mainly the Output tranny, and that was all there. And frankly a guy can take it out with out sweating it.
He made me a great deal, think what you want of vintage dealers but he's one of the best, great stuff at great prices and no stress. I've helped lots of my old timer pals do biz with him. I don't want to mention his name but I'll recommend him in a PM.
It was less then the retail of a RI so I did what I had to, which was sell my 48 L-7 and some steel parts and got it.
P12N's would probably be killer in it but the P12P's are a big step up from the stock Q's. I put the JBL's in it for a couple months but it was just too much to haul around. It sounded great though! FWIW: I had some custom leather & rawhide handles made and bolted the brackets to the cab with T nuts.

It's got plenty of power, stays clean up to about 5/6 which is plenty loud. I like my tone clean with just a little breakup I can tame with the footpedal. I don't use any efects except a Fender Reverb unit, and a Bigsby V&T pedal. So I've got 2 additional vol controls beside the amp. I usually set the Treb around 5 and the Bass 8, the presence around 5 but I'll turn that up if the rooms bigger.

It came with decent tubes, RCA 6L6 blackplates, but I swapped all of them. GE 7581A's in the output, Telefunken ECC83 and Sylvania 6072A's in the pre and GE 5U4GB's in the rectifier, all NOS.
I was able to find a repro badge on eBay that looks ok.
I'd like to swap the orange drops for some PiO caps I got and some day I'll get a 4x10 cab made, maybe with tilt back legs, and have Weber recone the P10P's I've got stashed. You may say why bother but the steel just seems to love 10's and that's what it's all about!
I've got a 56 5E6-A Bassman, and the 2 amps sound totally different though they appear to be the same schematic. The Output trans are different. I'd like to A/B it with a 57 RI someday.
It's great amp. I can't wait to run a Fender steel thru it. Soon as I find one I can afford! My favorite steel tone is Gene Crownover's stuff with Bob Wills. A Fender Stringmaster thru a tweed Twin, sometimes he used 2. He also used a white one. Mr Fender always wanted Bob & the Playboys using the newest stuff.
A major noteable Fender collector I've known for years said he's seen less small box models then the big box ones. And the same dealer that sold it to me swears the low power model is the best amp Fender ever made! It's also his personal favorite, followed by the AC-30 another 2x12 combo. He should know, he's had too many amps go thru his shop to count.
I'd have to say I agree with him and I've wondered why Leo didn't juice the Bassman the same way? I can only imagine how good that would sound!
Here's some images. I reached my limit so I'll have to get back later with a shot that includes the steel.

[Tupelo67]

Just finished building my low power twin and it sounds great. I love the chimey crunch when cranked.......This is a great design for some sweet harmonic content ( u know! the sparkle crunch).....I've been running mine with only 1 5u4 for a nice bluesy feel..
Thanks Leo
MC

[Del Pickup]

Originally Posted by RivercitySonic

I bought my twin in the fall of last year & have done all kinds of gigging & recording with it & I love it man!

Stirling Indigo had asked if anyone yanked one recto & played like that, I attend Blues Jams in Ottawa every Thursday I have free & I usually just bring the amp & one guitar. (No pedals unless I'm hosting) When I do, I always yank one recto & play straight in on about 4 - 4.5 for some decent breakup. When you pull one recto, not only do you get more sag, but you decrease the headroom considerably. This means that the amp breaks up at a lower volume so it's quite nice to be able to pull it out & play like that. When I'm using pedals, I usually run both recto's as I'm getting the dirt from the pedals & not the amp so much. Great amp, super versatile. If I could only have one amp, this would be the one!

I tried taking one of the 5U4's out of my Twin a while ago and. although I liked the tone it gave, it seemed to lose some of its 3 dimensional swirl in comparison to running both rectifiers. Almost made the amp sound a bit boxy.

But I do like the idea of getting breakup at lower volume settings so I think I'll try it again and see how I get on.

I assume that, as Fender say that this is OK to do, there are no long term issues of damaging anything else in the amp by doing this??

[cacibi]

Originally Posted by cacibi

I have a 57 Twin Amp that I bought new in 2007.

A couple months ago it started acting up....it would basically lose 95% power and sound and this happened a couple times. I had to sit out a gig because it simply was not putting out enough signal to be heard.

All external causes were eliminated....power, cables, guitars and I had the amp gone over by two techs who could find nothing wrong. Finally - I took it back to the store I bought it at and asked them to look at it. The tech there recommended changing the value of the screen resistors. Now - I am not a tech, but I will try to relate what he told me:

He said basically when Fender reissued the amp - they did a straight up job, including a known issue of improper values for the screen resistors. He said that what happens is the stock screen resistors can cause oscillations so that the amp will be putting out sound, but in inaudible frequency ranges. So that - what was probably happening was that my amp was amplifying extremely high frequency sound and that's why it seemed to lose power.

He changed the screen resistors and I took the amp to practice last night and had no issues. The problem was intermittent before so...I'm going to keep an eye on it - but it sounded pretty good at practice last night.

Just thought I'd share this experience with other owners. Again - I'm not a tech so, I hope that I relayed what he told me accurately.

I'm still having problems with this amp! Happened again today. Whenever I hit the front end really hard, especially on low notes - the volume just goes way down. If this is 'sag' - I don't want it. Almost at the end of the road with this thing.

