Fender Amp guys! Need advice on a Vintage Twin.

[Old Ghost]

I found a Vintage 1978 Fender Twin Reverb Silverface with a pair of new Jensen C12N speakers for $750. I have no experience with this amp whatsoever :scratchch nder: so, I'm going to need your advice. Good amp? Not that good? Bad? Good price? Also, this one has a Master Volume and in excellent condition. So watcha think fellas? Thanks!

 

[seafoamer]

Re: Fender Amp guys! Need advice on a Vintage Twin.

I think it's a bit pricey for a 78.

 

[54stratlover]

Re: Fender Amp guys! Need advice on a Vintage Twin.

Do you have any pics? I have an couple early 70's twins. I have blackfaced them both. They are good amps. i am not sure if the later 70's are the same as the early ones. I feel that they are a great "platform" for mods. Both of mine were handwired. I am not sure what year they switched to PCBs. they are great amps, but they are heavy!! and Loud. If you are going for a blues/Rock sound I would recommend using celestion vintage 30, and v30h speakers. I have the new GT 6l6 GE in one of the amps and the amp is ATOMIC loud (the master volume is removed along with being blackfaced. A favorite mod of mine is having the left channel modded to resemble a early marshall sound (jtm 45, bluesbreaker). I hear there are more aggressive mods for that channel. The one I have in the shop now will have the bright switch on that channel modded to be a "fat" boost, like on the tonemaster. I am gonna use different tubes in that amp. Something with a little less power.

What part of washington are you in?

 

[54stratlover]

Re: Fender Amp guys! Need advice on a Vintage Twin.

as far as the price I would see if they would go maybe a little lower.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Fender Amp guys! Need advice on a Vintage Twin.

a 78 would still be hand wired. IMO that is a but much money for a 78 Twin, but the market will allow it, if you are in the market for a Twin and have $750.00 I would look for a reissue...much better amp IMO ( and I have seen them sell for very low prices). That said a 78 can be made into a killer amp, but it will need quite a few things and will cost a few dollars. twins are great amps for playing very loud and staying pretty damn clean...I love mine!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Fender Amp guys! Need advice on a Vintage Twin.

The master volume version of the Twin Reverb is not my favorite version. But as Christian mentioned, it's still a hand wired amp. I've gone through a '77 Twin and made some tweaks and turned it into a great sounding amp. They need a little work to the bias circuit and a little tweaking here and there to make them sound more like the blackface version but it's easily doable because they are not a printed circuit board amp like the reissue. PCB amps are much much more difficult to mod or even repair. Personally, I'd look for a '74 if you have it in mind to get a Twin. I think it's a better sounding amp and since the '74 is a silverface and not a blackface, you can still find them for a pretty low price. Silverface Fenders are a great deal for the most part. A new amp handwired like that would be in the $2000 to 3000 price range! Lew

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Fender Amp guys! Need advice on a Vintage Twin.

In the early 70's you can see Pete Townshend with Silver Face Princtons and later on in the 78 Who Are You period he had Silver Face Twins in his studio.... As with everything Pete had i'm sure they were tweeked some way but if he liked them they would be good enough for this Whofan too... Also Pete had a great like for Jensen speakers....

WhoFan

 

[Quencho092]

Re: Fender Amp guys! Need advice on a Vintage Twin.

if you dont want to bother with modding the crap out of it, just get the 65 RI used from a respectable dealer. Shouldn't cost you more than 800-870 used.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Fender Amp guys! Need advice on a Vintage Twin.

if you dont want to bother with modding the crap out of it, just get the 65 RI used from a respectable dealer. Shouldn't cost you more than 800-870 used.

that's good advise...even thought the reissues are on a PCB, they are fine amps and I have seen them as cheep as $600.00! There is one here in town for $700.00 in an ATA Anvil case!

 

[Old Ghost]

Re: Fender Amp guys! Need advice on a Vintage Twin.

Thanks for all the great input gentlemen! I really appreciate it.
I think I'm going to follow your advice and pass on this amp and just look for a good used reissue. Or look out for a '74 Silverface like Lew adviced. I was really looking for a ''plug-n-play'' Fender and not looking forward on modding the amp. I want to be able to play it and enjoy it not fix it
I've used/owned Marshall's all my life and know nothing about Fender amps :nervous: o I've played a couple back in the day ('59 Bassman and that big 'ol Super Reverb w/ 4x10 ! ) but NEVER owned one. :smack: I remember how great they sounded.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Fender Amp guys! Need advice on a Vintage Twin.

if you want to do no mods at all look for a reissue...they are on a PCB, but still great amps, an original BF would be good too but they are kind of price. If you can find a 74 or earlier silverface they can be made to be great amps with just a few tweaks...

 

[Old Ghost]

Re: Fender Amp guys! Need advice on a Vintage Twin.

if you want to do no mods at all look for a reissue...they are on a PCB, but still great amps, an original BF would be good too but they are kind of price. If you can find a 74 or earlier silverface they can be made to be great amps with just a few tweaks...

Thanks Chris! As far as reliabilty issues for the reissue, are there any that I should be aware of? I really don't mind a few minor essential tweaks and upgrades like Speakers and tube switching which is the ''normal'' stuff we do with our amps anyway. Just not the ''internal'' circuit mods and stuff.
I'm also looking to go on a search for a used reissue '65 Blackface Super Reverb or a reissue '59 Bassman. Which amp would you recommend and what Speaker/Tube upgrades would you advice. The Bassman and the Super Reverb that I got to play back in the day were originals and i remember how I loved the Bassman! I'm not sure if the reissues sound as good. Thanks Bro