The Steel Guitar Forum Store 

Post new topic Another Fender Twin...
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Reply to topic
Author Topic:  Another Fender Twin...
Tele

 

From:
Andy W. - Wolfenbuettel, Germany
Post  Posted 26 Feb 2001 11:10 am    
Reply with quote

Hey...just finished it today..what you see is not a Reissue and not an original BF 65 Twin!

The chassis is an early master Volume Dual Showman Reverb. I put a Repro faceplate on the front and the MV pot now sits where the external speaker jack was.
The amps sounds great, even with MV so I thought it should stay there.
I use GE 5751 preamp tubes and Svetlana 6L6GC, the amp is very quiet and has lots of headroom.
The cabinet is an original late67/early 68, still had the alu-trim. I made a new baffle out of Baltic birch and put a 15" JBL D130F in it.
Last week I tried a Peavey BW in it and it sounded much better with the amp, don't know why-usually I'm not the guy to praise Peaveys .....
So it looks 100% like the real deal, sounds close enough but the cost was not even 50% !!!!
I would consider a MV Twin Reverb again, that's for sure !

Andy

------------------
1957 Sho~Bud D-8:1961 Sho~Bud D-9:1962 Sho~Bud D-10:1966 Sho~Bud D-10 : Bigsby T-8

ShoBud Gallery


[This message was edited by Tele on 26 February 2001 at 11:14 AM.]

View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Blake Hawkins


From:
Florida
Post  Posted 26 Feb 2001 3:11 pm    
Reply with quote

Hi Andy, You do good work! It looks great.

Blake
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Steve Feldman


From:
Central MA USA
Post  Posted 26 Feb 2001 3:19 pm    
Reply with quote

I agree. She's a beauty!
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Tele

 

From:
Andy W. - Wolfenbuettel, Germany
Post  Posted 27 Feb 2001 11:43 am    
Reply with quote

Thanks
it was worth the effort..easy and inexpensive mods !

Andy

------------------
1957 Sho~Bud D-8:1961 Sho~Bud D-9:1962 Sho~Bud D-10:1966 Sho~Bud D-10 : Bigsby T-8
My homepage
ShoBud Gallery

View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Cartwright Thompson


Post  Posted 4 Mar 2001 3:42 am    
Reply with quote

Hey Andy,
Nice job. I think silver Fenders are one of the last real amp bargains out there, and you can turn them into great things.
I'm curious about your preference for the Peavey and should probably try one(a BW) myself. Is the Peavey a 4 ohm speaker? Is the output tranny on your twin stock?
If it's stock, running the D-130 would cut the power quite a bit and might be the reason you liked the Peavey better.
View user's profile Send private message

Tele

 

From:
Andy W. - Wolfenbuettel, Germany
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2001 4:57 am    
Reply with quote

Hi Cartwright

everything is stock, the Peavey is a 4-ohm 1501. Reason I like it better is not the loss of power with the JBL, it is still way too loud with my band

The BW sounds a bit more modern and versatile while the D130 has that distinctive 60s tone.
Both great speakers, maybe the JBL will be back for the next gig..who knows..

Andy

------------------
1957 Sho~Bud D-8:1961 Sho~Bud D-9:1962 Sho~Bud D-10:1966 Sho~Bud D-10 : Bigsby T-8
My homepage
ShoBud Gallery

View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Herb Steiner

 

From:
Spicewood TX 78669
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2001 7:19 am    
Reply with quote

Now Andy, if only you had said "and I reduced the weight of the unit by 25lbs.," I would personally come over to Germany with candy and flowers!!!

Hey, I like the Black Widow speaker in just about all the applications I've tried with them. Of course, that's really just putting them in an Evans and a Webb, but they sound great in both those amps. And the suggestion about the Evans/BW combo came from Ed Buffington himself, so I don't feel "unholy" about it.

------------------
Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Cartwright Thompson


Post  Posted 4 Mar 2001 7:50 am    
Reply with quote

Andy,
If you put the JBL back in, try removing 2 power tubes( 1 and 4, or 2 and 3)this will cut your power in half and give you an 8 ohm output( to match the D-120). This is my favorite "15 inch" twin sound. Still plenty clean and powerfull and to my ears a little sweeter.
View user's profile Send private message

Tele

 

From:
Andy W. - Wolfenbuettel, Germany
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2001 11:17 am    
Reply with quote

Hey guys

to make it a bit more unique I think about recovering it with cream tolex plus wheat/gold (1963-64 era style)grille cloth...
Fender never had that option on combo amps, only heads and cabinets.
Consider it more work than the rest, I'll keep you updated.
Thanks so far.

