Fender '65 Twin Custom 15 Combo

The highs from this speaker were giving me headaches. just too harsh even with the treble rolled back. I mean, it's a Fender. It's supposed to be bright but this was ridiculous.

Installed some new preamp tubes which helped but installing the Weber Beam Blocker made all the difference.

I didn't think the BB would work but it did.

I really love this amp now.

If you find the same harshness in your highs try the Beam Blocker.

Made 2004, is versatile but I also have the clean tone solid state Roland JC-120. I play rock, jamband, funk, blues, jazz, and experimental music both acoustically and electrically. With clean and vibrato channels it covers my needs. The reverb on this unit is good on lower levels (up to about 3) and I can mix just what I need so I don't need additional processors. I really like the single 15 inch Speaker set-up at 4 ohms. You can pull the single speaker jack and patch in two 12" 8 ohm speakers of your liking (of appropriate wattage of course). Used for both studio and live work. Has plenty of power, all tube masterpiece. Very heavy and stock tubes are iffy.

Guitars: Martin Acoustic, Fender and Gibson electrics to include solid, hollow, and semi-hollow body styles. Great tone from this amp and mine takes a little while to get warmed up. This amp does not have distortion and I don't play with that effect. This amp is all about rip your head off clean tone. Every musician that I have worked with walked away from rehearsal raving about how it outperforms the sound from the rest of the equipment (typically their own). I have used many settings depending what I am trying to do.

Well, for me this is the end of the tone line. The only thing that impresses me more than this is a 72 Marshall Plex but that is a whole different animal tonewise. The tubes got loose once and knock out on of the channels during a transport. Reliable so far.

Never dealt with or had to.

Playing 20 years, too much gear to list. Lost or stolen would first cry and then figure out how to get another. Hate that it is so heavy. Love it for what it is and capable of. I have sort of melded with this bad boy and without it would feel naked in a live setting. I have played many tube amps over the years and no other amp quite gives you what this one does but you have to know how to use it.

Bought this amp new, in 2008. I play country and some classic rock. This amp is in a word amazing. I have been playing thru a HR Deville 410 for the past several years and I love it. I have always got good tone because I work at it, but stil there was something missing and the more I researched and tested amps, I came to the conclusion that this was the amp I needed, and have not been disappointed in the least. It has the normal channel, then it has the vibro channel, the reverb (slightly applied with the vibrato also slightly applied, makes this an amp to be gigged with even without pedals, which we all love and use to make us sound even better. I am shooting to get a Brent Mason sound as possible. I think I'm getting pretty close, and this amp just puts me right on the precipice.

I play from a American Deluxe Tele, with S1 switching, a VERY customized strat, and a Les Paul Baritone. I can go with any ANY of these guitars on the stage, and with barely a change at all, I'm ready to go, and it sounds amazing. If you are looking for Marshall or Bogner sounds, keep on shopping, but if you are looking for the best clean amp around, your search should be over. The HRD410 would saturate around 7-8, but this baby you can crank to the max (if your ears can take it) and it's still uber clean.

I have been playing Fender amps for 44 yrs and I've only had to change tubes, but with that said, I ALWAYS have a backup. I've never needed it except one time years ago, but I'm not stupid. With that said, if I didn't bring a backup, I wouldn't even break a sweat.

Getting to a service center is easy, but getting info from Fender is a little more difficult.

Been playing over 44 yrs, I play country, but I have a lot of gear. When I compare this to my other amps, it's my favorite. I like my HRD410 and my Marshall, and my Kustom from the 70's but this Custom 15 is it for me....I think...LOL

Simple standard Twin controls.

Love it. I use it for both pedal steel and guitar. The sound is very loud and clean. Gives pedal steel that throaty, big chested, organic, rich, harmonic, warm sound.
I've heard people say the highs are "icy." Well, thats because of the aluminum center cone. Theres a treble knob on this thing, folks. You CANNOT set it like you would a 2x12 Twin. I suggest keeping it around 4 or so, depending, unlike a 2x12 Twin, which I would usually crank all the way up.

No issues yet.

No experience here.

I was using a 2x12 Twin, which is now for sale. This kicks the regular Twins ass.

I am using this amp for pedal steel. Once you dial out the icy high end
it sounds great. Don't get me wrong though since I still like a high end sound but not too much. You've got to have some middle and bottom end to prevent it from sounding too sharp, brittle and piercing.The amp has lots of presence and tube warmth, and sounds pretty good with the steel.

Made in 2006.No effects loop.No distortion. No master volume.Good reverb. Perfect. 2 channels. One with reverb and vibrato and one without.Has bright switches.I use this in medium to small venues. Can't turn it up past three. All tube------nice!

