Fender "The Twin" OR Twin Reverb

[soundtrackarcade]

Hey all!
I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on the difference between the Fender amps "The Twin" and the Twin Reverb. I am familiar with the Twin Reverb but not terribly well versed on it's difference from "The Twin." Any thoughts??
thanks!

[TonyBelmont]

Hmmmmm... I always thought they were referring to the same thing.

[ebot9000]

It's some kind of variation on a Twin Reverb from the 80s or early 90s. I don't remember the differences exactly, but they've turned up on gigs on the road from time to time.

They look pretty similar to a Twin Reverb but I think the channels are set up a little differently. The knobs were different. They also didn't sound as nice for my setup (vintage keys), but I think they might be even louder than a normal Tiwn.

How's that for not much help?? Someone'll around here'll know the deal.

[allencollins]

The evil twin is the best one. Other than one from the 50's
with a tube rectifer. Good luck finding one of those though.

The reissues all suck except for the Evil Twin I think they call it
Twin Amp now

[richiepalooza]

The reissues all suck except for the Evil Twin I think they call it
Twin Amp now

That one sucks, too.

[getreel]

The Twin has completely different circuitry than a Fender Twin Reverb. They don't sound as nice and do not hold value as well. A true vintage Twin Reverb is either blackface(until 68) or silverface(69-82?) They went through minor circuit revisions from '67 or so onward. The earlier silverface Twins are closest to the desirable blackface circuit(with the exception of the AA circuit in very few early silverfaces). In '72, Fender added a Master Volume and these silverfaces are less desirable than non-master volume silverface Twin Reverbs, but are still a nice sounding hand wired tube amp. The Twin and all Twin Reverb reissues and variants after the silverface are not point to point wiring and are therefore harder to repair, less desirable, and not as nice sounding. Silverface Twins can be modded to blackface specs, but the earlier the better as they require less work to get them there. I myself own a sweet mostly unmodded '71 silverface Twin Reverb and it sounds every bit as good as most blackface Twins I've heard. The biggest difference between blackface and early silverface is headroom and wattage with blackface and extremely early silverfaces having 85 watts, early silverface(non-master volume) having 100 watts, and master volume later silverfaces 135 watts. My silverface '71 is the best of both worlds, IMO, having very close to blackface sound with more "spank you in the face" clean tones due to increased wattage and headroom. Put some sweet pedals in front and it will scream like a Marshall though. It's a total beast to move around at 70lbs so it's my studio amp. Twin Reverbs can be heard on everything from Beatles records to Stevie Ray Vaughan and most everything in between.

[Marjan]

The Twin has a nice 'modern' clean sound to my ears. Very good, very usable.
I'm a great fan of both old and new Fender amps, but I still don't get what they were thinking when they designed the dirty channel on it.

The TR on its turn is a piece of heaven on earth for clean.
I don't use it for distortion.

[analogica]

I hate my 75 silverface, with a strat gives a super mid tone, that "clank" is horrible, I think im gonna try with british amps....

I use to love my 68 reissue twin and the silver for crappy sounds like sonic youth and stuff like that but right now I want another tone

[muziekschuur]

Currently fender offers three Fender TWIN amps (IN 2008):

The '57 TWIN AMP: .:: Fender®.com ::.

INFO: This all-tube combo amp has hand-wired circuitry; we’ve even reproduced the 1955-57 edition “low powered” 5E8A circuit, which puts 40 watts into a pair of 12” alnico-magnet speakers. Power comes from a pair of GT6L6 output tubes and Fender’s rarely seen mid-’50s dual rectifier arrangement (using 5U4 rectifier tubes). With this design, power amp compression or “sag” is more subtle than in many Fender tweed designs. The Twin’s preamp contains four high-gain 12AX7 tubes, three of which may be substituted with 12AY7s for the original ’50s low-gain sound. An internal bias pot allows easy substitution of various 6L6 types. Control panel details include normal and bright volumes, four inputs (two normal; two bright), treble, bass and presence knobs.


The 'TWIN AMP': .:: Fender®.com ::.

INFO:The latest incarnation of our venerable Twin Amp has the responsive, throaty and clean power you know and love, coupled with a high-gain distortion channel.

The 1/4 power switch gives players command of a stunning 100 watts of power when needed or a manageable 25 watts for a club or studio gig, all courtesy of four 6L6 Groove Tube™ output tubes, seven 12AX7 preamp tubes, a single 12AT7 tube and a pair of 12” 8-ohm Fender Special Design Eminence speakers.


