Fender Red knob twins - didn't know they sounded this good

[cacofonix]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...v=dgb186N-PZI#!

[wrinkleygit]

Over the years I have owned a few twins, the red knob, probably the heaviest, was my favourite, ran it on the low power setting all the time, ahhh those were the days when I could lift an amp with one hand, 6l6's & 2x12's, best sound ever !!!, mike b

[ICBM]

That's a good demo and does illustrate quite accurately what they sound like. I've always found them quite sterile and rather like a very high quality solid-state amp. All those valves, but remarkably little warmth...

I wonder how different it would sound if you used a Pro 185 (essentially the solid-state equivalent from the same series) instead? They sound very good too, partly helped by using the same speakers.

[cacofonix]

A mate of mine has a little solid state version - probably about 20w.

Sounds great with his strat. We had to take it to bits to fix a jack input, though. Cut my hand, and had to use a steel toothpick to get the LED indicators back in place.

Weird construction.

I suspect the valve version is a bit better.

[ICBM]

I suspect the valve version is a bit better.

So you haven't actually looked inside a Red-Knob Twin then...

[hywelg]

I had the successor, the Pro Tube Twin Amp. Exceptionally heavy, I'm not feeble by any means, but I had to split it into a head and cab. Clean was good, o/d was dissappointing. Far too loud to be useable as they really are much nicer with the volume up around 4-4½.

[cacofonix]

So you haven't actually looked inside a Red-Knob Twin then...

Just looked at some gut shots.

Looks ok to me. Send it to you if it needs fixing?






Jez kiddin'

[Rocker]

The dreadful camera work made me feel dizzy..........

[ICBM]

Just looked at some gut shots.

Looks ok to me. Send it to you if it needs fixing?

Jez kiddin'

I don't mind - I'm quite used to working on them since they break quite often! You pay postage though .

The main problems are the dreadful jacks and flimsy pots - not helped by the position of the clean channel pots right at the end of the amp where they get bumped - and that you have to get the whole front PCB out even to clean the pots properly, as well as replace them; the flying leads from the PCBs to the valve sockets which often break right at the board when taking the board out, which means taking the board out again to fix it, and then another one breaks, and so on... and an issue with the high-power resistors on the middle board overheating and cooking their solder connections, and eventually charring the board. (I fix this by taking the resistors off the board and mounting them on a tag strip on the chassis - and hot-melt-glue the flying leads, if they look like the board has been out a few times.) And occasional problems with the switching circuit. Apart from that, they're not too bad.

The weight - as with the later Pro Tube 'Evil' Twin and even the Pro 185 - is mostly down to those massive vented-magnet speakers, which are in my opinion some of the best (or only really good! ) guitar speakers made by Eminence. The transformers are quite big too, although not really unusually so for a 100W valve amp.

[monquixote]

Used to practice at a studio that had a Red Knob Twin.

I thought it was pretty decent and had something of the JC120 about it which is no bad thing in my book.

If you can cope with the massive weight and you can use the stupid power SH Twins are an absolute steal.