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Author Topic:  Fender '65 Twin Custom 15 Combo what about it ??
Damir Besic


From:
Nashville,TN.
Post  Posted 27 Oct 2016 6:32 pm    
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looks like a perfect amp for the steel guitar, but yet, nobody talks about it...why is that?
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Jerry Malvern

 

From:
Menifee, California, USA
Post  Posted 27 Oct 2016 8:09 pm    
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I had one. Great for recording, bedroom amp. Zero, and I mean zero, headroom. Messed with "harder" tubes, tone went south.
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Robert Parent

 

From:
Gillette, WY
Post  Posted 28 Oct 2016 3:18 am    
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I also owned one..... It's not a bad amp if you can find one on the used market. My two complaints: 1) Weight, its a heavy bugger. 2) The mid-range control is very sensitive and takes a little messing around to find it. I sold mine and have returned to playing through a Music Man that I have used for years.

Robert
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David Nugent

 

From:
Gum Spring, Va.
Post  Posted 28 Oct 2016 3:53 am    
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Basically a reissue '65 Twin loaded with a 15" speaker. The inherent Fender issues of questionable reliability are present which may account for its lack of desirability as a steel amp (most likely the main cause of the demise of the 'Steel King' as well?) For around the same price as a used unit, an early hand wired silver faced Twin with a replacement baffle is a far better choice IMO.
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Tommy Detamore


From:
Floresville, Texas
Post  Posted 28 Oct 2016 4:16 am    
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I used one for 2 1/2 years at a classic country show at the Aztec Theater in San Antonio. Fender provided the backline, and I chose this amp over a Steel King. Tom Brumley was originally the steel player and musical director for this show up until his untimely passing. It was my understanding that he liked the Custom 15 quite a bit.

It however would not be my first choice for a gigging amp with loud bands. The Aztec band had a very low stage volume, and I ran the Custom 15 on 4. Even so, if I really leaned into it with the volume pedal it would get begin to distort. I actually learned to appreciate this "feature" as it acted as a governor of sorts that helped me keep my stage volume under control.

But as stated for low volume situations or recording I think it would be a good choice, depending upon what a person wanted.
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Damir Besic


From:
Nashville,TN.
Post  Posted 28 Oct 2016 6:20 am    
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so, the regular Twin would be the better choice? I didn't know there was some issues with the Steel King
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David Spires


From:
Millersport, OH
Post  Posted 28 Oct 2016 6:41 am    
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I have one that I just used downtown at The Stage... I think it's a great amp, and I like the speaker voicing better than the more normal 2x12". I don't notice think that "it doesn't have any headroom", but feel it is similar to most all guitar combo amps: Possibly use Input 2, to get a 6dB pad, and either use a passive volume pedal, or use something like a Boss GE-7 to "turn the volume down" after my active volume pedal, so that I don't hit the front end too hard.

Once I started approaching Guitar Tube Amps in this way, I started loving all sorts of them.

Getting used to how to set Fender amps when you have been used to Peaveys your whole life, now that has taken me a while!

-David Spires
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David Spires


From:
Millersport, OH
Post  Posted 28 Oct 2016 6:44 am    
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PS - Taking a Reissue Twin Reverb (2x12") and a Hot Rod DeVille 212 to a gig tonight. The Hot Rod series doesn't get enough love either, even the Blues Jr. Great amps...

-Why does David have so many Fender amps?? My wife is a Fender dealer. Smile It's certainly fun to learn to use new toys.

-David Spires
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Damir Besic


From:
Nashville,TN.
Post  Posted 28 Oct 2016 6:46 am    
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David, let me know when you're playing out your Fender, Id like to come out see you...back in a day I used to play thru 2x12 Twin, and remember it as being a great amp...then I went with Peavey
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David Spires


From:
Millersport, OH
Post  Posted 28 Oct 2016 6:52 am    
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Will do Damir! As you already know, learning to dial the mids in does take some time. Once I read that a Deluxe essentially has the mids fixed at 6.7, I think that helped me.

