Fender 'The Twin' Red Knob Combo - Part 1

[@marrisonh]

How much hiss is normal with a 1990 red knob twin? it had a complete filter cap job done 8 years ago.

[@handsomelikeadog]

Another very informative video at an ideal pace for someone like me who is still learning. I'm looking to buy my first 'good' multimeter and would be grateful of your advice on this. Cheers! Ben

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

G'day Ben, Depending on budget, some of the entry level Flukes are okay, but you're really looking for a "True-RMS' unit for audio work. I use the 17x series (175's and 179's). The 77 can be modified to be True-RMS, but the 115 probably suits your needs at an entry level price if you can do without the mA measurements. Also, check out Dave at EEVBlog's range of DMMs for pretty unbeatable value: www.eevblog.com/store/

[@handsomelikeadog]

@@BradsGuitarGarage Fluke 115 ordered! Cheers Brad; keep up the (very) good work from Ben in the UK.

[@alanmcdonald6551]

Greenwood used the SS red knob deluxe 85 I thought. These things were made in Lake Oswego Oregon at the Hammond factory I think.

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

Super 112 and Deluxe 85 now that I look into it. Thanks for the clarification, Alan.

[@alanmcdonald6551]

@@BradsGuitarGarage the red knobs were thought of as inferior. Not so fast.

[@brandoncf100]

Not from a disposable camera but from a strobe/flash battery pack which all require different capacitors from 200 watts to 4800 watts. Those are small so probably a smaller pack

[@xcorp21]

Hi!! Can someone sell me a copy of the manual...dunno how to get it...please someone help...or where can i find it thanks!!

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

It's all over the internet. First result on Google. Is there a reason you can't find it in particular?

[@bee17167]

Have one is the evil twin is one of the best valve amp i got love it gets a nice thump.

[@richwallace6854]

Yeah, the only "red knob" I knew was my silverface Twin. That's a 100 Watt with JBL'S 120 w speakers and a knob adj stable Main power selector. I bought that (lucky to have gotten) from my tiny town music store.

[@johnnytheangel1]

exactly how I feel when I have to move my Music Man 210 65, heavy bugger it is

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

They are seriously heavy for the small physical size of their cabinets!

[@StephaneBergeronPixelyzed]

I own one of those that also requires service... but I'm in Canada :) Heavy beast for sure! But one of the best clean tones I ever had. Btw, this is NOT the Evil Twin. The red knobs was manufactured from 1989 to1994. The next model manufactured from 1994 to 2001 actually was the evil Twin. People make that mistake all the time because red = evil right? In this case, no :)

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

I know a bunch of techs in Canada. Reach out if you need me to hook you up with one. Email via my website contact form preferred, as I don't keep track of comments on YT.

[@StephaneBergeronPixelyzed]

@@BradsGuitarGarage Thank you! Will do that for sure.

[@relaxmeditazioneesuonidell2136]

Hi, could you tell me what model are the volume and bass pots of the clean channel? thank you.

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

Only if you send me whisky.

[@relaxmeditazioneesuonidell2136]

@@BradsGuitarGarage of course...😃

[@EricFansher]

Where did you source that 2.7k and 30k resistor? can’t find them anywhere.

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

Where have you looked? All the major vendors have them or similar in stock.

[@EricFansher]

@@BradsGuitarGarage pretty much everywhere online. Did you go back in with a higher wattage?

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

No, 10w. It's in the following part 2 video. They're readily available. Where is "pretty much everywhere online"? I'm trying to find out where you're going wrong.

[@EricFansher]

@@BradsGuitarGarage I was looking for 19 Watt. My schematic is a little fuzzy on the numbers. lol Yes, I can find 10 Watt all day long. Thanks

[@EricFansher]

@@BradsGuitarGarage someone had already been in this one and replaced those cement resistors. They used a Claro VC10F for both. Not getting a reading on either, so I’m hoping this is my no sound issue. 🤞🏻

[@goodun2974]

Actually, back in the late 80's, using photoflash caps for tube hifi gear was a thing ----- I recapped a Dynaco PAS 3 preamp with them. You young whippersnappers wouldn't know about such things because it was well before your time! 😁

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

This was done around 2010, so no excuses.

