#16
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Double blind tests are hard to arrange and generally debunk a lot of what is assumed to be known. However, life is not a blind test and you should always buy what you like and can afford.
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jf45ir Free DIY Acoustic Guitar IR Generator .wav file, 30 seconds, pickup left, mic right, open position strumming best...send to direct email below I'll send you 100/0, 75/25, 50/50 & 0/100 IR/Bypass IRs IR Demo, read the description too: https://youtu.be/SELEE4yugjE My duo's website and my email... [email protected] Jon Fields Last edited by jonfields45; 09-10-2018 at 11:17 AM. |
#17
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The reissues are not as repair prone as the Hot Rod series in my experience. It's currently about a 9 to 1 ratio the last couple of years in my repair log. They lack the two Achilles heels of the HR amps: the dropping resistors for the reverb/fx loop drivers and relays, and the board mounted tube sockets. The boards seem just a little more stout, too.
I've hooked a couple of players here up with a good sounding combo last year. Snag a used Deluxe Reverb Reissue, swap in a WGS ET65 speaker, and add a pair of fresh, matched power tubes biased properly. Those two changes alone do wonders for the sound of the amp.
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"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." -Zig Ziglar Acoustics 2013 Guild F30 Standard 2012 Yamaha LL16 2007 Seagull S12 1991 Yairi DY 50 Electrics Epiphone Les Paul Standard Fender Am. Standard Telecaster Gibson ES-335 Gibson Firebird |
#18
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I've used a variety of P2P Fender amps across the range:
- blackface AB763 DR - silverface AB868 / AB1172 / A1270 They've all been pretty good and easy to work on, with the AB763 with a JBL D120F being (IMO) the best-sounding circuit. The new bf reissues are based on that AB763 circuit; on the whole, I think they sound amazingly good. They don't have the nice age and such that the old P2P amps have, but they sound just fine and break up and such just nicely. The only issue I've heard - and I haven't experienced it - is cracking of the circuit boards from rough handling, which is mostly not a thing on the P2P amps. I think Fender's to be commended on having built remarkably good reissue circuits at a price point which is accessible to so many people..... (and I'm considering a 5F6A reissue Bassman, though it's waaaaay too big for anything I need....those things are remarkable). |
#19
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One of my high school bands in the very early 70's had three silver face Twin Reverbs. Two were loud and sounded fine (one of which was my newer master volume model) and one was a dog (it belonged to the keyboard player who did not seem inclined to get it fixed). I was too young at the time to know/offer to look for output stage bias problems that are often the culprit with a bad sounding tube amp.
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jf45ir Free DIY Acoustic Guitar IR Generator .wav file, 30 seconds, pickup left, mic right, open position strumming best...send to direct email below I'll send you 100/0, 75/25, 50/50 & 0/100 IR/Bypass IRs IR Demo, read the description too: https://youtu.be/SELEE4yugjE My duo's website and my email... [email protected] Jon Fields |
#20
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The other fix I've seen is to strip the circuit board bare and use a heat gun to drive out the moisture. That problem seems to afflict both the tweed amps and post-CBS buyout amps where they started waxing the boards. The blackface amps' boards, by and large, seem more resistant to the boards going conductive like that. I very seldom get a vintage Fender in for repair around these parts, but I follow a few techs online that do so I can stay up to date.
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"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." -Zig Ziglar Acoustics 2013 Guild F30 Standard 2012 Yamaha LL16 2007 Seagull S12 1991 Yairi DY 50 Electrics Epiphone Les Paul Standard Fender Am. Standard Telecaster Gibson ES-335 Gibson Firebird |
#21
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Dan Torres showed me a really warped board at his old San Mateo shop, and said that (amazingly) the amp it came out of had sounded fine. Those old amps are tough! |
#22
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1990 Martin D16-M Gibson J45 Eastman E8D-TC Pono 0000-30DC Yamaha FSX5, LS16, FG830, FSX700SC Epiphone EF500-RAN 2001 Gibson '58 Reissue LP 2005, 2007 Gibson '60 Reissue LP Special (Red&TV Yel) 1972 Yamaha SG1500, 1978 LP500 Tele's and Strats 1969,1978 Princeton Reverb 1972 Deluxe Reverb Epiphone Sheraton, Riviera DeArmond T400 Ibanez AS73 Quilter Superblock US[/I] |
#23
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At the time, he had parts I needed. I do most of my own work, but parts sourcing twenty years ago was much harder than today, and he was my contact for things like tremolo bugs and the like.
