Fender Twin Reverb Question.

Johnie Helms · From: Oklahoma, USA

I recently purchased a 71 NMV Silver face twin... I removed the baffle and took out the two 12" speakers, replacing them with a 15" Commonwealth. 4ohm.
I was hoping for a little smoother mids and tighter low end. There is plenty of high end.
And volume but, I notice the amp tens to breakup on the lower requester (at fairly loud volume levels. 3-4 on the setting)
I've thought of trying a few "mods" or even trying My BW 1502 DT. 4 ohm Speaker instead of the Commonwealth,,, Any suggestions.?

Would like to hear from you twin users.

Many thanks

JH

Bob Hoffnar · From: Austin, Tx

The settings I use on a twin:

brite off
treble 3
mids 8 or 9
bass 2 or 3

That is pretty close to flat so it might be a productive starting point.
_________________
Bob

David Nugent · From: Gum Spring, Va.

May be the speaker. I have a BW in my '67 and there is bottom end to spare...FYI: If your BW is presently mounted in an amp or cabinet, there is a simple way to determine if swapping the speakers will remedy the problem. You may feel free to send me a P.M. or e-mail if you require the information.

Les Cargill · From: Oklahoma City, Ok, USA

A Twin actually breaking up ( clipping the power section and/or speaker(s)) is very, very loud. Like threshold of pain loud.

Are you sure it's breaking up or do you just need to back off on the volume pedal? This was one of my big lessons this year.

I ended up going with a Steelaire and not a Twin because of this.

A pedal steel pickup will throw enough voltage at the first 12AX7 on a twin to cause it to get ugly. I happen to have an old DOD FX80 compressor that I can usually use to diagnose this sort of problem - you can't hardly overload it and it allows adjusting how much signal gets into the input. You don't have to compress with it - just turn that knob down - but you can adjust the output level to keep from hitting the next input too hard.

I realize now that you just can't diagnose this sort of thing at a Guitar Center. You need a real music store with somebody you trust.

This being said, I am extremely happy with the Steelaire. I like the sound better than a Twin. It's cleaner, more forward and more detailed at level.

Johnie Helms · From: Oklahoma, USA

Thanks to all that replied..

I have the 1502 DT in a cab so I will test that next Week...
And yes, I agree a twin on 3-4 on the volume control is incredibly loud... I'll also try Bob's settings just to have another starting place.
Another fella told Me to try a lower output tube in the pre-section 12AY7.? He said it would clean up the input but also has some reduced gain to it... Hmmm, Would'nt that mean I would have to "turn up" a little more just to git to the level I'm currently at.? Thus distortion would possibly come back into play.?Although I know a pedal steel pickup is generally "Hotter" than guitar pickups.. I'm using a GL PF1 on the E-Neck...

Thanks agin for all the help.

JH

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

Johnny, the reasoning behind the lower tube is that our pickups are so hot that the voltages are near the top of what the preamp tubes can stay clean with.
The power tubes increase current more than voltage, and the 12A*7 tubes are voltage boosters. If they add too much voltage, the later tubes are at their limits.
Taming the gain won't necessarily squeeze the volume.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Bill Hatcher · From: Atlanta Ga. USA

first try an underarm guitar in the amp and see how it sounds.

have you biased the amp? tested the tubes? checked the filter caps and electrolytics?

Paul Sutherland · From: Placerville, California

My 71 Twin Reverb does not break up at any volume setting. I routinely play gigs with the volume set on 6 or higher. I like to run the volume at 8 because the amp gets a real nice tube compression thing going on at that level, but it's not breaking up. I even set it on 10 once just to get the full Ralph Mooney effect. It was still clean, and sounded glorious.

Of course a Twin set on 8 is a bit loud, so if that's not do-able, then I use a 40 watt tube amp.

If your Twin is breaking up on 3 or 4 you need to have someone look at it.

The settings Bob Hoffnar suggested are close to what I run. Treble and Bass each sometimes up to 4, but never higher. Mids about 8. Brightness off.
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It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing.

Steven Finley · From: California, USA

I agree with Les,you cant beat a steelair,a twin
does not compare.

Ian Sutton · From: San Francisco, CA

+1 for what Bill said. Drifting cap values could certainly jack with your tone. I also found a 250k volume pot in my 71 Twin--it's supposed to be 1Meg.
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Some gear.

Stanley Benoit · From: New Iberia,Louisiana, USA

Black Widow,I have a twin reissue with one works good for fiddle or steel
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Williams D10 400 keyless ,95 Pedalmaster D10 Nashville 400,Fender Vibrosonic

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

I'd suspect bad coupling caps, filter caps, or tubes in the amp before I'd question a new speaker. I also wouldn't go "modding' an amp until I knew what it was supposed to sound like in the first place. Your amp's over 40 years old, and probably has some very components in there. Winking

Dan Robinson · From: Colorado, USA

Try plugging in to Input 2. It has less gaIn.

Dan

David Spires · From: Millersport, OH

Johnie,

What type of volume pedal do you use?

In the good old days, the only volume pedals were passive pot pedals, and they played better with tube amp front ends. My active pedals have always caused me issues - because their output is louder, and it hits the first tube sections harder. This can cause the amp to break up at lower volumes.

Try a passive pedal, or if you have a Boss GE-7 laying around, use the volume slider on it to reduce the volume going into the amp by a pinch, and see if that helps.

Just the random thoughts of a guy learning to love Fender tube amps. Smile

David Spires
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2021 MSA Legend XL 10&7; Asher Electro-Hawaiian Junior Lap Steel; '79 OMI Dobro 66 w/ Scheerhorn cone and setup; '64 Hand-wired Re-issue Fender Princeton Reverb

Craig A Davidson · From: Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin USA

What pick-ups do you have they could also be sending to much gain into the amp. Couple that with an active pedal like a Hilton and the signal could just be too hot. Try also plugging into the No. 2 jack of that channel.

Johnie Helms · From: Oklahoma, USA

Hey Gang...

I recently started using the 2nd input (That really seems to help.)And I plan on tryin a "Lesser" gain pre-amp tube as soon as I git one..

I'm using a passive volume pedal,and George L pickups. but,, I'm also going into a GP100... So the issue could also be to hot a signal from there. I did plug straight into the amp the other Day, and had very satisfactory results.

Anyway,

Thanks for all the advise.

JH

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

You could also try lowering the pickup height. This both lowers output and to some extent sweetens the tone.
People often overlooked that option
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

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