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Author
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Topic: Fender Tube amps and service
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Ray DeVoe
Member From: Columbia, Tennessee, USA
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posted 10 February 2005 12:57 PM
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Well Grant, you certainly got a lot of good feedback on Fender Tube amps but here is my story.I just wanted to share my still on going experience with a New Fender 85 watt, 65 Twin reissue with the 15 " Eminence. I bought this amp in the Nashville area during the later part of December and it never made it to its first gig. It would start to crack and snap and then the right two 6L6 tubes would turn a bright red. I called Fender and they had me take the amp to Techstar which is their local Nashville authorized repair shop. This was on 12/29/04. The amp is still there. Between getting pushed back for the "big jobs" that they always have coming in and now waiting weeks for new tubes and parts to arrive from Fender,I am still without this amp. I have several older Evans FET 500's that have had thier little quirks and trips back to the repair shop in NC, but I have never had a lenghty repair period like this. This amp didn't even have 5 hours of use on it.
I told the Fender dealer yesterday that I wanted him to talk to his rep about getting me a new amp and I dont know how far that will go. I really just wanted to share this story with all of you in case you run into problems with a Fender that requires warranty repairs, especially in the Nashville area. I expected much more out of the name "Fender." Sincerely,
Ray DeVoe |
Bill Hatcher
Member From: Atlanta Ga. USA
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posted 10 February 2005 01:53 PM
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Sounds like you are getting the run around from this repair place. Surely they have some tubes and parts in stock to fix the amp. They could get reimbursed from Fender instead of making you wait.
I fixed a lot of Fender stuff. Nothing in there that can't be bought in a few hours at a electronics supply place.Glowing red tubes is usually a bias problem. Now as far as the amp is concerned, it is not a faithful reissue of a blackface Fender Twin. I don't like the printed circuit boards in those things. Hard to work on and not as roadworthy as the old fiber card hand wired amps. I would just get my money back. |
Brad Sarno
Member From: St. Louis, MO USA
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posted 10 February 2005 02:22 PM
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Why anyone would try to satisfy their thirst for a classic Fender without just getting a real original doesn't make sense to me. They truly don't make them like they used to. They can't afford to. An original hand-wired point-to-point Fender is still the standard by which everything seems to get compared. If you want a new amp as good as an old Fender it will cost you about $2500 or lots more for a botique brand amp. Like Bill said, your bias seems to be the issue. I'm sure your power tubes are destroyed and it's hard to say what else may have gone down with them. With an abundance of original '68-'70 Fenders out there for well under $1000, it only makes sense to me to get an original and have it completely serviced. It'll be good for years and will probably be far more reliable and roadworthy than the modern stuff. Not to knock Fender. It's really the nature of today's costs of manufacturing. The old amps were very labor-intensive and the component quality back then was more military grade than that of today's. The only stuff I've seen Fender make these days that can hold a candle to the original stuff is their extremely expensive custom-shop stuff that is truly hand-wired like the good old stuff. But why pay over $2500 when you can spend $800 on the real deal? You can pry my '69 Twin from my cold dead hands. Brad Sarno |
Bill Hatcher
Member From: Atlanta Ga. USA
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posted 10 February 2005 02:32 PM
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Ditto Brad. |
Ken Fox
Member From: Ray City, GA USA
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posted 10 February 2005 05:19 PM
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Diito from me, too. I worked on a reissue Twin, never again!
