Fender Gtr. Amp Choices

[New Orleans Steve]

O.K. I?m no gtr. amp expert here. I do not play myself; this is for a ?house? amp. I have some tone equipment and feel any of these would expand my capabilities. They are all available 2nd hand and I think they represent a pretty good value in this over inflated market. Here are the choices.

Fender ?Twin Reverb II? at $400.
I know this is a good price. Is this the Revera Twin? If so, what?s the story? I have found other twins to be Sweet for a good clean but not sterile sound. Sometimes the Twins I have used are so Loud, that I was wishing for something a little smaller.

Fender ?Super Reverb? at $400
I think this is a Black face reissue. I know the silver face super ? great. Does this version have the printed circuit boards? If so, any comments? Should all Fender printed circuit bd. models be avoided?

Fender silver ?Vibro-Champ? Speaker original but needs recoaning - price TBD. I will not go over 150ish, maybe a little under $200.
How loud will this thing go? A buddy of mine plugs a similar amp into a 4X12 or his fav. a single 15.

I?m looking mostly for good gtr Over dubs. But it would be nice if it could hang in a lower to mid volume jam situation. Sometimes I may want to go through a distortion or Pod type device.
I should add one of my curent options is a Magnatone "Esby" It sounds kinda Fenderish (Killer reverb and Vibrato). i don't want to duplicate what I already have. my other main option is a Boogie "V Twin" pre pedel and a 50/50 power amp. I'm also looking at the speakers as a sepreat system, as I mix and match regulary.

Any advice or comments are welcome / appreciated. THANKS

Steve

www.frenchmenstreetrecords.com temp sight

[Scodiddly]

Smaller is usually better, especially for recording. I think those Twin II amps are the heavy ones... like you need a buddy just to help carry it out to your car.

[EarlSlick]

all of the fender reissue amps, are coated curcuit boards. To spet up to point to point, you need to get a the custom shop series amps, like the vibro-king or the twin. The super reverb reissue, is pretty good, it won't give you the superb control over you r sound like a vibro-king, but nothing will for 400. Sounds like a good deal. The other one, I'm not so sure about. If it is a '65 Twin Reverb reissue, it is in the same league as the Super Reverb. The biggest differnce, that i believe the twin reverb has 1 12, and the super reverb has 3 10's. There is also a minimal difference in power. Either or those would be good choices, and the prices are good.

Bart

[Fieryjack]

If I were in your shoes, I woudl be all over the Super Reverb. There aren't easy to find, and they have amazing tone. I've owned Vibroluxes, Twins, Blues Jrs, Princetons, many other fender amps. The Super was the best by far.

Sounds great at low volumes as well.

[IronMaidenX]

if that Super Reverb re-issue is the real thing I would get that.. they only started making those again a few years ago and they sell new for about $1,200....that would be my choice for $400.....the Twin Reverb II came out around 1984 I think, not the best era of fender amps...but who knows, if it sounds good...

[A.David.MacKinnon]

The Super-reverbs are nice. I haven't played the re-issue but I have a 68 that is amazing. It's the shit for clean guitar but if you're looking for dirt it's not the way to go. The Super overdrives nicely but only at volumes that will kill you if your is the same room (or down the block).
I don't think it a big deal that it not point to point wiring. Circuit-board amps don't stand up to lots of abuse so I wouldn't tour with it but if it's for studio use you shouldn't have any problems.

If you've got the cash I'd also go for the vibra-champ. Champs are great studio amps. They do clean and dirty very well and they're not too loud.

[marqueemoon]

A Vibro Champ can't really keep up with a full band without some help, but I love mine, and that's a good deal. It sounds great recorded.

[the_riff]

I have a 70's Super Reverb that sounds EXCELLENT. Way better than any twin I've ever heard.

[AWright418]

Forget about the Twin Reverb II. It's awful. Too big for studio work. Not a well engineered amp.

All reissue fender amps have printed circuit boards with one exception, which is the new 57 Twin amp. The PCB is not really as important as the parts quality in reissue amps. They use less quality parts than a original blackface or silverface. The PCB's also make the amps harder to service. Take this from someone who knows.... www.wrighamp.com....<<--shameless plug.

Having said this, the Super makes a great studio amp. It's a classic tone machine. It's only 50 watts compared to the Twin's 100 so it's easier to record. I would try and find a silverface and have it blackfaced. If you do some searching you can find a silverface in the 400-500 dollar range.

The Vibro Champ is an excellent studio amp. I use mostly small (6-15 watt) amps in the studio. They are a breeze to record. The champ has been used throughout history by many big time artists to reproduce the sound of a Marshall stack. I think every studio that records guitars should have a good small amp like this.

I hope this helps.

[andyg666]

i have a 1970 princeton silverface. same circuitry as the vibro champ, i think... sounds frackin' great! for the clean to slightly gritty stuff it's perfect for recording. so what that it's not going to be as loud as the drummer, that's what the headphone mix is for...

[swingdoc]

Blackfaced Fenders surely have the great tone, but the prices are out of hand. Can get blackface kits or upgrades to the silverfaced models which ends up being a better deal, but still cumbersome to get done. Better yet, and a great way to go, is get the earliest silver face models which have the blackface cicuits, but go for much cheaper. Just have to do a bit of research
Check out http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/. Awesome fender amp site.

Choice of amp depends on how you want the tone..
from spanky...vibrolux,
to brown....deluxe,
to tweedy...princeton
to just stinkin growly huge and awesome....super reverb, etc etc.

Me, I love the vibrolux reverb..

[RefD]

best amp i ever had, live or recording, was my early 60s blackface Princeton.
i really miss that amp.

[leftoverking]

my favorite fender is the "evil" twin 1970's silverface. i have been giging with one for the past seven years, and love it. it is hella loud, but capable of some nice tones. i use it to compete with two dudes cranking a green amp, and a full stack ampeg svt. works for me...

[oobedoob]

my favorite fender is the "evil" twin 1970's silverface. i have been giging with one for the past seven years, and love it. it is hella loud, but capable of some nice tones. i use it to compete with two dudes cranking a green amp, and a full stack ampeg svt. works for me...

Dude, they let you say hella here? I thought this was a respectable joint... (please don't start with hecka, please please)

Back to the original question...

Super Reverbs rule. $400 sounds like a deal if it's all working. Don't be afraid of the PCB amps, unless the tubes are mounted directly on the boards (Fender's not doing anything that dumb are they?). If you need the full overdrive from the amp in a small club, you can try a hotplate. Lordy do they sound good with a nice Les Paul cranked.... Or the clean sound with the reverb, mmm... But if you need something loud AND clean at the same time, Supers may not be for you.

No experience with Twin II, but not a big fan of later Twins (too loud, maybe the ticket if you want loud and clean together)

Vibro-champs stayed relatively the same until the 80's, so you're within a couple of resistors of the blackface model, IIRC. Ditto on the small amp = easy recording tip. Talk them down under 200.

Good luck!

[Luke]

At those prices you can't lose with any one of those amps, I'd buy them all. You can always sell your least favorites.
Good Luck,
Luke