Twin reverb 'can you improve the tone?

Marty Holmes · From: Magnolia ,TX USA

I bought an excellent Fender twin reverb without a master volume that used to belong to Bobby Garrett.This is a great amp with a Jbl D-130F in it,i think it is late 60ish.Just courious how or if i can clean up my tone on this amp.Is there a mod or certain tubes i can apply to it,i am not sure what brands of tubes are in it,it is a little mid-rangee compared to my Fender steel king.Just courious if i can clean up my tone a little,any suggestions or tips will be greatly appreciated.
thanks, Marty

Marty Holmes · From: Magnolia ,TX USA

[quote="Marty Holmes"]I bought an excellent Fender twin reverb without a master volume that used to belong to Bobby Garrett.This is a great amp with a Jbl D-130F in it,i think it is late 60ish.Just courious how or if i can clean up my tone on this amp.Is there a mod or certain tubes i can apply to it,i am not sure what brands of tubes are in it,it is a little mid-rangee compared to my Fender steel king.Just courious if i can clean up my tone a little,any suggestions or tips will be greatly appreciated.
thanks, Marty[/this is a silverfacequote]

Drew Howard · From: 48854

Try another speaker, take the amp to a technician, or turn the mid knob down.

Jerry Malvern · From: Menifee, California, USA

Do you know the history if the amp? There are Twins that have been "black faced" over the years. There are some that sell tubes with hardness ratings, but expect to lose some warmth in your sound, and a bias check would be in order. If you dont know the history, I'd take it to a tech that understands what a steel player needs.

Bill Moran · From: Virginia, USA

I don't think you can help it. Sell it to me.
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Bill

Bari Smith · From: Spartanburg SC USA

Got a 73 Vibrosomic.Installed all JJ tubes in preamp section (putting a 12AU7 in V1 position,instaed of a 12AX),recapped it,and put matched Winged "C"6l6's for power.Sings like a bird!!!!!!Or better yet,send it to Ken Fox!!! Very Happy

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SHO-BUD LDG(Cooperized),MULLEN RP SD-10,Webb 614E,'73 Vibrosonic,Mesa-Boogie Pre,Stewart 1.2,TC Electronic M-300,JBL's,Black Box,Walker Seats'84 Dobro,'69 Martin D-28,and assorted other goodies!

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Drew has the easiest suggestion. Turn the mids way down (2 or lower), set bass to 6 (or higher), and then adjust the tone with the treble knob. Few amps (even a B/F) will allow you to cut the mids more than a Fender Twin Reverb. (That's the secret of their tone.)

Steve Feldman · From: Central MA USA

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

How loud are you running it? A Twin sounds thin (to some) or midrangy (to others) at low volume. It's NOT a good low volume amp IMO, and doesn't bloom until you hit 4-5 minimum on the volume. The JBL just complicates the problem - you have a harsh, top-end heavy speaker with low power handling capabilities in a 100-watt amp...turn it up and that speaker will go Sputnik - it's a 50-watt...maybe 60 watt IF reconed...speaker on a good day. The specs are misleading....no one plays music at "continuous" power ratings. It can't handle 100 watts. I've sent enough out for recones!

Short version, if you want to keep it:

1. Make sure it's been properly serviced - filter & bias caps replaced, all others checked for leakage, resistors checked for drift.

2. Dead-on matched 12AT7 driver tube of good quality.

3. 5751, 12AY7 or 12AU7 in the V2 slot to dial-down the gain.

4. If it has not been blackfaced, ensure at least the bias is adjustable, put NOS US or JJ (if on a budget) power tubes in it, and bias it around 35ma to start and then go by ear, checking to make sure it's in safe range.

5. Dump the JBL (before it dumps you ) and go with an Eminence or (my favorite) a Weber that will handle 100 watts - and WITHOUT the aluminum cone, which is part of the problem.

6. If you want to keep the speaker, a) install a Weber Beam Blocker to kill the harshness from the aluminum dustcap, pull the two outer or two inner power tubes and play it at 40-ish watts. It will warm up tremendously. If your D130F is an 8 ohm speaker you are set up right already for a 2-power tube setup - if it's a 4 ohm I'd swap it for an 8-ohm - with two power tubes pulled, the output transformer is looking for 8 ohms....and if it's an 8 ohm speaker in there now, you have an impedance mismatch - not dangerous, but it won't help your tone.

PS - "clean up" tone and "midrangy" are two separate and distinct issues. If you have both those problems and a 50-watt speaker in it I sure as heck wouldn't call it an "excellent" Twin Reverb.

I left out a LOT of detail above - but it needs to go to a professional amp tech.
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No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional

Jody Sanders · From: Magnolia,Texas, R.I.P.

This amp has been reworked by one of the best techs in the Houston area. I heard Marty play it, and it sounded super to me.Marty is getting to be a super little player. I used it on the road from 68 to 75 and it performed excellent. I started using Peaveys in 75, and retired the amp. Jody.

David Doggett · Posted 19 Jun 2008 3:21 pm

In case it might have been modded since Jody had it, have an amp tech check it to change any black-face mods back to stock. And have them put hard tubes in it and bias it cold, to play clean to the top for steel.

The JBL can work fine for steel, if you are careful, and depending on how you use your volume pedal. It is a 60 watt speaker, as Jim says. But if you attack your notes with the volume pedal half or more off, like myself and many steelers, it can be safe, as many JBLs in Twins and Vibrasonics of steelers attest. When you are playing 10-string E9 you don't have the lowest string of a guitar, and it's those low power chords that blow a speaker. Also, you will probably be playing clean rather than distortion, another safety factor. But, if you want to play it really loud, attacking notes with your volume pedal near maximum, or play a lot of loud C6, that could be trouble, as Jim says.

Many of us love the sound of those JBLs for steel, aluminum dust cap and all.

James Morehead · From: Prague, Oklahoma, USA - R.I.P.

Dump your JBLs?? I hardly think so, Jim. Laughing

A good tech can recap your amp and VOICE it for steel, and the highs become bell-like, not ice pick-like. Stay away from power tubes that "break up" early, and you will be able to get plenty of headroom out of your twin, with a JBL. It's one of the finest steel speakers/amp combinations on the planet.

Lloyd Green made a career playing through his twin reverb equipped with JBLs. So has Ricky Davis. So has Dave Biller. The list goes on. These guys can't ALL be wrong about tone.

As David D. says, it's all about finesse, how you USE the speaker. If you have to play loud, then mike your amp. I just switched back to JBL D 130F's from Altec 418B's. The Altecs handle a bit more power, but there is just that little extra that is magic with the JBLs and a Twin Reverb, that is set up right. YMMV

Ken Fox · From: Nashville GA USA

The best cure I have seen is a set EVM12L speakers. That warms up a Twin so nicely!!!

I like most any deep basket speaker for a Twin. I even like the Celstion speakers as well. A pair of Vintage 30's is a nice choice, but might not hold up to the rigors of pedal steel.

A deeper throw basket just moved the air so much better. Makes a Twin sound good even at low volumes!!!

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