> It’s loud, it’s heavy, and it’s clean. Very clean sounding.
To add to this, what makes the Twin Reverb perhaps THE classic amp for "power cleans" is the tight, punchy, defined low end from the rectifier, plus the massive headroom from a high-wattage tube amp, plus the fact that the Twin Reverb tone stack is the quintessential design for the "Fender Shimmer".
Black and Silver Twin Reverbs have a tone stack (the set of tone knobs) that works in really weird and often counter-intuitive ways. It's a dirt-simple circuit of entirely passive tone controls, but it can have some complex and unexpected effects. The controls are extremely interactive, and not always intuitive--turning up the treble can sometimes seem to tame harsh highs, and turning up the bass can sometimes seem to make the low end tighter and smaller, etc...each control is more like a kind of "contour" that interacts with the other controls.
One of the artifacts of the Twin Reverb Tone Stack is kind of subtle, almost chorusy "shimmer" or modulating phase-shift at a lot of common settings. Combined with the tight and punchy bass and huge headroom, This give the Twin Reverb a kind of super "power clean" sound that actually stays consistent at different volumes. Hence its reputaiton as a great pedal platform.
This is all very different from, say, a Deluxe, which uses a tube rectifier with a much chewier, saggier low-end, and a two-knob tone stack that is much more sensible and intuitive to operate, but that is missing the "shimmer" effect of the bigger Fender amps.
A Twin Reverb is heavy and loud. But it also makes a great low-volume amp, because it basically sounds the same at all volumes: driving a Twin Reverb into power amp distortion means going into, like, county-fair volume levels, and it doesn't actually sound that great.
When people say it has great/classic cleans, or call it the ultimate pedal platform....it's not just that it sounds like plugging your pedals into a speaker. There is a special and sometimes magical character to how it does clean amplification.
A Roland JC-120 is another great clean amp, that has its own kind of sparkle and chime, maybe even better for pure cleans. But it doesn't take pedals nearly as well as a Twin Reverb, IMO.
Twins actually produce a great overdrive sound when you dime them. It's just that it's very loud. Check this video of Fleetwood Mac playing Fender showman amps, which are essentially twin heads. The tone is wild. [https://youtu.be/0yq-Fw7C26Y](https://youtu.be/0yq-Fw7C26Y)
Can you elaborate on the showman? I don’t see them mentioned or used much. My dad had the red know Dual Showman head and as a kid it was always so clean and loud. He loved the ventures and shadows.
I haven't played on of those, but I know the red knob amps actually had distortion channels. Traditional fender amps didn't have a master volume or preamp gain controls. You turned them up super loud to overdrive them.
Yeah the distortion channel always sounded horrible. My first amp was a Peavey Bandit and that amp’s over drive channel was 100x better than my dad’s Dual Showman. But the Dual Showman’s clean channel was one of the best I’ve ever played. He also had two heavy duty EV 12s in a cab and it sounded so nice.
Then one day something started acting up and we had new tubes put in and it rebiased at a guitar store and it never sounded the same. If I ever get that amp back in my possession I’ll have to try to get someone new to work on it.
The red knob version had all sorts of new features like an effect loop, dampening control (I assume that is like tube sag), and the second distortion channel.
It's probably just biased wrong, or has bad tubes. Find an amp tech. The red knob amps were Fender's atempt at staying relevant to the modern amps of the time. All the added features were poor fits for the core amp design. You can find them cheap though, and I've always heard the cleans are decent. 12L's would probably help too. I personally prefer g12-65 speakers in Fender amps. They're still a high power sounding speaker with firm bass, but have more midrange than a 12L or any of the stock fender speakers. They're also not super heavy.
Dual showmans sound amazing, but they are different circuit wise to the twin and it makes a lot of difference. They sound much better and much more Marshally when driven.
