1970 Fender Twin Reverb value

[Steven Hudson]

Considering selling my 1970 Fender Twin silverface. Been stored in house and not played much for 25 years. Just had maintenance on it last year. All power supply caps replaced. Tubes tested and one weak one replaced. Works and sounds great. Very clean and comes with a hand made quilted cover by an auto upholsterer. Any thoughts on the value? Thanks.

[Dave Hopping]

Looks pretty nice, and serviced too, plus those JBLs look original. I think I'd straighten out the faceplate, though. That'd make it look near mint.

Reverb has a lot of silverface Twins. A quick look showed a low of $1100 and a high of $2400, mostly from shops. In the end yours will be worth whatever the best offer is.

[Don Mogle]

Hi Steven,

I'm not a buyer since I live in Texas, but I have a couple questions that may be of interest to a potential buyer:

1. The Fender decal has the tail which seems to be what they used on the blackface Twins. But clearly, you have a silver face amp. Did it come this way or was the decal replaced? Did the early siverface Twins come with the tail???

2. Do you know if this 70 Twin has the AB763 circuit? I'm guessing the answer is no, but not sure when Fender changed over from blackface AB763 to the later silverface version (whatever circuit that was).

3. Was the amp ever modded to blackface circuit?

4. Any gut shots of the internal chassis?

Thanks,

Don

[Bill Hatcher]

The jbl speakers alone are worth $600-1000 on the vintage market. I would start out at. $1700.

[Ken Metcalf]

They are a tough sell these days.
I sold my 1967 for $1700 but it took two years of turning down low ballers. Great amps that used to be in demand.

[Steven Hudson]

Hi Steven,

I'm not a buyer since I live in Texas, but I have a couple questions that may be of interest to a potential buyer:

1. The Fender decal has the tail which seems to be what they used on the blackface Twins. But clearly, you have a silver face amp. Did it come this way or was the decal replaced? Did the early siverface Twins come with the tail???

2. Do you know if this 70 Twin has the AB763 circuit? I'm guessing the answer is no, but not sure when Fender changed over from blackface AB763 to the later silverface version (whatever circuit that was).

3. Was the amp ever modded to blackface circuit?

4. Any gut shots of the internal chassis?

Thanks,

Don

1. The amp is exactly the way it was purchased in 1970. The serial number shows it was later in 1970 for the build. My father and a friend went to Stadler Music in Reidsville, NC in 1970 and both purchased Twin silverfaces. My brother has my dad's amp and I have this one. I am the second owner.

2. I will see if I can check for the Tube Chart, although that doesn't exactly mean anything from what I've read. I am guessing it is AA769 or AA270, with AA270 being the most likely answer.

3. No mods have been performed on the amp. The only thing that has been done to it is maintenance. All the PS caps have been replaced, the tubes were tested and any weak ones were replaced. The power cord was replaced also. This was just a year ago. The Vibrato was tested and works great.

4. I will take the back panel off and take circuit board photos.

Thanks to all who have answered and helped.

[Donny Hinson]

It looks like an amp that has been restored, in that the Tolex and grille cloth look to be in far too good a condition compared to the chassis, hardware, and speakers. (Even replacing the grille cloth is a big downer for primo collectors.) The restoration hurts the resale value for collectors, but not as much for players. As it has the JBL speakers, (can't tell from the pics if they're F-series), I'd put the value at $1800-$2000. If it had the standard speakers, the value would top out around $1400.

Great amp, but the downside is that most lead players consider them "too powerful".

[Tony Prior]

Looks to be a great original amp, Steve says its original and has been stored so why challenge him ? The speakers are labeled D series for those who may be interested. A few dings on the bottom of the chassis where it slides into the cabinet ( very normal) but other than that a premium amp.

I have a 1996 first issue USA built HR Deville "unmolested" sitting under a cover for well over 20 years, it looks like it is brand new. Thats what covers do !

Value of the 70 TR ? tuff call, my take is $1200 to $1500 but getting that $$$ is going to be tuff. Its the speakers that are driving the price up. I see the speakers at +/- $400 for the pair and the amp in the $900 range. I sold my original MINT 1971 TR ( NO MV ) not long ago for $850, no JBL's. It took a bit to get a buyer.

Wishing Steve the best here !

[Tim Whitlock]

Beautiful amp! I shlepped a TR for 20 years until I couldn't handle the weight anymore. It was the tone that inspired me and I would not compromise.

I'd say $1500 is about right, however it's probably a small buyer pool and could take a while to sell. With the trend toward lightweight class D amps (Quilter), your buyer will be someone fit enough to carry it, and is looking for this particular sound, or maybe a studio. Good luck to you!

