Fender Twin Settings HELP!

Bill C. Buntin · Post by **Bill C. Buntin** » 18 Aug 2001 9:08 am

Hey all you tube amp junkies. I'm trying to get used to my new Twin. Wow! The tone and feel is so much different than a solid state amp. I'm having trouble with too much muddy sound. I'm just running direct from the volume pedal to the amp input using about setting 3 on the reverb gain. Highs on 2, mids on 8 and bass on 5 to 6. Of course, vibrato toggled off. Emmons D10 with Emmons Single coil pickups. Any help would be appreciated.

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 18 Aug 2001 9:39 am

*[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 06 May 2002 at 10:08 AM.]

Jason Lollar · Post by **Jason Lollar** » 18 Aug 2001 9:46 am

The open back cabinets are notorious for having floppy bass. Turn the bass control down to about 2 or 3 depending on volume and how much your pickup output is, Emmons are pretty hot. The more volume you run on the amp the more you need to turn down the bass. If you are playing quiet you can turn the bass up to about 6 but if you run it quiet with the bass on 2 it will sound too thin.
The twin is my favorite Fender amp for steel as far as tone but they have too much power for other applications IMO.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 18 Aug 2001 5:10 pm

Well, I'm kinda just the opposite! I think most T/R's have barely enough power for steel, (I've never liked anything with less than 100 watts for playing out.)

Using a "powered" pedal with this amp will require some more testing. I recently bought a powered pedal, but have yet to find a good sound and action with it. I'll post when I do.

Using a pot pedal, I usually set a T/R as follows...

Volume........6-10 (preferably 10)
Treble........3-6 (NEVER higher than 6)
Middle........1-4 (NEVER higher than 4)
Bass..........6-10 (open back cabs need bass!)
Reverb........3-5 (but 10 on some slow stuff!)

For years, these were my "exact" settings on my own BF T/R...V-10, T-3, M-1, B-10, R-4. Of course, probably nobody wants to sound like me, anyway!

IMHO, good sound with a Twin is impossible with the "Middle" control set too high (over 3 or 4). Turning up the mids gives you lots more volume, but the tone goes to hell. The volume control is just the opposite. Unless the volume is up over 6, the amp has no "body" or "fullness".

I once amazed a friend...who was about to "toss" his T/R. He had been playing (just in his house) with the volume on 3, and the middle on 6....terrible sound! When I turned the volume up to 8, the bass to 8, and the middle down to 2, and played a few Chalker and Jernigan licks, he face lit up like a 16 year-old that had just been given a new Corvette!

(My friend kept...and used that amp until he died.)

[This message was edited by Donny Hinson on 18 August 2001 at 06:17 PM.]

Steve Feldman · Post by **Steve Feldman** » 18 Aug 2001 7:17 pm

Volume to 8??? That's some serious LOUD on my Vibrasonic. Here's the 'recipe' BE has given here on the Forum for dialing in an amp, and I've found it very useful:

1) Set tones to some 'neutral' configuration.
2) Increase bass until you begin to hear a 'woofy' sound, then back off a bit.
3) Bring up the mids to taste.
4) Raise the treble until you hear it filter through the mids.

I run my Vibrasonic at bass 4-5, mids ~3, and highs ~4. YMMV.

David Ward · Post by **David Ward** » 19 Aug 2001 7:23 am

I'm using a Twin Reverb with my Carter S10.
I have a 15" Peavy Black Widow plugged into
the extention.

