Twin Reverb too uncontrolable for home use?

Twins are fine at home- sound good at very low volume, and you can put a boost pedal in front to fatten the tone at low volume. I used to have a Marshall JMP100w with a quad box and played that at home at very low volume and the neighbours never complained unlike people at gigs who kept telling me to turn down!

 

Agreed.

 

Great amps- I played my 76 twin at home for years. No problem at lower volume.

 

Never say never… On the other hand the Twin is the amp Leo designed to deliver clean all the way up the dial and he knew what he was doing.

I have a '68 Bandmaster non-reverb head up at Muchxs' place being "big-ified" into a 1-12" combo. I expect nothing but loud out of that but it will be voiced so I can get clean loud or switch to over-driven loud.

Buy the Twin. If, after a while, you want some natural dirt, get it blackfaced.

 

A Twin Reverb is wonderful played quietly, and having TWO speakers is part of the appeal, part of the sound. A Twin gets along famously with a variety of different guitars, if that matters to you.

One of my favorite sounds is a Gibson plugged straight in, on the neck pickup, amp volume in the 2-3 range. If you want to hear what people mean by a "sweet" tone -- that's it. Matter of fact, that tone is what made me buy a Firebird. Firebird neck pickup and the Twin, oh yeah.

Store near me is selling a silverface Twin with CELESTIONS. I was really really enjoying that amp, and I didn't know what the speakers were until I looked around back. Now I'm thinking, maybe I should try that trick at home. OR, maybe do a mixed bag, with one Fender speaker, one Celestion...

 

I love my 68 Twin. It's my favorite amp ever and the one I go to 99% of the time at home. For man cave use it's usually sitting at 3; if the wife is sleeping maybe 2. Always sounds great.

 

My situation and volume settings exactly.

 

I got the 68 "Custom" about a year ago. I also have a '73SFDR that I've had since '75. Seriously, I've never once in 40 years used the non-reverb channel; for me, total wasted space. The RI has a Bassman front end wired into the "normal" channel jack, the regular DR in the other. It's a great amp, close to the old one. The Celestion sounded OK, but I'm used to my EVM12L, so I stuck one in the new amp, sounds very similar, maybe a little quieter and cleaner.

 

The only uncontrollable part is you, wanting to turn it up. Once you get over that, just keep the volume low and enjoy.

 

Home use? Yes. By all means.

 

Imho, the secret to running a BF/SF FEnder reverb amp at low volumes...or high, for that matter...is to control the tone settings. AT low volume, punch the tones up to maintain presence oand richness. AT high volumes, turn the tone controls down in order to keep the preamp signal from becoming overdistorted. With this formula, a TR can be played at any volume that is needed, ime.
FWIW, I set these amps at 5's...volume and all tones on '5' as a starting point. IF I run the volume at 2, the tones maybe close to maxxed/dimed. At high volume settings, the tones will be down in the lower half of their ranges.

 

Hi Duffy

I like Twins ... I have a silverface, used it a lot. Question: if you play at home and have a Deluxe Reverb, why do you want a Twin? Is the Deluxe not loud enough? At low volumes, they sound somewhat similar. Do you plan on cranking it up beyond the volume of your current 22 watt amp?

 

I own a 75 silver face twin and use it at home all the time. The master volume is handy for that on the 70s silver faces. I got mine for $500 and its all original, original foot switch, cover, hang tags, warranty info etc. I think they are a great value for a twin. Super heavy, haha, but worth it. The prices are comparable to the reissues. Mine has the caster wheels also.

 

I read there is a volume on the guitar as well...

Pedals, yes. A Les Lius for example is a great Twin/Super tamer IMO.

 

Is the Twin Reverb too Uncontrollable for Home Use?


Yes it is.
I had one at one time. A vicious amp.
I kept it in a cage, but one night it broke out, and I
never saw it again.