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Ray DeVoe
Member From: Columbia, Tennessee, USA
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posted 10 February 2005 05:39 PM
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Thanks for the good advice. Too bad I didn't know it in advance. You are liable to see this unit on E Bay when I get it back. I called Fender this evening and told them I had written up this episode on a national steel forum and it got there attention. I may even get this amp back this month.Thanks to everyone including the "never again man".  |
Bob Carlucci
Member From: Candor, New York, USA
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posted 10 February 2005 06:14 PM
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Ditto.. Originals from the 70's can be had pretty cheap... and most are even BETTER for steel than thier counterparts from the 60's.. more clean headroom. ALL those "reissues" are bogus IMHO... sorry you had to go through this ordeal to find out. |
Bryan Knox
Member From: Gardendale, Alabama...Ya'll come
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posted 10 February 2005 08:43 PM
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I'm thinking of going from a Twin Reverb to a Deluxe Reverb. Mine is early 70's vintage.Main reason for considering the DR is that the Twin is SO loud, and SO heavy. Price wise, are you guys seeing these amps in the similar price range or does one seem to be fetching more than the other? Also, would you think that I would be "backing up" by going from a Twin to a Deluxe, or is the Deluxe more desireable? Thanks,
Bryan ------------------
Help prevent juvenile delinquency...teach children to STEEL |
Mark Herrick
Member From: Los Angeles, CA
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posted 10 February 2005 09:06 PM
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The Deluxe is rated at only 22 watts with 2 6V6 power tubes. I think you'll run out of headroom and distort very quickly. The nice thing about the Twins, Vibrasonics, etc. is you can get clean volume. Deluxes sound nice with 6 strings however.------------------
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Bryan Knox
Member From: Gardendale, Alabama...Ya'll come
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posted 10 February 2005 10:34 PM
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Well, I guess I should have made it clear that I only use the Twin for 6-string lead. I use my Nashville 400 and ProfexII for steel.I play mainly gospel, classic country and some blues, and the Twin has served me well but I guess I'm getting the "fever" for some change. If the Deluxe breaks up easier than the Twin, it would be nice on some of the Blues stuff I play. B. |
Jim Peters
Member From: St. Louis, Missouri, USA
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posted 11 February 2005 06:13 AM
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Bryan, I love my SF Deluxe. It is the perfect club amp. Breakup can be controlled with different speakers. When I play outdoors, it is not loud enough withou miking. It is not the best choice for clean undistorted loud, but it is the best for slightly crunchy blues. JP |
Brad Sarno
Member From: St. Louis, MO USA
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posted 11 February 2005 06:57 AM
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Yea Jim! The Deluxe is perfect. My '68 Deluxe with a JBL is plenty loud for any 6-string gig I've ever had. A bit underpowered for steel, but for 6-string, it's the holy grail amp. IMHOBrad Sarno |
Ken Fox
Member From: Ray City, GA USA
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posted 11 February 2005 07:35 AM
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My 1965 Deluxe (non-reverb) had NOS RCS, a Weber Copper Cap rectifier, a re-coned D-120F and it kicked butt. I used it and a Session 400 together for steel. One night I forget to turn on teh Session 400 after a break, I played a whole set on my U-12 before I saw the light off on the Session 400. Amazing little amp. |
David Doggett
Member From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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posted 11 February 2005 10:20 AM
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The leader of one of my groups plays his vintage Gretsch through an old Tweed Deluxe. It is the loudest 15 watt amp I have ever heard. He uses an EchoPlex, which kicks it up another 5 or 10 watts. I have to use a Super Twin on steel to keep up with him. He is sometimes asked by club owners to turn it down. I think his volume knob is stuck on 10. |
John Macy
Member From: Denver, CO USA
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posted 17 March 2005 08:07 AM
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Makes you reaallly appreciate Mike Brown at Peavey... You look up "customer service" in the dictionary, and Mike's picture shows up... |
James Pennebaker
Member From: Mt. Juliet, TN
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posted 17 March 2005 10:09 PM
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Ray,I suggest you go pick up your amp from Techstar. Take it to Todd Sharp at Nashville Amplifier Service in Franklin. Just down the road from Nashville. Todd's place of business is his garage. He is absolutely the best tube amp guy around bar none. You can reach him via his web site at amprepair.com. or get the number from directory assistance. He'll fix it and won't give you any run around. Todd is an authorized Fender service center so your warranty is good with him. Your amp repair most likely requires parts that are available anywhere. Likely only capacitors and tubes. If two of your output tubes are glowing bright red, you have a problem with the B+ voltage supply. Probably just a bad filter cap, or caps, and the tubes are likely toast now. An easy fix for any shop. For Techstar to say they are waiting on Fender for such parts is a poor excuse in my opinion. I know a little bit about what I speak as I've built a few tube amps myself. Also, any shop worth their salt would do the work as it comes in. Not put your repair behind other work that comes in for "big shots." It's a shame your amp had problems from the get go, but now I think the problem might lie more with Techstar. I think your situation is unfortunate but isolated. I've had nothing but good experiences with recent build Fender stuff. No, Fender can't build point to point handwired amps and sell them at a competetive price point but neither can anyone else. I have a reissue Twin and a Custom Vibrasonic from the mid 90s that I have never had any problem with. Yes, I also have an original 1965 Twin Reverb that they will pry out of my cold dead hands too.
JP[This message was edited by James Pennebaker on 17 March 2005 at 10:44 PM.] [This message was edited by James Pennebaker on 17 March 2005 at 10:49 PM.] [This message was edited by James Pennebaker on 17 March 2005 at 11:06 PM.] [This message was edited by James Pennebaker on 17 March 2005 at 11:07 PM.]
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