Twin vs. Deluxe

[Dozin]

My friend has a GC limited edition purple Fender Deluxe. I just made him buy a Silver Faced Twin with JBL K120's in it. Can you guys help me explain what the difference are between the two amps. -Thanks

[jeffm725]

depnding on the year of the twin, the difference would be anywhere from 63 to 113 watts!

Seriously the differnce is CLEAN headroom.

not too technical explanation:

4 6l6's in the twin and the increased power handling make for an amp that can pretty much stay clean until your ears bleed.
Because of the lower wattage the deluxe will break up at lower volumes than the twin. This is either a very desirable thing for many players (clasic rock and roll, or blues players) or anyone who loves the natural overdrive and compression that tubes that are hit hard can give you; or not so desirable, in the Garcia emulating world, where you want just that stinging cleanliness that the twin gives you.

[jonarobb]

[strumminsix]

Okay, the clean to 10 twin thing that always bugs me.

You use a hot humbuckered guitar into input 1 and the guitar volume on 10 and you will overdrive the preamp.

Many people, self included, feel that the best tones from the guitar come when the volume & tone pots are > 7. Yes, certain songs, desired effect, etc need something diff but ya get my point.

Just saying...

Overall it's a great amp and perfect for stage volume with clean headroom. Tighter overall. More articulate amp. Snappier response.

[tigerstrat]

Twin - solid state rectifier
Deluxe - tube rectifier

If he's just tapping the pre, I would expect (because I've never done) that it would be pretty hard to tell the diff.

[tigerstrat]

Okay, the clean to 10 twin thing that always bugs me.

When using it's own power section, my BF Twin (OK Showman, same diff) starts breakup at about 5.5 and by 7-8, is entering the creamy range of 1968-1969 Cautions or Other Ones. The thing is that, by around vol=4, it is already way way too loud for most stages, and nowhere near breakup yet. By the time you reach =6, and actually get to breakup, its peeling paint off the walls. Those boys must've had ridiculous stage levels in the primal days.

[pappypgh]

Crap. I bought a Deluxe a few months ago and now you guys are making me jones for a twin. Who wants to trade?!

[waldo041]

Twin - solid state rectifier
Deluxe - tube rectifier

If he's just tapping the pre, I would expect (because I've never done) that it would be pretty hard to tell the diff.

DAMN TS! exactly what i was going to say when i read dozins question. you are spot on and that will be the first source of breakup, the rectifier. then the 6V6 22 watt power supply. Tapped, the deluxe does have some different bright cap values, i believe on the vibrato channel and should be the same with them off. another BIG difference is the back breaking twins weight. the deluxe can be half the weight but more importantly can be half the power of a twin with a transformer change, switch to 6L6's and change to a solid state rectifier. the SS Rectifier can be done with NO other tweaking needed. also a mid pot could be added, but is not really needed once the desired value is known. half a twin is exactly what i went after when i built my amp from a deluxe kit. weber sells the transformers, the 6v6 sockets will fit 6L6's and the SS rectifier can be put in the amp or in the rectifier tube socket(thats what i did). Stock the deluxe and twin are 2 different animals but the preamps are pretty much identical.

peace,
waldo

[strumminsix]

Okay, the clean to 10 twin thing that always bugs me.

When using it's own power section, my BF Twin (OK Showman, same diff) starts breakup at about 5.5 and by 7-8, is entering the creamy range of 1968-1969 Cautions or Other Ones. The thing is that, by around vol=4, it is already way way too loud for most stages, and nowhere near breakup yet. By the time you reach =6, and actually get to breakup, its peeling paint off the walls. Those boys must've had ridiculous stage levels in the primal days.

With my 68 DSR on 4 it is perfect for gigs!

And at that point, with my active humbucker pickups I can OD the preamp.

half a twin is exactly what i went after

Bro, totally! My Fargen is that to a T! Custom wound trannies ta'boot!

[waldo041]

half a twin is exactly what i went after

Bro, totally! My Fargen is that to a T! Custom wound trannies ta'boot!

me likey your thinking!

peace,
waldo

[Pete B.]

I haven't tried it myself, but anybody try yankin' two tubes from their Twin and maybe even replacing the remaiing two with 6V6's, in order to open up the preamp volume to the 7-10 range?... (the idea being to hit the preamp tube cream without peeling the paint off). Just curious.

I've played (and heard others play), some '65 Reissue Deluxes that sounded really good to me.
I thought the tone and reverb were great for the lower volume playing I am becoming more fond of.
I played Steel through a '65 Reissue Twin recently and it sounded pretty good to me also.
I've heard some quality control horror stories on both amps, though.

[jeffm725]

word on the street is that of the 2 "65 reissues" that the Deluxe is more faithful to the original than the re-issue Twin is.

[Pete B.]

Anyone try the '65 Reissue Princeton Reverb?

[jonarobb]

Anyone try the '65 Reissue Princeton Reverb?

I evaluated one for Fender last year when it was still in R&D. I do warranty work for Fender which I hate, but that's another story. Anyway, they sent me a letter saying my company had been "chosen" to evaluate a PRRI that had already been run for 25+ hours. It came with a cute little questionaire and complimentary multimeter with a Fender logo on it. I noticed after I finished the eval and sent everything back along with my supplemental letter describing in detail what I think is wrong with the current FMIC philosophy, I stopped getting all those freebies, like tubes, strings, and calenders...

[Emoto]

Anyone try the '65 Reissue Princeton Reverb?

I evaluated one for Fender last year when it was still in R&D. I do warranty work for Fender which I hate, but that's another story. Anyway, they send me a letter saying my company had been "chosen" to evaluate a PRRI that had already been run for 25+ hours. It came with a cute little questionaire and complimentary multimeter with a Fender logo on it. I noticed after I finished the eval and sent everything back along with my suplimental letter describing in detail what I think is wrong with the current FMIC philosophy, I stopped getting all those freebies, like tubes, strings, and calenders...

It isn't easy being honest. OTOH, they may have been trying to control expenses, so it might be unrelated.