The GE-7 also lets me notch a touch of the 800Hz out, so I can keep the mids up, but tame what I didn't want.

I know I'm retreading old ground, but taming in the volume, so I don't hit the front end of tube amps so hard made just about every amp useful for me. I had no idea... There has to be a better solution than a Boss GE-7, but for now, I have one on every pedal board I own.

Best of luck!

-David
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Damir Besic


From:
Nashville,TN.
Post  Posted 28 Oct 2016 7:01 am    
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I don't care for mids, I have those always pretty low, too much mids gives me harsh, too bright tone...I keep them low, so I should be ok with tube amp...tube amps just have more sparkling tone, SS amp are sterile and artificially sounding to me, they sound Luke a robot without any soul or life...they are clear and loud, but lifeless to me...
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Erv Niehaus


From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
Post  Posted 28 Oct 2016 7:44 am    
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Fender for tubes, Peavey for solid state. Very Happy
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Lane Gray


From:
Topeka, KS
Post  Posted 28 Oct 2016 9:10 am    
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Damir, on my youtube channel (I would post which specific video, but I'm in a low-bandwidth coverage area right now) at www.youtube.com/steelguitarlane I have a video comparing my Milkman. A Session 400, and my 65 Reissue Twin with 15. It's not labeled Custom 15 because it was originally a 2 -12 and then got a Mojotone cab, and it has a Jensen Mod 15. It needs a bit of tweaking to get headroom, but with 4 6l6s, it can have at least as much clean volume as the Session 400.
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Damir Besic


From:
Nashville,TN.
Post  Posted 28 Oct 2016 10:16 am    
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Lane, I already seen it Smile good job comparing those amps...
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Damir Besic


From:
Nashville,TN.
Post  Posted 28 Oct 2016 10:31 am    
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Erv Niehaus wrote:
Fender for tubes, Peavey for solid state. Very Happy


yup..that's what I'm thinking
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Dave Burton


From:
Richland,Wa. USA
Post  Posted 29 Oct 2016 5:53 pm    
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I have played with this amp the last 10 years for live and recording....I play a Sierra uni with a Hilton volume pedal...has been a workhorse but not lately...going in the shop next week to get looked at. Original tubes used to like it a lot ,downside, Heavy!
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Dave Hopping


From:
Aurora, Colorado
Post  Posted 30 Oct 2016 9:33 am    
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I have a Custom 15.The only issue was a bad pre-amp tube in the normal channel(thanks,Lane!),and since then it's been great.I use it for gigs where I play enough six-string to justify a separate rig and standing up.
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Brett Lanier

 

From:
Madison, TN
Post  Posted 30 Oct 2016 10:10 am    
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I picked one of these up recently. Mostly because it was pretty cheap and I wanted something I could take around that wasn't made in the 60's.

It's been hit or miss for me. Used it as a second source for recording and it was surprisingly good. Then I took it out to a gig and really didn't like it. Last night I took it to a bigger show and used it just for monitoring and kept my Standel at a reasonable volume with a mic on it. The twin sounded great.

It's not quite as sweet sounding as a good older twin. I share Damir's sentiments when it comes to dialing in mids on a Peavey, but with a twin I like them up around 7 or higher with the bass cut to around 3.5. The Custom XV sounds a bit honky with the mids up at 7 or 8 so it's a bit of a balancing act getting the mids to be up enough to fill out that space that a steel has in the mix but without sounding honky. I wish they could have gotten the sound of the Deluxe reverb reissue in this amp. Those things sound great imo.
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John Goux

 

From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 30 Oct 2016 9:50 pm    
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My 2 cent on the subjects of reissue BF Fenders, and Twin Reverbs.
I've used both, extensively.
My main guitar amp in high school and college was a '69 Twin with JBLs.
I've had BF reissue Fenders supplied many times on live and recording gigs. Mostly Deluxe Reverbs.

