Black vs Silverface Twins

[Alex Estrada]

I’m pretty long overdue to add a backup amp to the stable and currently gig with a black face reissue Twin with a single Eminence Travis Toy 15”. With that being said, I love how my Twin plays and am partial to getting another but with a slight twist.

Curious about people’s experiences with black face vs silver face Twins for steel and any recommendations you might have for a silver face’s speakers.

[James Holland]

I like a silverface. I know everyone likes the blackface scoop, but I think I prefer a silverface for general purpose, pedals, different instruments, etc.

[Henry Schuellerman]

I record and gig with a silverface Fender Pro reverb (early 70s) which is 40 watts, basically half the power of a Twin. I can't attest to how blackface amps sound, but I think old silverface Twins and Pros are the perfect workingman's amp. Quality build and classic sound, but don't have to be overly nervous hauling it around and playing bars since they are relatively "cheap" and plentiful compared to other tube amps on the used market (sooo many cheap Twins on facebook marketplace).

The Pro came to me with old Fender Utah speakers which I have no complaints about.

[Per Berner]

Haven't tried a blackface, but way back I used to own a silverface twin with two JBLs, and it sounded heavenly. But it was impossibly heavy (over 100 lbs), got hot enough to fry an egg on and needed frequent visits to an amp tech to keep it from humming and hissing extensively. So no more real tubes for me...The Tone Master Twin is not far off the mark sonically, looks the part, won't need servicing and is easy to carry.

[Dave Grafe]

Blackface is warmer, breaks up earlier but remains warm and friendly.
Silverface is cleaner thus takes pedals better, but when it does break up it is nastier.
Both are decent for steel and have their proponents and detractors. Both sound their best with JBL speakers IMHO.

You might take a look at the Quilter ToneBlock 202 or SuperBlock US, both of which feature tube-like tone, excellent reverb and vintage Fender tone stack design.

[Johan Bandling Melin]

To me the biggest difference is if it’s an old 60s/70s amp or new a reissue amp. To me they are completely different animals. With that said my experience is that the twin reissue models are the ones closest to the originals compared to Super Reverbs, Deluxe Reverbs and Princeton Reverbs. The reissues are much harsher and stiff sounding than the vintage ones and the break up feels a lot different. And the reverb on the new ones I’ve tried have been mushy and kind of in the way and hard to dial in (either too much or too little). But reverbs tend to differ a little even on the vintage amps but I never had the problem like I’ve had with the reissue models. I don’t say that all reissue models are bad amps (really liked a silver face Princeton Reverb 68 Custom) but they are something else than the original amps. Some people might even like them better for certain steel sounds! Maybe weird to say but in my experience the reissues are almost more related to a Peavey amp than an old Fender.

At home all I have is mid 60s Fender amps but when I fly to a show most of the times they offering reissue amps nowadays so I have tried a wide selection of different Fender models. I also have a Peavey NV112 (used to own a NV400) and a Quilter 101 mini reverb.

I don’t know if this makes any sense or if anyone else has similar experience with reissue/vintage Fenders?

[Kyle Everson]

My favorite tube amps for steel are Fender-style (12AX7 preamp tubes with 6L6 power tubes [6V6 work great too]).

My options are:
black panel Pro Reverb (Dec ‘65)
black panel Twin Reverb (Jan ‘66)
silver panel Deluxe Reverb (late ‘73)

I pair each of these with the same single 12” BW 1201-8 in my studio, depending on which amp fits the song. The mismatch in impedance is a non-issue for me.

For studio, low volume, the silver Deluxe breaks up a little but stays clean. I would not trust it on a loud stage.

The black panels do sound sweeter, but the silver has just as good a tone, especially when given a good setup by a qualified amp tech.
Black panel examples are worth the extra money though, to me, but only if they have the blue Ajax caps remaining.

All that said, if you want two speakers in a cabinet for a Twin (or Pro Reverb), Jensen Neos work great at taming the shrillness of silverface. They are lightweight too.

If you want to go rogue, put the Twin in a head cab and use a single 12” extension cab with a loud speaker. That’s been my rig for the last 15-20 years. Loud and clean, and lighter weight.