[Steven Hudson]

Thanks to all for the replies. I appreciate all the input. I know for certain this amp is all original except for the maintenance done last year. My father, Marvin Hudson, and a friend, Jackie Dee Parrish, went to Leonard Stadler's shop in 1970 and purchased twin Twins as they had just come in new to Leonard's shop and he called to let them know. My dad's amp became his gigging amp for the next 30 years. He ended up putting a 15" Black Widow in his in the 90's. Jackie Dee played bass and sang most of the next 20 years. When he passed around 1990, his wife gave the amp to my dad knowing the story and their friendship. It has been stored indoors and covered since. I received it in 2000. It has been inside and not played. I appreciate all your opinions, but I know the chain of ownership completely. I was a little 10 year old boy following my dad to Stadler's in 1970. If you look closely at the speaker picture it shows D120F. Again, thanks for all the replies, I appreciate them all.

[Dave Hopping]

Steve-
In that condition, with those factory-original JBL's, and with that provenance, your Twin is the equivalent of a one-owner '76 Bi-Centennial Cadillac El Dorado with 20,000 original miles. Considering that there are so many Twin-Reverbs around, their market value is somewhat depressed compared to their intrinsic value, and absent compelling reasons to sell, it might be worthwhile to keep it for awhile.

In the alternative, if you're needing a first-rate steel amp for the gig, getting a head-cab and separating chassis and speaker cabinet helps a great deal with portability; I'm doing that with my Custom 15 Twin, and looking forward to all that good Fender tone onstage.

PS. COOL cover!

[Eric Philippsen]

Don’t get me wrong, Twins are great sounding but their biggest problem is the weight. Add the additional weight of JBL’s, Altec’s or EV’s and it gets stupid. That alone drastically affects their value because most players don’t want to haul one around.

Until about a year ago I repaired amps. The one shown here was made in ‘70 and I still have a similar Twin chassis out in my shop. it’s circuitry is virtually identical to the earlier, most desirable blackface ones.

Price? If you can get what others are suggesting, go for it. It’ll have to be to a local buyer or someone willing to drive to get it because the additional cost of shipping a Twin is crazy.

[Bob Carlucci]

Twins are no longer an easy sell at "vintage" prices. Just not enough demand really.. In the end it all depends on how long you want to wait, and how bad you want to sell it... If that amp were mine, I would start around $1200 and test the waters.. They sell a little more than that at times, but an awful lot of clean ones sell a LOT lower, more like $800-900.. If it were 2 years earlier with a drip edge, it would be more desirable, and sell faster.. If it were 3 years older and a blackface, your would get $1400-1500.. I'm not in the marker, but if I were, I would pay $850 for your amp without too much reservation.. Much higher than that, I would wait it out, because the market for them is pretty soft, there are still a LOT of them out there, and there are always some that show up very reasonably.. Now if your amp were a Deluxe Reverb , Princeton Reverb or Vibrolux, guys would be hounding you day and night to buy it.. Twins???.. not so much anymore, unless they are really priced well. .. bob

[Dave Mudgett]

You won't know what it's worth until you actually put a price on it and try to sell it.

With that said, I tend to agree with Bob C. and Eric P. - Twin Reverbs are generally a tough sell to guitar players. A couple of years ago, I got a '69/70 non-drip-edge non-master-volume Twin exactly like this, but with original Oxfords instead of JBLs, for $675 off Craigslist in Nashville. I spent $100 going over it, and decided I didn't need two Twin Reverbs - I also have a totally original '66 blackface with original Jensen C12Ns in it. In my world, that '69/70 silverface isn't worth a thin dime more than I had into it. Twin Reverbs are tough. People ask stupid money, but they tend to sit if they're not a bargain. I bought that '66 for $1500 a few years ago. I just like to have at least one Twin Reverb around, even if they are heavy - and gimme a choice between blackface and silverface, I'll take the blackface.

Now, yours has a pair of JBL D120Fs in it. Those are worth money to someone. I love 'em, I have a few, but I won't put them into a Twin Reverb. They sound great but the weight is ridiculous for most people, including me. Years ago, I had a '71 with JBL K120s in it. It sounded fantastic, but it weighed 100 pounds. People lugging 100 pound amps is a very small audience these days. Those JBLs are heaven in a Deluxe Reverb or something of that ilk - I have one in each of my Deluxe Reverbs.

Anyway - I think you may well do do better, overall, to find some other speakers to put into that Twin, and sell the JBLs separately. If you want to keep it stock, I totally respect that. I will tell you that I am kind of a hammerhead about keeping vintage stuff stock. But I'll say that most of the 'vintage guys' I know buying an amp like this would very likely just replace the speakers and sell the amp and speakers separately, with a goal to

1. Make the amp more attractive to guitar players because it will be lighter and break up earlier; and

2. Maximize their overall revenue.

But my first sentence still stands - you won't know what anything is worth until you put a price on it, put it on the open market, and find out what people want to do. It doesn't hurt to start high - it's much easier to lower the price than raise it.

