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King Loudness « Wicked little tweed box »
Published on 10/12/11 at 05:23The Fender Mini Twin '57 is a reproduction of the iconic dual speaker Fender combo, right down to the classic tweed tolex. However, they decided to shrink this one down to near pocket size. It features a pair of 2 inch speakers, and a very basic control layout with volume, tone, drive and on/off controls. It also features a headphone out, and can be powered by a 9v battery or via an adaptor. It puts out a monstrous 2 watts of power, and unlike its bigger brother this little version of the Twin is solid state as opposed to tube. There's no effects loop or reverbhere so what you see is what you get.
UTILIZATION
Getting a good tone out of this amp is surprisingly easy. Despite the small size, low power and lack of tonal control, the amp has a very honest sounding tonality that is more real sounding than various other mini amps that I've tried. The tones are fairly biting and aggressive especially with the right guitar driving it. I particularly like setting this amp up for maximum gain and using it with single coils for bluesy or really down-home rock tones. The nice thing about this amp is that it has its own drive control which does allow for more tweaking than some other miniamps out there.
SOUNDS
At first when I plugged this amplifier in I didn't expect to really hear much that would be appealing. However I instantly bonded with the very gritty and natural tone that this little box has. It is quite dynamic and responds well to both single coil and humbucker pickups. I particularly dig how it breaks up in a more natural way as opposed to sounding harsh or buzzy. The fact that it has more than one speaker helps to bring life into the amp too, which is a good thing for sure. Obviously it isn't going to sound like a full sized Twin but this is a decent little mini rig of its own merrit.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think the Fender Mini Twin '57 is a great little amp for anyone seeking a practice tool, something to travel with, or just a cool sounding novelty amp. At about $50 new you simply can't go wrong if you need a great and naturally cool tone tool. Plus this one's tweed... that's just cool.
UTILIZATION
Getting a good tone out of this amp is surprisingly easy. Despite the small size, low power and lack of tonal control, the amp has a very honest sounding tonality that is more real sounding than various other mini amps that I've tried. The tones are fairly biting and aggressive especially with the right guitar driving it. I particularly like setting this amp up for maximum gain and using it with single coils for bluesy or really down-home rock tones. The nice thing about this amp is that it has its own drive control which does allow for more tweaking than some other miniamps out there.
SOUNDS
At first when I plugged this amplifier in I didn't expect to really hear much that would be appealing. However I instantly bonded with the very gritty and natural tone that this little box has. It is quite dynamic and responds well to both single coil and humbucker pickups. I particularly dig how it breaks up in a more natural way as opposed to sounding harsh or buzzy. The fact that it has more than one speaker helps to bring life into the amp too, which is a good thing for sure. Obviously it isn't going to sound like a full sized Twin but this is a decent little mini rig of its own merrit.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think the Fender Mini Twin '57 is a great little amp for anyone seeking a practice tool, something to travel with, or just a cool sounding novelty amp. At about $50 new you simply can't go wrong if you need a great and naturally cool tone tool. Plus this one's tweed... that's just cool.