Fender Super Twin Reverb
Model/Circuit Number:
Years of Production: 1977 – 1980
Era:
Configuration: Combo
Controls: Black, forward facing w/ white labels
Knobs: Black skirted w/ chrome center, numbered 1 – 10 (EQ knobs numbered -5 to +5)
Schematics
Faceplate
- Front: Power Sw, Standby Sw, Pilot Lamp – In, In, Vol/Bright, Treb, Mid, Bass, Presense, Reverb – 2300 Hz, 1250 Hz, 485 Hz, 235 Hz, 100 Hz – Distortion, Output
- Rear:
Cabinet
- Dimensions: 19¾ x 26 x 10½
- Hardware: Large Chassis Straps 5 5/8”
- Handle: Black Strap
- Feet: Casters
- Corners: Corner Protectors
Covering Material
- Tolex/Tweed: Black Tolex
- Grill Cloth: Black acoustic foam cloth w/ white trim
Logo: Grill mounted, raised, chrome & black script
Weight:
Speaker
- Size: 2 x 12
- Impedance: 4 ohms
- Model: Oxford, Utah, CTS(For more info, check out the Jensen Replacement Speakers)
Effects: Active EQ, Reverb, Distortion
~Watts: 180 watts
Tubes
- Pre amp: 7025
- Power: 6 x 6L6
Bias: Fixed with Bias Pot.
Rectifier: Solid State
Comments: Reverb Driver: 6CX8 (pentode ½) Reverb Recovery: 1/3 6C10 Active EQ: 6CX8 (triode ½)
I need a power output transformer for this Fender super twin reverb amp. no luck with fender , please contact me at 305 232 6790 or email at tubegait@yahoo.com. name is Rick Of Ricks guitar and amp repair in miami, fl.
Try Hammond of Canada, got a reverb transformer for my Super twin reverb, delivered to England in 8 days
my fender super twin reverb has a bias jack on the backside. I can’t find it on the schematics. does anyone know where the bias jack is connected?
I have a 1981. Might want to add that to your year listings. Also, anyone have a product manual for this? (Not the Schematic)
#1 WORST amp I ever owned. Pure live garbage.
This was the first real amplifier I ever owned. I worked my ass off the whole summer of 1981 to buy it. It was too heavy, too complicated and definitely NOT the right amplifier for a 16 year old kid.
But it IS the right amp for a 61 year old man. I gleefully took possession of mine yesterday. Mine slays but the previous owner has substituted a couple different brands of tubes….
Hey Sam 61, I’m Rob 66. Just hour’s ago I came home with a ’65 Twin Reverb. Finally got that one off my personal bucket list! I got to play on one at summer camp as a young teen and was hooked.
This could be the right amp for this old fart, …after it gets a set of 2″swivel casters.
Don’t tell Ted Nugent – he was the largest selling live act in the late 70s using (6!) Super Twins into Dual Showman cabs with 15″ drivers on stage. At the time, rumor had it he set a Guinness World Book of Records for loudest concert at that time, and he could be hear something like 11 miles away.
This amplifier slays most out there. However, you have to know how to use it, and what you want from an amplifier. As with most, sound is subjective. If you are in a cover band, this amplifier is perhaps not for you unless you play Melvins or Country Western. The supertwin is great with slide guitar, and bass. It is also extremely powerful metal guitar with the correct distortion pedal (I use an old 84 ProCo Rat, and a early 70s Roland BeeBaa (best Bass fuzz ever BTW)). It also helps to use very powerful speakers. I switch between an EVM15B (400 watt) and a EVM12L (300 watt).
It’s a great amp when it comes to clean tones. The onboard distortion is more or less a sick joke. but with a good distortion unit in front of the amp you can reach very nice drive sounds. I use a seymour duncan twin tube classic and a twin tube blue.. Make it run on 2 or 4 power tubes and the amp is more decent in vollume (and cheaper in maintenance) and its warmer and more versatile than a 65 twin. I’m playing with this amp since 2001. The only thing I don’t like is its weight…
I Have a SUPER TWIN REVERB…I think the best Clean Sounding Amp Fender ever made…I have had mine since 1988 never let me down once…Its never been serviced..I have just replaced all the Tubes..Fist time in 26 Years…and the only noticeable difference is the amp is a little more quite…I use mine for Clean Rockabilly Playing..the Bright switch and the Presence knob make all the difference….The only down side is the weight…But I have bought another vintage Fender amp Super Reverb..And while lighter …when you have a sound guy who does not know what he is doing….you wish you had brough the Super twin Reverb..Because as far as clean head room, there is no limit…the only limit is how much you value your hearing!..With this amp you are in control of your sound and how you are perceived in the mix of your band…The Amp get a 10/10 from me….Keep in mind this is the amp that made Ted Nugent deaf!
I need one of the EQ knobs from this amp. The one with the splined inside, not the PS 300 knob with the set screw. Please let me know if you have one! CDO
are you the real craig owens
Mightiest amp I ever had. What a monster! Not only in weight, but also in sound. REALY clean sound up to getting deaf within minutes. Ted Nugent used 6 (!) of them on stage. Very weird, thats what I hate. No distortion even at very high levels. Very good sound. And variable sounds, there are “presence” and “bright” knobs. Loudest amp I ever had, and it truly rocks (the walls of your chamber). The “distortion” knob is just a joke, completely useless, when in use, the amp sounds as if broken down and heavily destroyed. 365 W power consumption, so if you need a heater during winter … But wonderful full sound at very low levels (i.e. “volume” 4-5, “master” 2-3)at home. And, as said, a monster on stage. And super sounding reverb as most fenders. Use it mostly with Hughes&Kettner Cream Machine, Boss CE-3 Stereo-Chorus, Ibanez DL 10 Delay, Dunlop CryBaby. Just love the sound.
