Fender "The Twin" red knob

Jaclyn Jones · Post by **Jaclyn Jones** » 2 Jan 2014 5:10 pm

Has anyone used the red knob twin on steel? Just aquired one and seems like it will be great.

John Gould · Post by **John Gould** » 2 Jan 2014 8:10 pm

The are a great dual purpose amp. Sound good for steel and guitar. Takes a little tweaking but they sound great.

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 2 Jan 2014 8:43 pm

My experience was mostly negative with the red knob Fender twin. I found them to be harsh and brittle sounding and not responsive to touch. There is a big EQ bump around 2K which is exactly where that shrill twang lives that makes listeners cringe and singers fire that annoying steel player ! Sorta like my experience with the Steel King only a little worse.

Some people like them though. It just may work for you.

John Gould · Post by **John Gould** » 2 Jan 2014 8:58 pm

Well I have to say that all "Twin amps" are not created equal . The red knob that I used was owned by a Jazz guitarist who was very picky about his gear. I got a big rich fat steel sound out of it and also a very clean guitar sound as well. I'm not sure if they were the stock speakers or not which can have a big impact on tone.

Laurence Pangaro · Post by **Laurence Pangaro** » 2 Jan 2014 10:50 pm

I used to have a red knob Dual Showman head, which I believe was a very similar amp to the Twin of that era. I never played it with a steel, but I can say that the clean headroom was pretty impressive.

ciao,
LP

David Cubbedge · Post by **David Cubbedge** » 3 Jan 2014 5:11 am

I had a red knob 'Twin" back in the early 90s and went through three of them (courtesy of Fender)trying to find one that didn't sound like it was frying eggs. Eventually I gave up and bought a '72 Twin. Good luck!

Jaclyn Jones · Post by **Jaclyn Jones** » 3 Jan 2014 6:19 am

I got it for $370 to add to my collection. It sounds great but i do go thu a rack system for effects so that helps. For the Tele it is awsome.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 3 Jan 2014 7:53 am

There must be a reason they called it the "evil" twin!

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 4 Jan 2014 7:14 am

Erv Niehaus wrote:There must be a reason they called it the "evil" twin!

It was given that name by those unworthy souls who worship at the feet of the "Black-Face" god.

Peter Harris · Post by **Peter Harris** » 5 Jan 2014 4:31 am

...and by anyone who has had to carry one of those suckers up a flight of stairs..

Olli Haavisto · Post by **Olli Haavisto** » 5 Jan 2014 4:48 am

Lindley used one for the lap steel parts on his latest studio album.
Robben Ford requested 2 of them for a festival gig here.
I played one for a bout 4-5 years and was pretty happy with it...

Two out three credentials ain`t bad....

Paul Arntson · Post by **Paul Arntson** » 5 Jan 2014 10:10 am

I had one for a couple years. At the low watt setting it had the sweetest lap steel distortion tone when turned up. I wish I had had a reason to keep it. But It sure was heavy.

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 13 Jan 2014 8:37 am

Sorry, can't get into Fender "red knobs".. Reliability was poor, and to my ears they lacked the "Fender sound".. I tried to like them, but mine were awful... Sent to the corn field....

The Steel Guitar Forum

Fender "The Twin" red knob

Fender "The Twin" red knob

Evil Twin?