[Del Pickup]

That doesn't sound like 'sag' or any other kind of good thing with this amp.

There must be a problem somewhere. Maybe your tech just can't find it or doesn't know where to look.

I can't believe that Fender deliberately re-created a known issue with the original amp design. They may go for authenticity in building them but they wouldn't run the risk of having amps returned or having to be repaired under warranty for a known fault that they could rectify in the initial manufacturing process.

Bearing in mind that there are probably thousands of these amps being used all around the world - including being used by people such as Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck in arenas and stadiums - and used at normal gigging volumes I haven't read of anyone else having this problem. So, your tech's story seems a bit implausible cos I'd have thought that, if were true, there'd be more people finding the same fault.

I think you should try finding another tech.

[cacibi]

Originally Posted by Del Pickup

That doesn't sound like 'sag' or any other kind of good thing with this amp.

There must be a problem somewhere. Maybe your tech just can't find it or doesn't know where to look.

I can't believe that Fender deliberately re-created a known issue with the original amp design. They may go for authenticity in building them but they wouldn't run the risk of having amps returned or having to be repaired under warranty for a known fault that they could rectify in the initial manufacturing process.

Bearing in mind that there are probably thousands of these amps being used all around the world - including being used by people such as Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck in arenas and stadiums - and used at normal gigging volumes I haven't read of anyone else having this problem. So, your tech's story seems a bit implausible cos I'd have thought that, if were true, there'd be more people finding the same fault.

I think you should try finding another tech.

Well I actually took it to TWO techs (both authorized Fender repairmen) and neither one could find anything physically wrong with the amp. Both burned it in further on the bench, prodded every conceivable connection for shorts, tested the tubes...etc, etc, etc

And I can think of TWO other custom shop amps that have/had pretty well know design flaws: original Vibroking (EL84 tube for reverb was a known issue/problem) and the Custom Shop Vibrolux Reverb (noise on channel one due to reverb being active on both channels - if I remember correctly).

I had and SOLD both of those amps too.

I for one completely believe that Fender would reissue a known design flaw because if they changed the circuit they would either 1) have to admit the original design was flawed or 2) explain to people why they were altering such a "hallowed" circuit, and risk slow sales as a result of a non-original reissue.

Some of my other favorite historical Fender design "choices":

- Not wanting to put truss rods in guitar necks, but rather mail customers new necks when the old ones eventually warped due to string tension.
- using threaded bar stock for string saddles
- reissuing 70's guitars with 3 bolt necks (many people feel they are inferior to the 4 bolt necks)
And my latest favorite: putting strat saddles on a telecaster!!!!!

[Del Pickup]

So, if this is a defect that Fender chose to ignore, why aren't there more people having the same problem as you are?

Around the world there must be a lot of people using these amps on a regular basis and many are also regular internet forum users who I'm sure would be posting here, The Gear Page or the Fender Forum if they were having problems such as this.

So, despite your tech's story and the other examples you use, I still find it a bit hard to believe that this amp has an inherent problem.

Just my thoughts on the matter.......

[cacibi]

Originally Posted by Del Pickup

So, if this is a defect that Fender chose to ignore, why aren't there more people having the same problem as you are?

Around the world there must be a lot of people using these amps on a regular basis and many are also regular internet forum users who I'm sure would be posting here, The Gear Page or the Fender Forum if they were having problems such as this.

So, despite your tech's story and the other examples you use, I still find it a bit hard to believe that this amp has an inherent problem.

Just my thoughts on the matter.......

Believe me - I would love to know why my amp is so "special" - that it behaves in a way that NONE of my other amps do, even though it completely checks out according to two qualified techs.

It could be the gain structure I use, I tend to use a Y cable with the amp, running into both channels and tagging the front end fairly hard (although the problem occurs when using one channel at unity gain as well).

I tend to play in a lot of situations where the whole band is playing on one or two circuits (parties, etc.) so I have considered that the amp is sensitive to, or the problem is aggravated by low voltage situations.

Look - I'm not saying what it is...I don't know what it is, all I'm saying is that no one can tell me Fender hasn't put out wonky products before with serious issues....cause they have. I've owned some of them. And as I pointed out - two of them were also from the Custom Shop...so, I guess I'm getting a little bit tired of shelling out big bucks on Custom Shop amps from Fender, and running into issues. Maybe it's a bad component somewhere that's not totally failing, but is causing problems in certain situations...I don't know, but I don't need the headache and that's why....

I traded it in towards a brand new Dr. Z EZG-50 so....problem solved for me.

Bye. Bye.

[dkbemb10]

Just ordered myself a '57 twin reissue in tweed so I'm glad to join you guys' club. I've gone through a Blues Junior, Blues Deluxe, Bassman Reissue but this has always been my dream amp. I can't wait for it to arrive, the anticipation is gonna kill me...

[gmann]

Originally Posted by tazzboy

There are some difference between the Victoria and one Fender Produces.

The Victoria uses Orange Drop Caps, different transformers and Jensen Speakers.
The Fender uses Xicon Caps, Mercury Magnets Transformers, and Ted Weber Design Eminence Speaker Manufacture speaker.

Also Fender Tweed Twin you can not do the channel jump patching a bright into normal channel.

The Victoria also uses one rectifier tube.