YMMV

kwe

[Bob Carlucci]

Blackface is warmer, breaks up earlier but remains warm and friendly.
Silverface is cleaner thus takes pedals better, but when it does break up it is nastier.
Both are decent for steel and have their proponents and detractors. Both sound their best with JBL speakers IMHO.

You might take a look at the Quilter ToneBlock 202 or SuperBlock US, both of which feature tube-like tone, excellent reverb and vintage Fender tone stack design.

I agree with Dave's opinion, and I will add a bit to it.. SF amps seem to have a bit more clean headroom especially "newer' ones around post 1969 or so.. All the BF amps are good for steel, it all depends on how much power/headroom you need.. One of the sweetest amps i ever had for steel was a 1964 tremolux, which has a bit less power than most of the 2 6L6 Fender amps, around 30 watts. I also played BF Bassman ,Bandmaster and Showman amps , and they all sounded good to very good.. That being said, the absolute best sounding steel amps I ever used were very different, and both were Silverface amps.. One was a 1968 Super Reverb w/ stock CTS speakers,, just a magnificent sounding amp .. Never heard such a sweet sound before or since, for steel and guitar too.. Plenty of power. A close second was a Fender Quad Reverb.. Absolutely HUGE sound, but all Fender. More clean headroom than any Fender amp I ever had, including a couple of Fender 140's... All Fender tube amps w/ 6L6 output tubes will sound good with steel, it really just depends on how loud you want to play. I agree with Dave about JBL speakers to a point, but I always blew them up, and the stock CTS/Jensen/Utah speakers Fender used always sounded great to me as well, as long as they were "blue label". Later on, I used a Weber California 15 inch in a raggedy old cab with my Fender amps, and it was a pretty close competitor to a JBL 15, and much more durable.. Matter of fact , I still have it upstairs, play through it daily 35 years later!,,, Bottom line is this.. Fender tube amps are good pedal steel amps...., bob

[Jeffrey Shu]

I tried a late-60s Blackface a couple years ago thinking I would love it. In fairness, it hadn't been worked over by a tech - some might say this was a selling point. I was surprised at how much more I liked my '74 Silverface. I had a '73 Pro as well and had it updated, but ended up keeping the SFTR. For the record, I split the head and speaker cab so I didn't die!

Recently switched from 2x12 JBLs to a 15" D130 - still deciding which I like best.

I also play a Steelaire when I play both steel to mandolin (the mando doesn't love the Twin or vice versa). I like the Quilter, but not as much as the Twin.

[Tim Whitlock]

When my tech was working on my Twin Reissue (he completely rebuilt it with hand wiring), he loaned me his silverface Twin Reverb with orange JBL D120Fs. That amp was probably the sweetest amp I ever played steel through. If you get one, make sure you get it biased well, to warm up the tone. JBLs or Altecs are magic in a Twin, if you can find them.

[Bill Terry]

I've had both, currently have a '69 Drip Edge Twin that I like a lot, and it's not 'too' different from the BF models, also easily 'BF'd' back to the AB763 spec. I've also got a ToneMaster Twin, and it's ok, but side-by-side with the '69, I'll pick the 'real one' every time. It's a weight thing more than anything. These days I use a Quilter Steelaire, which I guess is kind of 'old school' now?? wow... LOL..

But as you go further into the SF series and later models they can get quite a bit different, i.e. master volume, more power, etc. So comparing BF vs SF may depend a lot on which SF it is.. More details here:
https://ampwares.com/amplifiers/fender- ... in-reverb/

I've heard some not so flattering things about the much later SF Twins, but can't say that I've owned one.

[Dave Grafe]

When my tech was working on my Twin Reissue (he completely rebuilt it with hand wiring), he loaned me his silverface Twin Reverb with orange JBL D120Fs. That amp was probably the sweetest amp I ever played steel through. If you get one, make sure you get it biased well, to warm up the tone.

One big difference between AB763 BF amps and the later SF amps it the removal of the bias adjustment hardware in the SF designs, replacing it with a "Hum Balance" adjustment which does nothing to affect tube bias. The only way to affect bias in SF amps is to swap out power tubes.