Amp question - Fender content

[quapman]

Hey folks.

 

Anyone have any experience with a Fender amp model from the 80s?

 

Fender The Twin - Red Knob (has some freaky looking red knobs)

 

Seems to be mixed reviews. As with anything don't overpay is a common theme.

 

From a crappy computer speaker they seem to sound pretty good, which is moot at best.

 

Any of you ever play through one?

 

I like the 25W to 100W switch option.

It's all tube.

 

I hear the cleans are really nice but the dirty not so much. But takes pedals well.

 

Anyone have one or used one?

Thoughts?

 

Thanks in advance.

[rct]

I never had a problem with them. At decent volumes(by that I mean like stupid loud) the overdrive wasn't too terribly terrible. But then, I was not at all ever a pedal guy, especially back then. They were the brain child of some famous guy and I can't remember who. Don't let that cause inflation, it doesn't mean anything. Those amps are no less prone to being rattled apart or pot disconnect than any other Fender, no matter who designed it.

 

Good and loud, does what a twin does, better "distortion" than the 70's silverface pull volume, just as heavy to haul around. Put a Guv'nr or BigMuff in front of it or both and yer in Schaeffer City.

 

rct

[NHTom]

 

 

 

 

I hear the cleans are really nice but the dirty not so much. But takes pedals well.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

That's what I remember about mine.....I used to stuff a ProCo Rat in front of it and let it eat. Did what I needed.

 

NHTom

[jdgm]

It's a Rivera design and came after the Twin II.

I have a red-knob Super 60 which is 1/2 a red-knob Twin and my main gigging amp.

Lots of tone available in the circuit, plenty of highs; it is voiced with a modern mid-range, that is to say much more mid than a typical 70s silverface Twin. Brutally loud and very heavy, they now go for absolute bargain prices as no-one wants to cart something that heavy around and you don't get to turn it up too much either. The overdrive is typical Rivera cascading gain and there's plenty of dirt there, but I prefer the Twin II o/d channel. There's not much subtlety about these amps!

[Jimi Mac]

I had a red knob Fender Princeton Chorus from back in that era and it sucked beyond suck!

 

It was solid-state and while rated @ some serious wattage as solid-state it totally lacked volume and I was often over-run by drums and other guitar amps at gigs or even in rehearsals...

 

If you turned it up beyond 7 it got a big flat thump out of the speaker like it was blown. My shop where I bought it, a Fender licensed seller/shop, told me that was normal and you can't turn up any amp that loud...

 

I was ignorant and terribly disappointed and lived with it until I sold it and my Torino Red American Standard Strat for Cash...

 

It was an incredible disappointment for an amp! I think the shop sold me a lemon and had no clue how to fix whatever was wrong with the amp and passed it off as normal to me and I was too ignorant to know better and just didn't have the $ to turn my back on it and walk away from it, until I had no choice...

 

I also had a little Vibro-Champ that was 10 times the amp, but without the bells and whistles!

 

I had to have a Chorus after seeing Lonnie Mack live during his Alligator era!

 

I guess I shoulda got a Flying-V instead of that amp with my Strat!

 

Hated that amp and it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth about Fender amps during that era...

 

I still love Fender tube amps though...

 

Funny think is a buddy of mine has a couple Fender Pro185 solid state amps, from just prior to (or maybe just after) that red-knob era, which rock!

[quapman]

Thanks guys.

 

Kinda what I was hoping to hear.

My biggest worry is lugging the beast around.

If it's still around when I'm ready to buy I will have a look at it.

 

Jimi, this is a tube amp so volume is the least of my worries.

I like that it switches down to 25W.

 

Thanks for the replies guys.

[Jimi Mac]

Thanks guys.

 

Jimi, this is a tube amp so volume is the least of my worries.

I like that it switches down to 25W.

 

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

I've never seen a bad Fender tube amp, so I suspect it'll be far better than that solid-state Fender Princeton Chorus I had from back then...

 

Besides, were not not for my own ignorance at the time, were it nowadays, I'd probably just order up a quality speaker online and swap it out... Or simply sell it on eBay...

 

Let us know how it turns out...

[Guest Farnsbarns]

A very good friend who I've been teaching a bit bought one for his son recently. I hate it personally, harsh and excessively bright but muddies if you try to dial that out. He loves it though and since he (the son) is a total beginner I can't make a real judgement on whether it might "fit his style" because he doesn't really have one. He's one of those beginners who is happy, after a matter of months, to tell people like me who've been playing since before he was born, how it is so I don't really get deep into talking about it with him.