jungleheat said:
I'll assume this was said with humor. If not, chill. This amp is not practical for most guitarists at 180 watts through 2 12" speakers. This is why they sell cheap.
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Fender Super Twin Bass Head
- Thread starter johnk_10
- Start date
I'll assume this was said with humor. If not, chill. This amp is not practical for most guitarists at 180 watts through 2 12" speakers. This is why they sell cheap.
Yeah, because musicians are all about being practical. Somebody would have loved that combo as is, especially being in such nice condition. Actually it would probably make an excellent vintage keys amp with some upgraded speakers (which would be totally returnable to stock later on, rather than cannibalizing and selling off the pieces separately). Or a guitar amp for a guy that plays in a loud band on big stages, and needs a really clean sound sometimes, and then uses lots of pedals at other times (ie shoegaze, postrock, etc...).
Hell, my main guitar amp is 120w and 2 12s, and it's not impractical at all. Actually sometimes I wouldn't mind an extra 60w to get that pristine clean sound a little further up the volume dial at particularly loud shows. That amp I'm considering converting to a keyboard amp, but then again it's only 13 years old, and is a modern SS amp that there are probably 10s or 100s of thousands of out there in the world, going back over a nearly 40 year production run. So it wouldn't be the same as taking what is basically a time capsule amp and just discarding half of it as junk basically (unless somehow the cab and speakers find their way to the owner of a lonely ST chassis).
It just kind of bugs me that bass players are SOOOOO quick to destroy the historical value of anything without so much as a shoulder shrug. They want ONE thing, but they buy something completely different and then try to mold what they bought into what they want, instead of just getting what they want in the first place (in this case a tube bass head).
Hell, my main guitar amp is 120w and 2 12s, and it's not impractical at all. Actually sometimes I wouldn't mind an extra 60w to get that pristine clean sound a little further up the volume dial at particularly loud shows. That amp I'm considering converting to a keyboard amp, but then again it's only 13 years old, and is a modern SS amp that there are probably 10s or 100s of thousands of out there in the world, going back over a nearly 40 year production run. So it wouldn't be the same as taking what is basically a time capsule amp and just discarding half of it as junk basically (unless somehow the cab and speakers find their way to the owner of a lonely ST chassis).
It just kind of bugs me that bass players are SOOOOO quick to destroy the historical value of anything without so much as a shoulder shrug. They want ONE thing, but they buy something completely different and then try to mold what they bought into what they want, instead of just getting what they want in the first place (in this case a tube bass head).
It's a near-200W bass amp disguised as guitar amp, which sold so poorly that they hardly made any. "History"?
Also, if someone knows where I can get an awesome 200W tube amp for under $300... shame on you for not sharing with the group.
Also, if someone knows where I can get an awesome 200W tube amp for under $300... shame on you for not sharing with the group.
This will be my last response to you on this: you're entiltled to your opinions. To say "you should be ashamed blah blah blah"...is so self righteously judgemental as to be laughable. Who the hell are you to judge me? Why should you even care? Who appointed you talkbass vintage gear ethics police? Good move as a guitarist, on talkbass, generalizing negatively about bass players.
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,064
- 45,978
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
Yep, and that amp is often cited as one of the the worst sounding guitar amps of all time -- rightfully so IME and IMHO. There's a whole bunch of Fenders of roughly that vintage that are considered open season for mods, even, or maybe especially, by vintage amp buffs. You're making a silk purse out of a sow's ear, essentially. Good on ya!
Oh yeah - are those the ones with the ultralinear OPT w/screen taps? I've read they could be modded to a more conventional Fender type output and made to sound pretty good for guitar. As it is the UL output is just the ticket for bass where it isn't driven into 20 dB of clipping all the time.Yep, and that amp is often cited as one of the the worst sounding guitar amps of all time -- rightfully so IME and IMHO. There's a whole bunch of Fenders of roughly that vintage that are considered open season for mods, even, or maybe especially, by vintage amp buffs. You're making a silk purse out of a sow's ear, essentially. Good on ya!
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,064
- 45,978
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
Yes, but they also used a cathode follower driver section, so they basically just never want to sound like a classic Fender guitar amp. I beat myself up pretty badly trying to make one (Super Twin Reverb model) work for a really loud shoegaze player. He eventually made it into a PA amp, I think. In retrospect I wish I had bought it and done the conversion to a Studio Bass head.
jnewmark said:
Same amp virtually. Super Twin has an overdrive control (that sound BAD afaik) & different eq points in the rotary eq section. Also came as a 212 combo, Studio Bass came as a 115 EV loaded combo.
+1 chill jungleheat
Browse thru this AND the Studio Bass thread- 95% of em are modded to be bass head only
Sometimes things change for the better.
- Feb 16, 2008
- 21,240
- 23,636
- Disclosures
- John K Custom Basses
IMO, i think that he's dreaming. it doesn't have the original foot switch or speakers, and even if it did, they don't go for anywhere near that much.
Where abouts does yours start to overdrive in the power section?
Approx where is yr Master vol if the gain is very low?
Approx where is yr Master vol if the gain is very low?
I can't get mine to overdrive, it is clear all the way up to 8 on both the master and gain. It is also anemic, I hate putting money into something that is a risk but before I throw the baby out with the bath water I am going to recap it and get a different output transformer. I only have 2 4 Ohm cabs so maybe it is having trouble pushing against double the impedance it is designed for? I have all new J/J tubes, preamp and power. What if my tech put an 12Au7 where an 12Ax7 goes by mistake? Would that make it super clean with hardly any output or is it something else? Cheers.
Wow! 
mine will get break up starting around 5/6 on both master & gain. It's a wicked sounding overdrive too:screwy: but I need a li'l more clean headroom.
I s'pose I need to TRY a new set of 6L6's
mine will get break up starting around 5/6 on both master & gain. It's a wicked sounding overdrive too:screwy: but I need a li'l more clean headroom.I s'pose I need to TRY a new set of 6L6's
Here's the finished product. Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic. Got the combo for $375 shipped, bought a matched sextet of Winged C 6L6GC power tubes, a purple elephant tolex head case and purple jewel from Mojotone, and brought everything to my tech Dennis Kager of Central Jersey Music. Dennis was an Ampeg employee in the 60s and 70s. Best tech around IMO and IME. Only had a chance to play it in the bedroom through an Ampeg 15 cabinet, and one gig through my Berg NV215. Love it so far.