Andy


------------------
1957 Sho~Bud D-8:1961 Sho~Bud D-9:1962 Sho~Bud D-10:1966 Sho~Bud D-10 : Bigsby T-8
My guitars &s
ShoBud Gallery


[This message was edited by Tele on 04 March 2001 at 11:19 AM.]

View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Cartwright Thompson


Post  Posted 4 Mar 2001 4:30 pm    
Reply with quote

Don't waste your time on cosmetics. Try 6550's (2 of them), change the screen resisters and boom, about 65 watts, 8ohm output and tons wonderful tone with plenty of low end..
View user's profile Send private message

Chris Lucker

 

From:
Los Angeles, California USA
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2001 8:59 pm    
Reply with quote

Andy, my Twin Reverb is now Cream rough Tolex with a wheat grille, black and silver flat metal Fender nameplate and black dogbone with black faceplate and a JBL D130 4 ohm. So it is a copy of a 1962 or so Fender that never existed. It started as a beat up 1971 Twin Reverb -- I had to replace all the Tolex and dowel the cabinet, and I had to recap the beast, do a partial Blackface mod, and replace the speakers. I saw Waylon Jennings using cream tolexed Twin Reverbs and thought they looked great. Now, if only I can get a tooled leather cover for my Telecaster.
Chris Lucker
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Dave Van Allen


From:
Doylestown, PA , US , Earth
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2001 10:06 pm    
Reply with quote

Looks absolutely luscious! Bet it sound great, even with the P-word speaker...

Mr Lucker- can you post a pic of your mythic '62??


[This message was edited by Dave Van Allen on 04 March 2001 at 10:11 PM.]

View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Chris Lucker

 

From:
Los Angeles, California USA
Post  Posted 5 Mar 2001 10:37 am    
Reply with quote

Dave, I will shortly. I am expecting a digital camera soon. Will post pics of an old Emmons/Standel too.
Chris
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Tele

 

From:
Andy W. - Wolfenbuettel, Germany
Post  Posted 8 Mar 2001 1:56 pm    
Reply with quote

check this out !! This seems to be one cool amp:1970 Twin

Andy


------------------
1957 Sho~Bud D-8:1961 Sho~Bud D-9:1962 Sho~Bud D-10:1966 Sho~Bud D-10 : Bigsby T-8
My guitars &s
ShoBud Gallery


[This message was edited by Tele on 08 March 2001 at 01:58 PM.]

View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Dave Van Allen


From:
Doylestown, PA , US , Earth
Post  Posted 8 Mar 2001 6:55 pm    
Reply with quote

yeah that "virgin" twin on ebay sure is purty, but I'd be scared to death to take it out of the house! I'd prolly just sit around all day drooling on it...

I can't be trusted with such nice things- I was all pins and needles til I put a bar ding in my Zum, now I can just relax and play the dern thing

I like an amp with some dings in it (those of you who have seen my Vibrolux will vouch)for gigging... but those pristine museum pieces do hold a certain fascination...

------------------
"I AM ZUMBODY!"


Zumsteel U12 "Loafer" 8&6 :: Fender T-8 Stringmaster :: Fender Tube Amplification
www.voicenet.com/~vanallen/ :: vanallen@voicenet.com


[This message was edited by Dave Van Allen on 08 March 2001 at 06:56 PM.]

View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Chris DeBarge

 

From:
Boston, Mass
Post  Posted 9 Mar 2001 6:32 am    
Reply with quote

Dave,
I agree, and I never buy mint stuff because I'm afraid of messing it up! (of course I could try not to stand on them or use them to hold my beer...)

Great job on the amp Andy!
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Brian Stear

 

From:
W.Peoria,Il.
Post  Posted 9 Mar 2001 8:40 am    
Reply with quote

I'll have to agree with Cartwright on those 6550's for your amp. You'll be suprised by the difference. It's simply amazing how much " ooomph " they add. Alot more tone, albiet a bit different. Plus you can turn it up and get plenty of clean volume and headroom.They truly work great for steel.
After all, we like our amps to look good. But we play them cause they sound good!
A fellow Fender lover.........

[This message was edited by Brian Stear on 09 March 2001 at 08:43 AM.]

