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Topic: Red Knob Dual Showman Reverb |
Paul Sutherland
From:
Placerville, California
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Posted 28 Jul 2014 3:44 pm |
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What are your opinions on this somewhat rare amp? I saw one recently on the SF Bay Area Craigslist for $350, supposedly in good working condition, but by the time I sent a message it was already gone.
I assume it has printed circuit boards. It seems to have all the same power and preamp tubes as a PTP showman or twin. Info on line indicates it has the clean tone and warmth of a PTP dual showman or twin, but it also has a second drive channel with channel switching, which could be useful for lap steel. I found lots of good reviews of the amp, but always by lead guitar players. What do steel players think about this amp?
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It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing. |
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Ken Pippus
From:
Langford, BC, Canada
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Posted 28 Jul 2014 4:11 pm
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| Search for "Evil Twin." This is the head version of that amp. Not widely loved. |
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Bob Carlucci
From:
Candor, New York, USA
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Posted 28 Jul 2014 4:23 pm
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The red knob Fenders are not of the same build quality as the old PTP Fenders, and to my ears don't sound the same..
I had one.. It was awful.. sounded scratchy, brittle and middy and nasty.. There is s REASON those amps sell for less than half of what a PTP Fender sells for..
There IS an alternative if you want Fender sound and reliability at a more affordable price. In 1980 until about 1982 Fender built an amp called the Fender 75..
1x12 combo
1x 15 combo
75 watt head
These are the among the last of the Fender PTP amps, , they were reliable, sounded like a fender amps and were powerful in the extreme.. They also made a fender 140 head in that same series.. I had 2 of the 140 heads , and a Fender 75 1x15 combo.. These are REALLY good tube driven steel amps, and run a lot cheaper than the silverface amps, and more expensive than the red knobs.. Fender QC was very poor during the "red knob" years, and these days its reflected in the price and desirability.. IMHO you would be way better off with say a Peavey Classic 100 head than with that red knob showman.. as always ymmv... You couldn't give me a red knob anything... Well you could, but I would post it on the forum for $50 + shipping... bob
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I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!
no gear list for me.. you don't have the time...... |
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Rick Schacter
From:
Portland, Or.
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Posted 28 Jul 2014 9:53 pm
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| Bob Carlucci wrote: |
.. Fender QC was very poor during the "red knob" years, and these days its reflected in the price and desirability.
bob |
The people in Fender QC were very good during the dreaded red knob era.
If you report problems to management and they don't want to listen, there's not much you can do. Except find another job.
Those amps definitely used p.c.'s. They were also shipped from the factory with crummy Chinese tubes. The output tubes would literally separate at the base during burn in.
When we reported this to management we were instructed to glue them back together and send them out. I'm not kidding.
I would avoid the red knob amps.
After the red knob amps, we started building the re-issue amps. Starting with the '59 Bassman. Then later we started building the point to point amps. Starting with the Vibro King. My favorite amp for guitar, from the point to point amps is the Tone Master.
The re-issue and point to point amps were shipped from the factory with Sovteks.
Which was a big improvement. |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 29 Jul 2014 5:30 am
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Rick, QC has as much to do with the policies as the people. Your tale shows that well. If conscientious folks are not allowed to do a good job, that's just F%$@* up.
But yeah, I'd say if a QA man says "don't buy it," that says it all for me
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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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Jeremy Threlfall
From:
now in Western Australia
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James Holland
From:
Alabama, USA
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Posted 22 Apr 2015 12:21 am
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| Bob Carlucci wrote: |
... You couldn't give me a red knob anything... Well you could, but I would post it on the forum for $50 + shipping... bob |
The Twin's are going for $400 to $600 on Ebay. Solid state ones going for $100 to $200. |
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Olli Haavisto
From:
Jarvenpaa,Finland
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Posted 22 Apr 2015 8:13 am
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It`s not that bad IMO
Lindley played one (Twin) on one of his solo albums and Robben Ford requested two for his festival gig here. I mean he could have requested anything....
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Olli Haavisto
Finland |
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David Cubbedge
From:
Toledo,Ohio, USA
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Posted 22 Apr 2015 8:22 am
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I owned an "evil twin", bought it new, sent it back to Fender to fix frying eggs sound (when nothing playing), they couldn't fix so they sent me a new one which also fried eggs. (I sold it to a guy I really didn't like...lol!)
I would avoid any red-knob Fender amp like poison ivy!
I would also say that I found Fender's handling of my situation exceptional as my original evil twin was long out of warranty when they replaced it.
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Red Emmons D10 fatback #2246D with sweet Hugh Briley split cases, Black Emmons S10 #1466S, '73 Fender "Snakeskin" Twin Reverb, Peavey Nashville 400, Line 6 Pod XT, Fender 400, Fender Stringmaster Double-8, too many guitars, one bass! |
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Matthew Dawson
From:
Portland Oregon, USA
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Posted 22 Apr 2015 4:13 pm
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| I agreed to help a friend recap his Red-knob era Fender. I will never open another one of those up again! I'm no professional tech, but I've worked on a few amps and this one was particularly difficult and time consuming. The PCBs in those amps have been getting cooked by the heat of the tubes below them for 20-25 years. The ribbon connectors they used to tie the different PCBs together disintegrate, solder traces lift off the boards easily, and the boards themselves are difficult to get out of the amps. On the particular amp I worked on all of the components were mounted on the underside of the board making any minor repair a much more complicated job. If I have a Red-Knob Fender I would tear everything out of it but the transformers and rebuild it as a hand-wired amp. |
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James Holland
From:
Alabama, USA
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Posted 22 Aug 2015 4:16 am
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| Just bought a RK Twin. LOUD, CLEAN, and HEAVY. These had some quality issues when new, but they've all been fixed, or dismantled by now. The PC board construction was considered a concession at the time, but virtually all amps went to boards years/decades ago. |
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