Fender '57 Mini Twin

Bought it in 2008 at the Guitar Center for $50.00. To be honest, I just bought it for something cool to put on my desk at work, something to remind me of my favorite hobby. But when I put in a battery and plugged in a Strat, I was mildly impressed. It gave me surprisingly good cleans and the gain, though not impressive, was pretty good for a cheap little toy.

Besides the headphone jack, it has the chicken head knobs, very cool. I also like the tweed which to be honest, was the reason I bought this over a mini Marshall.

So now I use it around the house when I don't want to wait for the tube amps to warm up, very convenient. And when I put my Maxon AD900 dealy in front of it with the clean, it is really fun and sounds great. Impressive for a cheap little toy.

I would say I wish it had more power or that the drive was better, but it is a $50.00 toy, nothing more. As such, I can't say anything bad about it.

I love the look of it with the tweed covering. For those times you think of an idea and want to play it without getting your full size rig set up, this is the real deal.

I play my Strats through a Keeley TS9 and a Maxon AD900 delay. In a clean setting, it shines. Like it's big brother, it doesn't do metal but keep in mind, it is a $50.00 toy. When pushing the little speakers with the drive, it breaks up like a transistor radio and there is where it fails, but again, in a clean setting, it is perfect.

Too new but if it breaks or fails, I won't care. It was meant to be a desk ornament, nothing more.

Dealing with Fender, it is hard to give a solid answer based on their lack of consistency. But as I have said, this thing is a cheap little toy. if it broke, I wouldn't be calling Fender like I would if it was the real deal '57 Twin.

Stolen, lost, whatever, I plan on buying a couple more for gifts and another for myself. I was also looking at the mini Marshall but the Tweed and '57 Mini Twin' thing got me.

Mini tweed amp. Battery powered but you can use and a/c adapter. Headphones port. 2 mini speakers. 1 volume, 1 tone, 1 drive knob. Really, everything you would need for a small mini amp. I can't think of anything else one would possibly need from a mini amp. Simply and yet leaves you not wishing for more. Perfect.... I give it a 10 because there is nothing more that you could add to a mini amp.

I researched mini amps for a couple of weeks before buying this one. I looked at them all, watched youtube videos and read reviews, and chose this amp. But I was still impressed with the sound... it was better than I thought it was going to be. Now keep in mind this is a $50 mini amp... but it sounds great. Its got good clean tones, and if you pump up the drive knob it really roars. I tried a few of my guitars on it and the all sounded good. I give this amp high rating because it exceeded what I expected out of a cheap little practice amp.

I haven't own it too long... but I really don't how long it lasts. If it breaks I'll buy a new one

N/A

If your looking for a mini amp to practice with or travel with... look no further!! I honestly believe everyone should have one of these little babies... their really pretty fun. Pair with a Tele and you got a nice little match for mess'n around. small, light, cheap, and sounds good... you can't ask for more. I would buy another one in a second if I had to.

Bought my amp about half a year ago. It doesnt make very many different tones, but it responses remarkably good to the pickup setting I use, it's as versatile as your guitar, but the sound is a bit tweak-able. Has a tone knob and a gain knob, and offcourse level and on/off.
It has some Awesome vintage cloth in front of the speaker and covering the complete amp, and a leather(ish?) handle, it looks so cool that it wouldn't even matter if it broke. Its one hell of a decoration.

Well... it has 2 2" speakers and '1 watt of raging power' so how do you expect it to sound? It's a whole lot of fun, but don't expect this to be a good amp. It's fun for taking to the park and so, but after an hour of playing the sound will get annoying.
It is sometimes a bit noisy, I don't think mine was manufactured very well, I might get me a new one and see if its better.
As I already said, It doesn't make many different sounds. You can get a nice bluesy crunch out of it, and a very heavy crunch.
Oh yes, it won't give a very nice clean tone. And when you crank the volume up it'll get less and less clean.
So it isn't great, but its only 50 bucks and look so good it doesnt matter!

These mini Fender amps are way better then the Marshall MS2 and MS4. This cabinet is made out of some sort of wood, in stead of plastic and it feels much sturdier.
Mine wasn't manufactured great, but not every single one of them can be great. It's probably made in China.
Well, you won't gig with this, but for an outdoor jam where I wouln't have any socket nearby, I would use this.

