software

I'm doing this thread/poll to see what folks prefer the tone of. I am hoping it might later serve as a guide to those seeking the ultimate in Fender tone, or helpful for people searching for their unique tone. I hope Scott can get a bit of insight as well.

So the question is:Do you prefer Tweed Fenders, or Blackface Fenders?

Do you prefer one clean, and the other dirty? Why? Please give us a breakdown in what you hear on comparable models.

Thanks!

Luke

Just to drag this a bit off course...

I heard a legend that Fender Twin s/n 0001 is/was owned by a local Camp;W guitarist who gigged it out (was still gigging it at the time- 15 or so years ago) every few weeks.

The Tweeds I like a little Drity... The BF's I like as clean as possible.... As such, I rely on the clean sound of BF and just place pedals in front to kick the tubes in the balls! If I had the money, I would have a BF, Tweed, and Marshall/MesaBoogie all setup on a channel switcher to cover their own specialties!!!!!

Hope this is what you were looking for in a response!
Allen

i used to be in love with blackface fenders. they have great reverb and a great clean sound. the dirty sound is nice too but i think the cleans are where they excel. nothing wrong with a cranked up super or deluxe but...

now i use tweed amps with a fender tube reverb unit and the tone is to die for. throaty thick punchy sounds. more mids than the bf stuff and the tone is so rich that the cleans are great even without the reverb.

Does this include Vintage and RI Fenders?

I like 'em both.

When I'm using my guitars with full size humbuckers and I want a cleanish to slightly overdriven tone with tight bass, I tend to prefer my blackface amps, especially my Super Reverb.

When I'm playing my Strats and Teles I like the way my 50's tweed Deluxes and Super amps respond...they overdrive more easily and the single coils can push them into a singing tone at a reasonable volume. However, those smallish tweed Fenders (under 25 watts) fart out a little to easily with full size humbuckers.

I like both, but here's my dilemma. I prefer the Tweed sound, but I want the reverb of Blackfaces. In the 90's, I had an endoresement deal with Blues Pearl, who made the greatest recreations of Blackfaces and Tweeds ever to grace the earth. Even Robert Hudson, the owner, used to explain why the Tweed circuit rarely accomodated reverb.

Ultimately, I like 6L6 Tweed amps like the Bassman or Tweed Twin, and I bridge the channels with a Holy Grail in between the channels, so I get the direct bright channel with a bit of the 2nd channel and reverb mixed in.

I do a similar thing with my BF/blonde transitional Tremolux piggyback -- run an echo unit and sometimes an OD unit in the patch between channels. The tremolo on it is superb, and it's the fattest and darkest sounding BF amp I've ever heard. It stays clean to around 5 on the vol and then overdrives beautifully. Still, I think I like my '54 tweed 5D3 Deluxe more, and I'm always surprised at how well that one hangs in there with HBs.

Blackface for clean, tweed for bluesy crunch.

Blackface.


Originally Posted by ratherdashingBlackface for clean, tweed for bluesy crunch.

Thou dost haveth a fine point.

GJ, do you remember Hudson's explanation on tweed and reverb?

Do you guys find that BF amps take OD pedals well? I love cleans on a BF, but the bassman I had at one point really did breakup nicely . . .

Blackface. I love the BF cleans and the dirty channel. The BF is class AB and the Tweed is class A, right?
I prefer class AB.

I prefer tweed with my strats. My les paul is too woofy with my tweed 5e3 clone and i dont feel like modding it to be more user friendly. Besides isnt that what marshalls are for?

the tweed stuff is still class a/b as far as i know, just a different circut
most bf amps that ive seen dont have a dirty channel, if you want dirt you just turn the amp up

BF Fenders all the way for me also!


Originally Posted by TrilogyBlackface. I love the BF cleans and the dirty channel. The BF is class AB and the Tweed is class A, right?
I prefer class AB.

There's class A/B and cathode biased,but not a Fender all class A Tweed...


Originally Posted by jeremythe tweed stuff is still class a/b as far as i know, just a different circut
most bf amps that ive seen dont have a dirty channel, if you want dirt you just turn the amp up

I should have said dirty (distorted) sounds, instead of channel.

If there was a tween twin with reverb, that would be my dream amp. I'm going blackface for the cleans and headroom, i can't deal with a farty amp.