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Post subject: 1983 Fender Amp
Posted: Fri May 11, 2018 6:35 am
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Hi.....I've been following the forum for quite awhile and decided to register.
I have a 1983 Fender Twin Reverb II, which I purchased new, but mostly hear
raves about BF or SF amps, until recently, the II or Rivera era amps were panned,
but now I've seen a lot more positive reactions & reviews about the series.
I am in the Northeast of the USA.
Thx with the help, posting pics...Let me know if it works....
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipM ... nknz46sQ_3


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Post subject: Re: 1983 Fender Amp
Posted: Sat May 12, 2018 9:13 am
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The Rivera era at Fender was an effort to modernize. The channel switching was essential to keep up with the competition.
The main change is the gain of the amp. As guitar music changed, high gain was key to many tones. A high gain amp is needed for lead to cut through a band. These Fenders have 4 to 6 times the gain of their predecessors.
It was not something you could ignore and if you had an old Fender then tried this one, most were disappointed.
But if you bought it new, liked it, and still use it, that's a vindication for Mr. Rivera, regardless of the naysayers.
Yes, it was a departure, but a needed change. Your fresh ears made it work.


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Post subject: Re: 1983 Fender Amp
Posted: Sat May 12, 2018 10:48 am
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Your observations are spot on, Tim. The Rivera amps were great platforms -- versatile and dependable. In some respects they were superior to the competition (Mesa, Sunn, Peavey, etc) but Fender purists were disappointed to a degree in that these revolutionary (for Fender) designs never quite equaled the blackface/silverface paradigm that most associate with the brand. But the fact is, they were never intended to. Once those precepts are acknowledged, one can readily appreciate what the Rivera amps *can* do.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: 1983 Fender Amp
Posted: Sat May 12, 2018 6:01 pm
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This being my first "real" amp, I ordered it in summer/fall of 1983 ($740.00), with the JBL speaker option. It arrived in it's box, which is when I realized how heavy it was. I took it home, unboxed it and found that the top right corner wood was shattered and the tolex torn. I took it back to the shop, they ordered a case and I did not receive it fixed until January 1984, no extra charge. Then I found not only was it heavy, but the loudest thing I'd ever heard. The foot switch is different then other amps as it's two switches are REV & LEAD, which Fender no longer carries. At some point I purchased a Gibson Les Paul Custom in wine red. I hope in my first post, you can view the photo, I'm home on my tablet now and not able to post another pic like I did from work. Thx...for the comments.....I always knew it was a great amp....


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Post subject: Re: 1983 Fender Amp
Posted: Sat May 12, 2018 6:03 pm
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Great amps, just different from their predecessors. I bought a 2x10 Concert new in '84 and the amp has logged a couple hundred gigs and never let me down. These amps were well built with finger jointed solid pine cabinets, rolled steel chassis' and point to point wired! The tone and gain of channel 2 was not the classic BF tone, but was still very good and for years the only pedal I ever used was a wah-wah. To say I am a fan of these Rivera era amps is an understatement they are great tone machines and will always be one of the tools in my amp collection.

:mrgreen:

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Post subject: Re: 1983 Fender Amp
Posted: Mon May 14, 2018 4:14 pm
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Over the years the amp worked flawlessly, of course a few tubes along the way. It was very difficult finding a good tech, someone I could talk to and know exactly what they were doing. Then about 10 years ago a friend recommended Harry, who turned out to be excellent, by then I had some crackling and volume drops. He did a "cap" job and the amp was better then new. A few years later, I was getting volume drops on the lead channel and I dropped it off at Harry's. Then nothing.....I couldn't reach him for months and didn't know what was going on with my twin. I started shopping for a new amp at the local shop, played everything, was amazed my the Mesa's, but financially leaned back to Fender. I ended up getting a demo model of a tweed blues deluxe ri ($420). Lighter, more modern, but still quite loud. Then I also picked up a used Mesa Boogie Mark V ($1500) which is an amazing amp, but still no word on my Twin Reverb for 6 months. To be continued.....and more photos....


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Post subject: Re: 1983 Fender Amp
Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 6:13 am
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So.....come to find out....Harry was very sick and unable to work on amps. I finally picked up my amp and eventually found a new amp repair service. I brought my Twin and Deluxe there and they fixed and checked everything out. Along with fixing the problem, there was a wire for the mid control that was never soldered from the factory. I also had attenuator mods installed on both amps, so I could dial down the power.
Happiness ensues.....
(of course, new amp repair place, went out of business...)


Last edited by TheStrangerX on Sat May 19, 2018 8:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: 1983 Fender Amp
Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 6:23 am
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https://photos.google.com/search/_tra_/ ... CK1HJ54siF

https://photos.google.com/search/_tra_/ ... JwP2cOTLEB


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Post subject: Re: 1983 Fender Amp
Posted: Wed May 16, 2018 6:21 am
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I don't know if the photo links are working, but anyway...I've come back to my Twin, taking a lot of pride in it and have been cleaning it up, inside and out.
My next step is to pull the chassis out and see what has actually been done to it and compare it to all the other amps I've seen on here, on net and youtube.


Last edited by TheStrangerX on Sat May 19, 2018 8:51 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: 1983 Fender Amp
Posted: Wed May 16, 2018 8:59 pm
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I'm getting 404 on all of those.

I use Imgur for photo hosting.

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Post subject: Re: 1983 Fender Amp
Posted: Thu May 17, 2018 5:14 am
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Thank you for letting me know the
pics weren't posting, when I click IMG, I get:
img... twice in brackets
I'm trying to do it through google photos
I'll figure it out.


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Post subject: Re: 1983 Fender Amp
Posted: Thu May 17, 2018 7:08 am
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The img command is the start of the tag.
Use /img to end the command.


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Post subject: Re: 1983 Fender Amp
Posted: Thu May 17, 2018 8:42 am
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Thx...Tim...

Image


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Post subject: Re: 1983 Fender Amp
Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 4:59 am
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JBL speakers..

Image

Image

Image


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Post subject: Re: 1983 Fender Amp
Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 8:00 am
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How do you like those 92577H speakers? think they are close to the E120. I have D120 JBL 12-inch in my TRRI. Loud and clean, for sure!

;)


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