"The Twin"

Dave Zirbel · From: Sebastopol, CA USA

What's the scoop on these big monsters? I'm getting one for free.

Thanks Smile

_________________
Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps

Karl Nutt · From: Fayette City, PA U.S.A.

Cheap is good... Free is better!!! Congratulations! Very Happy

Bill C. Buntin · From: Cleburne TX

You a lucky dude. I had to buy my twin. I played steel through mine for awhile because I was doubling with 6 string and baritone. But, after I got tired of dragging 3 guitars, effects and the heavy twin around, I sold mine. went back to Evans and Peaveys.

Pete Woronowski · From: Saskatchewan, Canada

They were a very good amp, I used one for a few years in combination with a Marshall 4x10 cab.
In low power you have 25 watts which is where I ran mine 95% of the time. High power gives you 100 watts.
If you pull the middle two 6l6 tubes low power becomes 15 watts and high is 60 watts. No real reason to do this.

If you ever have any grief with the amp other than replacing tubes always start with the switches on the rear. First to check is the impedance switch and second is to check the assignable effects loop.
A delay into the effects loop gives a very nice tone and you can switch to the overdrive channel without the delay being driven too hard.

Enjoy!
_________________
Mullen Royal Precision

Bob Carlucci · From: Candor, New York, USA

Thats the only way I would get into a PC board Fender amp... Free..

I have had a few and they were truly awful.. Having said that however, I have heard that "The Twin" wasn't as bad as some, and it might be a decent steel amp... bob
_________________
I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!

no gear list for me.. you don't have the time......

Dave Zirbel · From: Sebastopol, CA USA

You're sure it's a PC board? What years was this model made?

Thanks for the replies, guys!
_________________
Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps

Bruce Derr · From: Lee, New Hampshire, USA

This is a "red-knob" Twin, made from around 1988 to 1994. In '94 they changed the knobs to black. Hence, yours is a '94. It does have a printed circuit board, the first Twin model to have one. This was the first Twin that Fender made after their mid-'80s bounce-back. Some people like its clean sound a lot.

This amp could be part of your fitness plan; it weighs around 80 lbs.

Ken Pippus · From: Langford, BC, Canada

Search for "Evil Twin" and you'll find lots of opinions.

Jeff Mead · From: London, England

Bruce Derr · From: Lee, New Hampshire, USA

The "Evil Twin" came out after this one. Different amp.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Twin

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

The "Evil Twin" designation for this model was not supplied by Fender, but by many players who got frustrated with their reliability, back then. The "official" "Evil Twin" in the Fender ads did in fact come later, but that does not make that moniker any less valid for these red-knob models (I know yours has black knobs, but as mentioned, this must have been made at the end of the run when they switched to black knobs).

I think these amps sound can sound quite good, especially clean. Clean, it's a pretty standard, mid-scooped Fender sound with some things like tremelo missing but many other additional options like a switchable gain channel, balanced line out, effects loop, and both bias level and balance adjustable via test points at the rear of the amp. I've seen many good players use them over the years - including Robben Ford. Overall, they seemed to be going for a Dumble-like sort of sound and versatility in many ways, to me, and I suspect that's why some people like them.

But this was the Bill-Schultz-era Fender's first serious foray into a new amp line, and construction was a lot different than even the earlier Rivera-era amps and way, way different than the classic silverface/blackface and earlier amps. It definitely is a PCB amp, with many of the issues that go with that. I noticed issues with jacks, switches, thinner gauge wiring, solder joints, and so on - issues that many players these days have just resigned to accept in modern production tube amps.

But hell - for free? Got nothing to lose as long as you don't have to spend a bunch of money just to find out it has major hidden issues. If it's not working now, I'd open it up and do a careful visual inspection to look for big issues. But if it's in reasonable working order now and you mess around and like the sound, it's probably worth having someone knowledgeable go in and tighten it up - look for bad solder joints, problems with jacks/switches, out-of-spec components, and so on - it is at least 22 years old. But be careful with that PCB. I don't think it would be very easy to recover from a seriously messed-up PCB. I doubt Fender has them and I doubt anybody will ever "reissue" these.

If you google "red knob twin" or "evil twin", you'll find lots more info, including a user manual, circuit diagrams, vids - lots of stuff out there.

Brad Sarno · From: St. Louis, MO USA

One of the least-loved Fender amps ever.

But for free, sure, why not.

B

Ken Metcalf · From: San Antonio Texas USA

If you are fishing ... Yes a nice boat anchor

Dave Zirbel · From: Sebastopol, CA USA

Well if it sucks then maybe at least I'll get some tubes and speakers out of it.... Smile

Here's a demo...poor quality recording but otherwise seems ok...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3UAocF_i5Q

It looks like you can run a signal through the clean and dirty channel and blend them for a more complex sound......interesting.

Thanks for the replies. I'll be getting it tomorrow and will report back!

Dave
_________________
Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps

Dave Zirbel · From: Sebastopol, CA USA

Yep.....makes a good boat anchor....time to take up fishing. Smile

It works but there's a super loud hiss with all knobs turned down all the way. The pre amp tubes (five 12AX7s and two 12AT7s) are all made in China. The power tubes are Sovtek, reverb pan made in USA not sure what brand. Speakers are Blue Label special design 67 - so Eminence. They don't thrill me........
_________________
Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps

Asa Brosius · Posted 8 Jan 2017 6:48 pm

I rented one for a week in Europe- very heavy, very ugly. Clearly an unpopular opinion, but I loved it- one of my favorite steel amps.

David Cubbedge · From: Toledo,Ohio, USA

I bought "The Twin" new in 1990. It always sounded like it was frying eggs. Even with the standby on and nothing plugged in. I endured with it for months, then sent it to Fender through my local music store where I purchased it. Despite it being out of warranty, Fender attempted to fix it for free while giving me a second "The Twin" as a loaner. They eventually told me to keep the loaner - they could not fix my original amp. Problem was the loaner fried eggs as well! So, I sold it and bought a 1973 Twin and had it restored. I've never been happier (except for the weight....).

I'd get rid of it if I were you! Cut your losses! Those red knob Fenders aren't very good, in my opinion.
_________________
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!

Steve Sycamore · From: Sweden

This is definitely a highly under-rated amp but with certain caveats. First of all, it has enormous potential and can really sound rather good. But most units you find require lots of work.

I've had a near mint condition example for many years but to tell the truth, it's probably only every 4th year that I power it up. Very, very likely the capacitors in the power supply will have deteriorated to the point that the amp sounds terrible no matter how you play it - as if a ravenous pack of wolves lives inside which just bark and bark and never sing. So a cap job will be necessary. They probably used low quality caps originally to save money.

You will probably find that the apparent volume radically oversteps what you expect and find musically useful. That only increases the barkiness of the amp. One workaround is to remove the inner power tubes.

On the positive side, the reverb sounds excellent and using it with the gain channel creates a really beautifully bouncy sound. That sound doesn't simulate the gain sounds of a Marshall amp for example, so you should not expect a Marshall clone to be embedded in the amp. Maybe to real fans of Fender amps the gain channel is consistent with what you would get if you want to hot rod a Fender...

Also, the Red Knob "The Twin" is not the "Evil Twin" but it preceded it by a year or two and the gain channel can be set to give a wicked shred. But this is an amp that requires lots of TLC and maybe a rebuild to reach its real potential.

Steve Sycamore · From: Sweden

P.S. The power tubes in mine were vintage RCA 6L6's which sound fantastic. If yours has non-American built tubes they have been replaced.

Forum Index > Electronics		Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic