Original
The first Twin Reverb amplifiers were introduced in the 1960s. Based on the original Twin design, released in 1952, the Twin Reverb featured 85 watts of power, two channels (‘Normal’ and ‘Vibrato’) and rocker legs that enabled better sound projection in larger halls. The speakers were two 12-inch Jensen speakers. The amplifier was equipped with four 6L6 power output tubes and six pre-amplification tubes: four 12AX7 and two 12AT7.
These Twin Reverbs are called Blackface Twins, because they came out during a time when Fender put black tolex over the amplifier grille.
The sound
the guitarists were immediately drawn to Twin Reverb’s sound. In particular, many appreciated the Vibrato channel, which introduced a reverb sound to warm up the guitar’s tone. It sounded like a guitar playing in a hall. The vibrato channel offered controls for the speed and intensity of the vibrato used, and was a spring sound type.
Many of rock’s most legendary guitarists, including Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton, all used Twin Reverb. Vaughan actually had two, a Blackface and a Silverface, which he used to get his incredible tone.
Silver Age Era
Fender was bought by CBS in 1965. By 1968, cosmetics had been modified on Twin Reverb, and these amps are known as Silverface Twins because they had a silver tolex cover. The power of the amplifier increased to 100 watts.
Modifications
Fender made some minor changes to the Twin Reverb in the 1970s: after 1973, they added a main volume to the Twin; In 1977, they increased the wattage to 135 watts. Fender incorporated another circuit and transformer to achieve this power boost.
‘Evil Twin’
Fender introduced a new version of the Twin in 1987; this amplifier became popularly known as the ‘Evil Twin.’ The big change was that this amp offered two switchable output channels, one at 25 watts and one at 100 watts. The sound also lost some of its pure spark, and moved more towards a great distortion. The amplifier had red knobs for its controls.
Fender Twin aficionados gave it the ‘evil’ monique because the first generation proved to be unreliable. Fender discontinued production on ‘Evil Twin’ in 1994, and the amplifier was incorporated into its Pro Tub line.
The 65 Reissue
For many Fender Twin avicionados, the 1965 version of the amplifier was the amplifier to be found, and prices rose in the vintage market for genuine 1965 Twins. In 1992, Fender introduced the 1965 Twin Reissue. The amp duplicated the cosmetics from the 1965 Blackface amps and reduced the wattage to 85 watts in two 12-inch Jensen C-12K speakers. However, the amplifier was not a real reproduction, as it uses a different circuit board. 1965 The Reissue Twin is one of Fender’s most popular amps to this day. The delightful Fender Twin Reverb amplifier is the guitar’s Holy Grail for many guitarists. It works very well with distortion pedals and puts out an incredibly clean tone that glimmers with shimmering heights while giving strong low levels. The twin, as it is called, has undergone many incarnations.
Source:danspela.com