This is a clean amp.If you know what you're doing, it sounds great with just a mild amount of reverb.I also use a tonebone classic, Carl Martin compressor and a ts-9 or an o.c.d. I use mainly a modified musicman axis with high (very high) output Dimarzio pickups.The best thing about this amp is that it doesn't matter where you are in the room----it sounds the same. I first noticed it while i was rehearsing. I walked away from the amp---- to the side----behind it -----it didn't matter. It sounded the same . The guys in the band couldn't believe it.Even the drummer could hear everything.

I must say that as much as i like this amp, the first one i bought didn't sound right. It had a sound as if the speaker was bad.I use it without a backup simply because i can't fit anymore stuff in my little convertible( i have a life too!)

I've been playing off and on since 1967. OUCH! But i still have all my teeth!I have a peavey classic 50, a musicman rp100, a les paul 1978 pro, a fender 1981 strat(nice), an Ibanez am75, a gretsch fatbody, a gibson 1984 explorer artist model-- he must have been on drugs when he painted this one.I would without a doubt get another one.
I chose this model for 3 reasons---it's a fender, it has a speaker based on the jbl d130-f which i played guitar through a modified marshall stack back in the early 70's,and when i played it in the sound room from where i bought it, it was nirvana---and i don,t mean the band.
I would like to add one more thing.I am a guitar player/singer. I've got to keep on my toes---especially in a 3 piece.but the best endorsement i can give you is that i lent this amp to a guy who is absolutely the best singer/guitar player i have ever seen(plays with guys from major acts) and he said that this was the best new amp he's ever heard.

new in 2006 see other writeups

this amp i believe is the best fender amp out there for 1000.00 talk about SPARKLE!!!! The mark of a true great fender sound. AIRY SPARKLE AND BOUNCE!!! AND A BIG SUOUND for one speaker. Start with the best clean sound and use pedals to go from there. DID I MENTION THIS AMP HAS THE BEST -SPARKLE- OF ANY FENDER AMP IVE HEARD!!! WOW!!!and does it ever push the air. Country twang, pop, rock{talk about an overdrive sound to die for with a pedal]fusion,anything but metal etc.

dont know yet 25 hrs on it and no problem yet

I purchased the amp brand new back in late May. Not too many features with this amp, reverb, vibrato, bright switch. That's pretty much all that you need if you know what you're doing. The feature that really made me decide on this amp was the 15" speaker. I used this amp in a couple of small bars and a large Hollywood venue. The amp had plenty of volume and a great tone. In the Hollywood venue the amp, with a single speaker, sounded better, louder, and bigger than another guitar player with 2 4-10 combo amps. With the proper pedals, this amp would do well in amlost any genre of music.

With the amp alone the sounds were very clean. The thing that amazed me with this amp was the sound of the high end. even with one 15' speaker the high end never suffered. It sounded very present with whatever situation I was using it in. Since the amp is 80 watts I never pushed it to an overdriven sound, that would have been way too loud. The amp has more treble in the Vibrato channel than the Normal channel. The reverb sounded pretty good as well. The tone of the reverb was better than the sound of the reverb in all of the other '65 reissue amps. The reverb on this amp sounded more like my '66 Super Reverb.

I used various teles, a strat, and a Gretsch 6120 with this amp. T.V. Jones Filter-trons, Gibson humbuckers(490t & '57 classic neck), tele texas specials, and Seymour Duncan tele single coils all sounded equally well with this amp. The amp allowed each guitar and pickup combination to maintain a distinct tone but still sound great clean or with overdrive. The pedals I was using at the time were a Ts-808>Boss Blues Driver>Boss Bass EQ>Homebrew Mimic II delay>Amp. The amp worked well with the guitars and pedals in my arsenal. The amp even had a nice low end that you can only usually find with closed back type cabinets.

This amp really complimented my musical styles(Rockabilly, Psychobilly) by being able to really stand out in the mix and give a good deal of bottom end, pretty remakable for one speaker. The other guitar player that I was playing with at the time was even amazed with the sound and the ability to sound bigger than his two amps.

I used it a total of three times onstage. This was in the time frame of three weeks. The first two gigs I played with it I was just filling in with another band. The third gig I played with it was with my band. On this third gig the amp decided to stop working on me during the second song. I was most definitely up a creek on this gig because I was the only guitar player that night. Of course I didn't have a backup amp because I have used Fender Amps throughout my entire musical career and have never had the need to bring two amps. I was extremely upset with this amp because it left me hanging. I ended up returning it the next day for a full refund.