The '65 TWIN Reverb: .:: Fender®.com ::.

Info:
Our 85-watt (at 4 ohms) Vintage Reissue of the ’65 Twin Reverb features four 6L6 Groove Tube™ output tubes, four 12AX7 preamp tubes, two 12AT7 preamp tubes, two 12” 8-ohm Jensen® C-12K speakers, dual channels (normal and vibrato), Fender reverb, vibrato, two-button reverb and vibrato on-off footswitch, tilt-back legs, black textured vinyl covering and silver grille cloth.


All tube amps.

Then there is this special with a 1x15" speaker; called the
'65 TWIN CUSTOM: .:: Fender®.com ::.

Apart from this there is the: Cyber twin amp SE (2008): .:: Fender®.com ::.

So there is (WHEN YOU BUY NEW) quite some variety to obtain and to test out.

So the OP espessically want's to know what the difference is between these models. (I think).

The '57 has the tube rectifier and alnico speakers, the TWIN AMP version has the 25watts/100 watts switch and has an modern overdrive channel and the '65 reverb has Jensen speakers Vibrato and Reverb and is 85 watts.

So there you go:

Nr 1 on sound the '57
Nr 2 For gigging in bars and Rock the TWIN AMP
Nr 3 For that special Vibrato and Reverb the 67 TWIN REVERB is there

NR 4 I found out that when you need bottom an 15" is very nice, SO hey bottomlovers like JAZZ players... The Special with 15" is another decent choice.

[tombak]

I used to have a Twin Reverb reissue but I got rid of it and got instead a first series silver face (non master volume) that I thought sounded far better. IMO way less brittle sounding and much bigger body.

Apparently you can "black-face" these (that always sounded a bit dodgy to me) with some minor modifications.

I'll likely have this done eventually.

[richiepalooza]

So there you go:

Nr 1 on sound the '57
Nr 2 For gigging in bars and Rock the TWIN AMP
Nr 3 For that special Vibrato and Reverb the 67 TWIN REVERB is there

NR 4 I found out that when you need bottom an 15" is very nice, SO hey bottomlovers like JAZZ players... The Special with 15" is another decent choice.

The only amp listed here that's worth a shit is the '57, but even that has issues. Just get a old early silverface TR and you won't have to worry about it. By the way, a TR with an old skool tube screamer is classic.

[Wardell]

Inside my chassis it says 1990. It is by far the Best Amp that I have ever owned. I traded a Fender DeVille for it. I loved the DeVille, clean and lighter.
But the Twin has the 25/100 power option, Parallel and series input which allow you to use both channels, Boost on the tone controls, low imp out.
I use the effects loop, but the amp will take effects easily through the input.
I run the Twin through an external Bo Dick 2-12 cabinet or a Laney 4-12. I have a 1884 Fender Squire Strat, A 1991 Gibson Les Paul, and a 1980 ES 347td

I also own a Peavey Classic 100.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by getreel

The biggest difference between blackface and early silverface is headroom and wattage with blackface and extremely early silverfaces having 85 watts, early silverface(non-master volume) having 100 watts, and master volume later silverfaces 135 watts.

Presumably that was not a hard/fast transition: I owned a 1977 silverface/master volume (bought it brand new) and it was still 100 watts.

I kick myself every single day for selling that amp.

[NickNagurka]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

Presumably that was not a hard/fast transition: I owned a 1977 silverface/master volume (bought it brand new) and it was still 100 watts.

I kick myself every single day for selling that amp.

I have a '74 silverface with a pull-pot master volume mod. 100 watts as well - loud as hell, that one. Some idiot put in Celestion 85's before I got it....some day I'll get around to putting in JBL oranges. Some day...

There WAS a version called the super-twin that was over 100 watts, I think 180 or something stupidly loud.

[litepipe]

I'm not a fan of any modern fender amp. Anything newer then early 70's loses me. I've played the new 57' reissue twin... It's ok... better then their other versions but no where near as good as Victoria's.

I had a 65' reissue. Never really got it to sound good. sold it. I sometimes have to use a deluxe reissue on the road... it's ok in a pinch. still not magical.

[litepipe]

I'm not a fan of any modern fender amp. Anything newer then early 70's loses me. I've played the new 57' reissue twin... It's ok... better then their other versions but no where near as good as Victoria's.

I had a 65' reissue. Never really got it to sound good. sold it. I sometimes have to use a deluxe reissue on the road... it's ok in a pinch. still not magical.