What to look for in a used Twin Reverb.
There are about four good ones for every fifteen on Reverb. Here's how to tell them apart.
The Fender Twin Reverb is the most overrepresented amp in American popular music, the heaviest cheap amp you can buy, and the single most commonly mis-described amp on the used market. If you're shopping for one, you are about to be lied to — not maliciously, usually, but by sellers who don't actually know what they have and by 'silverface' or 'blackface' shorthand that has become almost meaningless through casual use.
I've owned three Twins over the years, helped friends buy maybe a dozen more, and rescued two from listings that were misrepresenting either the year, the circuit, or both. There are about four good ones for every fifteen on Reverb at any given time. This is how to tell them apart.
First, the obvious caveats. The Twin is loud. Not 'loud for a small club' loud. Loud. 85 watts of 6L6 power into two 12-inch speakers in a cabinet roughly the size and weight of a small child. If you're playing anywhere smaller than a four-hundred-capacity venue and you don't have a soundman with the patience of a saint, you may not actually want a Twin. You may want a Pro Reverb or a Deluxe Reverb. I'm going to assume you've already had this conversation with yourself.
Now, what to look for. The amps that hold their value and sound the way the legend says they should are, roughly: 1965 through 1967 blackface Twins (the AB763 circuit), and the early silverface Twins from 1968 through about 1972, which were essentially the same AB763 circuit with cosmetic changes. After about 1972, Fender started modifying the circuit — adding a master volume, changing the bias, introducing 'ultralinear' designs — and these later silverface Twins are not bad amps but they're a different amp, and they should be priced accordingly. Most sellers don't make this distinction, which is where buyers get burned.
How to tell a true AB763 silverface from a later one without pulling the chassis: look at the back panel. If it has a master volume knob, it's post-1972, and not the circuit people are romanticizing when they talk about 'silverface Twins.' If it has a 'pull boost' knob on the volume, it's likely a 1976-onwards amp with the ultralinear output transformer. Walk away unless the price is genuinely reflecting that.
If the chassis is accessible, look for the AB763 tube chart and check the bias circuit. Twins that have been converted back to AB763 from a later circuit are a mixed bag — the work is rarely as clean as the original, and the bias circuits in particular tend to be approximated rather than restored. A clean unmolested original is worth significantly more than a 'converted' amp even if the conversion was done well.
The speakers matter more than people think. Original-era Jensens, Oxfords, or CTS speakers from the period have a specific voice — soft breakup, articulate top end, a certain compression when pushed — that modern reissues of those speakers approximate but don't quite hit. If the amp has been re-speakered with Celestion Greenbacks or Eminence Wizards or anything aftermarket, you have a Twin that's been turned into a different amp. Sometimes this is fine. Often it isn't.
The transformer is the other thing that matters. Original Schumacher transformers from the blackface and early silverface era are part of what people are paying for. If the output transformer has been replaced — and you can usually tell by date codes if you can see them — that's a meaningful change to the amp's character and should knock 20 to 30 percent off the price.
Finally, sm.varney made the right move when he bought his Twin two years ago: he paid a tech $80 to inspect the amp before purchase. The tech caught a leaking filter cap that the seller had missed and that would have cost $300 to fix six months later. Eighty bucks. Always do this if you're spending over $1500 on an amp. The tech will find things you can't.
The right Twin Reverb is one of the best amps ever made. The wrong Twin Reverb is a heavy boat anchor that doesn't sound like the records. Spend the time. Get the right one.
— Jason
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