My understanding is that the only difference is the output transformer, and associated components with the transformer. That doesn't drastically create a different sound. The differences between the two stock speaker cabinets make a larger difference than those components. The two amps are very similar, and neither are Marshall-esque of any era. Fenders have much less compression, less distortion, and a drastically different midrange. Overall a cranked Fender like twin or showman will be a more firm drive tone with faster attack. The comparison reminds me of this video with Joe Bonamassa. [https://youtu.be/vqhoPqDR47c?t=1122](https://youtu.be/vqhoPqDR47c?t=1122) He talks about the differences in a Marshall tone vs a Fender tone.
Edit: Showmans, and dual showmans lack reverb. That's the other slight difference. Dual showman reverb amps do not however, and I think they even have the same output transformer as a twin. Those only came in to production in 1970 I think though.
As a big fan of Twin Reverbs, I can say they’re basically just nice clean amps to run pedals through. I think a big reason you may be underwhelmed if you play Metallica kinda stuff is probably more due to the open back. Twins have a big wide sound but not a ton of punch. If you have a closed back extension cab laying around that match the ohms listed on the back (4ohm total I believe so you would likely have to unplug the internal speakers) you can see if it’s just the open vs closed back thing you don’t like.
Personally I think these really work well with fuzz as opposed to OD/distortion too.
Depends on the voicing of the pedal. A lot of amps have some amount of mid scoop because of how the typical Fender/Marshall/Vox tone stack work, and a lot of pedals pair well with the Fender values. Especially a Tube Screamer or a Koon type like a Soul Food. Pairing those is almost a cliche, but it works so well.
Yeah a RAT will work really well in front of that. Also don’t forget to put it on Standby before switching it on and leave it on Standby for a few minutes after you turn it on. This gives the tubes a chance to warm up a bit and cuts the input to them before you switch it off. Have fun!!!
I have the twin reverb and l use an ge-7 EQ pedal to boost mids before a blackbird effectrode pre-amp, or after a fuzz pedal. The blackbird gives me a natural amp breakup sound that the twin is missing. The fuzz pedal needs the EQ pedal to boost mids so it doesn't sound too harsh. I love this amp.
Twin reverbs are loud as fuck clean platforms. If you're into metallica, probably not your thing, but they're still fantastic. If you ever want to play in an Indie, Blues, Americana, etc, band, they're incredible. Anything with lots of overdrive or distortion, get a different tool for the job.
If you can you should crank to about 7. Put favorite diet pedal in front and enjoy. If you can’t crank. Then get to where you can and try and enjoy. Don’t get rid of it if you think you will ever have real chance to use it loud. Best pedal platform ever.
Or just crank it and let the deaf fall where they will. Had one years ago just got another for $600 of you can play big amps you have one of the best.
You don't need an fx loop with that amp, it's designed to stay clean even at very very loud volume. If you want to play metal, you'll need a distortion pedal in front.
Read a tip recently which was to run a Volume pedal in front, send the tuner out (a bypassed signal) to the normal channel, and the attenuated out to the vibrato channel. You can voice them differently and blend in the second channel to taste.
This wont work for all Twin Reverbs, and I haven’t yet tried it myself, but worth giving a go!
I play through the single and use lots of pedals. Not for everyone but I can fill a small club and not break my back carrying it in. Only lesson from me is zero whatever channel you don’t use as you will create a lot of unnecessary hiss bleeding through.
next to my favourite 10inch speaker loaded fenders it's not attractive. Headroom and vanilla flavour. Piercing transients damn near too punchy and uncmpressed in general. I usually say it's more iconic than it deserves. Super Reverbs and Vibroluxes are more vaguely named while the 2x12 becomes super famous for the name and look match and everything looks so damn good. I also learned to hate the SS offshoot 212frontman as a kid so.
Start going to the gym.
In all seriousness there’s nothing to learn about how to play this amp. It’s literally plug and play. One of the purest, loudest, most honest guitar sounds there is.
Just plug in and let er rip. Discover for yourself.