No idea

This little thing is Awesome. It looks very cool, it sounds a bit better then the marshalls, it's quite durable.
I had the MS-4 aswell. That one had 4 watts, but I don't think its much louder. Probably not louder at all and that one sucked.
If you want one of these mini amps, I really recommend getting this one. It's one of the cheaper one and it looks totally hot and vintage.

one input,gain switch,volume,tone,power switch,headphone jack,connection for 9v adapter.

using a few dif guitars,w/ diff pups all seem to sound good.
The sound will impress everyone.
Distortion level clean is minimal,Krank the gain, your rockin.

Cant say, only had it one day, the crummy packing and shipping gorillias busted one of the two speakers loose, I screwed it back and glued it secure. Sounds great!
If you got conflicting stories on PLASTIC OR WOOD CASE, like I did. The case is fiberboard.Had to open it up to fix speaker. Rugged little thang.

Cant say. sam ash still has not replied to my email,on there crap shipping.

Been playin for years.This blows away the pignose I had years ago.
If it were stolen. After I kicked some ass I would order another.
Love the small size and the neat look.
The sound is great for a well spent 45 bucks.(sam ash) If you buy one INSURE THEY PACK IT VERY WELL! If you ever wanted to sit on the beach and blast out some tunes,I recomend this little amp.It freakin rocks!

I bought this amp a little over a year ago, bascially because of it's "coolness" factor (I love the look of tweed amps). However, I've come to really like this little amp. When I'm sitting around the house playing or practicing, it's the perfect volume, and gets such a great sound. I really like the distorted sound on it, but it's got a nice clean sound as well.
It's a small battery powered unit that is well worth the $50 I paid for it. Sounds so much better than any similar battery powered amps I've tried. Hard to rate it on "features"...it's a little practice amp...which is awesome for what I bought

I'm mainly playing Tele's and Jeff Beck Strats through it. I like an overdriven sound and run the gain all the way up. It's quiet when not being played through (no noise to speak of) and gets pretty loud for a small battery powered amp. You can vary the overdrive sound quite a bit by adding or scooping the midrange with the tone knob. The clean sound stays pretty clean when turned all the way up, but I usually play with overdrive and only run the volume on 2 or 3.
The distortion is cremier and not as buzzy sounding as most other similar amps.

It's not a amp I rely on.
I got it because it's cool, and I just play with it around the house.
My main amps are Fender Prosonics and HotRod Deluxes. This is more of a novelty / toy for me. Reliable so far, but not an issue. If it died today, I'd buy another one tomorrow.

Not an issue on ...c'mon...battery powered small amp for less than $50.

For what it is, this little amp is just awesome.
I've played almost all of the little battery amps, even the other Fenders. This one is king for me.

More than you'd expect from such an amp: 9V battery power, 9V DC adapter hole, 1 watt, 2X 2" speakers, headphone jack, volume, tone, and gain controls, "chicken-head" knobs on a chrome plate, real tweed cover, real wood construction, real leather handle -- real cool features for such a small, cheap amp.

I use various single coils and humbuckers with this amp, when I need battery powered palm-of-the-hand sound with any of my guitars. Surprisingly, this amp is very sensitive to the differences among my four guitars' sounds. The clean sound is very thin and metallic, and almost sounds distorted, but only if you're used to a "real" amp's clean sound. It's just kind of tinny, due to it's small size. The amp can get very loud for it's size without breaking up too much, which is a definite plus over other mini-amps. With the "gain" turned up, this amp gets a very pleasant, extremely fuzzy distortion. It's definitely nothing I'm in love with enough to mike up a 1 watt amp on stage, but still, it sounds good -- like a very dense, fuzzy, treble-heavy solid state distortion. Obviously, this isn't a "professional" amp, or even a professional practice amp, but there are some really nice tones in it, and it can do some VERY nice simulations of the treble-heavy distortion of say Albert Collins or Zoot Horn Rollo. The amp is even surprisingly sensitive either clean or distorted, both to different playing styles and to different guitars. Even the "tone" control has a considerable impact on the sound, varying greatly the amount of "tin" in the sound. This amp's sound was much better than I expected, and a lot more sounds can be made with it than one would think. It's sound makes me want to keep playing.

