#170023  by TubaEric
 
I recently acquired a pair of e120s and i had a couple questions!

1) Should I/ Do i need to get a sperate 2x12 cab in order to get closer to a jerry tone?
2) will putting the e120s in my twin reverb be the same thing as using the speakers in a cab?
3) what mods did jerry make to his twin reverb during the europe 72 tour?
4) how did jerry get that crunch to his tone during the europe 72 tour? (I already have switched my pups to the fender vintage 59s and have added a stratoblaster to my guitar)

thank you and any answers would be appreciated! :-?
 #170025  by Jon S.
 
I shudder to even consider lifting a TR with 2 E120s. For that reason alone, I'd put them in a seperate cab (or even better, as I myself have done with my own K120 and E120, in a pair of 1X12s).
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 #170026  by Jon S.
 
As for potential TR mods, if you do some internet word searches, you'll find comments like these in the public domain (which is where I found them all) that may assist you. Note that I have no relationship or affiliation with any of the cited sources for the info. that follows. I'm merely letting you know who I saw posted the info. in case you want to take that into account in determining its usefulness to you:

* I just saw on a respected sources website that Jerry's Twin had .022's in the tonestack instead of the normal .1 and .047. (Imagined Days)

* .022s in the mids will keep more mids around than some of the other higher value capacitors commonly used in fender amps, and .022 in the bass will cause the bass frequencies to drop off at a higher value and lose a lot more overall bass than the .1. So, theoretically, .022s seem to make sense for jerry (more bass cut and less mid scoop) (Stevo123)

* It is by no means a secret mod, others have done it. using the duncan tonestack calculator, and the known jerry twin settings, show a pretty identical curve between the stock values and the .022uFs. the difference being the sharper bass rolloff with the .022uF's. (Mike Wald)

* Just got my twin back from the tech with all the healy mods done and played a farm gig over the weekend. YOW! Talk about clean power and clear highs and lows. (JB Arnold)

* Let me suggest a place to start: First, in addition to changing all of the caps, you will want to change all of the plate resistors for non-inductive metal film versions. Also change all of the cathode resistors and use tantalum capacitors for the bypass caps (I use military grade axial lead versions). This, especially for steel, will greatly improve the high frequencies yielding the pure and clearer bell like tones. (JB Arnold claiming to be quoting Healy)

* I've done most of the mod that JB quoted except for the non-inductive metal film plate resistors. That's next. The other mods were amazing. I've never heard a Twin so open and sweet and clear and hi-fi before. The steel just sings thru it. (Brad Sarno)

* Maybe you’ve moved on from your Silverface twin project, but I still want to chime in. I’ve got the same amp (late 73 twin reverb with all rca tubes. Mine doesn’t seem to have the power tube suppression caps either) and I’ve done a lot of the preamp mods mentioned in this forum and elsewhere about how to achieve Jerry tone. I’ll give you a little rundown of what I’ve done, and encourage you to dive in:

- changed the tone stack .022,.022, and 250pf - Sprague 225p and silver mica

- dale metal film plate resistors, RN series

- Sprague tantalum 150 series cathode bypass caps, 22uf

- black-faced the phase inverter and bias pot with dale metal film resistors, xicon metalized polypropylene caps - I like these in the phase inverter over the orange drops: responsive, 3-dimensional and textured

- changed the phase inverter input cap to .oo27 Sprague 225p - fattened up the tone just enough

- disassembled the master volume circuit, and disengaged the tremolo

- after lifting the wire to the Tremolo pot, I changed the cap on the right of the phase inverter from .1 to .047 (Sprague 715p) this tightened up the bottom end in a necessary way - I don’t see too many people talking about this but it seems important to my ears

- I changed out a few capacitors here and there to 225p orange. Drops

- AND just today I swapped out the reverb driver resistor on v4 from 850 ohm to 2200k metal film and found the sonic edge I’d been looking for. It added a bit of gain and breakup overall and a quality to the reverb that is just killer. I feel I’m almost there - think early spring ‘78 (Pointclear)
 #170028  by lbpesq
 
Jon S. wrote: Sat Feb 20, 2021 7:22 pm I shudder to even consider lifting a TR with 2 E120s. For that reason alone, I'd put them in a seperate cab (or even better, as I myself have done with my own K120 and E120, in a pair of 1X12s).

I played for years through a 60’s BF Pro Reverb with D120s. That was WAY heavy. I still have it, but it hasn’t been played in a long time. I should probably sell it, but it has a lot of sentimental value. I also did the 2x12 cab thing. In fact, at one point I had my Alembic F-2B going into a Mesa 50/50 power amp into two 2x12s. Way overkill for my needs and a royal PITA to move. Now I have the pair of K120s in two 1x12s. And even then, I’m often just humping a Quilter.

Bill, tgo
 #170030  by 8-6-71 for me
 
TubaEric wrote: Sat Feb 20, 2021 6:50 pm I recently acquired a pair of e120s and i had a couple questions!

1) Should I/ Do i need to get a sperate 2x12 cab in order to get closer to a jerry tone?
2) will putting the e120s in my twin reverb be the same thing as using the speakers in a cab?
3) what mods did jerry make to his twin reverb during the europe 72 tour?
4) how did jerry get that crunch to his tone during the europe 72 tour? (I already have switched my pups to the fender vintage 59s and have added a stratoblaster to my guitar)

thank you and any answers would be appreciated! :-?
I had a twin with E120s... heavy. My workaround when I was digging 72 was to put a JBL D110 into a 70's Fender Champ. Same setup as you: Strat w vintage pickups and a stratoblaster. It was a very convenient way to get the crunchy tone at home volumes. It's not "period correct" of course (although that was, incidentally, Jerry's practice amp) but I could get a pretty satisfying tonal match to Sept/Nov 72 recordings.

For E72 you are pretty much there with vintage pickups and the stratoblaster. The only effect in use was a Colorsound Wah so introducing a pedal for overdrive would not be "period correct" fwiw. I have an article from around that time where Jerry remarks that the volume on the Twin was never above 6-7. (Who could tolerate that level at home anyhow?) Point being it is all natural tube warmth that we are hearing. Someone else here might be able to comment on the setting on the stratoblaster, which is probably the most important component of the crunch.