Fender George Benson Twin Reverb

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 02-04-2016, 11:56 PM

I think it has a lot of the same mods as the GB Deluxe Reverb, like the pine cabinet.

**Cavalier** · 04-27-2016, 01:38 PM

Does anyone know the thickness of the baffle board on the GB Twin? With the Neo speakers I'm thinking it might be thinner. I'm also curious about the pine cab thickness if anyone has one yet.

**mfourte** · 05-04-2016, 01:26 PM

Cavalier,

I am not sure if I can answer your question, but in brief, I'll share my experience with this amp.

I tried it in the Chicago Music Exchange a few weeks ago and instantly had to get it. I've definitely NOT played a lot of vintage Fender amps in my day, but for the sole purpose of jazz guitar, I am positive that this amplifier can definitely match them.

It is only slightly lighter than a regular Twin. I don't mind it, I think it is far more carry-able than the 65 reissue twin I owned early last year.

The baffle board and pine cab seem as thick as the plywood in the normal Twins. I think the weight of the amp is only reduced by the speaker change which places a small, but appreciable role in the overall weight.

This amplifier sounds amazing and with the different voicings between Channels 1 and 2, jazz guitarists will immensely appreciate being able to dial in a sweet and warm sound on Channel 1 more reminiscent of Johnny Smith and then when at the gig, command a much darker and electric sound out of Channel 2 a la Pat Martino. This has at least been my experience with my L5 Wes.

Ironically, the same day, I had the tubes changed in my Fender Benson HRD to some vintage RCA tubes which really opened up that amp and made it a lot more clearer. Immediately, the Benson Twin still beat that HRD in my opinion. I could hear however that you could improve it still more with some better tubes than the Groove Tubes it comes with.

It's a hell of an amp and I welcome any and everyone to give it a try. I'm thoroughly impressed.

**Cavalier** · 05-04-2016, 03:41 PM

Thanks for the feedback, that does answer my question Theoretically they could have used a thinner baffle for the light speakers but it sounds like they kept it stock, maybe in case someone wanted to change from the neos. I'm really enjoying the Eminence Delta lite 2515 I put in my old Twin.

I seem to remember Fender used pine cabs in the late 80s too.

**Max405** · 05-04-2016, 05:07 PM

Mfourte,
I am big fan of the Hot Rod Deluxe George Benson. The 2 - 12" version is probably the cats meow.
My beloved old Peavey Classic was the same configuration and nothing beat the fullness, focus and heavenly sound that amp had when it was still usable.

Welcome aboard and thanks for sharing your experience with the all new Georgie Twin Reverb! You will no doubt get great advice from some of the terrific and knowledgeable members of the forum here on how to make a great amp even better.

Joe D

Originally Posted by mfourte

Cavalier,

I am not sure if I can answer your question, but in brief, I'll share my experience with this amp.

I tried it in the Chicago Music Exchange a few weeks ago and instantly had to get it. I've definitely NOT played a lot of vintage Fender amps in my day, but for the sole purpose of jazz guitar, I am positive that this amplifier can definitely match them.

It is only slightly lighter than a regular Twin. I don't mind it, I think it is far more carry-able than the 65 reissue twin I owned early last year.

The baffle board and pine cab seem as thick as the plywood in the normal Twins. I think the weight of the amp is only reduced by the speaker change which places a small, but appreciable role in the overall weight.

This amplifier sounds amazing and with the different voicings between Channels 1 and 2, jazz guitarists will immensely appreciate being able to dial in a sweet and warm sound on Channel 1 more reminiscent of Johnny Smith and then when at the gig, command a much darker and electric sound out of Channel 2 a la Pat Martino. This has at least been my experience with my L5 Wes.

Ironically, the same day, I had the tubes changed in my Fender Benson HRD to some vintage RCA tubes which really opened up that amp and made it a lot more clearer. Immediately, the Benson Twin still beat that HRD in my opinion. I could hear however that you could improve it still more with some better tubes than the Groove Tubes it comes with.

It's a hell of an amp and I welcome any and everyone to give it a try. I'm thoroughly impressed.

**mfourte** · 05-04-2016, 05:12 PM

Oh boy, the great Joe DeNisco!

The second reply I get is from Joe. That's pretty legit. I've been following this forum for about 2 years now and I most certainly know about you. I've gained a lot of information from you folks that have helped me make informed decisions. Now after owning my L5 and GB HRD for 6 months, after the countless guitars and amps I purchased to get this point, I think I can finally contribute.

Joe, let me tell you, if you like the GB HRD as well as the stock Fender Twin, you're going to really enjoy the GB Twin as it is a far more open sounding amp than the stock GB HRD. I am really intrigued by the use of the Neodymium speakers in the Twin. I've wanted to buy the cab to have 2x12 for the GB HRD, but now I am much more convinced that I'd like to seeming as you've had promising results.

Thank so much!

**Max405** · 05-04-2016, 07:49 PM

Originally Posted by mfourte

Oh boy, the great Joe DeNisco!