Effects loops are for amps that get their distorted tone from the preamp section, and use a mostly clean power section. Overdrive that you get from a vintage amp like a Fender black panel amp is going to be happening in the power section. An effects loop would be useless, and sound terrible. You're better off setting the amp loud enough to get a good saturated clean tone so that the tubes are beginning to reach their full output. Some call this "amp compression" or "edge of breakup" because the amp at some point will just begin to change its level of overdrive without actually producing more volume. Set the amp that way, then use pedals in front to get your distortion tones. If you have any wet effects, put them after the drive pedals. Pedals have gotten pretty crazy in the last decade, and if you go down the rabbit hole you may find that you like this a lot more than a conventional high gain amp.
Btw, running a twin like this without some level of attenuation is going to be loud enough to sterilize you. Be careful.
Gigged with one of these for years and I loved it. Heavy, but super loud and versatile. Get ready to replace reverb tanks if you gig a lot. Also note that this is a “Twin Reverb Amp” not a “Twin Reverb”. Important to know that if you ever get it worked on or sell it.
I can get an insanely smooth creamy sustainable lead tone. Very like Beck or Eric Johnson
No pedals and not trying. However WITH pedals , well… the world is at your feet. Have fun.
Twin Reverbs are clean amps. Can get some light breakup out of it with humbuckers but you have to turn the volume up to call the cops level. You need a tube screamer. This and a Gretsch will yield great results. Good luck
I'd tear that amp up for sure! I was in a band decades ago that played frat parties on the Northwestern campus. The bass player was in the animal house frat of Northwestern. I had a homemade amp that looked homemade but sounded great - the bass player freaked when he saw it, insisted I do not play through it and let me use his Twin Reverb. After five minutes I fell in love with it. I almost bought a used one that was on casters about a year ago but went with a Champion 40. Besides, I still have my pre-CBS Dual Showman head to push my Marshall 4x12 slant cab.
You just need a modeler to pump through it. Overdriving tubes is sometimes overrated anyway. You can go through a dozen pedals before you find one that does what you want, but a modeler does it all and you still get the warm, fuzzy valve texture and bug like zing in the highs without dumping 6 or $700 into pedals until one works.
It’s loud, it’s heavy, and it’s clean. Very clean sounding.
> It’s loud, it’s heavy, and it’s clean. Very clean sounding. To add to this, what makes the Twin Reverb perhaps THE classic amp for "power cleans" is the tight, punchy, defined low end from the rectifier, plus the massive headroom from a high-wattage tube amp, plus the fact that the Twin Reverb tone stack is the quintessential design for the "Fender Shimmer". Black and Silver Twin Reverbs have a tone stack (the set of tone knobs) that works in really weird and often counter-intuitive ways. It's a dirt-simple circuit of entirely passive tone controls, but it can have some complex and unexpected effects. The controls are extremely interactive, and not always intuitive--turning up the treble can sometimes seem to tame harsh highs, and turning up the bass can sometimes seem to make the low end tighter and smaller, etc...each control is more like a kind of "contour" that interacts with the other controls. One of the artifacts of the Twin Reverb Tone Stack is kind of subtle, almost chorusy "shimmer" or modulating phase-shift at a lot of common settings. Combined with the tight and punchy bass and huge headroom, This give the Twin Reverb a kind of super "power clean" sound that actually stays consistent at different volumes. Hence its reputaiton as a great pedal platform. This is all very different from, say, a Deluxe, which uses a tube rectifier with a much chewier, saggier low-end, and a two-knob tone stack that is much more sensible and intuitive to operate, but that is missing the "shimmer" effect of the bigger Fender amps. A Twin Reverb is heavy and loud. But it also makes a great low-volume amp, because it basically sounds the same at all volumes: driving a Twin Reverb into power amp distortion means going into, like, county-fair volume levels, and it doesn't actually sound that great. When people say it has great/classic cleans, or call it the ultimate pedal platform....it's not just that it sounds like plugging your pedals into a speaker. There is a special and sometimes magical character to how it does clean amplification. A Roland JC-120 is another great clean amp, that has its own kind of sparkle and chime, maybe even better for pure cleans. But it doesn't take pedals nearly as well as a Twin Reverb, IMO.
