# Red Knob Fender Twin....what's the deal?



## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

OK, poped in a local shop i had't been in like for 2 years to see their new stuff, and after trying a frew crappy "CRATE" amps, i see, in the corner, a Red Knob Fender Twin...what's thed deal?..the owner sais, oh, it's a used amp, so i leave it in the back. it's in fairly good shape, the tolex is a little worned, but nothing major, i open it, let the lamp heat up a bit while i talk to a sale clerk and try it...BAM..i tough it actually souded pretty decent. i never realy heard about those ampe, seems they were made from 86 to 94. 

Is this a good thing to get?..it's only 550$ and even at low volume it sounded pretty well. I'm asking cause even if it does sound nice, sometimes you can run into certain issues and i'de rather know now then later..


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## Soupbone (May 17, 2007)

Repairs could be costly if something bad has happened or it is moddified. That seems a fair price if its all working as it should and its in true condition.
Get a tech to check it all out. 

I know not what kind of music you're to play or how you want to sound but note:
Even with a master volume and pulling 2 of the output tubes and the use of a pedal or two, for rock They sound best straight, played loud, at least to me.:rockon:

You probably wont be able to use it at full 60's 70's rock potential and have the fun and experience unless you're playing large halls then You cant beat a Twin but of course if you're playing clean you can keep it fairly low with a great tone even for the Holiday Inn on a Friday Night.

Personally I think they are a great instrument but they are heavy and if you're going to lug them around they could wreck your back.

One thing is it will be an investment eventually whereas newer stuff may take a very long time or not at all to recoup the bread. You could probably get the $ back in no time if you decided to flip it and its in good shape. Although most people are'nt using them anymore.

If you get it, get it checked out by a teck, at least a 30 day money back, -lugging it around? get wheels...gonna rockit too? earplugs.kjdr

Now adays most go for the low powered/light ergonomic stuff and mike it.
For me that's:zzz:


JMO


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

Thanks for the info Soupbone. it's to play home acutally, i just tough it sounded realy rich at low volume...so the weight of the amp is not a concern to me. it's actually lighter then my former Marshall combo.


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## Soupbone (May 17, 2007)

Well I like the fender sound too. 
I have a freind who has a modded one, he pulls the 2 outer power tubes, has a "triode switch mod" which lowers the output and it is still loud.

Myself ? I built a 5F8-circa 1957 high power tweed twin, I used old parts from junk PA gear as well as 6v6 tubes and a lower power transformer. It still has that Fender tone. Its linda like a tweed double deluxe:smile: even it at 22 watts lets me only use half the tubes at a garage jam, and thats with the volume pushing 4ish.
I think:
You might try/like a Fender deluxe reverb, it will still give that Rich Fender tone and a used one should be cheaper than a twin. They are lower powered and still have the reverb like the twin. They are lighter, use less power and are cheaper to maintain(hopefully).
Good luck in finding the right amp for you. Test as you check around.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

it's a fender evil twin, i believe - search that on google and see what you get


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

I have one of those. I used to gig with it exclusively before. I've never had any issues with it after having bought it used 12 years ago. If you like to use pedals it is a great amp for that. The cleans are probably the best thing about them. 

I think what they're asking for is a good price. I've seen them going between $800--1K around here.


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## Gunny (Feb 21, 2006)

When I got back into music in the early 90s I had a Deluxe 85 from the same product line. I work on a lot of amps but admit haven't been inside any from the era of the red knobs. For reasons I can't explain, these red knob amps have a bad reputation. I know a fellow who plays lead guitar in a blues group and has been using the The Twin like yours for almost 20 years. No problems at all with it and the amp sounds fantastic.
If you're liking how yours works and sounds, be content with it and don't listen to the negative comments of others unless they have substantial information to back up the gripes.


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## Wild Bill (May 3, 2006)

Gunny said:


> When I got back into music in the early 90s I had a Deluxe 85 from the same product line. I work on a lot of amps but admit haven't been inside any from the era of the red knobs. For reasons I can't explain, these red knob amps have a bad reputation. I know a fellow who plays lead guitar in a blues group and has been using the The Twin like yours for almost 20 years. No problems at all with it and the amp sounds fantastic.
> If you're liking how yours works and sounds, be content with it and don't listen to the negative comments of others unless they have substantial information to back up the gripes.


I've worked on a number of them. The bad things are the gain channel and the printed circuit board construction. The good thing is that they kept the traditional wonderful Fender clean channel.

Like all the Twins before it, it's big, loud and heavy! The Red Knob came out at the turn of the 90's and they added a MV and some extra gain. To my ears, it didn't really work. It sounds too "fizzy". The clean circuit was the regular BlackFace wiring and sounds just as good as any other Twin.

The printed circuit boards are your usual awkward and chintzy boards that are a PITA to work on. To change a control you have to take the nuts off ALL the front panel pots since they hold the preamp board up. The controls are mounted and soldered directly to the board. The traces and solder pads are all small and lift REAL easy if you put your iron on them too long!

These circuit board mounted pots are the tiny ones with the 1/8" shaft, and several have a long DPDT switch on the back that's also soldered to the board. It's really easy to bend or break the shaft, particularly on the ones with the pull switch. There are two values used, 1 meg and 250k. Last time I needed one I found that although 1 meg is readily available I had a heckuva time finding a 250k. I was warned that they're not made anymore and I got the last couple I could find.

As long as you don't need much servicing beyond the usual re-tubing and biasing the Red Knob Twin can be just as good as any other, except for the gain channel as I had said. That's all taste anyway and maybe someone else would like it. Some folks like garlic on their Cheerios, too.

If you want some crunch I'd suggest using the clean channel with a decent pedal. Fender clean channels have always loved good pedals.

:food-smiley-004:


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

I've seen Robben Ford and Sonny Landreth use them (and they normally play Dumbles) so they can't be too bad. There is lots of info here:

http://www.dannymarx.com/redknob.html

These are not the same as the "Twin Professional" (aka Evil Twin) which wasn't a very well regarded amp.

Pete


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## Hamm Guitars (Jan 12, 2007)

I used to have a Fender Stage 185 - which was a Solid State Red Knob amp. It was dependable as hell, and sounded pretty good to boot.

How good was it? It replaced two sixty something Fender Bandmaster heads that I was using previous to it as they were getting unreliable. I owned this amp from the early nineties till the late nineties and never had a problem with it. I even left it in the trunk of my car for an entire winter - when I got around to taking it out and using it there was no problem.

I'd have no problem buying another red knob, transistor or tube.


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## Ripper (Jul 1, 2006)

Wild Bill is bang on. They are a PITA to work on but not a bad amp. Most of the ones I have had to fix were because of a combo of rough treatment and the circuit board construction.

They do have the Fender clean and they do take pedals really well. I'm not a fan of the gain channel either, but it might just be what you are looking for.


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## Gene Machine (Sep 22, 2007)

*I agree*

+1 for Ripper and Wild Bill.

I had a deluxe 85 and had to replace an input jack and a switch. PITA to work on. 

For home, probably more than you'll ever need.but that's a good price.


there is a guy on craigslist in toronto selling a '76 silverface twin for $700. that would be a good deal. (no connection to me) easy to work on if you need to. eventually all those tube amps will need a cap replacement. 


g.


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## TimH (Feb 4, 2006)

I went to a jam a few months ago and the house amp was that one. I actually expected it to sound bad but it didn't...sounded great. Even the gain channel. For that kind of dough you'd be hard pressed to find a better amp. 

I would caution buying it as some kind of investment though. That amp is not very highly regarded and they made zillions of them so it's not gonna go up in value any.


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