AC. Standby. 2 Input jacks. Volume (pull: bright). Trebble. Middle. Bass. Presence. 5-band EQ: 2300, 1250, 485, 235, 100 hz. The horrible “distortion” knob. Output.
What I forgot: 6 x 6L6, not easy to get a well matched set.
Hey, i am very hopeless in a question of external outputs. Somewhere i ve read that some fender twins of late 70ties/early 80ties have some internal switch so while you plug 2cabs into both speaker outputs than total impedance changes to 8-ohm. So you can connect two 4-ohm cabinets. Dont you know where is the truth please??
is there anywhere i can buy the white trim around the amp.
I also own the Fender Super Twin without reverb and mine has a fantastic sounding distortion on several different guitars. Dialing in the Keith Richards tone is easy. Getting a Judas Priest tone requires my Big Muff. I think it’s the best sounding amp I’ve had. The most powerful amp I owned was a Sunn model T.
I have one with no reverb don’t know what year it is,has 2×12 e120 jbl.awsome for my steel guitar.
I HAVE A 79.BOUGHT IT NEW.SHE’S A BEAST.REPLACED THOSE SPEAKERS WITH EMINENCE SWAMP THING. I PLAY PEDAL STEEL THROUGH IT.RECAPPED ONCE.FORGET THE DISTORTION.HEAVYYYY.WATCH YOUR BACK.
I have a super twin reverb that blows a fuse when I turn it on whats the problem and how do I fix it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnEO10x8VUo&list=WL&index=4&t=0s
Check out this video
Can anyone tell me what is wrong with my 1978 fender super twin reverb? When I turn it on it sounds great but when it starts to warm up , around 10-15 mins of playing it starts cracking and popping. I’m thinking maybe the tubes, but I’m not quite sure nor have I heard anything like it. I just got the amp off a guy on Facebook and it was working fine until a week ago. The noise doesn’t change when i turn it up or down its at a steady level but it’s really bothersome. Thank you! If you have any information please email me @Koreykirkland3613@gmail.com
The Fender Super Twin Reverb is the king of clean headroom. As others have said here… the distortion feature is poorly planned and basically the result of some misguided non-guitar playing electrical engineer who was told to add a distortion circuit cheaply… the best way to get distortion with this amp is to add it with a pedal…
That said, the only other real drawback is the weight of this amp…. very heavy.
What shines is the clean tones you can get from it… and how you have an onboard eq that you can use to real dial in clean tones. You really need the stock foot switches with this amp… there are two separate footswitches… one two button footswitch — button one switches on or off the eq section, and button two (red) that switches on or off the distortion feature. Also on this footswitch is a slider button that turns on or off a “volume boost” for the distortion feature. I have found that you can dial out the distortion on the amp control… then use the footswitch to effectively use a volume boost only with the distortion button… actually works to boost lead phrasing work quite well. The second footswitch is a one button on and off for the reverb.
This amp can also present you challenges with it’s configuration of vacuum tubes… it includes six 6l6 power tubes… and you need to have ones that are fairly well matched… there is a helpful bias control pot on the back panel called “tube match setting” that will help you minimize hum quite well. The biggest challenge is the use of fairly uncommon preamp tubes… one 6C10 and one 6CX8 tube. The 6C10 is a three triode section preamp tube, 100 percent boost like having one and a half 12ax7 tubes wrapped together… two of the triodes power preamp sections, and one of the three triodes power the return from the reverb tank. It is an important tube that voices this amp, and they wear out…. you have to find replacements on ebay and they can be expensive… good ones ranging from 30 to 75 dollars. The 6CX8 tubes are not expensive and can be found much more cheaply on ebay.
When using this amp it is always helpful to start it with standby on, letting it power up for a good minute or two in low power before flipping standby off and letting full power surge through the power tubes. I have blown out power tubes (one or two new ones even) by not letting them power up gradually first.
I first came upon this amp as a teenager taking guitar lessons at my local music store in the late seventies… I was fascinated with it and one of the local bands I used to think was cool had a guitarist that used this amp. A few years later in college a guy in my dorm was selling his and I bought it on the cheap…. I put a cover over it and sat on it more than played it that year… but I’ve had it for over 35 years and it has never let me down…. recapped it in the early nineties and then again last year. Love this amp…
I called my drummer and told him that I bought a Super Twin Reverb and he responded with “f_ _ _ you.”
Really happened ; )
I found one of these at an estate sale filthy in a pile of old car parts. I saw Fender, I saw twin, I saw a $50 price tag, I saw an amp I’d never seen before. I didn’t expect it would work but I figured that the tubes had to be at least worth that. So I talked them down to $40. The first thing I noticed was that trying to pick it up is like picking up a Chevy 427 motor. I got it home, cleaned it thoroughly. I thought I would try it before I started taking it apart. I cranked it up and VROOOM!!!!!!! It worked perfectly, breaking the window it was next to. Why would somebody make an amp this loud?For me it was too loud to play at home and too heavy to take out. I ended up trading it for a tweed 4 ten Hot Rod DeVille. Eventually I got what was for me the perfect amp – A 1965 Princeton Reverb.