From sirman–(at)–rl.com Thu Oct 5 17:15:55 CDT 1995
Article: 4176 of alt.guitar.amps
Path: geraldo.cc.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!newshub.cts.com!news.sprintlink.net!howland.reston.ans.net!nntp.crl.com!usenet
From: sirman–(at)–rl.com (Mike Sirmans)
Newsgroups: alt.guitar.amps
Subject: Re: Opinions on “The Twin” by Fender?
Date: Wed, 04 Oct 1995 21:29:42 GMT
Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access
Lines: 83
Message-ID: <44uufc$he--(at)--ntp.crl.com>
References:
NNTP-Posting-Host: crl9.crl.com
X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.0.82

allmo–(at)–etcom.com (B_Phlat) wrote:

>Anybody have opinions or specs on this amp?
>–Jim

I have a Fender “THE TWIN” and simply love it! The versatility is
astounding. You can get anything from the sound of an old vintage
Fender tweed amp sound (classic Twin) to something akin to the hot
sound of a Mesa-Boogie. This is a channel-switching amp, but the
audio paths do not go through any solid-state devices, only tubes.
You can run both the clean channel and the drive channel in parallel
(like I do) and dispense with stomping on pedals to change your
tone… just use the volume knob on the guitar. When connected this
way, you can drive it hard with the sweet tone like that of SRV or
back off and it cleans up real nice with the silky-smooth (twinkly)
tube harmonic top end. THE TWIN may be run as a 100watt/25watt combo
by using all 4 stock output tubes. The reduction in power is achived
by tapping the power-supply from either a full-wave bridge (460 volts)
or using a half-wave bridge (236 volts). The manual also says that
you can pull 2 of the output tubes (which is the way I run mine) and
set the impedance selector to 1/2 the original value… Remember: 1/2
the tubes – 1/2 the load. The two 8-ohm speakers are wired in series
for a total of 16-ohms… When running with only 2 power tubes, you
must set the selector for 8-ohms into this load.

Access is provided on the back panel of the amplifier to set the
idling bias current for the power tubes and to set the balance between
the upper and lower pair (in the push-pull circuit). The fine print
on the back of the amp says that you should set the meter to read .040
volts (40 millivolts) which is read across a zener-protected precision
1-ohm resistor in the power stage cathodes. If you remove 2 of the
tubes as I did, it should read 20 millivolts. You can bias the
amplifier yourself using any good Digital MultiMeter. The Fender THE
TWIN even has a built-in red-box (a low-impedance floating 600-ohm
tap) taken directly from the output transformer suitable for driving
recording consoles or sound-reinforcement equipment.

All-in-all a pretty cool amplifier. The speakers are premium Fender
blue label speakers with huge magnet structures. They DO contribute
to the overall weight however.

Now for the downside… THE TWIN is heavy. 75-80 pounds heavy. Get a
full-time roadie. Also, it has a lot of tubes. Four 6L6’s (use
Groove-Tubes 6L6’s or the russian 5881’s), two 12AT7’s (use NOS
Fender, Phillips, or Sylvania), and five 12AX7’s (Use hand-picked
Chinese tubes that are not microphonic. That’s right… avoid the
Sovteks, they have a tight sound which may be good for a brittle
Marshall… but are not sweet and buttery like an old Fender. The
Chinese tubes are OK for this because they will ‘break-up’ at lower
drive levels. They also have a larger internal structure, which
contributes to a fatter tone… but you DO have to get hand pick some
good ones. If you can’t afford the time or trouble to do this… get
Groove Tubes or Ruby to do it for you). DO NOT substitute 12AX7’s for
the two 12AT7’s… the AX7’s cannot handle the 400+ volt plate
potential without self destruction. Also it has red knobs (some folks
don’t like the looks).

On the upside, it uses fairly common tubes and can be used in just
with just a single pair of output tubes. It has the large Accutronics
spring reverb which is just dripping with tone. It has 100% tube
circuitry, including the preamp-send/poweramp-return effects loop.
Also it has red knobs (some folks like the looks).

They will have to pry mine loose from my dead fingers to get it away
>from me… it LIKE it that much.

”’
(o o)
.———oOOO—(_)———————–.
| Mike Sirmans sirman–(at)–rl.com |
| USCWCMGS at IBMMAIL |
| 72117,3177 Compu$erve |
| Fidonet 1:133/8004 |
`——————————oOOO——–‘
|__|__|
|| ||
ooO Ooo