With this set up, I prefer my settings
at T-3 M-3 B-8.5 Rev-3.5

David

Brandin · Post by **Brandin** » 19 Aug 2001 8:17 am

This is what works for me;

Vol- 3 to 4
bright switch off
treble- 6
middle- between 8 and 10
bass- no more than 3
reverb- 4

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 19 Aug 2001 1:04 pm

Well it does tend to matter what guitar and what pickup is in that guitar; to what settings on a Twin will be more desired. But I used that exact re-issue Twin to record our live CD in London and had a great sound as far as I believe and here is exactly how it was set.
First off I would like to say that the Bright switch ON, "opens" up the clarity of the amp; if the bright switch is off; it cuts or mutes the tone/clarity.
Volume 5
Bright switch ON
Bass 7
Mid 2
Treble 4
Reverb 4

Reverb is your own perception of decay/texture of the sound you make.
I played a ShoBud Pro II with BL 610's and a active Goodrich volume pedal with George L chords and a BJS 15/16" Bar with Dunlop thumb pick and Kyser finger picks.
Every single thing above, makes a small difference in the sound of the note(s); and of course your playing style/technique.
But if any of that helps at all; then I'm glad I could be of assistance.
Have fun.
Ricky

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 19 Aug 2001 4:12 pm

I get that comment a lot..."You run the volume up that far?!?!" Actually, if you know how to use the foot volume pedal, you can play just as quietly with the amp volume on 10 as you play with it on 3, and the tone/dynamics are far better! Most of the people who complain about it being "too loud" are using powered volume pedals that double or triple the guitar's normal output before it even gets to the amp.

Yes, I run 'er wide open...and yes, it sounds great!

Jeff A. Smith · Post by **Jeff A. Smith** » 19 Aug 2001 4:39 pm

For a long time, I wasn't aware of how important it is to have the amp properly biased. This can be the difference between good and bad tone. I'm skeptical of the exactitude with which this is sometimes done at the factory.

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 19 Aug 2001 6:49 pm

Brandin - Do you use those settings for your "Spongebob" recordings????

Thanks for giving just about every kid in America a hefty dose of steel guitar!!

Hamilton Barnard · Post by **Hamilton Barnard** » 19 Aug 2001 7:01 pm

Considering that the tone stack on a Fender is imediately after the first gain stage, but before the volume control, setting your tone controls on 2 or 3 is like kissing half of your gain good-bye!

------------------
My Marshalls.

Chris DeBarge · Post by **Chris DeBarge** » 20 Aug 2001 4:01 am

I got a close look at Junior Brown's two Twins, both running at 8. So it must be in his fingers or volume pedal because it wasn't all that loud most of the time.

If my amp is too loud it has the tendency to startle me, it throws off my playing.

BTW, I often use a twin, and like most folks here say, watch that middle control!

Brandin · Post by **Brandin** » 20 Aug 2001 7:17 am

Rick, half the spongebob stuff was done with
my Fender Vibrosonic (early 70's SF) with those settings. And thank you, I love the kids.

As I said in my first post "this is what works for ME!" Maybe, just me.

Robert · Post by **Robert** » 23 Aug 2001 6:37 am

Hey!
Can't help myself - I chime in on almost every thread on Twin Reverbs. I used to run a lot of bass (8 or 9), treble the same, mid around four, reverb 3 or 4. The speakers that were in the thing were there when I acquired it and they were junk. When I eventually replaced them with some decent speakers (Eminence "Ruby") - well, the amp sounded stiff. As the speakers broke in, then I started to find it sounding too "woofy". Finally, feeling dumb for not figuring things out earlier, I re-set the tone controls: treble 6, mid 3-4, bass 5, bright switch always on. Now it sounds like a Twin Reverb should. The speakers were just so much more efficient than the Radio Shack jobs . . . I use these settings with different guitars with only minor tweaking and they all sound good. Moral of the story:
your speakers will somewhat dictate how you need to set your tone controls, and it's OK to change settings per guitar (or venue!)

Rob

Bill C. Buntin · Post by **Bill C. Buntin** » 25 Aug 2001 8:34 pm

You guys are great. Thanks for the inputs.
Just today I set my controls a little flatter. But less mids, bass at 6 or 7 and treble at 3to 4. Rev at 3 to 4. Then I turned the amp to my right side perpendicular to the guitar. Just toying around with different settings and placements. Man! That rig really started to sound GOOD!.. I think I'll use that idea on my next couple of little jobs I've got coming up. Should be fun. Thanks alot.