Not an issue. I don't do anything that would have me "relying" or "depending" on a 4 inch tall amp. My Blues Junior handles everything like that.

Not a big enough purchase for me to care. If this amp breaks, I'll buy a new one to replace it, and start hot-rodding the broken one.

Overall, this amp is fantastic. If you want a battery-powered amp for camping trips, or the back seat of a car, or the street in front of your house, or your bathroom, or just as a novelty for your collection, get this one. THIS AMP IS NOT A TOY. It is in fact simply a 1 watt, 2X2" solid-state Fender amp, and it sounds as good as one of those could possibly sound. If someone stole this amp (and it definitely would be the easiest amp on earth to steal), I would buy another one immediately. It sounds great, takes pedals well, is relatively versatile. Regardless of any and all tone subtlety, it's so fun to play through that I just want to keep playing -- and what more could you ask for at this price?

Already covered... 1 watt, 2 speakers, runs on a 9-volt battery, volume-tone-drive, etc.

I have always wanted a little battery amp, but I never liked the fact that they were plastic. This one looks and feels like the real thing. I especially love the tiny leather handle.

The best "feature" of any of these amps is that they make an electric guitar portable. An acoustic around the campfire is fine, but why settle for John Denver when you can have Stevie Ray?

Surprisingly loud, at least in my living room. Even with the drive all the way down, it isn't really "clean" once the volume goes past about 9 o'clock, but it doesn't get all farty and buzzy like the little Marshalls seem to.

My favorite setting is with the drive at about 10 o'clock and the tone at straight-up 12. Nice and crunchy; early AC/DC sounds great. I play a Squier '51 through it, and you can really tell the difference in sound between the single-coil and the humbucker. But how is it that you still get hum from a single-coil, when it's running on a battery and there's no AC current?

I haven't tried it through headphones yet, so I can't comment on that. It's a good way to make noise in your apartment, though, and I expect it will get carried around. It'd probably fit inside my guitar case, though I haven't checked yet.

Still newish, but seems well put together. I'll reserve judgment until it's been around the block a few times. Feels more substantial than most little battery amps.

The only "gig" I'd take it on is to the beach or something, but I'd have no reservations about doing that.

Bah. If it dies, I'll make something else out of the cabinet, or use it for decoration.

Fifteen years ago, my roommate in college got one of the little Marshalls for Xmas. I lusted after it, almost bought one of my own, but never did. But this is way cooler, IMO. It's probably because of the wood and leather and tweed, but it feels less like a toy and more like an actual amp, only tiny.

The first night I got it, I was messing around with it right before bed, and I started playing an old Mellencamp song, and my wife came in and sat down and sang along. For that moment alone, it was worth the price, and I see many more moments like that to come.

Ok, the first thing you MUST keep in mind when reading this review, is that it's a review for a $65AUD ($50US) amp/toy, and as such, I will be rating it based on the fact that it only cost so little. Anyone who buys this amp as their main rig is a fool, sorry. If I give a 10 rating, or say that the tone is AWESOME, or that the distortion is KILLER, I am doing so by keeping in mind that essentially, this a fully functioning toy, rather than 'amp'. You don't buy a remote control car and then complain that it doesn't handle as well as you expected in the rain, do you? So now that we've established that, lets review this little beast!

Features two 3" speakers, not 2" as claimed, all the better as far as I'm concerned. Amp has 1 watt of solid state power, runs off a single 9v battery or a power supply. Dimensions: 170 x 130 x 75 mm. Also has 1/4" guitar input jack and a 1/4" headphone jack. The amp has 4 very cool mini-chicken head knobs - Volume, Tone, Drive, On/Off. This version (the '57 mini twin) has a "wooden" cabinent covered in real tweed, whereas the mini twin has a plastic cabinent, or so I believe. The "wood" is just chipwood, but it's wood never-the-less. Other very cool features include a vintage looking speaker cloth and a real leather handle with metal handle ends.

This amp LOOKS stunning, the attention to detail is superb and I would have been happy to pay $50 just to have this thing sitting on my desk as a novelty/ornament... BUT... amazingly, it actually plays! It has 1 channel (as if you would even expect more) that can be nicely overdriven, but more on that later.

