It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 11:08 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 27 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Go to page 1, 2  Next
Author Message
Post subject: Need help with SS Twin
Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 7:55 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:16 pm
Posts: 19
I'm hoping someone may have an answer to my total disappointment in my brand new SS twin. This was a buy it before you try it case. GC didn't have one in stock so I had to shell out the money before they could ship it. I was looking for a alternative to my Peavey ValveKing 100 and was convinced that shelling out more money for a Fender would be the answer. Big mistake! First, the effects loop does not work. I have tried every known path and it simply does not work. Second, the clean channel doesn't have the clean part. It's ok up to about 4 on the gain with the volume at full. This is a recommended setting from Fender. After that, it starts breaking up and getting nasty. Yes, I have tried both Twin and Bassman settings. Doesn't matter. Thirdly, the burn channel is ugly. It's gritty, grainy, fuzzy, and has a nasty tone. When I go to play a solo, the creamy, warm, seamless sound isn't there, regardless of the settings. It's sounds like I'm playing through a fuzz box. This makes the "burn" channel useless. I've had to resort to a distortion pedal to find an acceptable solo sound. Sad. I literally spent 8 hours in front of the amp, tweaking tone settings, notch filters, tight, normal loose settings, etc.. There is still an underlying grit that is not very appealing. Before anyone goes to the "guitar" part, I play a Gibson 335 and a Fender Strat with hot noiseless pickups. They both sound great through the VK. So before I go to the nearest lake and throw $1300 in it, can someone please answer this simple question. Is this an inherent tone of the SS Twin, or is the something wrong with the amp? I'll be taking the amp to my amp tech today to have it thoroughly checked out and have the effects loop repaired, but meanwhile, please give me any feedback. I look forward to it. Right now, I would tell anyone considering this purchase to shy away until Fender gets it's act together.


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: Need help with SS Twin
Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 9:21 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:31 am
Posts: 14049
Location: Province de Québec, Canada
If the amp is under waranty and your tech is not an authorized Fender service this void the waranty IMO.

Sorry I did not kow this amp to help you


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Need help with SS Twin
Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 11:37 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:16 pm
Posts: 19
Yes amp is under warranty and has been dropped off at a authorized repair shop. Maybe they'll find something to make me more comfortable with this amp.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Need help with SS Twin
Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 12:51 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue May 15, 2012 2:49 am
Posts: 560
Location: Perth, Australia
Well firstly my SSTwin is a delight, so I am sad to hear of your issues, BUT they do happen, and FENDER seems to be getting it's fair share in recent times.

So to answer your question about the BURN Channel, It is supposed to range in sound from FizzPop to Gritty to Brown and Dirty to Crunchy (but hard to know exactly what you are hearing). You should be able to varry all the controls to get the sound you are aiming for.

The FX LOOP will only work with the included 4-Button FOOTSWITCH, plugged in and FXLOOP engaged, the FX SEND/RETURN LEVELS at the back adjust the FXLOOP volume. If it still is not working after this then iether footswitch or FXLOOP valves are faulty. WARRANTY CLAIM.

The CLEAN/BASSMAN channels are direct valve stages, so the amount of gain varies with Guitar Pickups. I have both LOW OUTPUT Single Coil and LOW OUTPUT WRHB pickups on my guitars and I use the CH1 Gain at 4 to get chimey cleans, I barely get any GRIT at 10 on CLEAN setting.

I find MY SSTwin responds differently to different tubes and you may find a better sound by replacing some or all of those GT12AX7-S tubes with something tamer. I replaced most of mine and am very happy.

I didn't "TRY before you BUY" with my SSTwin, and thankfully got lucky. But that is why it is important to test equipment before you purchase, as everyone has a different thought of what sounds good.

_________________
GUITAR: Fender USA JazzMaster.
BASS: Fender USA 58'AVRI
AMP: Fender USA SuperSonicTwin - Blonde.
Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Need help with SS Twin
Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 7:01 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:16 pm
Posts: 19
Thanks for the respectful response and advice. As of now, the amp is at my "authorized" repair shop. I've asked them to go through the amp thoroughly. My thought is, if the effects loop doesn't operate on a brand new amp, what else might not be right? I understand that I need the footswitch to engage the effects loop. I set up the effects loop in 2 ways. One as a boost with a cable run from send to return. I also set it up to run my effects through. Neither worked. I'll let the tech figure it out.

It's a shame that I have to resort to changing out tubes. I realize after some research, that others are aware of the gritty, fizzy sound from the burn channel. So it's not just me, hearing what I'm hearing. It's been recommended that I change "all" tubes to obtain a smoother, less gritty, fizzle pop tone. At about $200, that's a bitter pill to swallow, but one I am willing to make if it means getting the performance from the amp that suits my style.

