[adamthemute]

I recently got my first tube amp, a Fender Twin Reverb, and well, I'm never going back to anything but tube amps.

I have a crappy Marshall V100 head that I got cheap, and I really hate it. I'm looking to spend $1000 max, and I want to get a good, loud, and reliable tube head. Maybe something along the lines of the Fender Twin tone, but more crisp bass response at low and loud volumes.

A lot of bands I'm into use Sunn Model T's and Ampeg V4's. I've looked on Ebay, and they're pretty cheap sometimes ($400-800). I've never seen one of these sold locally though, they're pretty rare.

Does anyone have experience with these amps? Or maybe someone can recomommend me something that could be similar that won't break the bank.

 

[Yerffej]

thats a good range to look in for sure. you can generally get some of the older fender piggyback heads in that range as well. a few mods can generally tighten up the bass response. Also, everyone has been selling their traynor gear lately, you can often make away with a head for 5 or 6 hundred. They are LOUD and kind of sterile sounding, very hard.

 

[adamthemute]

Cool I'll keep an eye out for those as well. I've also looked into Garnet's, Laney's, and Sovtek's.

Is it possible to use the Fender Twin as a head for a Marshall 4x12? Kind of like the Fender Showman and Garnet Session Man. How would I go about doing that without making something explode?

 

[Ripper]

The Sunn Model T aren't a bad amp, they weigh a freakin ton and are a real prick to work on (just had one on my bench). If it was me, look around for a Laney or a used Marshall JCM. There was a Laney on the Winnipeg Buy and Sell or UsedWinnipeg for $600.

 

[djem]

A guy on Craigslist Toronto has a Traynor YBA-1 c/w Traynor 6x10 cab up for sale for $500.

 

[Yerffej]

A guy on Craigslist Toronto has a Traynor YBA-1 c/w Traynor 6x10 cab up for sale for $500.

yeah I saw that one too. The traynor speakers are pretty lackluster though, I wouldnt factor the cab in as worth very much money. The fender super six reverb is a twin with 6 tens that was made in the seventies and is wicked loud as well

There were actually twin heads made in the eighties, but they are pretty different sounding. the ones with a million features. They can be had cheap however.


You can push a 4x12 with most heads, you just have to match up the impedances.

 

[bolero]

ampeg V4 & V4B are fantastic amps...if you ever get the chance to crank one up with a les paul, look out!! killer :rockon2:

 

[peter benn]

Ampegs and maintenance/Twins as heads

From what I've read and heard anecdotally, Ampegs are touchier and more expensive to set up and maintain than a Fender-style tube amp. See the chapter "Getting Rid Of Those SVT Blues" in Gerald Weber's "Tube Amp Talk."

If I had to quickly sum up the scuttlebut, every component in an Ampeg must be absolutely correct and in-spec, the bias must be set exactly right, and you have to use very good tubes (and a lot of them).

That being said, they are a big component of the Rolling Stones sound, for instance. When Booker T. & the MG's did Ottawa Bluesfest some time ago, Cropper appeared to be combining a large Ampeg combo with a Super Reverb on the outdoor stage.

Your idea for driving a 4 x 12" cabinet with a Twin is fine as long as the 4 x 12" is 8 ohms or 4 ohms. From the Twin's "Speaker" output (4 ohms) it will be just like using a Dual Showman (4 ohms) to drive a 4 ohm load, an 8 ohm load at 100% mismatch up, or a 2 ohm load at 100 % mismatch down.

From the Twin's "Ext. Spkr" output however (in addition to the Twin's combo speakers) your options are limited to a 4 ohm load. Most 4 x 12" cabinets are either 16 ohms or 8 ohms.

From a practical point of view, carrying a Twin around and not using its speakers -- and carrying a 4 x 12 cabinet around -- is a lot of work.

Here's a situation where the 60's "single" Showman (8 ohms) is a more flexible unit, as it will also drive 16 ohm or 4 ohm loads.