Fender Twin Reverb

garryspicer

garryspicer

New member
Hi all,

I've just purchased a Fender Twin Reverb 85 watt 1965 Re-issue. The amp is very clean, which is why I bought it. I'm a hobby muso and just record to amuse myself.
Any thoughts on what type of distortion pedal would sound good with this amp? Guitars are Les Paul / ES335 / Stratocaster / Telecaster. Musical tastes are pretty broad but
gravitate to late 60's early 70's as far as rock is concerned, although my list of favourite guitarists is endless and embraces the last 60 years. Is there such a thing as an all round pedal, price range around $200 - $300.00
I do have a Zoom GX707 but it gives me a headache :crying: (to many choices & the few patches I like are usually 10 foot-stomps apart) and I've found that I'm not really a fan of multi-effects units.
 
Re: Fender Twin Reverb

I had a vintage 70's Twin in excellent condition that I sold about two weeks after I got it working because I could not get a distortion pedal to sound good through it.

Handwired, handpainted ZVex Double Rock... nope. Super rare Black Arts Toneworks Coven... maybe for like a rhythm track to thicken up a recording. Japanese Boss DS-1... Oh hey Kurt Cobain haven't seen you since the "accident."

You do not use a Twin to play with distortion. You just don't.

Amps that like overdrive pedals tend to break up at a certain point on the volume knob. I like my 69 Bassman because around 4 or 5 it is that classic Fender clean tone and around 7 or 8 it's a thick, fuzzy overdrive. Use a pedal to boost it when clean and voila... you freakin rock man.

I would return or sell that Twin and get a different amp altogether if you plan on playing with any distorted tone. Keep it if you love Nashville twang and early 60's surf.
 
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Re: Fender Twin Reverb

My main amp is a '69 Super Reverb. With a Les Paul in input 1, it drives pretty nicely, but with my Fender guitars, I simply add a Boss Blues Driver to the chain. Those Fender Amps (both vintage and vintage oriented) take pedals extremely well.
 
Re: Fender Twin Reverb

LRS said:
My main amp is a '69 Super Reverb. With a Les Paul in input 1, it drives pretty nicely, but with my Fender guitars, I simply add a Boss Blues Driver to the chain. Those Fender Amps (both vintage and vintage oriented) take pedals extremely well.
Click to expand...

Blues Driver
This is what my buddy uses with his twin
Cascades with a Boss OD1

*(Sent from my durned phone!)*
 
Re: Fender Twin Reverb

I have been playing Fender for years. The pedals I found that paired up with it best for rock are the MXR Distortion +, DOD 250 and the Chandler Tube Driver (rack) which would be my number one suggestion. You can find the Chandlers on Ebay sometimes for $125 - $150. That being said the Twin is a great platform for pedals and takes to most overdrives and distortions very well.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHANDLER-TU...325?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item1c44b24615
 
Re: Fender Twin Reverb

With a big, powerful, clean amp like the Twin, I could easily see using three or four dirt boxes at one time. Now, I'm not going to endorse ANY of these pedals, but I'll list a few so you can see what I'm thinking.

For the era of music you're doing, you might want a fuzz. I think one of the coolest around is the EH Satisfaction. These street for less than $70, and really nail that nasty buzzy tone used on so many albums back then. This is one pedal that I think is going to wind up on my board. I probably won't use it that much, but nothing I have in my arsenal does that sound.

If you want the singing sustain of a Mesa Boogie lead channel ala Santana, then something like the Mesa Flux Drive can give you that tone. They also make this pedal with a 5-band EQ that can really shape your lead tone. I have Mesa amps, and I love their tone. There are some other pedals that can get you here, but why not go to the source?

British amps don't sound like Fenders, but that Marshall crunch is all over the records of this era. So I suggest investing in Marshall-In-A-Box pedal. There are hundreds of these pedals on the market. Radial has their Plexi-tube and the Hot British; Tech 21 does four versions of popular British amps in their Character Series; Carl Martin has the PlexiTone; the MI Crunch Box; the ZVEX Box Of Rock; Wampler's offerings go from JTM 45 emulators to Brown Sounding to versions of extremely hot,-modded sounding amps. And this list just goes on forever--everyone has their favorite. I'd look for something that really changes the way your amp FEELS, more than just how much square-wave distortion it produces. The CM PlexiTone is another one that may find a spot on my board; it is a big pedal but it also features a clean boost as well. They do make a smaller version too.

And finally, you might want that "in-between" pedal--something that has enough output to push the front end of your amp into some natural overdrive. You could go with one of the most popular pedals of all time--the Ibanez Tube Screamer (or one of the billions of TS clones); or go for one that doesn't boost the midrange like the TS does. A popular example currently would be the EH Soul Food. It produces a wide range of flavors, from light crunch to some pretty rippin' lead tones; yet you'll still keep the character of your amp and guitar because of it's transparency. Both of these types of pedals have great value on one's pedal board for getting slightly "pushed" tones.

So, I can see having three-four-five or even more dirt boxes in my signal chain with a big clean amp like a Twin--it just depends on your repertoire and the tones you need to emulate.

Happy hunting!

Bill
 
Re: Fender Twin Reverb

I'm with Bill on this, you're going to want to have 3-5 dirt boxes, minimum. I play a big clean Fender amp and my gigging board currently has 5 overdrives on it. There are a TON of low cost overdrives and distortion pedals out there, so you should be able to buy several and stay well within your budget. Electro Harmonix and MXR both have great offerings at very reasonable prices, and if you aren't opposed to asian clones, Mooer and Joyo are good options.
 
