The Steel Guitar Forum

Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone has some settings for the twin that I could try. Also, I have an actual 64, and was wondering if anyone might know a ballpark value for the thing. Thanks!

It all depends on what instrument you are playing, pickups, and what speakers you have, ect.

A good place to start, is set treb, mid, and bass at 5 and adjust from there. I like to set my bass at about 3-3.5, mid at zero, and treb at 5-6. Reverb at about 4. I'm playing a shobud with singlecoil pickup, and Altec 418B speakers. My amp is recapped and voice for maximum head room for steel guitar. Tubes will make a difference, too. I use Jan Philips 6L6 GC's and 7581 A's for power tubes. It all makes a difference. Hope this gives you a little bit of a starting place.

When I had my Carter D-10 with TrueTones on it I used these settings on my mid 70's Fender Twin. Bass-5,Mid-3-5, and Treble-2-3 1/2. The treble was the most sensitive setting.

My personal starting settings with a T/R are always

Vol.....10
Treble...3
Mid......0
Bass....10

Then I adjust the tone by raising or lowering the treble to suit. If I need less separation (e.g. for recording), I back off the bass a few numbers, and then raise the mids, but never over 3 or 4. The higher the mids are on these amps, the more body (bass) and string separation you lose. Turn the mids up too much, and the bass just disappears - being completely overwhelmed by nasal highs and a "honky" flat, piercing, but lifeless sound.

I've got an old Black Face Twin . It used to belong to audio media studio. When I cut my first record it was at that studio. I was working with Ricky Skaggs and we were cutting "Crying my Heart Out". My session 400 blew up so I had to use that twin. Years later I was able to buy that amp and use it on many recording projects. I always start by setting everything on five. I'll generally back off on the treble somewhere between three and five. I'll fool with the mid but it generally stays around five. Sometimes I'll push the bass up to six but it tends to get woofy.
Also Paul Franklin gave me some great advice years ago about bass. At that time I was running my bass wide open. He suggested I back it off the amp and get the bass with my hands. He said it would mix better in a track. He was certainly right. That bit of advice has kept me working for years.
I know Dan Dugmore set's his knobs pretty close to straight up.Also I know Lloyd Green(who gets incredible tone) keeps his bass well below ten.
Cheers!
BB

thanks guys for all the advice, ill try it out and let you know what I find =)

Go to the old Forum and do a search:

CLICK HERE

Type in

fender twin settings

and search the Electronics section. You'll find lots of good reading there.

It's a shame you can't get a reply from anyone with experience or credibility to a question like this.

(A little joke, this forum never ceases to amaze me. Now I know how to sound just like Bruce Bouton. Another little joke.)

KP

Hey, Bruce --

I assume you left your Blackface Twin stock -- with two 12" speakers? As late, I have been moving toward the 12's for recording (using a 15" for live gigs). Do you think they sit better in the mix? A Twin with a good 15" is pretty awesome -- just not sure it's ever quite captured that well during a recording. What's your view? (I spoke to my old friend Gary Morse last week and he said that he's now recording with 12's)

Thanks, Boo

actually the amp had a fifteen in it. (Lloyd thinks it might have been one of his old amps) Anyway I had Rick johnson build me a beautiful cabinet for the head.I go back and forth between a fifteen and a twelve inch black widow.(Marrs Cabinets) For the majority of my demo work I've been using a Nashville 112. I 'm also experimenting with a new rig that i'm excited about. It's a Revelation Pre and a Furlong powered cab.It's got a twelve in it. twelves are tighter and more focused. That being said, i've cut a lot of records with fifteens.
BB

This type of question comes up quite often.

There ARE no "typical" settings for any amp. You'll get them - but they are useless unless you are playing under identical conditions.

Room size, room configuration (carpets, hard floors, flat or angled walls, flat/low/high/angled /acoustic ceilings, curtains, glass doors, volume level, type of music, desired tone, types of tubes/bias settings/speakers installed, and number of bodies in the audience...not to mention whether you're playing inside or outside...all make a huge difference in amp settings.

I never leave tone, volume or reverb (when used) controls in the same place twice. A setting that sounds fine in one room will sound terrible in one the same size but with different wall surfaces.

First make sure your amp is set up for the best sound you can get that suits what YOU want to sound like at a reasonable volume level - this should involve controls relatively flat and power tube bias adjustments coupled with perhaps a preamp tube change. That gets you a "5" - or midpoint - baseline.

Then you have to learn to use your ears...because what may sound great to you on stage often sounds horrid mixed with a band. The reverse is also often true.

I know that doesn't give you your answer - but hopefully it will give you some reality-based things to work with.

I use these settings as a starting point on a twin:

Treble 4
Mids 10
Bass 3
brite off

It gives you a basic flat eq curve to work from.

My settings are similar to Bob's. I start with treble 3, mid 8, bass 3, bright on. Fender tone controls are not linear. You get most of the action below 5. So comparing Bob's settings to mine, for the mids there is almost no difference between 8 and 10. And his treble of 4 without the bright is probably similar to my 3 with the bright. I use a metal thumb pick; maybe that's why I don't need as much bass as some above use. And I like the low strings to be able to cut through without being muddy.

Down around 3 the bass and treble are very sensitive. Going to 3.5 can make a big difference, and going to 4 can be huge. I think the trouble a lot of people have when they are new to an old Fender, is they don't understand the nonlinearity of the tone control curves. You can swing a control from 4 to 8 and hear almost no difference, so you start twisting the dials madly. But the difference between 2 and 3 is huge. The curve is very steep from 1 to 4, and gets very flat beyond that. Same thing goes for the volume control(s).

Also, the speakers make a difference. My settings above are for 15s. For 12s I add a little more bass, and cut the highs a little.

Hey, Bruce --

Thanks for your insights -- greatly appreciated. Strangely enough, for demo sessions I often use
my 112 as well along with Brad's Black Box. That said, I recently recorded with one of Pete Anderson's old Blackface Twins with JBL 12s and it sounded amazing. I am quite interested in trying the Custom 15 Twin to see how they record -- have you used one yet?

Thanks again, Bruce. Happy New Year to all. Boo

As has been said, settings will depend on which model of Twin, the guitar, pickup, amp, speaker, player's technique, etc.

I have a '73 silverface Twin with a 15". Settings I use are:

bass: 10
mid: 0
high: 4
bright: off

Through this amp, I play a '74 MSA Classic with the volume & tone pots removed.