The Steel Guitar Forum

I’m considering purchasing a new 65 reissue fender twin reverb equipped with Jensen C-12k speakers. Do they closely emulate the vintage twin reverb sound? Are they well built? The 12” Jensen’s? Can they handle the highs and lows of the pedal steel? Especially for the C6th neck? I play an old Bud with the original single coils and I’m looking for that good tone. Not finding it out of my NV-112. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. P

Sweetwater has them onsite for $1450. For LESS than that kinda money, you can buy an old one that'll blow its doors off.

Had a reissue custom 15 sounded ok at practice volume but no head room. If you buy new and try to sell you cant get your money back. Good old Silver Face way better amp.

Barry

Have to agree with Steven.

Anything that has computer type connectors and printed circuit boards is not the same circuit using Howard Dumbles' circuit constants theory.

The theory is the wire distance/routing/gauge has bearing on the performance and tone of the amp.

That and the longevity factor where printed boards tend to deteriorate through heat. The computer connectors are known to become intermittent causing amp failure, coming loose from vibration, and sometimes terminal fatigue.

Handwired point-to-point is still a more reliable way to build an amp.

Look at the two guts photos.

while its probably an ok amp, I just still kinda wonder why many would NOT purchase a 70's SF Twin. Even the Ultra linear OT amp series.

Most everyone complains about the weight of a Twin being the reason not to own one. Seeing they are ALL in the near 65 to 70 pounds region , why not just acquire a nice clean USED 70's SF ? Put a few bucks into it for tubes and maintenance and go to town ! Rock solid, reliable and the real deal !

I'm with the comments above, repairing the PC BD series amps is for me a thing of the past. These amps, each of the PC BD series, may very well look great and sound pretty good but they were not made to be taken apart. Serviceability was not a key factor.

70's series Twins may very well be the best deals in town, that is if you desire a Twin.

Cody...You might also consider a late 60's/early 70's Dual Showman Reverb which is a Twin in a head. Just add whatever cab/speaker(s) you prefer and you're all set. Lighter than hauling a Twin around !

Cody I have owned both a 65 reissue and a reissue Custom Twin with the 15" speaker in it. I now own a 1970 Twin and couldn't be happier.

Cody Stewart wrote: Do they closely emulate the vintage twin reverb sound? Are they well built?

They are not well built and have nothing in common with the original twin reverbs except for the logo. I find tone of the reissue twins to be seriously lacking.


If you are concerned with how your amp sounds look around for local small amp builders you can work with. Or buy an old amp and work with a local tech to get it just right.

FINO (Fender in name only) reissues are in general lipstick on a pig.

Original blackface Twins are wonderful (and serviceable). Silverface Twins are nearly so, and can be "blackfaced" by most any competent tech.

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. If you buy a used one you will get much better reverb and hopefully a fully broke in speaker and save money to boot.

Listen to all this good advice you have been given.. For $1000 or less you can get a very clean well maintained SF Twin Reverb that will sound WAY better, and be much more reliable than that awful ""reissue"".. Not only that, they are easy to fix, and you can play it for years and years and when you tire of it sell it for more than you paid, as long as you keep it in clean condition. Its a no brainer really.. If you want a Twin reverb, do NOT settle for a counterfeit.. Get the real thing, pay a lot less, enjoy it a lot more.. bob

Cody,
If you're interested in a vintage 70's Twin silver face I have one I would consider to sell but would need to be picked up in Columbus, Ohio. Amp is a road warrior but still works good.
PM me privately if you want to discuss further.
thanks,
Lonnie

I see old silverface Twin Reverbs all the time on Craigslist for $1000 or less. Sometimes with JBLs, which is ideal. I'm with the other fellas here. I can't see buying the reissue when you can get the real thing cheaper.

Cody,

Also keep an eye on Craigslist. You may be able to find one within driving distance. Where in Michigan are you?

Skeeter

I had a 1975 Silverface Twin. Such a great sounding amp. And the reverb was beautiful! Just a little big for me and my lap steel and my living room. I found it on Craigslist.

forrest klott wrote:Also keep an eye on Craigslist. You may be able to find one within driving distance.

Where I live, basically on the outskirts of the middle of nowhere, there's three Silverface Twins currently listed on Craigslist within easy driving distance: A nice 1976 in Santa Fe for $800.00, a similar one in Evergreen for $875.00, and another in Denver/Aurora for $700.00.

It's entirely possible you could pick up any two of those three for about the price of a FINO reissue.

What Jack said. Where’s the like button when you need it??

I have a Twin Reverb '65 reissue w/ a 15 inch speaker. It does not give me the sound I want for a Pedal Steel, but plug a fender tele or strat into it and it sounds fantastic.
A Fender matched with a Fender is tone like no other. But for Steel I had a Fender Steel King and it sounded great!

Took me awhile to get my Custom 15 dialed in,but I'm happy with it.Just what the doc ordered for gigs where I have to do a good amount of six-string and need the second channel.I like my Session 500 for steel-only,but who doesn't?

Don't know where you are in Michigan but I recently saw a SF Twin master volume model at Berkeley Music co. in Berkeley MI. I think the price was $750.

There's one at Pittsburgh Guitars for $795, just for example. $750 seems to be the going selling price at music stores but cheaper prices can be had at yard sales. Same store also has a fairly rare Cordovox CL-20 Rotary Speaker on the cheap.

http://www.pittsburghguitars.com/amps.php

Prices are coming down. Guitar players are struggling to sell them. If your patient, you’ll find one someone can’t get rid of, on Craigslist or whatever.

Way too heavy, clean, and loud for today’s six stringer. Check out the price of a twin, vs,
a deluxe reverb of the same vintage.

Good serviceable twins are out there, and this is a great time to find a deal on one.

Steve Spitz wrote:Prices are coming down. Guitar players are struggling to sell them.

And, since most of 'em are not getting any younger, they're also struggling to carry and haul them around.

Case in point to comments regarding buying a new re-issue vs a classic twin reverb...

I found a ‘74 silver face twin locally that I was able to get at a good price, took it to a local Fender authorized tech who re-capped it and put in new power tubes that I got from a fellow on the forum. He then put it in a Rick Johnson head cab for me. Total for everything was under a grand. Plugged it in yesterday and I was in Valhalla. And it’s now half the weight it was in the original combo cabinet. Couldn’t be happier!

There is a silver face, master volume Twin with JBL E120s (purportedly a 73) for sale on the Sacramento Craigslist for $550. It's been there awhile. Just sayin.