Advice on Twin Reverb 65 Reissue

gracecovenant · #1 02-06-2016, 02:30 PM

Finally made up my mind....this is the amp I want.

What do you think is the best price I can expect to negotiate? So far, no one wants to budge much. $1333 is the best I have found (shipped free with no sales tax), but I think I should be closer to $1200 maybe $1250.

Steve DeRosa · #2 02-06-2016, 02:35 PM

Hold out for a 15% off Coupon Day at one of the big-box stores; great choice, BTW - arguably the gold standard of the combo amp world...

jseth · #3 02-06-2016, 04:05 PM

I haven't heard a whole bunch of great things about that particular re-issue from Fender... if I were you, I'd stay on the lookout for a Silver Face Twin... they can be had for a decent price, possibly what you're considering paying for that '65 re-issue (which isn't all that faithful a reproduction, by the way), and a SF Twin still blows the doors out of your room/apartment/home/neighbors!

I sure hope you've carried one of those around a little, and that you have a REALLY strong back! Twins are the "blunderbusses" of the vintage Fender amp world... they are great amps if you don't want any dirt to show up in your tone until your ears are bleeding! Seriously, they are great amps and work well with pedals... some guys will take out two of the power tubes to get some distortion at a lower (still VERY substantial) volume...

I've seen SF Twins as low as $700 or so, in decent shape...

jonfields45 · #4 02-06-2016, 04:31 PM

As a retired EE with no great love of hand wired amps (in particular Fender as they were easy to repair, but need it, with giant solder blobs and long leads on the components all crying out to crack on every temperature cycle), buy new! Capacitors are the next weak link (they are often specified at only a 1000 hour lifetime!!! -- though luckily the initial failure modes are usually not catastrophic). Age and heat are their enemy. Capacitor technology has improved dramatically since Fender stopped making hand wired amps for their mainstream models. All of this means buy new! And MF is 15% off for President's Day -- though you will have to call and ask. My main amp in my 70s R&R hay days was a silver faced Twin, which I played loud enough to distort... It is amazing I can still hear.

muscmp · #5 02-06-2016, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jseth

I haven't heard a whole bunch of great things about that particular re-issue from Fender... if I were you, I'd stay on the lookout for a Silver Face Twin... they can be had for a decent price, possibly what you're considering paying for that '65 re-issue (which isn't all that faithful a reproduction, by the way), and a SF Twin still blows the doors out of your room/apartment/home/neighbors!

I sure hope you've carried one of those around a little, and that you have a REALLY strong back! Twins are the "blunderbusses" of the vintage Fender amp world... they are great amps if you don't want any dirt to show up in your tone until your ears are bleeding! Seriously, they are great amps and work well with pedals... some guys will take out two of the power tubes to get some distortion at a lower (still VERY substantial) volume...

I've seen SF Twins as low as $700 or so, in decent shape...

+1 on this. check for a sf twin. if your back and ears can handle it, it is a great machine.

play music!

The Old Gaffer · #6 02-06-2016, 10:24 PM

As I almost always do, I'd recommend buying a used one. You can probably find one for $700 or so.
Are you sure you don't want a Super Reverb Reissue?

Jerry D · #7 02-06-2016, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

great choice, BTW - arguably the gold standard of the combo amp world...

I disagree. The Super Reverb is the gold standard.

jomaynor · #8 02-07-2016, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gracecovenant

Finally made up my mind....this is the amp I want.

What do you think is the best price I can expect to negotiate? So far, no one wants to budge much. $1333 is the best I have found (shipped free with no sales tax), but I think I should be closer to $1200 maybe $1250.

'65 Reissue Twin Reverbs are fine amps that make truly superior tones. And if you gig, they can keep up with any drummer, no problem. Plus, they sound full at low volumes, too.

Another way for you to save money is to look for a barely used '65 Twin reissue, since a fair amount of people who buy a new Twin decide that is too much amp for their needs, once they have one. You wouldn't necessarily need to spend more with an amp tech this way, which you would need to do if you bought an older hand wired model - which is a great way to go, as well, just not necessarily less expensive.

Steve DeRosa · #9 02-07-2016, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerry D

I disagree. The Super Reverb is the gold standard.

Own one - replaced a long-since-sold Music Man 410-65, BTW - love it for rock, blues, country, acoustic-electric (if I'm not going through the board), and the occasional bass line in Channel 1 (great for recording or playing with acoustic instruments); doesn't really do my full-body archtops justice for jazz-flavored stuff though, nor does it have the ultimate headroom of the Twin - and having cut my musical teeth during the period when blonde was transitioning to blackface and blue-check and chrome was the hot new look at Ampeg, that classic big-clean tone has always been my Holy Grail...

MikeBmusic · #10 02-08-2016, 08:54 AM

Agree regarding new - wait for the next holiday sale discount at GC or MF. Used, you can get them for $700-$900 see this reverb.com page:
https://reverb.com/marketplace/amps?...0twin%20reverb

Aping Leo · #11 02-23-2016, 10:57 AM

If you do wind up buying the twin ri make sure it has the Jensen speakers in it. Some, I don't know why, have fender speakers in them and to my ears are horrible. Ice-picky, no warmth whatsoever. I fiddled with one for over a month and could not find a clean tone on it that I liked at all. On the other hand, I have a 65' RI SR with Jensens and it sings. Had a guy tell me the other night that my guitar sounded like flowers is spring. Ok?

Tomm Williams · #12 02-23-2016, 01:58 PM

I see more used Twins for sale than any other model of Fender amp by far. I think many folks find they're a bit to lug around after awhile and look for something smaller. There's one for sale in my area with an ATA roller case for $575.00 and it's been for sale for about two months. They can be found all day around $700, I wouldn't bother paying new prices for one.

Darwin · #13 02-23-2016, 06:40 PM

I would go for a nice silver face. They are easily serviceable and the caps can be replaced. I have had a new 65 Custom 15 and had problems with it. The fuse holder and power supply have given problems. I had to hard wire in a new fuse circuit which I made serviceable from the exterior. It was an issue that techs had seen before. Once that was fixed it was fine.
\
Having it fixed on warranty would not have been a good solution as they would have replaced the pc board. It was a materials/design problem in my opinion. Since, I have purchased a 76 Vibrasonic Reverb with a JBL 15 and it works great and is serviceable in my opinion. If you don't gig it may not be a problem for you but in the reissues the fuses are replaceable only if you remove the chassis from the cabinet. A big issue if you are gigging.

Someone who is an EE mentioned that he prefers PC boards and I agree with his concept. However I think that the problem is the metals used in Asian built PC boards. The fuse holder metal was weak and became loose creating heat and melting the PC board. My humble opinion only -- Darwin

jwp2 · #14 02-24-2016, 09:28 PM

I've owned a 65 TRRI since 1993. It has been bulletproof! I put some Eminence Cannabis Rex speakers in it and that took care of the icepicks the stock speakers would produce. Overall, I'm glad to have owned it and plan to keep it for years to come!

Aping Leo · #15 03-03-2016, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwp2

I've owned a 65 TRRI since 1993. It has been bulletproof! I put some Eminence Cannabis Rex speakers in it and that took care of the icepicks the stock speakers would produce. Overall, I'm glad to have owned it and plan to keep it for years to come!

Whaddya play through that twin? We're neighbors. I live in Bourbonnais.