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"Evil Twin" issues

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 5:03 pm
by Patrick Wall
Hey everyone. My reverb on my Fender Twin Amp is acting up. Most of the time when I turn the amp on, the reverb doesnt work at all, but about half of the time after playing for about 15 minutes, the reverb starts working fairly well. The other half of the time it never comes on. About a year ago I was having a similar problem and my local amp tech fixed the problem but I cant remember what he did. I want to say that all he did was replace a tube but Im not confident in this recollection. Can anybody confirm or disconfirm that reverb malfunction could have to do with a tube? Merry Christmas everyone!

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 5:39 pm
by Tim Heidner
yep, could definitely be a tube. Look at your tube chart and swap it out with one of the others and see what happens.

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 5:45 pm
by Tim Marcus
most likely its not a tube.

The accutronics reverb tanks tend to break the little wires coming off the tiny transformers which disables your reverb. If its an original twin, you definitely want to try replacing the tank first.

A good way to test is to put another fender amp with reverb back to back with your twin and switch out the red and white RCA wires - if your amp works with the other reverb tank you've found your problem. If not, you may have something internal in the amp to troubleshoot.

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 6:14 pm
by Clyde Mattocks
If it goes and comes back, it could likely be the
connecting points where the tank wires plug into the chassis. The connections can oxidize and cause the intermittent problem. Clean the connections.

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 8:47 pm
by Patrick Wall
Thanks for the input. I probably wont be able to work on the thing till after christmas, and hopefully ill find resolution!