The volume ranges from soft enough to play at night as not to wake others but still have a nice clean tone, to a pretty loud, heavily distorted crunch with enough volume to play to a room full of people. The battery lasts maybe 4-5 hours at a reasonable playing level, so I'm using a high quality rechargable battery to save on costs. I would use a power adapter but the amp comes with a warning, stating that it uses an irregular polarity, so I don't want to risk frying anything and will continue using my rechargable battery. Oh, and it's made in China (not sure what year).

I play this amp using humbucker loaded guitars, meaning I can't really get decent clean levels as it starts breaking up at around the 3-4 mark. But that's the amazing thing about this amp. It actually breaks up like a tube amp would. Leaving the DRIVE knob at low or off, the VOLUME knob controls overdrive as well. At 1-3 it's clean (but not very loud at all), 3-6 a little dirty and bluesy (my favourite range with a bit of added drive), 6-9 we enter overdrive, and 9-12 is CRUNCH and loud (also nice)! Then of course there's the DRIVE knob, which acts like additional distortion, adding a nice flavour to the sound. And the TONE knob REALLY works, it changes the shape of the sound drastically! Did I mention this is a toy! I am amazed at what this amp can do.

Probably my only complaint is that the amp doesn't have enough clean headroom, but I've never tried it with single coils, so strats and stuff would most likely work better for cleans. With VOLUME and DRIVE at 12 the amp sounds like crap, but if you dial in the right settings, this amp can actually be quite versatile, due largely to the functioning tone knob.

I don't think the amp gives off an unacceptable amount of hum or buzz at higher volumes, no more or less than a real amp (at scaled volumes of course). This amp is also quite responsive to a guitar. If I change from neck to bridge or both pickups, you can really hear the difference. And if I swap from my LP to my SG, once again you can hear the difference. I was expecting this amp to just amplify the strings/notes, I didn't expect it to actually respond to a guitars unique properties.

People say it can sound boxy, well, it's basically 2 speakers in a small box, what the heck do you expect?!? For what it is, this amp performs beautifully whilst looking sexy with plenty of mojo - how can you go wrong?

I've only had it for a week, so can't comment on its reliability. But I honestly can't see anything going wrong with it, it's not like it's going to overheat running off 9v :) Likewise, I can't see the speakers blowing or anything and since there aren't any moving parts, it really should last decades! Unless you screw up the polarity with an adapter, in which case it's your fault, not fenders. 'Seems' very reliable, but I can't vouch for that.

N/A

For $50US (brand new) this is probably one of the best gadgets I've bought for my guitar in a long long time. My other amp is a Fender Blues Junior, and I'm playing this little beast more than that! That's probably due to the fact that I've only just got it and the novelty factor hasn't worn off yet... OR, it could just be that I actually really dig this mini amp! I love how portable it is. I can play it in any room in the house and don't have to go to the "spare room" anymore to play plugged in! It's great. Even when I am in the spare room, and the Blues Jr. is just sitting there, I've actually played this mini amp instead. I love being able to play in bed just before I go to sleep, dialling in a nice distorted sound and just jamming out some ideas as I slowly pass out.

The damn thing even LOOKS cooler than my Blues Jr. Honestly, if you find this amp cheap, grab it! It sells for $99 AUD down under, so getting it brand new, sealed in a box, for $65 AUD ($55 plus $10 postage) seemed just too good to pass up on. I haven't tried it with any pedals but don't think I want to, just the rawness of this amp is good enough to make me smile. IT'S A GREAT AMP/TOY! what more can I say?

Now, once again, we're all keeping in mind that I'm reviewing a $50 toy right? If this thing cost $200 or more then every section would have received ZERO ratings instead of 9's and 10's. I can't stress this point enough. COOL!

This is the Fender mini twin with some fancy cosmetic upgrades which include a cheap wood cabinet covered with tweed cloth and a leather handle. It has two speakers almost 3 inches wide. It runs off of a 9 volt battery or AC and has a headphone jack.

