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Post subject: Fender Twin Silver Face...is it worth the price?
Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 7:09 pm
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G'day all,

I am seeking your expertise advice regarding a pending purchase that I am currently looking at. Sale price is strictly $1990 AUD.

Fender Twin Silver Faces are hard to come by in my City...

If I purchase I plan on using it for live performance very regularly.

Can anyone help me with advice about the pros and Cons of this amp.

Also if anyone can identify it's actual year and specs that would be great.

Thanks in advance... :)

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Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 8:22 pm
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Owing to the lack of orange or turquoise blue in the grill cloth weave, the amp is probably a 1980 model -- the last of the silverfaces. This is the "ultra-linear" chassis with an alleged 135 watts of power. Neither speaker is original to this amp.

Here in "the colonies" they're worth between $600 and $750, depending upon the condition (more if equipped with the optional JBL or Gauss PS12 speakers).

HTH

Arjay

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Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 4:45 am
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This web site/page will give you quite a bit of information on the amp.

http://www.ampwares.com/amp.asp?id=114

This should help roughly determine the age of the amp. There is a macro that tracks ebay sales that can help you determine fair value. You just need to convert price from USD to Aussie Dollars.

Thanks for posting the pics.


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Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 5:04 am
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phansford wrote:
This web site/page will give you quite a bit of information on the amp.

http://www.ampwares.com/amp.asp?id=114

This should help roughly determine the age of the amp. There is a macro that tracks ebay sales that can help you determine fair value. You just need to convert price from USD to Aussie Dollars.

Thanks for posting the pics.


G'day phansford, Mate thank you very much for the link.

From that site info I have put this amp between 1972 and 1976.

Thanks a million....anyfurther help would be appreciated..

Cheers. :wink:


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Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 5:42 am
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My original 76 Twin is 100 watts, not 135. The 135 watt "ultra linear" didn't come out until 77/78.

Like Arjay said the speakers aren't original or the grillcloth. 135 watts is a ton of power. My 100 watt Twin is awaiting pickup by the new owner. It's entirely too loud and heavy for most of my applications I do now. If you're looking for breakup without pedals, this isn't an amp for it. If you play large venues and festivals it would be great. If you need clean for days it's great too. If you play in small clubs, I'd pass. Also as Arjay said, SF Twins can be had in the USA for $600-750 all day.

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Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 6:23 am
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63supro wrote:
My original 76 Twin is 100 watts, not 135. The 135 watt "ultra linear" didn't come out until 77/78.

Like Arjay said the speakers aren't original or the grillcloth. 135 watts is a ton of power. My 100 watt Twin is awaiting pickup by the new owner. It's entirely too loud and heavy for most of my applications I do now. If you're looking for breakup without pedals, this isn't an amp for it. If you play large venues and festivals it would be great. If you need clean for days it's great too. If you play in small clubs, I'd pass. Also as Arjay said, SF Twins can be had in the USA for $600-750 all day.


Thanks Arjay and 63supro, Yeah I have been given the option by the seller to reinstall some vintage fender speakers that he has prior to sale.

Of course I would test drive all speakers for the best sound before buying, but if he has old vintage fender speakers as he states, I reckon they are going straight in.

The grill cloth has definately been redone, I knew that from the start.

I need all the clean headroom I can get, I play in two different Reggae/Funk/Ska bands and a Rock Blues band that I use a pedal board for.

The other night I played a gig where I used a Fender Twin Reverb blackface RI....it sounded awesome.

I am intrigued by the silver face amps though...I love that vintage visual vibe and tone.


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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 1:48 am
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Well I have bad news...

Today I drove 43 Kilometers making it 86 return to test drive the pictured Fender Twin.

Prior to my arrival at the owners address I requested via phone that the owner install other speakers that were availble with the sale.

As I walked in the owner was installing a pair of blue alnico Fender Vintage speakers.

A short while after the speaker install was complete, it was time to pull out the Strat and see what the old girl "The Twin" had to offer.