I did spend countless hours on YouTube, Fenders website, Sweetwater, MF, and blogs, researching this amp before I pulled out the wallet. I had anticipated it would be a closer, if not better, alternative to my VK 100. Unfortunately, this was the only means of comparisons that I should have "never" made. They are 2 different animals, and hard lessons have been learned. Thanks for reading my whiny, and retrospective opinion of the SS Twin. :(


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Need help with SS Twin
Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 10:08 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue May 15, 2012 2:49 am
Posts: 560
Location: Perth, Australia
I feel for you, this kind of frustration and dissapointment does happen, and I really don't think spending an extra large sum of money for tubes is what we bought into when buying a new amp. Don't sink more money into it if you have any suspicions that a tube swap won't make much difference. An alternative would be to borrow tubes from your other amp first to experiment, or try buying 1 or 2 at a time first to test in different valve locations.

Best Of Luck

_________________
GUITAR: Fender USA JazzMaster.
BASS: Fender USA 58'AVRI
AMP: Fender USA SuperSonicTwin - Blonde.
Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Need help with SS Twin
Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 7:57 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:16 pm
Posts: 19
I really appreciate your thoughtful comments. I'll have to wait until the amp is back from the tech (3-4 weeks) to make a definite determination. I have researched re tubing the amp. According to Eurotubes, a re tube ($200) could cure some of the ills this amp has. That's fine. What a shame that such a beautiful looking amp (blonde) doesn't perform to my style and needs. I'd like to think that with some minor changes, the amp is something I can be proud of, and faithful to.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Need help with SS Twin
Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 5:46 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:16 pm
Posts: 19
Okay, so here's the latest. First and foremost, I'm very upset with Fender and the lack of quality they've sunk to. I got a call from the amp repair tech with very troubling news. I originally took the amp in because the effects loop stopped working. I was told that 9 tubes needed to be replaced. What????? This amp was purchased in July '13, it's barely 3 months old, it's been gigged about a half dozen times, and now I'm replacing tubes. You gotta be freekin kidding me. Of course, the so called warranty won't cover the tubes. All can say is this: Fender, you should be ashamed for putting out what started out as my dream amp, and now I'm stuck making the decision, as whether or not to spend an additional $200 in tubes on top of the initial expense of the amp itself, or throwing the damn thing in the nearest pond. This is shameful Fender. Nuff said......


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Need help with SS Twin
Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 6:19 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26417
Location: Tombstone Territory
:roll:

The pond beckons......

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Need help with SS Twin
Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 11:45 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue May 15, 2012 2:49 am
Posts: 560
Location: Perth, Australia
9 tubes???? in one hit, is that even possible? I think get another amp TECH to check it out just to be sure, unless of course his fees would cost the same as just replacing tubes anyway.

This is where knowing the basics of diagnosing faulty valves does come in handy, so you could double check the TECHS findings for yourself.

_________________
GUITAR: Fender USA JazzMaster.
BASS: Fender USA 58'AVRI
AMP: Fender USA SuperSonicTwin - Blonde.
Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Need help with SS Twin
Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 11:48 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue May 15, 2012 2:49 am
Posts: 560
Location: Perth, Australia
Retroverbial wrote:
:roll:

The pond beckons......

Arjay


Lets not be too drastic, if it is indeed faulty valves then there is no need to fault the AMP.

_________________
GUITAR: Fender USA JazzMaster.
BASS: Fender USA 58'AVRI
AMP: Fender USA SuperSonicTwin - Blonde.
Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Need help with SS Twin
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 12:19 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26417
Location: Tombstone Territory
I would never again trust any company that sold me a premium-priced product equipped in such a mediocre manner.

And I don't.

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Need help with SS Twin
Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 5:20 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:16 pm
Posts: 19
So here's the latest. Took amp in for effects loop failure, tech calls back and tells me he needs to replace "all" preamp tubes. Tech calls Fender communicating my extreme disgust that amp is virtually brand new, and it's already needing new tubes and repair of the effects loop. Tech calls me back, say's Fender is going to eat the cost of the tubes. I breathed a sigh of relief. Tech calls and says amp is ready and come pick it up. Go to shop, plug into amp, have cable run between send and return, hit effects on pedal.......nothing. No boost, no sound, only some weird ringing noise. Tech starts scratching head. I'm feeling that sick feeling, again. Leave without amp. This is becoming a nightmare. I shell out hard earned money for the latest greatest, the end all, to end all, and am left with a worthless pile. For God's sake......


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Need help with SS Twin
Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 5:38 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26417
Location: Tombstone Territory
I sense your anguish and extend all sympathies......

:(

The truth is, it's been a whole new ballgame ever since the mid '80s.

But the trouble is, the players on the field were never told.

:evil:

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Need help with SS Twin
Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 5:51 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:16 pm
Posts: 19
I've never felt more hurt, frustrated, and pissed, all at the same time. I just can't get over spending the kind of money I saved up and spent (cash), and the freekin thing has spent most of it's 4 month old infancy, on a freekin test bench. Buyers beware! Heed the warning.


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 27 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Go to page 1, 2  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: