Re: twin reverb and SF amps in general

["Bob Maglinte" <bbqbob917@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Kally" <jkally3@xxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, June 13, 2004 1:01 AM
Subject: RE: twin reverb and SF amps in general


>
> I have to go along with Andrew and some of the others on this.  A
> relevant (I hope) story: a friend of mine was looking for an amp
> recently , and wanted to see my 64 Super reverb.  He wound up buying
> both a 72 twin reverb AND a 69 super reverb from me, and the total was
> about half of what the 64 would have been.  Now some would say that the
> 64 was the better investment, but he now has two versatile amps in two
> different power ranges and money to spare for other things.
> My personal gripe with my old  74 master volume Twin was related to two
> main things: 1) I was living in an upstairs apartment with my parking
> space about 1/4 mile from where I lived, and every night I'd lug that
> sucker up the stairs I  regretted having such a heavy amp, and 2) more
> relevant to harp playing, I didn't have a good handle on how to use the
> amp controls and mic combination very well, I was using a 50s
> controlled magnetic shure and fighting feedback constantly.
> Subsequently I've learned a lot about mic and amplified technique, and
> in retrospect I think that the problem was as much me as the amp.
> Since my first experience (bought the master volume amp in '82), I've
> had much better luck managing the twin amps, and even though they are
> not my personal favorites they are definitely worth considering from
> any Fender era, tweed through silverface (I can't comment on the red
> knob twins, etc as I have no real experience with those).  I have found
> that the 545 or SM57 seems like a better match for those amps than some
>   other mics, but your experience may differ.

Hi John,
The black face and silver face Fenders mate better with GB's, 545's, SM57's
is because those amps are of a lower impedance than the tweed amps, and
those mics are also of a lower impedance than crystals or ceramic cartridge
mics like the Hohner Blues Blaster/Astatic JT30. The silver faced versions
stay cleaner longer, mainly because the impedance is a bit lower, and for a
time, on the Twin Reverbs, and Super Reverbs they did change the circuitry
that basically caused the vintage market backlash of the whole Pre-CBS
Fender thing. After the backlash, they did return the circuits to the black
faced design, but they hurt their reputation among many musicians that when
they did return to the black faced circuitry, many really werent't aware of
it. I've always found the master volume versions very harsh sounding to my
years. The two silver faced Fender amps that were NOT messed with and were
the same since they were introduced in the black face period were the Deluxe
Reverb and the Vibrolux Reverb. This can be confirmed by reading the book
"Tube Amps" by Aspen Pittman, the owner of Groove Tubes.

Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
MP3's: http://music.mp3lizard.com/barbequebob/