Fender "The Twin" - Red leather (cobra red?) Questions.

[lzyprson]

Hello All,

I am the owner of a Fender "The twin" 100 watt amplifier. I had a few questions... i was looking to find out the date of the machine, i am pretty sure it was from the 90s but it has skipped my mind.. I have owned it for about 8 years now, have replaced both speakers with celestion vintage 30s (it sounds incredible) and has never been gigged with (while i ahve owned). There is nothing wrong with it and i currently have it set to reduced power setting by pulling two of the 4 6l6's and reducing the ohms etc.

In a nut shell, this amp is a beast. its ultra loud and the only problems i had with it were one of the original fender speakers popped. hense why i replaced both with (my fav) vintage 30s (brand new).

A friend of mine recently purchased a hot rod deville (2 12's, 60 watt etc) and i have fallen in love with that amplifier. I considered trading my amp or selling it in order to buy a brand new Hot Rod Deville.

My questions:

1. Should i sell this amp or would i be parting with a true gem (IMO)?

2. If i were to sell it how much would someone suggest i open at?

3. How rare are these amps, i could barely find any info on them in the past few years.

4. would it be worth a trade for a brand spankin new hot rod?

Let me know what yall' think. It is red leather and does not have RED knobs.. It is typical to "the twin" and offers boost for each knob etc.

Let me know wahat everyone thinks!!!

[lzyprson]

Any help would be appreciated.. even if it is "that amp sucks'!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kap'n]

Robben Ford is known to use one when he's not using his Dumble.

I can't think of any other fans, though, sorry.

[phantomman]

Why don't you do a search on this site for "Hot Rod" and/or "Hot Rod Deluxe" and find out for yerseff jus' how much we love them HR amps?

Bring a lunch, make a day out of it.

[Kap'n]

It's not a hot rod, it's the black knob version of the red knob twin.

I had a red knob twin chassis. Somebody had gutted it for some reason. I don't suspect it was just a random act of violence.

[phantomman]

4. would it be worth a trade for a brand spankin new hot rod?

[lzyprson]

Kap'n do you know if their is a differnce between a typical red knob and black knob version? I assumed since the casing is red leather they would not have wanted to make the thing less attractive by adding the red colored knobs..

I have read through the forum and i udnerstand that many people are not a fan of these amps. I do know however that some people are attracted to them simply because of the power that comes from them.

Could anyone put a price on it for me so i can post it to craigslist here in philadelphia? I know that my friend purchased a brand new deville for 800 bucks from the local guitar center.

[Kap'n]

Fender changed the knobs from red to black, because nobody was buying the red knob version. Strictly marketing.

I would guess if it's actually red leather, then it's been recovered. Fender was experimenting with all sorts of ugly covering at the time; snakeskin leatherette; grey carpet. I doubt they would have paid cash for real leather.

The value of Twins in general is quite low. Too big, too heavy, too loud. I'd guess the value of a real SF Fender Twin Reverb to be in the vicinity of $500-1,000 depending greatly on condition and location of the seller. A "The Twin" model would be worth somewhat less.

[lzyprson]

appreciate Your help everyone - my bad it is not real leather!

[starhum]

Is that the 'Evil Twin?'

[Kap'n]

Is that the 'Evil Twin?'

No, it's a "The Twin" more commonly known as a 'red knob' Twin, even though this particular one is a later model with black knobs. The 2x10 Super 60 was also part of this series, and shared a number of features.

[Don]

I'd take it over a Hot Rod just because it's been reliable all these years.

Of course, I don't have to lift it!

[old blue]

I can't believe no one has beaten me to it yet. Trade it or sell it and get a DRRI, Deluxe Reverb Reissue. You should be able to pick up a used DRRI for what you get for the twin.....

Better usable sound and volume and easier to lug around.....

[Eggman]

Howdy,

I like my red knob "The Twin". Great clean tone. The gain channel is a bit under-rated, but I seldom use it. Being a PCB amp, it's reliability won't as good as p-t-p. One option is to search for a replacement "board" for this amp: either BF/SF Twin specs or the p-t-p red knob Twin mod from Torres engineering. Either mod would increase serviceability and reliability. Good luck.

Eggman