Initially at first play I was in tone heaven and my blood was pumping with adrenaline....But after 5 minutes of playing a loud hum came through the speakers and one of the power tubes on the normal channel started red plating really bright and the volume dropped off.

We shut the amp off immediately. The owner said to me omg...it was on ground B and not ground A.

So then he switched it over to Ground A and then it was playing fine again with no hum....but the power tube was still red plating.

He told me that he replaced the older tubes yesterday with brand new sovteks....to which I sighted that they were.

This tube red plating turned me off of securing the amp for purchase and I said to the seller, "You take the amp to an amp tech and have him repair it and show me the repair paperwork, then I will still consider buying the amp" I told him "Mate you have my phone number"

This was a set back of the initial adrenaline rush that I was excited with on the prospect of owning a Vintage Silverface Twin.

Have I done the right thing by directing the seller to repair before I buy....or have I possibly passed up a rare opportunity and should I have just purchased and then dealt with the problem.

My heart told me yes buy :) ....but my brain and wallet said no :cry: .....

what do you good people out there think?


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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 5:04 am
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You did the right thing!
There's something going on with the amp and if you had just showed up and bought it you would have been sick with it when you got home.
My son bought a used Marshall head in a store in Nashville when he was 16,it had a major problem after it got good and warm,and since it was one of the newer ones I didn't even want to think about trying to fix it...I took it back and got his money back,since he was just a kid and bought it without me knowing about it,they gave in and refunded the money.
People know these amps have problems and just hope they can unload it on someone before the amp starts acting bad.


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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 5:19 am
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Rebelsoul wrote:
You did the right thing!
There's something going on with the amp and if you had just showed up and bought it you would have been sick with it when you got home.
My son bought a used Marshall head in a store in Nashville when he was 16,it had a major problem after it got good and warm,and since it was one of the newer ones I didn't even want to think about trying to fix it...I took it back and got his money back,since he was just a kid and bought it without me knowing about it,they gave in and refunded the money.
People know these amps have problems and just hope they can unload it on someone before the amp starts acting bad.


Yeah thanks for that Rebel...I appreciate the feedback.

Man what a dissapointment. I think I will pass on it entirely...still undecided...

As a result of feeling a bit down about the Twin, I went straight to the local and bought 2x JJ 6l6's and 3x 12ax7's for my Hotrod Deville....happy with that sound without doubt...


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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 6:04 am
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Kineman Karma said; "He told me that he replaced the older tubes yesterday with brand new sovteks....to which I sighted that they were. "
--------------------------------------------

I'm sure he does't make Bias ajustments to is knew tubes, probably tha'ts why one tube is coming red.
Never put new power tubes without making Bias check or adjustments.



Don't buy it until you are shure the amp is in good working condition.

A couple weeks a your home could show you some new problems but the biggers problem you can see should be fix before you buy.


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Post subject: SF Twin Reverb
Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 6:38 am
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Is the cabinet made from particle board, plywood, or solid wood?

Thanks!


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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 6:48 am
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You made a wise decision. Like stratele52 it's something with the bias. Another thing is has the amp ever been recapped. If not it's probably long over due.

I looked up the AUD to USD conversion and that amp is ridiculously overpriced. We can buy them in the States for $600-700 while you'd be paying roughly almost $1770. I know they're rare in your neck of the woods. But wow.

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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 4:08 pm
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Looks to be a 135watt Ultra Linear model. Arjay is the go-to guy on this one. Art

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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 4:57 am
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As a huge fan of silverface amps, I wonder for which reason Fender has not reissued them yet.

Over the years Fender has reissued many of the stuff from the CBS era such as guitars, basses, pickups and FX pedals, but not amps. The only post-CBS (1985-present) silverface amplifier was the shortlived MT-10 Mini-Twin of 1996.

A big return of the silverface amplification (heads/cabs and combos) would be welcomed.


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 5:16 am
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Silverface are good amps but they are cheaper version of Blackface amps. That's why Fender do not reissu them


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