New 65 Reissue Fender Twin, are they good?

[forrest klott]

Oops, duplicate post. Sorry bout that.

[Bobby Nelson]

I paid $800.00 for my 73 Twin. A Little maintenance, A couple very nice JBL K-120s, a set of Rick Johnson cabs later, I have right under $2000.00 into it. It couldn't sound better, it's weight is manageable, and it's the real deal. I think that's a better way to spend my $$ than $1450.00 on... Well, all of that has been said above.

[Steven Paris]

I've owned a lot of the reissues. If you put an old floppy broke in speaker in them, they sound fine except for the reverb. Even with a MOD replacement tank which eliminates a lot of the metallic sound, the reverb seems lacking in lushness.

I am wondering why that is---do the reissues use op amp circuitry (instead of the old tube/transformer) to drive/recover the reverb tank?

[Dave Mudgett]

I think the OP has gotten some good advice to seek out an old Twin Reverb. For heaven's sake, a new reissue '65 Twin Reverb is $1449.99 MAP right now!

Just a few years ago, I bought a real nice '66 blackface Twin Reverb, all-original with original Jensen C12N speakers in great shape for around that amount of money. I had to do filter caps and I stuck a set of NOS power tubes and replaced a preamp tube or two just because I preferred them - it came with acceptable tubes.

I see silverface Twin Reverbs in the $400-800 range all the time. The lower range is typically an ultralinear or other master volume version, maybe with more than average road rash, replaced speakers, or something else that makes it less desirable. The upper range, maybe up to $1000, would be for a nice drip-panel or other non-master volume version. As has been stated, most guitarists don't want 'em, they're heavy and clean sounding.

The reissues aren't terrible amps. But I am not thrilled with the style of PC board construction, and don't let anybody tell you that the wiring and circuit layout are not an important part of the circuit design. This stuff matters. That's not necessarily good or bad, but PC board construction does have a different overall sound and feel. One also needs to consider part quality. And I don't think they're anywhere near as servicable as an old hand-wired Fender. There's a reason Fender is now charging a huge premium for hand-wired versions of some of their amps, like the tweed Deluxe, Bassman, and blackface Deluxe Reverb.

do the reissues use op amp circuitry

No. Circuit diagram here - https://www.thetubestore.com/lib/thetub ... ematic.pdf

[Tony Prior]

for me, its not about the RE- ISSUE part of the equation , it's about the build quality , how it is assembled and the PC BD thing.

Anyone who has ever taken a new era Fender amp apart for service or repair knows that serviceability was not high on the list in the design stage.

Sound-wise and Tone-wise, they are fine. I've played thru and owned several HR Deluxes, still own a HR Deville and have played thru several TWIN RI's. The sound was never the issue.

Granted, Fender is no different than many manufactures these days, the big boys are all in the same camp, that is in the retail manufacturing lines.

Just to perform a typical E-Cap job on these amps, you have to dismantle the entire amp(carefully),and you better have a very lo wattage iron to perform the surgery or bigger issues will arise.

When Leo put these amps together way back when, it wasn't just about the AMP performance, it was how he put them together, it was simple, yet brilliant, something many always overlook. the breadboard concept, you could service a Fender amp almost in the dark ! This manufacturing layout and design set the reference for all BOUTIQUE amps that are on the market today.


Here's a DR Z - MAZ 38 , looks vaguely familiar ! I don't think they invented this layout.

[Susan Alcorn]

I have a blackfaced ‘74 Dual Showman and a speaker cabinet with two 12” Jensens which I absolutely love. After everything was bought and tweaked, it was probably about the same price as a new RI Twin.

However, in answer to your question, when I fly, I aways ask for Twins, and I think both the ‘65 and the ‘68 sound really good. To my ears, the sound of my DS with the Jensen speakers is magical. If you have the time, money, and access to a good tube tech, getting an older amp is worthwhile. But if not, the re-issues are good amps too.