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Topic: I played through a killer amp last night... |
Gerald Menke
From:
Stormville NY, USA
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Posted 22 Mar 2006 6:25 am |
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Hello all,
Last night had the pleasure to play through a custom shop reissue tweed Fender '57 Twin Amp. Lord have mercy!! I used a Holy Grail reverb for just the slightest bit of reverb, but I could not get over the sound of this amp! Made me wonder what I was thinking putting together my current rack/speaker cabinet setup. The sound really reminded me of the steel tone on that Willie Nelson "Crazy" Demo sessions album that came out a few years ago. So detailed and punchy, great string separation and clarity, and it blended with the sound of the band beautifully. I am sure these amps are probably like 3000 bucks, but let me tell you, if you ever have the chance to play through one, check it out. Had PLENTY of headroom - how can this amp be only 40 watts?? I didn't even touch the tone controls, sounded killer just like it was.
Anybody else played through one of these twins, or currently using one for the steel?[This message was edited by Gerald Menke on 22 March 2006 at 07:43 AM.] |
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David Doggett
From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
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Posted 22 Mar 2006 8:01 am
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Hi Gerald, the lead guitar player in my rockabilly group got one of those '57 Reissue Twins, and I tried it out at a practice in his basement practice room. I used a Fender tube reverb unit. Unlike other Fender reissues that are modern PC-board copies, the '57RT is the real deal - hand-wired to original specs., with a price to match. It has that clarion tweed tone in spades. It is a great amp for a vintage lap steel sound, or a trebley Ralph Mooney type pedal steel sound. The mids and highs are very crisp, which gives great string separation, and cuts through a muddy mix like a trumpet.
It is a fantastic regular guitar amp if you can play it wide open where the cream is - the Rolling Stones play through a stage full of the originals. On the other hand, for pedal steel, it does not have that lush low end we are use to in the black-face and silver-face Fenders. That low end stuff mostly turns to mud in a loud group, so this could be a good gigging amp for some people. But compared to a '60s or '70s Twin with a 15" speaker, the '57RT sounds thin with solo steel.
Also, it is only rated at 40 watts. That seemed a little conservative - I think it would keep up with most modern 50 watt tube amps - its strength in the mids and highs helps out. It is actually too loud for the lead guitar player. He can rarely get it up to the sweet spot, so he usually plays through the loudest 15 watt Tweed Deluxe I have ever heard. But for pedal steel it is no match for a SF Twin. This is the loudest group I play with. The guitars play through 20 watt Deluxes that are dimed. With them I play pedal steel through a Super Twin, even in practice. For a group with a loud stage volume, the '57RT may be lacking in power; but if you can always mic it, that may not be a problem. I play in some loud rock dives that don't mic the guitar amps. So it would be hard for me to justify 3,000 big ones for an amp I couldn't use in some places. If your volume requirements are less, and you like those trumpet-like mids and highs, and you have deep pockets, the '57RT is a very interesting amp.
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Student of the Steel: Zum uni, Fender tube amps, squareneck and roundneck resos, tenor sax, keyboards
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James Cann
From:
Phoenix, AZ
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Posted 22 Mar 2006 8:35 am
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| Quote: |
| Last night had the pleasure to play through a custom shop reissue tweed Fender '57 Twin Amp. Lord have mercy!! |
Spoken like a gentleman! |
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Matthew Prouty
From:
Warsaw, Poland
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Posted 22 Mar 2006 9:14 am
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I built myself one of these style amps. I actually used a previous version the 5D8 for the power section and the 5E8 for the tone stack. I love it and it really puts out a lot of power. The 5D8 power section is cathode biased so it drops its power down to 25 watts, but it is pure tone. I have had many people ask to buy it or for me to build one for them. I just don't have the time to build all those amps.
Here is a pic of the amp:
http://www.proutyworld.150m.com/amps.htm
The last song on this page is recorded with it. I will have some more clips with it in short order as we are in the studio recording with it now.
http://www.proutyworld.150m.com/music.htm
M. |
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Greg Simmons
From:
where the buffalo (used to) roam AND the Mojave
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Posted 22 Mar 2006 12:21 pm
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| Quote: |
| I am sure these amps are probably like 3000 bucks |
Victoria's version is only $2795 
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“I always knew that there was something out there that I needed to get to.
And it wasn't where I was at that particular moment."
-Bob Dylan
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 22 Mar 2006 12:39 pm
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| Quote: |
| ...how can this amp be only 40 watts?? |
You only need lotsa watts for bass and low midrange response. If you play with lots of mids and highs, and not a lot of bass, 40 watts is plenty! (A lot of blues players use amps in the 10-25 watt range.) Also, the gradual breakup (distortion) of tube amps makes them a lot more pleasing when pushed. Once a solid state amp goes into distortion, the tone and sound goes out the window, so a tube amp can sound significantly louder than a solid state counterpart. |
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Gerald Menke
From:
Stormville NY, USA
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Posted 22 Mar 2006 1:21 pm
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| Thanks for the replies you guys. Now I know just what I need: Victoria's handwired tweed twin 80 watt replica, only $5600.00. Maybe that was an old price I saw on the Web today. I did play through a Victoria once, just about brought a tear to your eye it sounded so pretty. I will keep you posted as to what develops. |
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Jon Light (deceased)
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 22 Mar 2006 1:36 pm
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For future reference, you will see those two Tweed Twins referred to as "high powered twin" and "low powered twin" or "hi-po, lo-po".
There's a cottage industry of people buyin kits from Weber speakers and other places and assembling them and selling them. This guy has been doing it on ebay for a while:
Click Here
And here's some other stuff:
Click Here
If I decided that I just had to have one, I would seriously consider that first link.
BTW--My Tone King is a 40W cathode biased amp with one channel voiced to be Fender Blackface and the other to be Tweed. I'm not expert enough to rate how well it does the tweed but it's a real nice sounding amp. Don't get to use it enough. |
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David Doggett
From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
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Posted 22 Mar 2006 2:07 pm
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Gerald, at the Victoria link in Greg's post the 80212 (high-powered Tweed Twin) was listed for $3,295. For steel, I'd love to try the 35115 (35 watts, Eminence 15) copy of the Tweed Pro, or the Victorlux (same thing with reverb and trem). Might be a little low powered, but hey, at only $2,595 each, I could just get four of them.  |
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Jay Ganz
From:
Out Behind The Barn
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Posted 22 Mar 2006 2:54 pm
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Hey Jon,
Shee-whiz....that amp does look nice, and
reasonably priced too! Looks like this guy
knows his stuff.
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 22 Mar 2006 11:11 pm
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Gerald,
Next time you get up to ultrasound check out the Bruno cowtipper version of the twin. That thing will mess your head up !
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Bob
upcoming gigs
My Website
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