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Post new topic Tweaking a Twin
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Author Topic:  Tweaking a Twin
Jerry Malvern

 

From:
Menifee, California, USA
Post  Posted 29 Jun 2006 3:09 pm    
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Just bought a twin custom 15. I did a search on the forum for everybodys settings and I am close, but not there yet. Strings 5 and 6 have got the tone, but string 4 sounds tinny and thin. Maybe somebody could tell me the process they used to get their settings. Thanks
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Jim Sliff


From:
Lawndale California, USA
Post  Posted 29 Jun 2006 6:45 pm    
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Jerry, is it brand new? I so, you'll need about 20-30 hours playing for the speaker to break in before you can decide on anything.

But regardless, "settings" are only relevant to particular guitars in particular rooms. All my Fender amps change settings all over the map depending on the type of venue - club, hall, outdoors...carpet, hard floors, parallel walls, chairs, number of people.

I've found guidance amp settings to be completely useless. And if ONE string sounds tinny, that doesn't sound like an amp situation anyway, unless it sounds bad on only one note..or the same note in each octave. That can be a tube resonating, or a cap going in an old amp. If the whole string sounds tinny, I start looking at the string; the saddle; the nut; the pickup. In that order.

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Jerry Malvern

 

From:
Menifee, California, USA
Post  Posted 29 Jun 2006 7:07 pm    
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Amp is 2 years old. Guitar and strings OK on Peavey and Evans. I am certain it just needs to be dialed in, and I am so close. Just wondering how everybody does the process.
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Chris LeDrew


From:
Canada
Post  Posted 29 Jun 2006 7:12 pm    
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What is your overall impression of the amp in general, Jerry? I'm watching this thread because I'm very interested in one of these amps.
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Jerry Malvern

 

From:
Menifee, California, USA
Post  Posted 30 Jun 2006 8:03 am    
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Chris, I bought this amp strictly for home use. Big and heavy. Single coil pick ups hum alot, but I use #2 input, with 6db cut and remove the matchbox from the line and that reduces most of the hum, or at least makes it livable. Live gigs I think I would consider miking it. Killer sound on a 6 string.
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Chris LeDrew


From:
Canada
Post  Posted 30 Jun 2006 8:17 am    
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Is this the reissue or a silverface with a 15"?
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Jerry Malvern

 

From:
Menifee, California, USA
Post  Posted 30 Jun 2006 9:44 am    
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65 reissue
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John Bechtel


From:
Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.
Post  Posted 3 Jul 2006 9:20 pm    
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I would recommend a good~quality 500K Linear~Pot in your Volume~Pedal. More punch and a better EQ~Blend for the Full-Travel of the pedal! Seems to be ideal with the ’65 Re~Issue Fender Twin~Reverb Custom™ 15”! V–3/4, T–3, M–6, B–5, R–2½.

------------------
“Big John”
a.k.a. {Keoni Nui}
Current Equipment
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Jim Sliff


From:
Lawndale California, USA
Post  Posted 3 Jul 2006 9:33 pm    
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Jerry, IMO that's WAY too much amp for home use. If you're only able to turn it up to 2 or 3 no wonder it sounds inconsistent and thin in places. You're not able to drive the power section or speaker enough to get any decent tone. They just don't sound good a low volume IMO. I can barely get enough drive for decent tone out of a Deluxe Reverb at home - I sold my win because it sounded terrible at low volume, and it was a precisely serviced and dialed-in early 70's Twin.

Generally, tube amps need to be driven fairly had before they "bloom" and give you a round, even tone. The only way to get that sound at lower volume with the same amp is to use an attenuator, but you'd need to change out to a lower-wattage speaker as well that reacts quickly at lower volume. The stock speakers in those amps (both the 2x12 and 15 versions) were meant for high-volume playing and are VERY stiff at low volume, really stifling your sound.

Seriously, it's the wrong amp for home use, unless you have a soundproofed room....and a pair of Hearos...
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Jerry Malvern

 

From:
Menifee, California, USA
Post  Posted 4 Jul 2006 8:16 am    
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The Twin Reverb is probably the most recorded amp in history. Fed thru a volune pedal, one is able to "drive" the amp. There is no way to compare the 2-12 model and the single 15. Quite the opposite Jim, it IS the perfect home studio amp.
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Bob Hoffnar


From:
Austin, Tx
Post  Posted 4 Jul 2006 8:25 am    
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Jerry you got yourself a great amp ! I use them all the time when I order back line for gigs. The settings I use might seem a little weird but they work for me and a few other players I know that use the 65 twin for steel.

brite: off
bass: 4
Mid: 10
treble:3

What this does is bring the amp to basicly a flat setting because of the interactive way Fender tone controls work.

------------------
Bob
upcoming gigs
My Website



[This message was edited by Bob Hoffnar on 04 July 2006 at 09:26 AM.]

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David Doggett


From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
Post  Posted 4 Jul 2006 10:23 am    
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My tone settings on my silver face Pro Reverb, Dual Showman Reverb, and Super Twin Reverb, all through 15" speakers, are very similar to Bob H's: treble around 3, mid around 8, bass around 4. This is also similar to what Marty Nemanick said he uses over on this thread on the Vibrosonic (http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum11/HTML/009063.html). All 15" speakers seem to have a dip in the mids compared to the 12" speakers these amps were designed for. So to get close to flat, you have to boost the mids. On these same amps (and a several Twins I have used) with 12" speakers, I like treble around 2, mid 5-6, and bass around 8, for pedal steel. This seems to bring the 12s close to the sound I am use to for pedal steel with 15" speakers.

On the other hand Ricky Davis and others said they use something like: treble 4, mid 2, bass 4. So go figure.

For me, tone settings often are more about the speaker size than the amp, especially when talking about an amp family like the Fenders, which all have similar tone stacks. With the Peavey amp family I use completely different settings than with Fenders.

------------------
Student of the Steel: Zum uni, Fender tube amps, squareneck and roundneck resos, tenor sax, keyboards

[This message was edited by David Doggett on 04 July 2006 at 02:20 PM.]

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