singemonkey
Downside of a twin reverb for me is the extreme weight and the complete inability to get natural amp drive because you'll be hounded off the stage long before you get it that loud. It doesn't just have clean headroom. It's effectively all clean headroom.
AlanRatcliffe
Why are all you young 'uns complaining about weight? When I were a lad we didn't think anything about getting up early and carrying Marshall stacks, Hammonds, Rhodes pianos and Leslie speakers all day long. </python> ? Seriously though, a Twin ain't that bad.
Find the right pedal for your tastes and drive isn't an issue. Twins love Screamers or, if you have a taste for the rough stuff, Rats too. My search ended with the Lovepedal OD11, which compliments the Twin's tone for a very natural, dynamic Fender amp kind of drive. At any volume.
Nicholas-L
I played through a twin a few years ago and someone gave me a metal zone to use (not my fave as I struggled to get what I wanted out of ut), the multi fx I was using broke so oh well was stuck with this. Plugged into that twin and oh my goodness what tone is this I'm getting (**,) I know this not... It can't be possible. If I had a PSU, a patch cable and the Super OD I had before that it could've been magic.
Greg
Curses... Well, yes to the brass and I just played a Twin yesterday at Daisies and it was on the money (even if it wasn't a delicious blackface one).
It's 10kgs heavier than my DeVille... and that's heavy! Perhaps I'll have to live with it.
JeremyE
I agree with Alan on the twin...It may be heavy but for that tone its worth it. Plus if it doesn't have wheels on you can always pop some wheels on it to make life a little easier. The twin is still my ultimate fender.
Greg
Well, presently I'm using 4 pedals the most: EHX English Muff'n -> ZVex SHO -> Strymon Brigadier Delay -> Strymon Bluesky Reverb. I don't use my Fuzz's in my current two bands at all.
I use the EM with a low drive setting and I use the EQ to control the tone of the Fuzz pedals I have BEFORE it. (Toolshed, Jimi Octave Fuzz, LBMuff w/ Tone Wicker)
The EM provides some really nice tone-shapping for the fuzz. I know the Octave fuzz is a unruly beast and doesn't always behave properly and the EM makes it really meaty and expressive.
The SHO is my "clean" boost after the EM.
I've been running this set up through my DeVille at home gigs and rehearsals and Twins at festivals and I'm finding it to be pretty reliable and adaptable. The Twin coupled with my 6120 is a pretty perfect combo without any pedals and Twin's are known for how nicely they take pedals.
Well... I'll keep my eyes peeled for a Twin and if anyone sees one, please drop me a PM! I'm gonna do some research and also speak to Ben Craig about what he'd do in the same vain as a Twin.
AlanRatcliffe
epictring wrote:
Don't have time to read the thread but saw this one earlier today (apologies if your not talking about this
Neither a Super or a Twin, the Super Twin is an absolute monster with 180W of ear-destroying valve power. I'd hang on for an early silverface or a blackface to pop up.
Greg
Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
epictring wrote:
Don't have time to read the thread but saw this one earlier today (apologies if your not talking about this
Neither a Super or a Twin, the Super Twin is an absolute monster with 180W of ear-destroying valve power. I'd hang on for an early silverface or a blackface to pop up.
Definitely waiting for the right Blackface to pop up. If I can nab an early Silverface with the blackface circuit, then that'll be fine! Cosmetically, the Blackface does it for me more.
matta
If you need clean headroom then the Twin is the way to go, though personally I've gone DOWN in size.
I rarely gig and prefer the amp's distortion than a drive box in front of it. Like Brendon I've switched to a Blues Jnr, which I've heavily modified. The tone stack now has a 'Blackface' option as well as negative feedback acting as 'Presence' control and revamped Master section. I've been so happy with it I've sold my Blackface Bandmaster and AC30's, I just have the 5W 57' Tweed Champ and the 15W Blues Jnr now.
Interestingly I sat in on a session with a big name engineer and band in England at Real World Studios and I'm constantly hearing how 'HUGE' the guitars sound... no amp was bigger than 15W and most were between 2-5W, all tube.
I understand that in your situation needing the headroom when gigging live the TR makes sense, but for many on the Forum it is overkill and in order to get your amp to break-up you'll need to either dump a load of the power or get a smaller amp.
Cheers
Matt
RJN
I went out to see Blackcatbones on saturday . He had a Twin reverb mic'd up . He then plugged in a USA Delux Tele, on the Neck pickup and OMG , Amaizing tone !!!!! ?
