Fender Twin vs Deville

[weirimpressed]

Got a question for the community:

I have the choice of purchasing either a 1976 fender twin ($600) or 1996 Fender Deville 2x12 ($450) off of craigslist. both have been looked at by techs, and the twin recently got retubed. I have always wanted a fender Deville, but now I am considering the twin. My question is....

what would you do? I am currently playing an Ibanez AG-series hollowbody...

[strumminsix]

I'd go for the Twin if it's in good condition...

But that really is dependent on what your needs are.

[SpaceYrface43]

I've have owned both amps and i'm current still using the twin. It's going to come down to the flavor your looking for. I suggest getting to a music store and trying them both out . Be sure to take your guitar with you so you know what your getting. Good luck let's us know what you decide on.

[deadguise]

2 votes for the Twin.

[weirimpressed]

will do, im going to go test the twin tomorrow

[pappypgh]

I own a Blues DeVille 4x10 and I've about had it with this amp. Unfortunately, I can't afford a new one. If I could, I'd probably try to find a twin.

Also like a good Boogie 2x12.

[High Peaks]

Personally i would get the twin( depending on condition) But like everyone said it is dependent upon what sound you want.
Who are your influences and what type of music do you plan on playing.

Also, the Twin will be point to point( made in the 70's) and more than likely the Deville will be on a printed circuit board( i think). Thats another thing to think about.

[jenkins]

a few advatntages to the deville would be the 2 drive channels, if u like to play blues w/distortion these channels are great.

The other advantage taht I see is that the deville has the preamp out and power amp in loop. This allows you to run a solid state power amp relatively easily to get a tone similar jerry's

I went into the store and compared the hot rod deluxe(not deville) with the twins and I liked the deluxe's tone better, so i bought the hot rod.
I think the new twins just dont sound that great. So the fact taht you have access to a vintage twin means you should probably buy it(unless u dont like how it sounds)

Remeber that each amp ha individual characteristics.
I read an interview with Kimock where he states that a good sounding reverb in your amp is hard to come by and he had to play through a buch of amps till he foud one with reverb he liked.

If I was you i would probably go for the vintage

unless you want to play blues, than go with the deville

[groovemongrel]

But keep in mind the drive channel sucks on the Deville, Blues Deluxe and Hot Rod.

[pappypgh]

TRUE DAT! The drive channel BAH-LOOOOOOOWS on my Blues DeVille. NEVER do I use it.

[waldo041]

imo, the twin reissue and the hot rod series amps can be tweaked to get what you are after. if you are handy with electronics and understand the risks involved with working on amps, then they are both great platforms for potentially good sounding amps. the twin reissue is loaded with cheap parts, so is the hot rod series. if you were to change the resistor and caps in the twin reissue to original specs you would get a ton closer to the original tone. with the hot rod series, aside from fixing some errors in its design, changing the signal caps, plate resistors, tonestack and removal of the bass resistor in the tonestack are just the beginning. finding the right tubes(preamp and power) is something most amps need anyway. the deluxe and deville have the same circuit board, only the deville has a few more parts and a higher output, output transformer. with some heady tweaks they can be very good amps. i use a highly tweaked deluxe and capped it off with a JBL K120 and am happy with it. i don't use the drive channel at all, but have messed with it. i have found, searching for the right tube can greatly affect the quality of that channel.



check this site out for some good mods of the hot rod series.

http://studentweb.eku.edu/justin_holton/


peace,
waldo

[strumminsix]

Listen to Waldo on this topic. The man knows his amp guts.

The other advantage taht I see is that the deville has the preamp out and power amp in loop. This allows you to run a solid state power amp relatively easily to get a tone similar jerry's

Totally disagree. The preamp out of a HRDx into SS poweramp into whatever cab is not going to get the Jerry sound.

A Twin or DSR into a McIn poweramp into a 3x12 with JBLs will get you close from an amp perspective. Now what about guitar wood, pickups, wiring, FX, etc...

That elusive Jerry sound seems to be bastardized too often in gear forums where people think doing this one part or that one part of JG's rig will get them there.

Sorry to sound like a dick but this is something I read all over the place.

From what I can tell the SS poweramp did 2 things:
1 - no more powertube clipping
2 - allowed a consistent preamp sound at most any volume only compensating for the fletcher munson volume curve

Do you need that?

Are you going to pull your speaker out into its own cab?

[jenkins]

I didnt realize that the twin you were talkinga bout was a '76. I that point to point wiring or printed on the circuit board? If it is point to point I would definetly buy it. The deville is a sweet amp but nothing compared to a vintage fender.


Using a deville can make it easier to run the jerry combo of tube preamp>power amp>speaker cab than a twin.

In my last post I was making it sound like if u did this it will give u jerry's tone, which isn't true at all, it just makes it easier to use a different power amp.

if u run a deville preamp out>power amp>speaker cab you get a much sweeter tone. This allows you much more clean headroom and it just sounds better. I unplug the built in speaker so the sound only comes through the cab and it sounds great.

I agree that jerry's sound is bastardized and over simplicized far too often. But, there are other way's to get jerry's tone than to use a twin>mcintosh power amp>3 JBL 120's. The first being learn how to play right. If your fingers cant do it, you could be playinf on garcia's actual rig and you would sound nothing like jerry. If you can play well you can get jerry like tone on an acoustic

[High Peaks]

The forms of achieving the tone has been bastardized, as SS said earlier.

In my humble opinion i think getting close to Jerry's tone really depends on 3 things.

Dimarzio pu's> Fender Twin preamp> Jbl speakers

I can come close on my mesa boogie, but when i plug in my modded Twin, you can hear the difference.

Now i said that will get you close. After that you need a tech, roadies, and above all the left side of Jerry's brain.

I also remember reading somewhere that one of the reasons they went to the external(mac) power amps was because of their ruggedness and reliability. As everyone knows-- when playing a gig with a vintage Fender its nice to have a backup!!!

[Henry]

One thing nobody has mentioned yet... a '76 Twin is most likely a 135 watt model. Compared to the earlier 100 watt version, several changes had been made that resulted in an ultra-clean sound even at high volumes. Some have called them "hi-fi" amps. I have owned several of them and always found them way too harsh and stingy sounding, way too much treble that puts stress on your ears, they just lack the warmth of the 100 watt model (or those made before). Definitely not the choice if you're looking for something like Jerry's sound. Anyway, no two Twins are alike so you should always try them out before buying.
I currently use a Hot Rod Deluxe and find it quite usable for many situations, but not the Holy Grail of Fender Amp sound either. Sooner or later I'll go back to a Silverface, maybe a Pro Reverb (a bit lighter to carry and breaks up earlier due to less output).