 

Its perfect for home use I help heat my basement in the winter and sound good at the same time.I can play at a comfortable level for me and not vibrate the wife and the neighborhood at the same time.But if you want to you can,The whole neighborhood!
And Wally is right on the money.

 

IMHO - that's a LOT of amp for home use. Why use an amp that produces this much power - and doesn't sound that good until turned past 3 - if you aren't going to get it up to 3 or so. Use a smaller amp so you can turn it up to the point that you get some good usable tone.

If I were in a house then the answer is yes because you can turn it up to the point that the amp makes good tone. Smaller amps usually sound better in small spaces though.

If you are in an apartment and not on the bottom floor - then a 5 watt something is what I would use - and set the little 5 watter on the couch so it doesn't vibrate the floors.

I have even cranked a little 5 watt amp on the couch and put a pillow in front of it and enjoyed great tone that didn't drive the neighbors away.

In the house I have an almost sound proofed room that I can play as loud as I feel like I need to without the neighbors calling the cops.

Maybe the following is a little off topic - but:

Remember - the bass frequencies are the ones that travel long distances - and these are the frequencies that people call the cops over.

Use an Auralex Gramma to stop the bass from going into the floor.

Use corner baffles to soak up the bass that will amplify from the corners to the outside of the room.

Use ClearSonic baffles to control the sound of the amp so you CAN turn it up and not cause bleeding from your ears - or get the cops called.

Make a foam and plywood plug for the window in that room to control the sound coming from the room to the outside world.

Make some gobos to control the sound in the room itself.

I can play at three in the morning in my room and the neighbors can't hear it. Most of my amps are 40-50 watt amps and they are plenty loud. So if you are going to use a very large amp at home - get your tone out of it by being able to turn it up - and unless you live in the country and have a mile between neighbors - be mindful of others in your neighborhood and soundproof your listening room. Once you isolate the vibrating cabinet from the structure of the house then your house doesn't become a giant speaker. Then all you have to do is deal with air molecules - which are easily controllable with sound absorbing materials.

 

I have a BFTR with factory Jensens and it sings at any volume. Yes it would be a great amp for bedroom practice and part of the magic is having the 2x12s.
I would encourage you to look for a silverface Twin instead of a reissue. Anything can be repaired pretty easily on a blackface or silverface Twin. The reissues are not always easy to work on. A silverface will hold its value and very likely increase in value over time. This is not the case with a reissue.

 

a twin is overkill for most gigs even but they sound good at home levels. The sweet spot is 7-12 but anything past 2 is ok. the 2X12s is in a lot of ways better sounding than a small 8" 5 watt amp at low volumes. 2x12 fills the room with air even at low volumes.
a twin and rat pedal is a good combo for home use.

not sure about the Made in Mexico part as I thought all amps were made in Mexico since the 1990s (except the custom jobs like the Clapton tweeds etc)
My twin (2005) doesnt say where its made specifically. It hints at Corona but it doesnt really say. The only 'made in' is on the bottom of the footswitch and that says "Made in Mexico"

mine has eminence speakers and they sound fine to me. Ive been meaning to throw some et65s in it though to see whats up. everyone HATES the speakers in my twin for some reason, lol (the brown and yellow eminence)

 

it's a fine amp for home, any amp 15, 20 watts or more will wake up your momma at home if you push it...

The responses above are spot on...


It's not overkill for most gigs..I don't even know what that means but we read that often here.. A DR can be too loud for a gig too but it can't be too clean for a gig, and thats the differentiator for an amp like a TWIN, it doesn't offer nasty grit when you turn it up. twins, once again, are not about volume, they are about clean tone.

I use a Twin because I do NOT WANT nasty grit at bandstand levels. I don't use a DR because it is NOT clean at bandstand levels.

I used a Twin non stop for 25 years, the same one, bedroom, rehearsals gigs whatever...it can become your best friend. I am not saying the Twin is the best amp for every gig but it can be used on any gig and that is not true of it's smaller counterparts.

they are all good, but they are not all equal.