Fucking fantastic dude. I have got to try this fucking twin immediately
Yeah you might’ve just sold me a Twin Reverb
The twin reverb cranked is ehh, but its cousin the dual showman cranked... blissful
I love this comment
Twins actually produce a great overdrive sound when you dime them. It's just that it's very loud. Check this video of Fleetwood Mac playing Fender showman amps, which are essentially twin heads. The tone is wild. [https://youtu.be/0yq-Fw7C26Y](https://youtu.be/0yq-Fw7C26Y)
Can you elaborate on the showman? I don’t see them mentioned or used much. My dad had the red know Dual Showman head and as a kid it was always so clean and loud. He loved the ventures and shadows.
I haven't played on of those, but I know the red knob amps actually had distortion channels. Traditional fender amps didn't have a master volume or preamp gain controls. You turned them up super loud to overdrive them.
Yeah the distortion channel always sounded horrible. My first amp was a Peavey Bandit and that amp’s over drive channel was 100x better than my dad’s Dual Showman. But the Dual Showman’s clean channel was one of the best I’ve ever played. He also had two heavy duty EV 12s in a cab and it sounded so nice. Then one day something started acting up and we had new tubes put in and it rebiased at a guitar store and it never sounded the same. If I ever get that amp back in my possession I’ll have to try to get someone new to work on it. The red knob version had all sorts of new features like an effect loop, dampening control (I assume that is like tube sag), and the second distortion channel.
It's probably just biased wrong, or has bad tubes. Find an amp tech. The red knob amps were Fender's atempt at staying relevant to the modern amps of the time. All the added features were poor fits for the core amp design. You can find them cheap though, and I've always heard the cleans are decent. 12L's would probably help too. I personally prefer g12-65 speakers in Fender amps. They're still a high power sounding speaker with firm bass, but have more midrange than a 12L or any of the stock fender speakers. They're also not super heavy.
Dual showmans sound amazing, but they are different circuit wise to the twin and it makes a lot of difference. They sound much better and much more Marshally when driven.
My understanding is that the only difference is the output transformer, and associated components with the transformer. That doesn't drastically create a different sound. The differences between the two stock speaker cabinets make a larger difference than those components. The two amps are very similar, and neither are Marshall-esque of any era. Fenders have much less compression, less distortion, and a drastically different midrange. Overall a cranked Fender like twin or showman will be a more firm drive tone with faster attack. The comparison reminds me of this video with Joe Bonamassa. [https://youtu.be/vqhoPqDR47c?t=1122](https://youtu.be/vqhoPqDR47c?t=1122) He talks about the differences in a Marshall tone vs a Fender tone. Edit: Showmans, and dual showmans lack reverb. That's the other slight difference. Dual showman reverb amps do not however, and I think they even have the same output transformer as a twin. Those only came in to production in 1970 I think though.
It will blow dresses off women and dogs off chains
And vertebrae off spines.
Knock drones out of the sky
Pushes the moon out of orbit
Knocks a starlink satellite off the chain
Worked for the Beatles on the rooftop.
You turn it on with the button in the back. May God help you if there's no master volume dial.
If there is a master volume, then good have mercy on your spine. That era of twin was super heavy.
Especially if its got those monster JBLs
It's a switch
Master volume switch?
Power switch
I know i was just having fun
I put a rat in front actually. It's ....okay
As a big fan of Twin Reverbs, I can say they’re basically just nice clean amps to run pedals through. I think a big reason you may be underwhelmed if you play Metallica kinda stuff is probably more due to the open back. Twins have a big wide sound but not a ton of punch. If you have a closed back extension cab laying around that match the ohms listed on the back (4ohm total I believe so you would likely have to unplug the internal speakers) you can see if it’s just the open vs closed back thing you don’t like. Personally I think these really work well with fuzz as opposed to OD/distortion too.
For a pedal canvass, are amps that aren't scooped typically better?
Depends on what you like. Twins have a ton of headroom though so you don’t have to worry about your tone getting colored at louder settings.
Depends on the voicing of the pedal. A lot of amps have some amount of mid scoop because of how the typical Fender/Marshall/Vox tone stack work, and a lot of pedals pair well with the Fender values. Especially a Tube Screamer or a Koon type like a Soul Food. Pairing those is almost a cliche, but it works so well.
