Fender '57 Twin-Amp Manual
‘5 7 Twin Amplifier™
The original Fender® Tweed Twin–Amp™ of the 1950’s popularized the 2 X 12” speaker array, still an
industry standard for guitar amps five decades later. Considered extremely powerful in its day, the
Twin allowed early electric guitarists to be heard loud & clear at the back of a crowded dance hall.
Today, many top Blues and Rock players (with names like Eric, Keith, and David ) still reach for a
Tweed Twin to crank up that unmistakable warm, rich tube tone.
The ’57 Twin joins Fender’s prestigious Custom series as an all-tube combo amp with hand-wired
circuitry and premium components. We’ve reproduced the 1955-57 edition “low powered” 5E8-A
circuit, which produces 40 Watts into a pair of 12” Alnico-magnet speakers. The Twin’s harmonically
rich clean tones are great for authentic vintage Rock, Blues, and Country playing; when cranked up,
the Twin’s fat, sophisticated distortion tone works wonderfully in many up-to-date musical
situations
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Hand-wired circuitry on eyelet board.
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Two 5U4 rectifier tubes in Fender’s rarely seen mid-50’s dual rectifier arrangement. With
this power supply design, compression or “sag” is more subtle than it is in other Fender
Tweed designs. Some players actually remove one 5U4 for a dirty, sloppy “blues” tone when
needed.
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Four high-gain 12AX7WC preamp tubes, three of which may be substituted with 12AY7’s for
the original ‘50’s low-gain sound, if desired.
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Internal Bias pot added, allowing easy substitution of various 6L6 types.
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Finger-joined solid Pine cabinet resonates with a warm, woody tone.
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Two 12” Fender Special Design speakers with Alnico magnets and specially selected cones.
These drivers deliver perfect crystal clean tones, giving way to warm, smooth breakup when
the amp is pushed hard. Designed by Ted Weber, manufactured in the USA by Eminence®.
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Genuine Lacquered Tweed covering topped off with vintage brown/gold grille cloth and
leather strap handle.
Modification List
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All original components that have been changed are supplied with the amplifier.
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London Power’s Power Scaling circuit installed. For stock volumes/tones the Power Scaling
control is left at ‘12’.
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Post PI Master Volume control fitted as part of Power Scaling modification (in Power Scaling
this is referred to as Drive Compensation). For stock amp volumes the MV is set fully open.
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In order to fit the modifications the Bright Input 2 (–6dB) jack has been removed.
This can be re-instated to replace the Bright Input 1 jack but only one of the Bright Input
options is available. A switch could be installed to switch between the two but this would
require a hole to be drilled in the control panel.