This is a small amp. Due to the small speakers it does not have much bass. Fender sells another version of this amp in a plastic cabinet at a lower price but I don't know which amp sounds better. This amp has a volume, tone and gain knob on top. It does not operate like a traditional transistor amp in operation but more like a dirty tube amp which means the guitars volume knob plays a huge role in shaping the tone from the amp. With most transistor amps when the gain knob is turned down the amps tone will clean up, however this amp requires you to back off the guitars volume knob quite a bit to get a clean tone. I think the amp sounds good for what it is, a mini battery powered amp. A bit boxey in tone. I tried playing with the back cover off the amp and I think the amp sounded slightly better. Maybe the wood cabinet has a muffle effect on the tone. I may do a modeling job later with the cabinet to make it an open back design.

This a novelty mini amp for those that think Fender amps are the best amps on the planet. Even if it did not work it would be cool to own, kind of like having a mini Harley Davidson to look at. That poor fellow below said the amp sounds like ass, well he is probably some novice that needed the amp as his main squeeze, no wonder he was disapointed. There are probably lots of 15 watt AC powered amps around the same price range as the '57 twin that sound better than this amp but I think this amp is cool to own and has has it's own vibe going.

On off knob
drive knob
tone knob
volume knob
two 2 inch speakers
headphone out jack
input jack )duh)
can run of batteries or 9 volt jack (mine doesn't work)

Listen, sound is subjective, of course, but I think there are some useful tones in here. I often do quick scratch tracks by throwing a dynamic mic in front of it. I found the clean sound pretty intriguing if it is close miked, sort of a dry motown sound, or like Al Greens guitar player in the 70s. Turned up I think the distortion gets pretty nasty real quick, but there is a goofy goodness about it and I bet I can find a useful inspiring sound that makes it to a final mix. There's something magical there, because it inspires me to play quite a bit and brings out my early 60s white boy laying blues chops. MOre to say but I'm just getting silly now.

This thinkg is built well. You could rely on it, but live? I doubt it. Oh what the heck i'd try it once. My 9v jack doesn't work, never has. I bought mine used for 5 bucks, so I'm happy with it anyway.

I've been a pro for over 20 years. I'd probably get the Dr.Z mini if I had the cash and had to have a mini amp to record with. Don't discount the magic in this amp though.

2005. Real tweed covering with oxblood grille cloth. Looks really cool! 1w into 2 - 3" speakers (yes, 3", not 2").

This amp sounds like ass! I honestly believe nobody at Fender listened to one of these before they released it. Tinny and shrill with very harsh overdrive. I thought maybe that's all the better it gets - being a small amp and all. I bought a Marshall MS-4. MUCH BETTER AMP! That sounds amazing compared to this thing.

Who knows. I sent it back.

Bought from Music123. Easy to call in and get an RA# for a return.

Looks great! Sounds really terrible. If you want a mini amp, get a Marshall MS-4. You have to crank the gain and volume on those to get decent tone, but it sounds amazing, especially compared to this piece of krap.

has one chanel that can be overdriven, wish it came in a better box though, (it comes it a package that has to be damaged to be opened)

as far as mini amps go, this would have to be the best detailed, and best made amp, it looks real good, high quality. the clean sound has a fairly low volume level, (on par with other mini amps) but the overdriven sound, is suprisingly loud, you can even get it to feedback, when cranked fully, with guitar close to amp.

it's a toy, i never depend on toys.

been playing for over 20 years, i own everything, greedy me i know. if it were stolen, i steal it back. it terms of future collectibility it would have been if it came with a reusable box, and not a plastic thing that has to be damaged to release it. i own alittle marshal mini amp, and it is crap compared to the fender, no competition at all.

Fender '57 Mini Twin. From Fender's Marketing Material:
- Cool look
- One watt
- 2 - 2" speakers
- Tweed-covered wood cab
- Built-in distortion (gain control)
- Power, volume, gain, and tone controls
- 9V power adapter jack
- 1/4" headphone jack

Now my opinion: For what it is, a small battery powered practive amp with a very cool look and decent features.

Well, let me start by saying that this is a $40 battery powered practive amp. So it pretty much sounds like a $40 battery powered practive amp with two small speakers. To bang around on for a few minutes, to learn a song, to keep your fingers loose, it's great. It takes up no room at all and looks really cool with the Tweed cover.