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Re: Fender Twin Reverb

My guitar player in my band (and he's a monster player) replaced his Blues Driver with our new 805 Overdrive. It's a Tube Screamer killer with added active three band EQ.
 
Re: Fender Twin Reverb

Boogie Bill said:
With a big, powerful, clean amp like the Twin, I could easily see using three or four dirt boxes at one time. Now, I'm not going to endorse ANY of these pedals, but I'll list a few so you can see what I'm thinking.


Happy hunting!

Bill
Click to expand...

Thank you Bill (and everyone else).

I will certainly check out everyone's suggestions. Years ago I did gravitate to the Boss range of pedals (when I did the garage band thing) and found them cheap and reliable. I appreciate all the advice guys and will now proceed to drive my local music shops crazy.
 
Re: Fender Twin Reverb

Boss is cool and everything but their dirt pedals, IMO, excel at pushing driven amps rather than doing all on their own.
The Blues Driver for example is a killer boost but a not-so-good dirt pedal by itself.
You might like the Marshall Bluesbreaker or the Guvnor. Cheap as heck and proven tones.
 
Re: Fender Twin Reverb

Diego said:
Boss is cool and everything but their dirt pedals, IMO, excel at pushing driven amps rather than doing all on their own.
The Blues Driver for example is a killer boost but a not-so-good dirt pedal by itself.
You might like the Marshall Bluesbreaker or the Guvnor. Cheap as heck and proven tones.
Click to expand...

Muchas Gracias Amigo
 
Re: Fender Twin Reverb

Diego said:
Boss is cool and everything but their dirt pedals, IMO, excel at pushing driven amps rather than doing all on their own.
The Blues Driver for example is a killer boost but a not-so-good dirt pedal by itself.
You might like the Marshall Bluesbreaker or the Guvnor. Cheap as heck and proven tones.
Click to expand...



That's correct. Exactly what I use the BD2 for: just give my amp that little push over the edge. But the tone knob is handy too to colour your sound if required.
 
Re: Fender Twin Reverb

Bogner blue is very amp like with the classic rock crunch, kills a boss any day but cost a few bucks more
 
Re: Fender Twin Reverb

garryspicer said:
Hi all,

I've just purchased a Fender Twin Reverb 85 watt 1965 Re-issue. The amp is very clean, which is why I bought it. I'm a hobby muso and just record to amuse myself.
Any thoughts on what type of distortion pedal would sound good with this amp? Guitars are Les Paul / ES335 / Stratocaster / Telecaster. Musical tastes are pretty broad but
gravitate to late 60's early 70's as far as rock is concerned, although my list of favourite guitarists is endless and embraces the last 60 years. Is there such a thing as an all round pedal, price range around $200 - $300.00
I do have a Zoom GX707 but it gives me a headache :crying: (to many choices & the few patches I like are usually 10 foot-stomps apart) and I've found that I'm not really a fan of multi-effects units.
Click to expand...

A TS808 or TS9 would be the way I would go. Very traditional tones for the eras you mention. I have been looking to add a TS808 but haven't been able to find one reasonable yet. I have two TS 9's both have been modded but I use them more like a clean boost. I have the gain set all the way down & add volume just to give me a little hair on the tone and increase sustain
 
Re: Fender Twin Reverb

i use something very similar to a lovepedal eternity (its a custom pedal i built for the job...version 4 of it ...im a bit obsessed with getting "my" perfect sound) through my old twin and i leave it on pretty much all the time. That's been my gig rig for a long time - a twin and one well matched dirt pedal. I get all the clean/crunch/lead tones by using my guitar volume. I generally use a 335, but i also use a strat and a few other nice gibson stone machines.
Other (different) pedals that sound great thru a twin are : fulltone OCD, any kind of big muff and germanium fuzz faces are really cool. An honorable mention also goes to the fulltone fulldrive. The fulldrive (and the lovepedal eternity) are both either lightly or heavily modified versions of the tubescreamer circuit. You cant go too far wrong with anything based on that design, but i think that to get the most natural, full sound out of a twin, a stock tubescreamer (808 or any of the others) tend to trim off too much bass to use as a standalone kind of "amp drive" simulator. They tend to work best as a lead boost into an amp that is already at, or beyond the threshhold of clipping -which is pretty damn loud in the case of a twin reverb. So what you are really looking for is a drive that is more open and designed to be a "standalone" kind of drive pedal rather than the kind of drive that is really designed as a lead boost.
Another good pedal is the green rhino - its a tube screamer based pedal, but it also has the benefit of a 100hz bass level knob....pretty useful.


...kill the zoom with fire...

fwiw....this album was all made with a cranked up twin (no pedals anywhere). So they can actually do a pretty mean crunch....the only downside is that its pretty bloody loud when they get to that point! lol
https://avatorch.bandcamp.com/track/woodstock
 
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Re: Fender Twin Reverb

I have to agree with Bludave. My first thought was any of the tubescreamers or tubescreamer clones. Another off the wall suggestion is one of the pedals that actually has a tube in it to get your overdrive going before it hits the amp. I personally have a Hughes and Kettner Tube Factor, and it just slaughters any other overdrive pedal's tone. But it does cost a pretty penny. I got an exceptional deal on it used. There are other tube type pedals out there that cost less. You may want to check them out along with the tubescreamers.
 
Re: Fender Twin Reverb

ken361 said:
Bogner blue is very amp like with the classic rock crunch, kills a boss any day but cost a few bucks more
Click to expand...

Most OD pedals sound like a fuzzy layer put over the top of a clean Twin. The Bogner sounds like you actually turned your Fender into a Marshall or Bogner Shiva. Expensive, but good things usually are.


 
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