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#24
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
#25
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The whole point of the D120 in my P2P 1965 DR is to get exactly that smooth tone you've referenced, using either a tele or a jazz box.....but that magnificent speaker works in concert with a slightly lower-gain tube in v1 and v2 - a 5751, with gain-factor of 70, vs a 12AX7/ECC83 with gain factor of 100 - and is biased to reduce power-tube breakup. Set up like that, the amp can gets to about 6+ or more on the volume dial before clipping - and it's quite loud. The stock reissues work similarly - reducing gain of v1 and v2 and adding a speaker less prone to breakup (neos work for this, IMHO) pushes the breakup point higher. Out of the box, though, with 12AX7s in v1 and v2, and an Oxford (or Jensen, in the newer reissues) as the speaker, they start to break up (albeit in a pleasing way) about 4 on the volume dial. |
#26
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My experience with Fender amps: 1) silver Super Reverb circa 1970. 2) silver Twin Reverb circa 1972. 3)1966 Deluxe Reverb purchased some years ago. 3) DRRI, 2010. (All sold except DRRI)
Can I remember exactly what my amps sounded like decades ago? No. They all sounded like Fender amps . I do think my DRRI sounds better than I remember my 1966 Deluxe sounding. I attribute most of the difference to the speaker in the DRRI. I don't think hand wired circuits make electrons behave differently than they do on a PCB board. If an amp sounds, then it sound good!
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I don't have a bunch of guitars because they all sound just like me. 1984 Carvin LB-40 bass 1986 Carvin DC-125 two humbucker 1996 Taylor 412 La Patrie Concert 2012 American Standard Telecaster 1981 Carvin DC 100 Harley Benton LP JR DC Bushman Delta Frost & Suzuki harmonicas Artley flute Six-plus decade old vocal apparatus |
#27
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I have the 65 Princeton Reverb Reissue. I am no amp expert, but I like it. I play it with a mid 90s Mexican Tele.
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#28
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I love my '72 Twin which I have had since 1990 but if I was gonna get a new Fender it would be a reissue. So far I've only had the usual problems, recapp, re-tube, clean pots and so on. But an old amp is well, old. And you are likely to have problems with it. Get a reissue today and it might just last nearly 50 years like mine so far has.
If they are indeed built to the same specs then they will sound the same regardless of point to point (bs hype) or PCB. It's possible though that you may hear differences in the vintage one and consider it to 'sound' better because the old one has leaky caps and a bad power supply. |
#29
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Here is a good article from Tone Report discussing the pros and cons. I think it basically agrees with what has been stated here. Well thought out PTP amps are great and well thought out PCB amps are great. It all depends on the builder. My preference is PTP because a good buy on a vintage Fender PTP amp that has been well maintained will keep its value and probably increase, I don't see this with most PCB amps. I hate to lose money when I sell equipment.
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1990 Martin D16-M Gibson J45 Eastman E8D-TC Pono 0000-30DC Yamaha FSX5, LS16, FG830, FSX700SC Epiphone EF500-RAN 2001 Gibson '58 Reissue LP 2005, 2007 Gibson '60 Reissue LP Special (Red&TV Yel) 1972 Yamaha SG1500, 1978 LP500 Tele's and Strats 1969,1978 Princeton Reverb 1972 Deluxe Reverb Epiphone Sheraton, Riviera DeArmond T400 Ibanez AS73 Quilter Superblock US[/I] |
#30
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Steve Mcilroy A25c (Cedar, English Walnut) with Schatten HFN (custom MiSi Crystal Jack Preamp, putty install.) Maton 75th Anniversary OM 50th Anniversary Fender Am Std Strat. Gretsch 6120 Nashville Players in Blue. Line 6 Helix. If I played as much as I read threads, I'd be a pro.... |