Should I buy this Fender Twin Reissue?

[WateryDomestic]

CONTEXT: My HRD III quit the band last month. It keeps giving off this buzzing/vibrating sound when I hit notes on the bottom two strings and especially when I hit both strings together. I've changed power tubes, tested it with different speakers/cabs/guitars, tightened up a lot of stuff inside. Nothing. Even went out of my way and drove two hours to I was going to post a separate thread about this to ask if anyone had any experience with this, but the extensive list of threads posted about this across the many guitar forums of the web have all ended up with pretty much everyone going . Anyway, that's why I'm trying to move onto another amp. If you do in fact have any advice on why the buzzing keeps happening, please do share though.

Here's the listing:

http://charleston.craigslist.org/msg/5469882417.html

Do ILFers think this is a decent price for a Twin Reissue? What do you guys who own/have owned one think about the amp?

I've been looking for a vintage Twin for some time now and they're just not popping up on Craigslist for a reasonable price. I'm not a fan of buying an amp online that I can't play first, because: a) Not being able to fix this last amp has kinda shot my confidence with tinkering around in amps, and b) Not having any amp tech I know of within reasonable driving distance from the town I live in (that I know of).

Thanks guys

[waltdogg]

resolder the tube sockets.

[WateryDomestic]

resolder the tube sockets.

I'm starting to think that if I want to fix the buzzing I might just have to roll up my sleeves and resolder most of the amp. Yet, that didn't seem to solve it for some people on other forums (not to say it couldn't work for THIS person)

[waltdogg]

hmm. hard to say. amps get tricky.

[crochambeau]

How old is the HRD? The traditional 20 years before needing a recap rule of thumb no longer applies. If this is a frequency specific buzz (like, around 120 hz) I would start at the power supply before resoldering the entire amp - that just sounds like a nightmare in waiting to me..

[WateryDomestic]

How old is the HRD? The traditional 20 years before needing a recap rule of thumb no longer applies. If this is a frequency specific buzz (like, around 120 hz) I would start at the power supply before resoldering the entire amp - that just sounds like a nightmare in waiting to me..

It's 3-4 years old and doesn't fall under warranty anymore. The buzzing comes when I crank the volume past 2 and I play any notes between the frequencies (in standard, haven't tried lower on bottom string) 80-200hz. It gets work if I move from bridge pickup to middle or neck pickup on my strat.

[crochambeau]

Yeah, something about the way you're describing the problem does not really sound like failing power supply caps. Maybe resoldering everything would fix it, maybe not. All my amps are old, so they have a different set of failure modes.

Are the extensive threads all across the internet due to this being a very common problem, or is it you trying to get as much coverage as you can?

I've seen a lot of amps local to me in the ~$800 range that I would bite on before a reissue, though that price does not seem out of line.

[Faldoe]

$650 would be a good price for the twin. My friend just got one for that amount.

Keep the HRD around and see if someone can take a look at it. Maybe you can use it later or sell it depending on whether it's fixable.

[rfurtkamp]

Fender's amp warranty is five years on any of the HRDs. That's since original purchase, not production. If it's 3-4, get it fixed.

Have you changed tubes? I swear, 90% of the problems or more are fixed on *any* tube amp like this by swapping in the spare set(s).

[WateryDomestic]

Are the extensive threads all across the internet due to this being a very common problem, or is it you trying to get as much coverage as you can?

It might just be because it's late, but I have no idea what you're getting at with that question.

[WateryDomestic]

$650 would be a good price for the twin. My friend just got one for that amount.

Reverb's price guide is typically the one I use (for better or worse) and they have $750 as the lowest on their pricing window. I'm definitely going to try though.

Keep the HRD around and see if someone can take a look at it. Maybe you can use it later or sell it depending on whether it's fixable.

Wow, this is why I should always use the preview to proofread comments I submit. Where the unexplainable cutoff happens in my initial post is where I was intending to explain that I drove two hours to visit a Fender-approved amp tech, one who failed to fix the problem I had in my amp. I don't know of one in the area I live in, and said guy was the closest one for me.

[WateryDomestic]

Have you changed tubes? I swear, 90% of the problems or more are fixed on *any* tube amp like this by swapping in the spare set(s).

I've changed power tubes

Yeah, but I haven't changed the preamp tubes. And honestly, I'm not very sure if it's still under warranty because it could've easily been 5 years since I got it. The years that happened 3-5 years ago were all kind of a gray area blended together

[rfurtkamp]

What you're describing may well be microphonic preamp.

[WateryDomestic]

What you're describing may well be microphonic preamp.

Gotcha. From the many searches I've done on here to see if ppl have made HRD's work for them, you appear to be something of an authority on them. Any recommendations on new pre tubes if I find out thats the problem?

[rfurtkamp]

I've been partial to the newer Tungsol reissues for affordable and decent.

Get a total backup set for *any* amp you buy and start swapping when weird noises occur.

When I had an intermittent crackle on mine, swapped power tubes. Mostly went away.

Occasional issues on gain channel.

Swapped V1 preamp tube, went away altogether.

It's not just HRDs - just any tube amp.

If a problem comes along, swap tubes!