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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 4:05 pm
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Greetings Johnny,
Thank you for your feedback on this. I can assure you, the last thing in the world about the Cyber-Twins that would scare me would be the technology. In fact, I'm certain that I would find editing sounds and effects in these amps to be a breeze compared to what I've been working with for the past 20 or so years. The interface is much more user-friendly than anything else like this I've seen.
As for repair facilities, I have a bit of faith in Fender's quality that by now, they've worked out any issues that they might have had when this was first introduced. Still, there is always the possibility of something going wrong due to a hidden defect that is not obvious from some component that comes from China, or where ever. I see that Fender offers a 5 year limited warranty for things that are supposed to be impervious to the normal wear and tear on any amplifier. Less time on parts that do wear faster, and yet less on parts like the preamp tubes, which makes sense. It's also a tesimony to Fender's quality in this amp which I mentioned earlier.
The tube issues I mentioned in a previous post were about the power tubes of other brand amplifiers which I had looked at in the past. That does'nt apply to this amp since the poweramp section is solid state. (I can't help but wonder how this preamp secion would sound through a Tube Poweramp like the GT Dual 75).
You have six of these amps, that says something too. If the tones are there, I may get rid of all four of my vintage Twins.
Thank you again Johnny, I've read through the entire CT owners club section in the forum to see what the popular opinion of this amp is, including your posts. The majority are favorable reviews, with the odd technical failure here and there, but not nearly as many negatives as I might have expected to see.
-Harley 8)

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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 7:19 am
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Hi Gang,
Happy New Year to all!

I have two questions:
1st: Is there any difference in the sound or controls of the original CT vs. the CT-SE?

2nd: I've been browsing Evil-bay, and I've seen a few CT Heads for sale. I did'nt know these were available. Can I get any comments about the heads vs. the combo amps? Pros, Cons, advantages, or disadvantages?

I've been doing a lot of research on the CT's, and I believe there will be one in my near future. I apologize if I'm being a pain in the $@! about this, but I learned many years ago, do your homework before plunking down a pile of cash on something that may or may not do the job for you. In the past, I've blown cash on gear that does'nt deliver what it seems to promise, so now, I read every bit of info and technical data, I listen to every sound sample, and I talk to people who own this kind of gear to get their take on it.
Thank you for your help eveyone.
-Harley 8)

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Post subject: Cyber SE Reliability
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 8:56 am
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I used to work in electronics and for the most part, if they're going to fail it will happen shortly after initial use. Sometimes cold solder joints become apparent after extensive use. The # 1 cause of failures can come down to too much handling. Pulling boards and the connections to get to something else and in time as a tech you begin to cause issues. In other words, if it made it through the warranty period, it will likely be reliable for a good long time if left alone. Should a main PCB go however...what cost for a replacement? These would be very sophisticated circuits. I'd be looking for extended warranty for it.

Tube amps...I love tube amps...specially is they are point to point all hand wired. Fact is, very few amps are made that way so you end up pulling tubes out of a socket soldered into circuit boards. Unless that tube socket is rock solid or mounted off of the circuit board, that will inevitably result in trouble. Then there is tube replacement and biasing costs and frequency to consider. This is considered wear and tear so extended warranties don't cover that kind of maintenance.

Pick your poison!


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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:04 am
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Thanks rlecocq,
That's a given with any of the newer amps. Fortunately with this one, there are only preamp tubes to worry about so no biasing is needed. and on the SE models it seems they moved these to make them easier to change?
I have'nt put up any of my old vintage Twins for sale just yet, I'm waiting to get the CT and A/B them against each other to see how well they compare. Who knows? I may end up using the CT's with the vintage amps if the gigs are big enough to allow that kind of power.
-Harley 8)

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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:29 am
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WELL, I THINK YOU GET THE IDEA BUT........I JUST BOUGHT ONE AND REALLY HAD NO IDEA ABOUT "ALL" THE CAPABILITIES....THIS THING IS AWESOME & I LOVE THE TONES I GET

THE FENDER CYBER TWIN IS THE FUTURE....ARE YOU READY?

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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 11:45 am
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Trust me on this: the Cyber Twin (CT or SE) is the right move. The most important thing is that it has the tones. It is rock reliable. It has the versatility to do anything and it is computer controllable. But there is a catch: the tones are in there, but you have to find them - they are not obvious, they are hidden behind the data wheel, data knobs and data display window. The orignal Fender manuals do not do justice to what the Cyber Twin or SE can actualy do. Read though the Cyber Commander manual to get a feel for what the Cyber Twin is really capable of.

For the control differences between the CT and SE, see FAQ # 24 at http://www.generalcybersystems.com/GCSWebSite/faq.htm
There are tone differences between the CT and SE, I do not know all of them, but I can hear them (for what it's worth, I use the SEs). Also, there are some hardware differences (all SE's have the tube rattle kit installed at the factory, and there are other differences as such as external speaker jacks, and of course the internal electronics are a bit different - we would need Fender to tell us the details, this detailed info is not available to us, the general public).

I can't say I support going back to tube amps (it's a little like going back to CRTs and analog TV signals - ex: compare a CRT tv with VHS tape versus a LCD with 120 Hz refresh and LED backlight with blue ray). But if it happens, agree that mechanical mounting considerations are an issue. Can use circuit cards for components (point to point not necessary), but tube sockets should have separate mounts not on the circuit card - should be separate, with high mechanical strength. High quality tube sockets, grounding and shielding always an issue with tubes. I have been around long enough tubes, solid state, processor controls, digital signal processing and VLSI to fully appreciate what modern technology can do and has done. I also consider myself fortunate enough to have seen and worked professionally in electrical engineering (forever...) since about 18 (as an avionics tech) to my current age of 54. To me, the Cyber Twin is the best thing that has happened to guitar amps since Leo's Bassman and Black Face amps were developed.

Ciao,
Johny.


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 12:50 pm
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Thank you Johnny,

I saved the Cyber Commander site to my favorites for future reference when I do have the Cyber Twin here in front of me. Unfortunately for me, none of the Guitar Centers within 200 miles of me have a Cyber Twin in stock so that I can plug in and give it a test drive. This is why I'm relying heavily on popular opinion at this Forum.
In a previous post, I stated that I was well aware of what to expect with an amp like this. It seems that when any manufacturer puts something like this on the market, they always have the distortions and effects set to exaggerated proportions. I suspect this is partly to demonstrate the amp's capabilites to show how far you can go, and partly to attract the younger generation, since those heavily distorted sounds are so popular in today's music. It's the same way with the ADA MP-2 preamps when they came off the assembly line. I can tell you from experience, it's much more time consuming and tedious getting good tones from that.
That's quite an endorsement from you in regards to the SE's although I must confess that I do find the idea of the CT head quite appealing also. The SE is definitely a contender for me, and I will more than likely snag a CT head off ebay, and try that out with some of my cabs I have here now. Even though the sound may be a little different, it should still be good.
-Harley 8)

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