1957 Fender Low-Power
Tweed Twin chassis restoration
Part 4
Frontal view
Now the amp was finished and assembled. I went ahead and took it out to a jam session to put her through some paces. One thing I realized was that she wasn't really punching like she should. I went ahead after the gig and tried several sets of NOS and used 6L6GCs, as well as a set of JJ's. Well, the JJ's were the ticket in this amp. Really. I also tweaked the tone by playing with several different NOS 12AT7s (in lieu of the 12AY7s) and current production JJ 12AT7s. I wound up with a mixture of both.
Shielding
One other thing I also noticed was that the amp was extremely noisy. It dawned on me that there was no shielding on the back panel. I went ahead and got that done and the external noise was virtually eliminated.
Jack Barber (left) and Curley Mays (right).
Good friend of mine Jack Barber (bass player for the Sir Douglas Quintet - if you haven't heard them, you need to) gave the Tweed Twin his seal of approval. He basically saw the project progress from start to finish in my shop. I played a set on the amp, and Jack jammed on it for a few tunes as well. Curley's amp SMOKED a Vibro-King and a Custom Shop Vibrolux Reverb that were also on stage. Amp was cutting through the mix like knives. Oh baby, right on! Amp is on floor between Jack and Curley.
Curley digging it
Curley opened up on her for a while too. He was extatic. Grinning like a little kid. Said he was heading STRAIGHT HOME to play her once I loaded her back into his Caddy.
Back in time
Curley playing his '57 Strat (which was stolen in '05) and the amp on the road w/Etta James in the late 50s (center panel).
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