N/A

I was very impressed with the sound of this amp, so much that I am considering buying a second one. If I do purchase another one I will have an amp tech go through the amp and replace any possible problems in the amp for me. I am a stickler for tone and own a mostly original '66 Super Reverb and a '59 Bassman reissue. I'll probably try to own another one by the end of the year.

I loved the tone that this amp produced. It was exactly how I wanted it to sound. I hate the fact that this amp stopped working for no reason. This fact kinda made me lose a little bit of faith in new Fender amps.

For the tone I was looking for this amp had it. I even compared it to a custom Vibroverb and a '57 Twin. I ended up choosing this one for the high end response that it had. It also sounded very similar to my Super Reverb.

The only reason that I gave the overall rating a 5 was because the amp sounded so good. Definitely loses points for leaving me high and dry. In all honesty I should have known better, when I was checking out this same model at another store the amp started making strange crackling noises and going out on me. A friend of my had one of these die on him while he was in the middle of a U.S. tour. Hopefully Fender will begin making these amps more reliable very soon

I just bought this amp new in March '06, so I assume it was built within the past year. Has all the features of a BF Twin Reverb, but with a 15" speaker, a copy of the old JBL D130F speaker, instead of the standard 2x12s. This amp features great spring reverb, vibrato (tremelo) and fabulous tone coming through a big 15" speaker, so I give it a 10. (If it had 'junk' features such as built-in distortion, or channel swtching, I wouldn't have bought it). This is an amplifier, not an effects box.

I'm primarily into jazz, although I have played and currently teach all styles. Mainly I use this amp with two very different archtop guitars, a vintage Gibson Johnny Smith as well as the Ibanez GB10 (which I use for most gigs).
My setup goes like this: Chops>guitar>guitar cable>amp.
I absolutely love the clean sounds from this amp.
Reminds me somewhat of my old '68 twin w/ 2 JBL's, only bigger and broader sounding - even at lower volumes. Typical bright, warm Twin tone, but more focused, and smooth throughout the spectrum. The bigger single 15" speaker gives a sound that will stay consistent to the listener from different vantage points around the room. I like it that everyone in the audience will hear the tone pretty much as I intend it to be. Although 85 tube watts is more than I ever need, it's always nice to have. I also have LP and Strat knock-offs - I can't imagine any guitar not sounding great through this amp. The reverb is great, of course.

I haven't had it very long, but I expect it to be reliable. I've been playing for 40 years, have owned mostly Fender amps, (2 SF Twins, 2 RI Twins, BF Super Reverb, SF Pro Reverb, BF Deluxe Reverb, RI Deluxe Reverb, Polytones, Ampegs, Evans) all but 2 of my amps have been tube amps. In all that time I've needed exactly 2 repairs.
Who in the world are these people who lug a backup amp to a gig? (I can't believe anyone takes a backup guitar to a gig. Are you afraid the neck might fall off? You must be pretty 'special', fellah.) No amp has ever broken down on me at a gig. If it did, I'd either plug in to another amp, the PA, play acoustically or (perish the thought!) go home. Who are these people with the back up gear? Do you tow another car behind you in case the one you're driving breaks down on the way to the gig?
O.K. I admit it. I take an extra guitar cable with me.

Fender has a 5 year warranty, which I think is pretty good. I've never needed customer support however, so I can't rate this.

If it were lost(?) or stolen would I replace it? Well, sure, I'd replace it. I believe it's the best sounding Twin Reverb I've owned. But how does one lose a 64 lb. amp? What? It's gonna slip through a hole in my pocket? The bottom line is this: it's a great sounding amp, and over a span of 40 years, I've played through a lot of amps. This is the one I bought.

Further down the list there are 2 very negative reviews. Unfortunately, because there are so few reviews of this amp, these 2 are given undue weight and skew the ratings for this amp. Ignore those 2 reviews. The sound of this amp is amazing.

This is the '65 Twin Reverb with an Eminence copy of the old 15" JBL. Two channels, reverb and tremolo. You know the drill.

I use this with an ASAT, '62 reissue tele, '57 reissue strat and a Clapton strat. I play mostly blues (Ronnie Earl, Duke Robillard, etc.). This amp is perfect for my style. With the volume at 4 and the T-M-B at 6-4-4, this amp sings. I expected that the 15" speaker might be a little slow, but the Eminence can generate some snap when called upon. All in all, this is a very satisfying amp. For reference, I own a Custom Vibrolux Reverb, Blues Jr, MusicMan 210-65, and Mesa-Boogie Mark III, and have owned a ton of other amps.

I am the second owner. Previous owner had no problems. The reissue twins have a decent reutation for reliability.

I haven't needed service on any of my Fender amps.

I have been playing over 30 years. For my style, this amp is as good as anything I've used. If stolen, I'd look for another one. This is a keeper!