Used Fender "The Twin" for $200

[The New Steve H]

Some dude is selling a red knob "The Twin" near me for $200. Needs tubes and one speaker. I'm wondering if this might be a good fixer-upper.

How does that price sound for an amp that needs a speaker and tubes?

[tele caster]

Sounds like a good deal to me.

[The New Steve H]

Wondering how I can check the PT.

Dang...$200 for tubes. This thing takes a lot of them.

[roberto]

200$ for tubes? What kind of tubes do you use???

[Marioverkill]

For 200$,you are sure to have at least a chassis,1 speaker and a cabinet.

I'd buy it with only a visual check.

Mario

[SoundPerf]

All I can add is that this is one of the lesser desirable Twins from a purely playing amp standpoint. I would think even with a bad speaker and tubes this amp could sell for $400 easily. I would check it out closely for any other major problems.

[Phil_S]

Wondering how I can check the PT.

Dang...$200 for tubes. This thing takes a lot of them.

Tip the thing on it's front and pull the back panel. If you can get your probes into the chassis, plug it in and turn it on. You can get the voltage from the power tube sockets -- one probe in each plate hole. If this model is ss rectified, it will be rectified VDC without a load, so it will be high. If it is tube rectified, then get VAC readings at the rectifier socket. Check filament voltage the same way, expect it to be above 6.3, maybe 7-ish. You can be done if 5 minutes time (as Muddy used to say.)

[The New Steve H]

It takes four 6L6s, which comes to around $75. Then you add 8 smaller tubes at around $15 each.

I was thinking the sound shouldn't be a big consideration, since I can change the circuit if I want.

The speakers run $120, with shipping. So just to turn this thing on, $520. I'm starting to think a hundred bucks is a more reasonable price.

This would be a fun project, and I was thinking it might be helpful to a buddy of mine who is on a budget but likes Twin Reverbs, but the money is really adding up, and I have a feeling he won't know what to do with 100 watts.

[The New Steve H]

The seller just put up a photo of the back. The transformers look pretty crusty.

http://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/msg/2959352521.html

[Bob-I]

I'd give him $50 max. As for tubes, if you're spending $75 each for 6L6s they better be made of gold

[The New Steve H]

FOUR 6L6s.

[roberto]

75 bucks is the price for a quartet! =)

It seems flooded!
[img:600:448]http://images.craigslist.org/5Lc5Nc5M23 ... d1171c.jpg[/img]
[img:600:448]http://images.craigslist.org/5L45G55Kb3 ... 321684.jpg[/img]

[Gibsonman63]

This amp would be a toss up to me. You probably won't spend a fortune in parts, but you will spend a few hours on it. I wouldn't bother with tubes untill you get into it a bit. I have know a couple of guys that owned these amps. The are problematic without the water damage, but nothing major. You may end up replacing every pot and switch to make it right.

Here's a 65 that I resotored.

[The New Steve H]

I don't think it's been flooded. This is Miami. It's been stored in a humid garage which probably hits 110 degrees.

I think I'll see if he'll do $75. For $140, I can put two speakers in it, better than original. For $190 or so, I can tube it. The other crap, I probably have lying around my garage right now. Maybe I can get $50 for the old Fender speaker. So 75 + 140 + 190 - 50 = 355. I think that's acceptable, to get a basket case running and end up with a working, but butt-ugly, amp.

The 25-watt setting makes it potentially useful for a guitarist who doesn't want to shatter walls or make people in the front row blind.

I just read an interesting piece about transformer rust. Some guy claims it can actually improve the performance.

[SoundPerf]

Now I see why he's not asking much. Well, "much" is a relative term here. That's in pretty bad shape. Also, don't confuse this with older or even later 70's Twins. This Twin is representive of when Fender didn't have their manufacturing ducks in a row. (some would argue they still don't) It has cheap areas of construction at different areas. If you were just looking at a doner amp, it would have possibly been OK if it was in better shape, but if you want to restore this to "it's" original shape, I personally don't think it's worth it. Yeah, like $50 is all I would give and I would still check it really close.

I don't know if he let it get in this shape or what happen to it, but someone derserves to loose on this buy and it shouldn't be you. Parts and shipping cost add up quick.

Edit: Yeah, maybe $75 might be Ok. Sounds like you're wanting a project to test your patience.