[@goodun2974]

@@BradsGuitarGarage , the photoflash caps are supposedly the capacitor equivalent of fast-recovery diodes (aka Freds). Fast discharge cycle, therefore presumably good for dynamics and transients. Also having high capacitance and voltage handling in a very small package.. Might not be what we want for a guitar amp, however.....we *like* sag and compression.

[@retread1083]

63~67 AB763 Blackface Twin Reverb Amp 68~82 AC568, AA769, AA270 Silverface Twin Reverb Amp 83~86 Twin Reverb II (master volume, effects loop, no tremolo, blackface cosmetics) 87~94 The Twin (Red Knob) (unique black cosmetics) 94~01 Twin Amp (Evil Twin) (master volume, effects loop, no tremolo, channel switching, gain footswitch, Mix, Reverb, Presence, blackface cosmetics) 02~10 Twin Amp (Pro Tube) (master volume, effects loop, tube tremolo, channel switching, gain footswitch, Presence control, blackface cosmetics)

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

There you go! Thanks mate, that's what I thought. I'm not a Fender historian but if I lived in the US I probably would be. We only get post CBS stuff out here, they can be vastly improved, but not a lot of collector value as of yet.

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

And I was responding to a live chat question regarding the "evil twin" during that topic. Check out the live streams and some of my comments make more sense.

[@goodun2974]

@@BradsGuitarGarage , "Stop Making Sense, making sense....." 😁

[@retread1083]

@@BradsGuitarGarage The Silverface series is actually pretty good except for the ridiculous bias balance garbage. There are a few other changes that are arguably better. It doesn't take much to change those models to '63 specs. Personally, I prefer the Silverface cosmetics but I seem to one of the few.

[@jimmyjakes1823]

@@BradsGuitarGarage The red knob was called the 'evil twin' back in the 80's because of the red knobs and the gain, but it was just an informal nickname by players and salesmen. Fender ran with it and advertised the 94' blackface twin as the 'evil twin', so that one is the officially recognized 'Evil Twin.' People who argue about this and correct each other on the internet are taking this stuff way too seriously though.

[@zbaby82]

Those dreaded IC caps. Why Fender why?

[@retread1083]

These IC caps are probably not the same as the garbage Fender spec'd for their later amps to save a buck or two.

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

Yes, there are different grades of IC caps. While these are leaking, you need to remember that they're almost 30 years old. The cut-rate bad batches that Fender sourced started leaking in the same manner after 2-3 years if that. The ones you can buy from Digikey etc are a higher grade, but I'd rather put my faith in F&T as after 10+ years of using them, I've never had a single failure. In a pinch, the IC brand caps from Digikey might get an amp made reliable under budget though. Better than it being out in the world with leaking caps.

[@retread1083]

@@BradsGuitarGarage Spot-on, mate. Another reason to use F&Ts as replacements: If a less knowledgeable tech sees IC caps they might assume they're garb soon to fail and might do a cap job as a preventative measure. Seeing F&Ts in a Fender leaves no doubt a cap job has been done.

[@cpfs936]

I love the dummy-proof secondary fuse! That's actually a great idea.

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

It is, isn't it? I might use that on my own designs!

[@ctcards2636]

I had a Red Knob Twin and I hated it, I couldnt get a good sound out of it. I remember when I finally got a black face a year later being like WOW! This is what I was looking for ! LOL. I have seen a few guitar players that still use these and seem to get a good tone out of them, but not me.

[@ctcards2636]

Yeah those 2 white ones (R128 and 129) over heat, make sure they are off the board more when you put new ones on and that way the heat can dissipate and it wont possibly damage the board. A lot of the parts on many amps on too close to the PC board. Look at the coloring near them on this amps board. Thats no good. And that could have bad leads in the board and at that point this repair becomes much more substantial on the wallet. ;-)

[@Renshen1957]

Hernia time…