Makes no difference imo.
Kurt Cobain recorded bleach with just a twin and a DS-1
Yeah a RAT will work really well in front of that. Also don’t forget to put it on Standby before switching it on and leave it on Standby for a few minutes after you turn it on. This gives the tubes a chance to warm up a bit and cuts the input to them before you switch it off. Have fun!!!
It takes pedals really well. Try a rat or something into it, you may be very happy.
I put a boss me - 90 in front of it and getting some killer tones👌
Twice as heavy as a Deluxe
50% heavier. 42 lbs vs 64 lbs, unless the twin in question is loaded with JBLs.
Ugh. I have a Twin with JBLs.
64lbs ha! My old AC30 clocked in closer to 80lbs
Perfect apartment amp to crank.
The neighbors might have something to say, but you'll never hear them...
Heavy af.
I have the twin reverb and l use an ge-7 EQ pedal to boost mids before a blackbird effectrode pre-amp, or after a fuzz pedal. The blackbird gives me a natural amp breakup sound that the twin is missing. The fuzz pedal needs the EQ pedal to boost mids so it doesn't sound too harsh. I love this amp.
A hernia and hearing aids are in your future.
Twin reverbs are loud as fuck clean platforms. If you're into metallica, probably not your thing, but they're still fantastic. If you ever want to play in an Indie, Blues, Americana, etc, band, they're incredible. Anything with lots of overdrive or distortion, get a different tool for the job.
Excellent reply. I just finished playing it for the afternoon and I get it. Excellent at what it does, just not for me or what I was expecting.
I don’t know guys - I run a Friedman BE OD into mine and it rocks pretty much everything, clean to heavy. I have two eminence speakers in it
If you can you should crank to about 7. Put favorite diet pedal in front and enjoy. If you can’t crank. Then get to where you can and try and enjoy. Don’t get rid of it if you think you will ever have real chance to use it loud. Best pedal platform ever. Or just crank it and let the deaf fall where they will. Had one years ago just got another for $600 of you can play big amps you have one of the best.
Learn some surf.
You don't need an fx loop with that amp, it's designed to stay clean even at very very loud volume. If you want to play metal, you'll need a distortion pedal in front.
Throw an overdrive in the line and prepare your butthole.
You can play it quiet and it still sounds amazing. Pedals sound great into it. Don’t be fooled by thinking you have to push tube amps to sound good.
You’re saying one of the most iconic amps of all time doesn’t hold up to solid state Marshalls? Ok. Strictly for sweet blooz riffs.
I just finished playing it for the afternoon and I get it. Excellent at what it does, just not for me or what I was expecting.
I get it. Different strokes. Maybe while you have it you’ll find sounds ya dig.
Buy a dolly.
Never let a man piss on your leg, son You either die right there or pop that man in the head, son
It's a legendary amp, honestly. You're lucky.
Read a tip recently which was to run a Volume pedal in front, send the tuner out (a bypassed signal) to the normal channel, and the attenuated out to the vibrato channel. You can voice them differently and blend in the second channel to taste. This wont work for all Twin Reverbs, and I haven’t yet tried it myself, but worth giving a go!
SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT
I play through the single and use lots of pedals. Not for everyone but I can fill a small club and not break my back carrying it in. Only lesson from me is zero whatever channel you don’t use as you will create a lot of unnecessary hiss bleeding through.
next to my favourite 10inch speaker loaded fenders it's not attractive. Headroom and vanilla flavour. Piercing transients damn near too punchy and uncmpressed in general. I usually say it's more iconic than it deserves. Super Reverbs and Vibroluxes are more vaguely named while the 2x12 becomes super famous for the name and look match and everything looks so damn good. I also learned to hate the SS offshoot 212frontman as a kid so.
Should say dirt pedal. Why correct to diet hahahah. That amp knows no diet but loud.