AlanRatcliffe
I think for me the magic of the Twin is the minimal sag and huge headroom thanks to the SS rectifier. It puts out what I put in, just louder and sprinkled with magic tone fairy dust. ? No other Fender has that in quite the same way. It also works just as well with both single-coils and humbuckers.
In Greg's case, if he's playing a lot of festivals and shows that include a Twin in the backline, I figure it makes some sense to stick with the same for his personal amp. A Super or bandmaster would be the lower power option as he's already surmised.
nicovlogg
Greg wrote:
Curses... Well, yes to the brass and I just played a Twin yesterday at Daisies and it was on the money (even if it wasn't a delicious blackface one).
Hey Greg, how's about a Bassman? Good condition BF ones pop up all the time, should have plenty of headroom?
Otherwise I can agree with what has been said - a Silverface is easy to modify to exactly the schematic you prefer. Old Fenders are great to work one (compared to most modern amps >☹)
BTW, which band did you gig with at RtD?
Greg
nicovlogg wrote:
Greg wrote:
Curses... Well, yes to the brass and I just played a Twin yesterday at Daisies and it was on the money (even if it wasn't a delicious blackface one).
Hey Greg, how's about a Bassman? Good condition BF ones pop up all the time, should have plenty of headroom?
Otherwise I can agree with what has been said - a Silverface is easy to modify to exactly the schematic you prefer. Old Fenders are great to work one (compared to most modern amps >☹)
BTW, which band did you gig with at RtD?
The Bassman is a SWEET amp and it's definitely good for guitar -> amp stuff but since I have a DeVille (which is a cheaper 410 Bassman, kinda) I thought I'd go for a Fender Reverb amp. They're well known for taking pedals well and I plan on abusing it with as many different types of fuzz that I can afford to throw at it!
I played with "The Nomadic Orchestra" as part of "Dirty Bounce".
nicovlogg
Greg wrote:
The Bassman is a SWEET amp and it's definitely good for guitar -> amp stuff but since I have a DeVille (which is a cheaper 410 Bassman, kinda) I thought I'd go for a Fender Reverb amp. They're well known for taking pedals well and I plan on abusing it with as many different types of fuzz that I can afford to throw at it!
I played with "The Nomadic Orchestra" as part of "Dirty Bounce".
Yeah I hear you.. Those amps can really handle any pedal without a sweat.
Man.. that was an AWESOME show ? Loved the tones you got
Greg
nicovlogg wrote:
Greg wrote:
The Bassman is a SWEET amp and it's definitely good for guitar -> amp stuff but since I have a DeVille (which is a cheaper 410 Bassman, kinda) I thought I'd go for a Fender Reverb amp. They're well known for taking pedals well and I plan on abusing it with as many different types of fuzz that I can afford to throw at it!
I played with "The Nomadic Orchestra" as part of "Dirty Bounce".
Yeah I hear you.. Those amps can really handle any pedal without a sweat.
Man.. that was an AWESOME show ? Loved the tones you got
Much appreciated! You should come watch us when we're playing a whole set of our own stuff, I hope you'll enjoy it.
Norman86
Greg, i think Benj can do an awesome amp to your spec..
Boutique quality, for cheaper than a new Fender Twin... ?
AlanRatcliffe
Thing is, when they pop up s/h, they are usually under R10K (often between 7 & 8K) and it's difficult for anyone to compete with that kind of price (including Fender themselves).
Norman86
Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
Thing is, when they pop up s/h, they are usually under R10K (often between 7 & 8K) and it's difficult for anyone to compete with that kind of price (including Fender themselves).
granted.. but Twins popping up second hand are as scarce as hens teeth!
AlanRatcliffe
I've seen three or four on Gumtree in the last year or so. They are too big for most people - while they do have quite a usable range of volume (mine does the local 70 person venue on 2.5 and I've done outdoor gigs on 6 ?), they are definitely not a home/bedroom amp. So a lot of players end up downsizing. which means if you are in the market for one, you just have to gather the money and be patient.
I picked up mine for a silly price, but it needed a lot of TLC - recapping, revalving, grille cloth, knobs and a pair of speakers (which I totally splurged on). So all-in-all I still paid about R10K for it, which is the low end of what you can expect to pay for a blackface in this country. It's playing up at the moment and I must replace the tolex at some point too.