View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Bill Crook

 

From:
Goodlettsville, TN , Spending my kid's inheritance
Post  Posted 9 Mar 2001 10:57 am    
Reply with quote

Quote:
If you put the JBL back in, try removing 2 power tubes( 1 and 4, or 2 and 3)this will cut your power in half and give you an 8 ohm output( to match the D-120).


It's not often I differ with my electronic friends here but, just removing tubes, or replaceing them with higher power rateing ones will NOT change the output impedience of the amp !

As most of you'all remember the tube "Fender" amps have a big and very expensive output xmer. This is what DETERMINES the 4,8,16 ohm rateings of the amps. Different amps,different output values. The secondary windings of the output xmer is matched to a certain speaker ohmage. the closer the match, the more power transfered to the speaker. the choice of tubes has NOTHING to do with the impedience. Period !!
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Cartwright Thompson


Post  Posted 12 Mar 2001 3:36 am    
Reply with quote

I've been told of this "trick" (removing 2 power tubes) by several knowledgeable amp techs,something I don't profess to be myself.I was able to look up two explanations.
David Funk explains it like this:

"If you remove two tubes from a 100 watt amp, the Output Transformer's Primary Impedance needs to be doubled. To do this , double the Impedance of the speaker load. In other words four tubes might need a 2000 ohm primary, with a 4 ohm speaker load. By removing two tubes , the OT's Primary Impedance now needs to be 4000 ohms. By attaching an 8 ohm speaker, you've effectively doubled the Primary Impedance."

Gerald Weber says essentially the same thing:
"When you use only two of the Output tubes in a twin, you are reducing the output by half, and you are cutting the load impedance in half. This will wear ou tyour tubes prematurely, unless you do something to correct the load impedance. An easy way to correct the load impedance is to unplug one of the speakers or to use an 8 ohm speaker load."
View user's profile Send private message

Cartwright Thompson


Post  Posted 16 Mar 2001 3:07 am    
Reply with quote

I was hoping to get a reply from Mr. Crook on this impedance issue. I'm not trying to be confrontational, I'm just curious about the subject.
There is still a lot of contradictory information floating around regarding tube amps. I'm not an amp tech, I'm just looking for the best sound/setup for my amps.
View user's profile Send private message

Tele

 

From:
Andy W. - Wolfenbuettel, Germany
Post  Posted 16 Mar 2001 3:37 am    
Reply with quote

..finally...



wonder why it doesn't sound better than before...

oh but I put the D130F back in it !
Andy

[This message was edited by Tele on 16 March 2001 at 03:38 AM.]

View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Chris DeBarge

 

From:
Boston, Mass
Post  Posted 16 Mar 2001 4:35 am    
Reply with quote

Andy, that looks great!
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Dave Van Allen


From:
Doylestown, PA , US , Earth
Post  Posted 16 Mar 2001 7:02 am    
Reply with quote

"now cut that out"
Jack Benny
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Tele

 

From:
Andy W. - Wolfenbuettel, Germany
Post  Posted 16 Mar 2001 3:19 pm    
Reply with quote

hey Chris Lucker, still waiting for your picture here !!??
in the meantime here's another one. Funny I had so many 70s Twins, should have done this earlier. Guess you could make a few bucks more if they look that way.
After all the total for the cosmetics were not even $100 and that includes the repro faceplate.

Andy


View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Chris Lucker

 

From:
Los Angeles, California USA
Post  Posted 17 Mar 2001 12:09 am    
Reply with quote

I will post pics as soon as I get the digital camera (or any camera, for that matter) I had to take pictures of a twin twelve Standel with an Emmons logo and that took me forever.
Mine looks like yours, although perhaps my Tolex is whiter, and I applied a flat metal black and silver Fender nameplate and used a dogbone handle.
Very nive amp under your TR. Is that a tweed Twin? That is an amp I'd like to play Tele through sometime. I would imagine that dreams of a 59 Bassman might well go away if you had a Tweed Twin.
Chris Lucker
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail


All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Jump to:  

Our Online Catalog
Strings, CDs, instruction,
steel guitars & accessories

www.SteelGuitarShopper.com

Please review our Forum Rules and Policies

Steel Guitar Forum LLC
PO Box 237
Mount Horeb, WI 53572 USA


Click Here to Send a Donation

Email admin@steelguitarforum.com for technical support.


BIAB Styles
Ray Price Shuffles for
Band-in-a-Box

by Jim Baron
HTTP