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Topic: Difference in a 77 Vibrosonic and a 72 Fender Twin? |
Terry Sneed
From:
Arkansas,
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Posted 27 Oct 2011 4:53 pm |
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Is there any difference in a 77 Vibrosonic and a 72 Fender Twin? I thought I had read that they were purty much the same electronically. A Friend of mine played an Emmons Legrand through a 72 (or there about) Fender Twin combo amp Tuesday night and it sounded great. It sounded closer to a solid state than my 77 Vibro using the same amp settings. I'm playing through a 15" Rick Johnson cab with a K-130 JBL, my friend has two 12's in his Twin, I think they are stock Fender speakers, but not sure. He was also using a Berhinger univerb reverb unit, I'm using my amp reverb. Would that univerb make that much difference in the sound of the two amps? If I could get my Vibro to sound like his twin, I'd keep it, but otherwise, I'm probly goin to go back to a solid state amp. Just to much warmth in my tube amp for my liking. Is there any type of pedal that I could use to give me a little more solid state sound? Thanks for any advice.
terry |
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Chris LeDrew
From:
Canada
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Posted 27 Oct 2011 7:34 pm
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Your amp should have a good amount of clean headroom. Try scooping the mids a bit and running the amp a bit hotter while ducking the volume with your VP. In there somewhere you will find a fairly clean tone with just that right amount of grit that adds character to the steel. Thats the magic of a high-powered Fender tube amp.
Regarding reverb, yes it can affect the sound. Your amp verb probably distorts a bit when it gets hit with the hot pickup in the steel. An outboard effect won't do this as much. Try your amp with the verb off and an outboard delay or reverb set to a low level. See if it cleans up your signal a bit. I do use my amp verb, but set it very low - maybe 2 at the most. Otherwise it gets splashy and in the way.
I use a '72 Twin and it is sweet, sweet, sweet for steel. Mostly clean with just that little bit of hair to give it a sizzle. Some argue that the earlier '70s Fenders were a bit better than their later '70s counterparts, i.e.. warmer-sounding, not as harsh. This MAY be a factor, but I can't see it being a major one.
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Jackson Steel Guitars
Web: www.chrisledrew.com |
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Terry Sneed
From:
Arkansas,
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Posted 27 Oct 2011 8:58 pm vibro
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Thanks Chris. That little bit of 'grit' is what I'm lookin for. I'll try runnin the volume up some, and using my MRX carbon copy delay with a little reverb. I like my amp reverb, but I like the Lexicon 110 reverb unit to. Wish I had kept the one I had. Thanks again.
terry |
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Tim Marcus
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 27 Oct 2011 9:33 pm
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do you know if it was an 85W or 135W twin - the latter has an ultralinear output which really does make it a lot more solid state like
some people hate that sound, but I actually think it works really well for steel guitar. Super clean and crispy
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Milkmansound.com |
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Terry Sneed
From:
Arkansas,
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Posted 28 Oct 2011 11:58 am twin
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Tim, to be honest, I don't know the watts on the twin, but I thought I read somewhere that the 70-72 model Twins were usually around 100 watts, the older Twins, 60's were 80-85 watt. But I could be wrong. My 77 Vibro is 100 watts.
terry |
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Karl Nutt
From:
Fayette City, PA U.S.A.
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Posted 29 Oct 2011 3:17 pm
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| Here's a trick I have used for a Twin Reverb and steel guitar. My 135 watt Twin has a very "wet" sounding reverb with the stock 12AT7 reverb driver tube. I swap out the 12AT7 reverb driver tube for a 12AU7. This will allow you to turn up the reverb higher, but will have a little more of the dry sound with it. This may be something you like (or hate). No other mods are necessary and if you don't like it, swap the 12AT7 back in. I have a 100 watt early 70's Twin Reverb with stock Fender 12" speakers and a late 70's 135 watt Twin reverb with a 15" JBL (I guess I "Vibrosonic Reverbed" it). They are different from one another, but both good. The early 70's Twin sounds great for pedal steel with the stock 12's, but the 135 watt with its stock 12" EV SRO's sounded horrible, hence the swap to a 4 ohm 15"JBL. Now it sounds great too. Oh by the way, the 100 watt early 70's Twin still has the 12AT7 reverb driver and sounds great as it is. (Just my 2 cents worth...) |
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Raybob Bowman
From:
S. Lake Tahoe, CA, USA
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Posted 30 Oct 2011 12:45 pm
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The 100w Vibrosonic and 72 Twin are pretty much the same but the big difference in sound of any amp that old can be the upkeep both amps have had, especially in filter caps and bias cap. If your amp has electrolytic filter caps that haven't been changed in many years, that could make a huge difference in sound (and noise). Another possible difference is in bias pot wiring. Both those amps have a bias balance control. Most Twins of that vintage that I've seen have had the bias re-wired into a regular bias pot, replacing the bias balance pot.
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Sierra U12 4+5 / 1933 Dobro / homemade Tele B-bender |
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