But tone is not it's strong suite. Pretty "AM Radio Like", in my opinion. The distortion is gritty/classic rack style (Fender Tele in Bridge P/U position) cranked half way. Any gain more and it just sounds bad to my ear. Volume can get loud enough to annoy folks in the next room. Clean sounds are OK, as long as you don't turn the master volume it up too loud, otherwise it just breaks up in an unpleasing way.

I give it a 6 in the category compared to other battery powered mini amps of this type: Mini Vox, earlier Mini-Twin, Marshall MS-2, Mini Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. Out of the ones I just listed, the Vox sounds the best, to my ear.

I just bought this a few days ago, but all of my Fender Gear has been great over the years. I expect no problems. (I'm sure Guitar Center would replace it if it died within the first year or so).

Never had to use Fender Customer Support (so far). So I have to give this a no opinion. I But I live about 10 minutes from Fender in Corona, California, so I suppose I could show up on their doorstep if I ever have a problem...

Let me repeat: This is a $40 battery powered practice amp and it pretty much sounds like a $40 battery powered practive amp with two small speakers. To bang around on for a few minutes, to learn a song, to keep your fingers loose, it's great. It takes up no room at all and looks really cool with the tweed cover and leather handle. I bought this because I think these little small "mini" amps are cool to look at. So I have a collection of them.

I have been playing guitar for about 40 years now and have way to much gear to list (Gibson, Fender, PRS, Martin, Mesa, Marshall, Peavey, etc.). I have played professionally in the past, but just for the passion and fun of it now. If you are a collector of these small mini amps, THIS IS A MUST: GO GET ONE! It looks so cool with the tweed cover, leather handle and chicken head control knobs.

But it you are looking for REAL tone, you will need to get something more substantial. If you want a small versitle practice amp, I would suggest the Roland Micro Cube. I have one and for $125, you get a small amp with decent tone and something like 7 amp models (+ separate reverb, delay, chorus, flange, etc.). For real tube tone, look at an Epiphone Valve Special. It's not a metal amp, but a great low cost VERY COOL Class A Tube Amp with good tone for the money.
Of course, if you want real high end tone, get our your checkbook and go pick up an all-tube amp from Marshall, Mesa, Fender or Peavey.

Fo what the '57 Mini Twin is, i give it a 7.

This is a review of that new '57 mini twin made in China for fender. I think the first mini twin came out in 1996. This amp is probably the same circuit wise as that one, it just has improved cosmetics over the old amp. It has one watt of power running into two 2 1/2 inch speakers. The speakers are a half inch bigger that the listed size. It has a tone knob and gain controls, one volume knob and an on/off knob. This small amp is made of some particle board and is covered with that nice yellowish Fender tweed cloth that Fender uses on the more expensive amps. It uses one 9 volt battery but I hear it eats batteries so I use an AC adaptor for the amp. It uses an unusual polarity for the AC adaptor so be sure to get the right one before plug in.

I did own a Fender mini amp back in the 80's. It sounded terrible for everything. I knew this one had to sound better and it does. It seems best to put the amp on a table or countertop to keep the speakers in line with your ears. With single coil and P90 guitars there is some decent low volume clean tone if the gain is kept low. Humbucker guitars turn this thing into a fuzz tone amp at all settings which seems to be a common problem with these mini battery powered amps. Playing around with the tone and gain I get a good variety of blues tones. The amp sounds better if a reverb effect is added on to the amp, especially if playing clean. The amp has a nuetral tone so it will work well amp modelers. Just don't try to get any kind of heavy distortion while using an amp modeler because the amp will crap out and sound terrible. I tried playing along with my stereo using the mini twin and the amp sounded tinny with the notes on the E and A strings sounding weak and flabby.

It comes in a plastic bag, just like a toy would. Most Fender amps give a nice 5 year warranty but there is no mention of a warranty with this thing. It would probably not last to long if the volume was cranked up all the way while practicing.

I've been playing 20 years. I own 13 guitars now and a few ukuleles along with some smaller sized amps under 30 watts. This amp is real nice looking. The attention to the amps detail and construction is impressive. It puts ugly amps like the microcube and the pignose to shame with it's attractive styling. I give it a recommendation for those that dig small battery powered amps and others that may suffer from mild to serious tinnitus of the ear from playing to much ;)