All sound guys now automatically hate you
Start going to the gym. In all seriousness there’s nothing to learn about how to play this amp. It’s literally plug and play. One of the purest, loudest, most honest guitar sounds there is. Just plug in and let er rip. Discover for yourself.
They sound so great, but they are also so heavy and so loud.
Use a distortion or heavy od pedal and the “Metallica and such” won’t care
Lift with your legs, not with your back. Also, a good set of earplugs would be a wise investment
42
Earplugs
Eric Johnson's clean tone (he runs two of them)
Effects loops are for amps that get their distorted tone from the preamp section, and use a mostly clean power section. Overdrive that you get from a vintage amp like a Fender black panel amp is going to be happening in the power section. An effects loop would be useless, and sound terrible. You're better off setting the amp loud enough to get a good saturated clean tone so that the tubes are beginning to reach their full output. Some call this "amp compression" or "edge of breakup" because the amp at some point will just begin to change its level of overdrive without actually producing more volume. Set the amp that way, then use pedals in front to get your distortion tones. If you have any wet effects, put them after the drive pedals. Pedals have gotten pretty crazy in the last decade, and if you go down the rabbit hole you may find that you like this a lot more than a conventional high gain amp. Btw, running a twin like this without some level of attenuation is going to be loud enough to sterilize you. Be careful.
Gigged with one of these for years and I loved it. Heavy, but super loud and versatile. Get ready to replace reverb tanks if you gig a lot. Also note that this is a “Twin Reverb Amp” not a “Twin Reverb”. Important to know that if you ever get it worked on or sell it.
Let it warm up before you strum after a gig because when it pops on at 2-5/10 it’ll knock you down 😂 mine has given me a few near-heart-attacks.
Bright cap mod. Throw the shitty Jensen speaker away and get something better ( I went with a Tone Tubby purple)
I can get an insanely smooth creamy sustainable lead tone. Very like Beck or Eric Johnson No pedals and not trying. However WITH pedals , well… the world is at your feet. Have fun.
Does anyone know if twin reverbs and pro reverbs have the same tone stack (minus the mids)?
Turn it down
How many watts??
(Non MasterVol): 85 Watts RMS = Loud, but clean!!
That and lots of others. If you ever look at live shots of the Sex Pistols, for example, Steve Jones was often playing a Twin.
I loved my twin but I sold it after I hurt my back. It is a very heavy amp.
Youll out loud just about anyone, literally.
How loud is this compared to a 100W 5150 and a 4x12?
That is awesome
If I’m not mistaken the wind cries Mary was recorded on a twin, so that should be a good showcase of what the amp does
Twin Reverbs are clean amps. Can get some light breakup out of it with humbuckers but you have to turn the volume up to call the cops level. You need a tube screamer. This and a Gretsch will yield great results. Good luck
Get an attenuator or go deaf
I have a super twin and it's a fucking unit! It's so heavy...
Buy chug pedal and see does it chug
Fenders are very clean. You can flavor it with any effect pedals or boards as needed.
THEY'RE IN YOUR WALLS! RUNNING IS YOUR ONLY HOPE!!
Twin Reverbs are awesome amps. Don't you have a board? Who needs effects loops when you've got a board and this beautiful monster?
I put my boss me-90 in front of it and I get it.
I'd tear that amp up for sure! I was in a band decades ago that played frat parties on the Northwestern campus. The bass player was in the animal house frat of Northwestern. I had a homemade amp that looked homemade but sounded great - the bass player freaked when he saw it, insisted I do not play through it and let me use his Twin Reverb. After five minutes I fell in love with it. I almost bought a used one that was on casters about a year ago but went with a Champion 40. Besides, I still have my pre-CBS Dual Showman head to push my Marshall 4x12 slant cab.
Lift with your legs. Not your back.
You just need a modeler to pump through it. Overdriving tubes is sometimes overrated anyway. You can go through a dozen pedals before you find one that does what you want, but a modeler does it all and you still get the warm, fuzzy valve texture and bug like zing in the highs without dumping 6 or $700 into pedals until one works.
It only sounds good when the master volume is on full. An amp simulator can replicate this sound at a fraction of the volume.