Need advice on opportunity to buy '68 twin.

Tyler Macy · From: San Diego, CA, USA

I am in the market for a twin, but haven't exactly decided which route to go- either look for an affordable black-face in good shape (a bit steep for me), find an early silverface for less money, then have it fixed up, or get a reissue. I have been reading horror stories about reliability issues with the reissue, so I am shying away from that option.

Today I found a beat-up 68 twin in a local store. I played it along side a later pre-master vol twin, probably early 70s. The 68 was much louder, punchier, and bassier (btw, i was playing a tele, not steel, though the amp will be primarily for a sho-bud). This difference could be due to so many different factors, such as tubes or especially speakers, as the 70's twin had original speakers, but the 68 had unidentifiable replacements. The bass on the 68 was pretty farty at higher levels and started to break up a bit. This could definitely be explained by the unmatched tubes that were in terrible shape (or so I was told by a fender amp specialist who happened to be in the store to pick up amps that needed repairing.)
This amp guy said a couple hundreds bucks for tubes, caps, full checkup, etc., should make a world of difference. My other concern is the speakers, and cost of their replacement should they still not sound clean after re-tubing. How much would replacement speakers cost, such as JBL D-series?? or whatever is optimal for steel, but would still sound good for guitar?

Basically what would you all do in my situation? BTW, the amp is tagged at $750, but I could probably get it for 675, kind of steep considering it's beat up cosmetically. Sorry for being so long-winded.

Thanks in advance

Ty

Blake Hawkins · From: Florida

IMHO...that is way high for an amp that is beat up, has the wrong speakers, and is in need of a complete rebuild.
I wouldn't give more than $200 for a twin in that shape.
There was a thread a few days ago on Twin prices.
Blake

JB Arnold · From: Longmont,Co,USA (deceased)

I have the blackface reissue, and have had no trouble at all with it-sounds great, although I'm not expecting the factory tubes to last, and plan on redoing those soon. Aside from that, it sounds killer!

JOhn

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Fulawka D-10 9&5
"All in all, looking back, I'd have to say the best advice anyone ever gave me was 'Hands Up, Don't Move!"
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Tele · From: Andy W. - Wolfenbuettel, Germany

http://www.philsguitars.com/amps.html

what about this one??

Andy

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

I agree...keep looking! $600 is too much to pay for a beat-up amp that may need shop work and speakers, too. You could wind up putting $500 into that amp, and it might sound great. But, it would still only be worth $600.

Ed Miller Jr · From: Coldwater,Mi USA

If it's at a store find out if there have been any "serious" offers that have been turned down. Try and feel the guy out a little bit I agree. Tube amps are great but because of the high cost of getting one in working order, Two bills would be the top end of the offer. Try and find out if it was a trade in,or if they bought it outright.
If they have had it for a while they just might be glad to see it go. Also mention that you have shopped at several other store and online and have a couple of "better deals" on the back burner. Play it up, they might just be desperate enough to see the floor under it again that for cash and no paperwork they gladly let it go.

ED

P.S. 1968 was the first year for silverface and the only year that they had an aluminum trim strip around the grill cloth, also the is not a huge amount of difference between the 68 S/F and the 67 B/F made a few months earlier... But it's still a pretty debatable thing.

Tyler Macy · From: San Diego, CA, USA

Unfortunately, the amp is one of just a couple of items in the store that is on consigment, so he is not too flexible on price. I suppose he could have been feeding me a line, but I think he was being honest.

While the amp is a bit pricey considering its condition, it is likely that i can have the amp in the condition I want it in and still come under the cost of a blackface (but with all of its tone), and about the same cost of a reissue. The main reason I am still considering this amp is because of what I hear about the 68's being very close to BF in tone. The amp does sound fantastic. Also, I have not seen other twins for sale locally (in eugene where I am now, and in San Diego where I'll be moving in a month). The fact that Ebay has mostly mid 70's master volume SF's also makes me think that the 68's are hard to come by.

Thanks for all the input. I'm having a tough time deciding, but maybe I should just walk away and wait.

Ty

Bill Terry · From: Bastrop, TX

Tyler,
This is the link to my 'mini' survey on ebay Twins. I'm sure there are a lot more Twin sales since then. Just do a search for "Fender Twin" on completed items on ebay and you can sort through them pretty easily. Ebay may not be a true price yardstick, but's it's better than nothing.
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum11/HTML/001147.html

IMO, I don't think you'll have a lot of luck finding a $200 Twin unless it's totally DOA. Around here (Texas) if it comes on and works at all somebody will pay at least $300 to $350 for it. Maybe that's too much for an amp needing repair, but that's what they go for.

Actually, the SF Twins from '68 and '69 both had the silver trim around the grill. A good Fender amp guide if you haven't already found it is:
http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/

Good luck....
BT

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bterry.home.netcom.com

Robert · From: Chicago

Tyler:
Listen to yourself. You've said "maybe I should wait". Wait. There are a lot of great amps to be had out there, and if you buy a beater for $500. or $600., believe me, you'll regret it later. There will always be more gear - and better gear - to be had. It doesn't stop. Desperation is your enemy, patience your friend.

Rob

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