If all you do is play clean at a very low volume, a RI amp will do the job. I'm always amazed when I see video of Bill F and a Greg L getting great sound out of them. I've done sessions with a local steel player who uses the RI Twin with 15" Telonics to great success.

I personally think there is a noticeable difference between the old hand wired SF or BF amps, and the reissues. You hear the difference when the amps begin to saturate. The old ones smooth out and sweeten. The new ones, turned up, get ugly. Not a good sounding distortion. I'll use anything else, a Blues Deluxe, a Hot Rod series, an El 84 amp of any sort, to avoid those RI Fenders.
As long as you don't hit the preamp hard, and play low volume, they are OK.

Twin Reverbs, even the old ones, can be unruly to dial in. All the other BF amps, SR, Princeton, Bassman, etc are easy to get a great sound. Something in Leo's design of that particular amp made getting the bass and midrange difficult on a Twin Reverb. Once you get them dialed in, they will do a great clean, especially with upgraded speakers. But they do not go into saturation easily.
I don't think it is the 4 6L6's either. I just saw Paul F using his signature LW amp and the sound was perfect.

One other point, and that is the modern steel pickup are a bit much for the BF preamp. I think those high output pickups came about as the result of the steel community using solid state amps. As mention previously, using input 2 or a device to lower the gain will help.

I am a tube amp guy. I'd just steer away from the RI Fenders. A SF beater Twin or Pro Reverb is a good tube amp for steel and guitar.
Cheers, J
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Craig A Davidson


From:
Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin USA
Post  Posted 10 Nov 2016 5:19 am    
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I have the Custom Twin and a 2-12 Twin and I find as long as I keep the mids below the lows and the highs below the mids it sounds pretty good.
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Erv Niehaus


From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
Post  Posted 10 Nov 2016 9:13 am    
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I'm not much into the reissue amps.
I try to scout around and look for an original in good shape. The last couple I've picked up were through Guitar Center and were located on the East Coast.
GC will ship to one of their other stores at not cost so I had them sent to Minneapolis and picked them up there. I'm sure the shipping amounted to more than what I gave for the amps.
Erv
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Tim Whitlock


From:
Colorado, USA
Post  Posted 10 Nov 2016 9:22 am    
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If the price is right it should be a decent amp although the stock big ceramic magnet speaker adds to the already considerable weight of a Twin. I'd probably replace it with a neo.

Older Twin Reverbs are cheap and plentiful these days. You can get one for $600 if you are patient and diligent. Personally that's the way I would go and then install a new baffle with a 15.

This looks like a smoking deal:

http://nashville.craigslist.org/msg/5858356350.html
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Dave Meis


From:
Olympic Peninsula, Washington, USA
Post  Posted 10 Nov 2016 7:14 pm    
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I had a Custom 15 for about 8 hours..noisiest amp I ever had. Hiss and hum, and this from a brand new amp. I bought a '79 UL Twin, and it sounds great! I would definitely prefer a SF to a RI.
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Jeff Donnell

 

From:
Texas, USA
Post  Posted 28 Sep 2017 8:59 am     Fender Custom Twin
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Thank you all very much that posted on my question about this amp.
Weight is a HUGE deal breaker for me.This Evans has some pretty good heft to it as well.
This makes me lean towards a Peavey Nville 112.
Thanks again to everyone.Yall saved me some money,& possibly a worse condition than my back is already.
Have A Great Day
Sincerely,
Jeff Donnell
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Rich Upright


From:
Florida, USA
Post  Posted 3 Oct 2017 5:05 pm    
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Had a '65 Twin RI w 2-12" speakers. very blah gigging amp for guitar. Hated it. Swapped it for a Hot Rod, which is a much better amp, as long as you don't get the Mexican version...the circuit boards are cheap & expand too fast with heat, breaking solder joints. Hadda re-solder my tube sockets every 3-4 gigs.
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