[Ken Morgan]

Two years ago I sold my 71 Twin for $750…but had already sold the JBLs for $650/pair.

Might add the amp was free to me…long story. But yeah,if you have a stationary place or some healthy backed roadies, they are near impossible to beat

[John Ducsai]

4-5 years ago I sold a mint, all original 1970 Fender Twin with factory JBL's - with the JBL badge on the bottom corner of the grill - for $1300.00. The "Fender" badge looked like yours with the tail below. I think the tail disappeared in 1973 ?
I also had a Fender Twin with original factory Altecs - which was a rare bird.
Both sounded amazing, and weighed a ton !
I sold these on Craigslist, so shipping was not a factor.
Wish I kept the Altec Twin...

[Donny Hinson]

Looks to be a great original amp, Steve says its original and has been stored so why challenge him ? !

Well Tony, he did say he was the second owner. The amp is over 50 years old, and it just seems strange (to me) that the faceplate is scratched and dinged in several places, and the chassis and and speakers are rather dirty and stained, and the hardware is rusty, while the grille and Tolex are perfect?

I call ‘em as I see ‘em. I’m sorry if it offends some people; but it’s just my nature to give an honest and realistic “evaluation” (which is nothing but an opinion, based on past experience).

[Ricky Davis]

....and like Donny; My Honest and realistic evaluation from my experience with many many and all kinds of "JBL" speakers. These "JBL D-'s" are "Alnico magnet" which is almost half the weight of any normal "Ceramic Magnet"speaker, ya'll speak of being Heavy.
Alnico magnet Speakers like the JBL D's and K's, ARE NOT HEAVY.....like the E series; and everything else folks throw in Twin reverb amps(it is the heavy-a$$ Power Transformer that make a twin HEAVY).

Steven; your father was MARvin Hudson? that worked with LENard Stadler as they built the MARLEN pedal steel??? it was their names put together to make the MAR-LEN name. Marvin Hudson eventually helped Lenard designed the "ALL-PULL Changer" just before 1980 and was/is the only Changer with a mechanical PATENT in USA. I admired Lenard and Marvin and learned so much from them with my work on the Marlen Pedal Steel through the first years of my work 1990-2005. Those Fender Twin's with JBL K or D ; 120's or 130's were the inspiration to ME and my Mentor Lloyd Green, who plays through Fender Blackfaced Twin with ext. cab with D-130F in Green Cabs pic below. and Rick Johnson built those Green cabs for me and Lloyd to match Sho~Bud the Green LDG #1 and #2 made. My pic below Lloyd with two ext. Cab's with JBL K-130's. and NO, NOTHING IS HEAVY...ah..ha.
When you hear Lloyd Green and me play; this Amp set up your Dad had; is pretty much our set up..and you CAN NOT get that sound through amps and speakers built more modern and that amp you have is worth > PRICELESS.





Ricky.

[Tony Prior]

Looks to be a great original amp, Steve says its original and has been stored so why challenge him ? !

Well Tony, he did say he was the second owner. The amp is over 50 years old, and it just seems strange (to me) that the faceplate is scratched and dinged in several places, and the chassis and and speakers are rather dirty and stained, and the hardware is rusty, while the grille and Tolex are perfect?

I call ‘em as I see ‘em. I’m sorry if it offends some people; but it’s just my nature to give an honest and realistic “evaluation” (which is nothing but an opinion, based on past experience).

Donny- HUHH ? Why would I be offended ? Steve clarified the ownership and purchase.

I'm not sure why you think I may have been offended, I wasn't.

All is well here, hope all is well with you too .

[Donny Hinson]

Sorry Tony, I do apologize. I had assumed your "challenge" remark was directed at me (for the comments I made about the incongruities in appearance of the amp).

All is good on my end too.

[Justin Shaw]

Man it's too bad you don't live closer. I'm looking for basically that exact amp up here in Ontario, Canada but haven't been able to find one with the JBL 120s, no master vol, good condition, etc.

[Dave Grafe]

About as good as it can get, don't let anyone tell you otherwise

[James Holland]

Two years ago I sold my 71 Twin for $750…but had already sold the JBLs for $650/pair.

I just sold the original D120Fs that were in my 1970 TR, for $700, original cones, no rub, good impedance, etc. Probably about to sell the TR, it has light weight Eminence speakers in it, not the same sound as JBLs, but it still chimes, thanks to that great circuit. Oh, and it now weighs right at 60 lb.

[Cartwright Thompson]

Here you go!
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=394562

[Steven Hudson]

Thanks to all for the comments and suggestions. Gives me quite a bit to think about. No hurry to sell, but I just think it's a shame for this amp to sit around and not be played.

Ricky Davis. Yes. Marvin Hudson is my father and he and Leonard started Marlen steels. This amp came from the shop in Reidsville where the steels were made. I always enjoy your comments. Thanks.