Hfan Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 Just got my Twin back from the shop. It's a 74 or 75 I had back in high school. Was inoperable for many years, finally got some time to rip it apart a few years back (one good thing about unemployment anyway..extra time). Replaced all the electrolytic caps, 3 prong ac plug and a few tubes and it came back to life, sounded ok I guess. Decided to black face it and do a few mods from what I could learn on the internet. I fixed digital print presses for many years how hard could an amp be? After about a week of kitchen table top soldering, pulling components, adding new ones, a few hours at a time, then putting the mess away, while watching my young kids it was "done". Sounded much more vintage or whatever , not bad. Then started to notice a buzz on bass notes upon decay. Bad speakers? Plugged in my only other available speaker to test, the Blues Jr's. Seemed to be buzz free, but only at moderate volume, was afraid I would blow the damm speaker. So..bought a pair of Eminence Red White Blues, pulled the original JBL Orange Back D120s, installed the Eminence sounded great except the damm buzz was still kind of there. Lack of time etc caused me to put the Twin on a back burner ie put the cover on and forgot about it. Fast forward to last year's PSP. I knew Brian would be there, had been interested in down sizing from the Twin and this would be my big chance to meet Brian and get a build from him without shipping to NJ. But there was slight complication, my wife had graciously agreed to my going to PSP but I didn't want to push my luck and mention a new amp. We where in the middle of a re model and storage space was in short demand. Had a brilliant idea, would bring the Twin in for service and when I returned from PSP with the Reverb Deluxe there would still only be 2 amps evident. I know shame on me, truly evil scheming. Brian built a lovely Reverb Deluxe on short notice for me and I took delivery at the Country Inn. I told the amp guy (Dave of Dave's Sound in North Jersey..thanks TBone for the recommendation) take your time, I am hiding it from the wife, he understood, cool. Anyway, Dave is good and very busy I didn't even call him til November, still saying "take your time". I think the fact that I had done my own amateur black face, adjustable bias balance, removal of master volume circuitry etc stuff, it was daunting for him.He had to undo some of my blunders. I had previously brought it to a local tech to have him review my work .."looks good..I re soldered a few joints.." bull shit. He took my $80 and I bet he never even pulled the chassis. Dave wound up pulling out about 8 various caps, my bias trim pot etc "redundant stuff per Dave", some lead dress and a few tubes. He restored it to his version (ie correct version) of a blackface Twin, got it back 2 weeks ago, holy crap, it is wonderful. Here is a pic with my 575 and new Steiner plug (excuse the messy family room..kids). The 575 loves it as do my Fender types. And with the 20 foot cable, I can sit in my kitchen (while I should be studying) and leave the amp where it is Will be keeping her I think and it turns out my wife doesen't care (just don't tell her how many guitars are squirelled away round the house). Anyone interested in a pair of vintage jbl 120s? I'm leaving in the Eminence, they break up a little at reasonable for a Twin volumes. Don't worry, I won't bring it to PSP, I have an itchy volume control finger... hard to leave it on 2 1/2.. Edited to mention that the tubes are indeed emitting a pleasant odor from a distance.
zguitar71 Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 Great amp guitar combo, they are perfect for each other!
tulk1 Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 Neat story!! Wish I still had my '74 Twin. Know what you're saying about the vol thang. They really start to sing at about 4-5. Ear damage territory, for sure. A rebuilt twin is on my short list. Enjoy yours.
fxdx99 Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 Cool thread, Jeff... er Pete! My first year of college, one of the other guys on the floor had a nice SG and a twin. We were in the dorm and we got permission to use a room downstairs that didn't have classes in it. Small for a classroom anyway. We changed the lock so only we had a key and kept drums/amps in there to jam. That twin was waaaaaay too loud. And clean. At the time I wanted marshall-y and couldn't relate to an amp that would stay clean for that loud. Later years, heard a tele thru one and 'got' it. Beautiful clean fender tone. Congrats on getting it back to shape!
Hfan Posted February 13, 2012 Author Posted February 13, 2012 Yeah Randy the Teles like it for sure. Got one plugged in now. Like you said, not for the Marshally thing though.
bolero Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 those are great amps, my first "real" amp was a '72/73 twin reverb used it for years, with an original marshall guv'nor pedal & a strat then I had it blackfaced but it never sounded as good afterwards...weird I know...ended up selling it
t0aj15 Posted February 14, 2012 Posted February 14, 2012 It's been my opinion for many years that if you really wan't to hear the true essence of an electric guitar (any electric guitar) you should play it through a Twin and don't be shy with the volume control, after all there's a reason for the 'ELECTRICITY'.
Steiner Posted February 14, 2012 Posted February 14, 2012 I took a Martin in to Michael Tobias in the 70s. He talked me into a FRAP pickup instalation. When I picked it up, we pluged into a Twin. I remember that day clearly, well better than most days in the 70s. My guitar sounded just like my guitar only louder. When the time came to get amps, I put the Twin on the list. It's still a fun amp. I trust you'll enjoy yours just as much. Happy (rejuvinated) NADs!
tsp17 Posted February 14, 2012 Posted February 14, 2012 Great amp guitar combo, they are perfect for each other! indeed. Great pairing. I wish i still had my Twin Reverb. Best tone ever with my 575MH.
byrdland Posted February 14, 2012 Posted February 14, 2012 Those orange back JBl's are worth a LOT of money!! Check it out.
FredZepp Posted February 14, 2012 Posted February 14, 2012 My old Dean Markley CD-212 does those twin reverb type tones, but has a channel with gain that allows rock tones at different volumes also. I still use the 40 watt 1-12 version more because it can really do any volume..... even really quiet with overdrive and nice harmonics etc. The 2-12 has a fuller tone.. but can't do it at a whisper... though it does sound great at a moderate volume and higher. It is really heavy when transporting though.
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