The second reply I get is from Joe. That's pretty legit. I've been following this forum for about 2 years now and I most certainly know about you. I've gained a lot of information from you folks that have helped me make informed decisions. Now after owning my L5 and GB HRD for 6 months, after the countless guitars and amps I purchased to get this point, I think I can finally contribute.

Joe, let me tell you, if you like the GB HRD as well as the stock Fender Twin, you're going to really enjoy the GB Twin as it is a far more open sounding amp than the stock GB HRD. I am really intrigued by the use of the Neodymium speakers in the Twin. I've wanted to buy the cab to have 2x12 for the GB HRD, but now I am much more convinced that I'd like to seeming as you've had promising results.

Thank so much!

That was really nice buddy. Thank you for saying that.

With the Amp, if it doesn't already have them, I'd put some heavy duty casters on the bottom of it. Getting it off the ground might alter the tone a bit. A lot of people think getting it off the ground makes it sound better.

Thanks again Mfourte.
JD

**Greentone** · 05-05-2016, 09:27 AM

I have an outdoor gig coming up. For such gigs I used to use two tweed Deluxes. (I also supplied the PA, though, so any weight savings was negated by having to hump the PA gear.)

More recently, for outdoor gigs I have used my Lab Series L-5 amp. Good jazz tone and as loud as you could want to be. (The Lab Series is as loud as a Fender Twin Reverb.) The amp _is_ pretty heavy, however.

If I had the GB TR, I would select that...weight aside.

**Cavalier** · 05-05-2016, 10:48 AM

Yep, outdoors is one of those times you want something like a TR. I've heard good things about Gibson Labs but never tried one. I'm using a Randall RG120 115 too to run one side going stereo as a low cost TR substitute and it does a good job on the normal channel. Having good stage sound with power on hand can save the day, I've been at events where there weren't enough inputs in the PA and been able to be heard. I don't have a problem with these master volume amps getting a good sound at living room levels rolling things back. The neo 115 in particular is very linear in tone at different volume levels. My JBL 130 liked a bit of volume going through it before it got into its tone zone.

I like the lighter wood concept, pine is lighter than the fir ply that used to be used by a few pounds, lighter would be something like Sitka Spruce in solid wood or Okoume in ply but the exotic stuff gets expensive for production use. On the tech end would be something like foam core with carbon fiber skins but it is easier to market amp features and speakers than the box. A hand truck is a great equalizer.

**Jhui** · 02-24-2017, 09:24 AM

Hello to everyone! I have been following this forum for some time and thought I should join the conversations. I'm pretty beginner at playing jazz, been playing two years now and this forum has been a valuable source of information. I would be interested to hear more experiences of Fender George Benson Twin amp. I just ordered one myself. At the moment I have DV Mark jazz 12 amp, which works ok for practising in small volumes at home. When playing with others at higher volumes (piano, bass, horns, drums) I just can't get it to sound that good. I have played few twin reverbs, which all sounded amazing. That got me to order the GB. I do like that it weighs a bit less than normal twin. It's a B stock from Thomann.de (someone has returned it), so it was at discount. It there something special, what I should check when it arrives? What setting do people use? I mainly play my Gibson ES-175 and I'm looking for that classic warm jazz tone.

edit. I do know that most of the tone comes from my fingers, but as a beginner I need all the help I can get

**Bluedawg** · 02-24-2017, 12:13 PM

I've been thinking about getting a GB Twin myself someday ... but have yet to try one and I'll need to sell some stuff first

I played a Super 400 through a regular new Twin Reverb last fall and it was very very nice ... big luscious tone and clear bottom end

I think a 175 through a GB Twin will be very inspiring ... my guess is that you will want to spend more and more of your time with that combination

**Frank67** · 02-24-2017, 01:37 PM

Setting wise turn treble and bass all the way down and mids to taste 6-8 or so. Add some of the nice reverb. Turn the volume of the amp pretty high up and guitar volume and tone down. Should sound glorious!

**Jhui** · 02-28-2017, 02:24 PM

Originally Posted by FrankLearns

Setting wise turn treble and bass all the way down and mids to taste 6-8 or so. Add some of the nice reverb. Turn the volume of the amp pretty high up and guitar volume and tone down. Should sound glorious!

Thanks for the advice. The amp arrived yesterday and I have been trying different settings. At the moment Treble 1, Middle 6, Bass 2, normal channel. Also I'm using 2 input as someone suggested in another thread. Not quite found my dream tone yet, but it does sound really good. When using vibrato, you can hear this small ticking noise. I read that this is common in Fender amps? This is my first tub amp, so I don't have any experience with these kind of things.

BTW. the box where the amp was shipped is YUUUUUUUGE! It was real pain in the ass to carry, since there wasn't any handles.

**KirkP** · 02-28-2017, 02:36 PM

You can find lot of info on fixing the tick. Here's just one.
Fender Amp Tremolo Mods
The last suggestion (adding a cap) is probably easiest and cheapest. But the easiest solution of all is to turn off the "vibrato" (actually a tremolo) when you aren't playing.