www.premierguitar.com PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2009 75
Dave's Guitar Shop
Daves Rogers’ Collection is tended to by
Laun Braithwaite & Tim Mullally
Photos and words by Tim Mullally
Dave’s Collection is on display at:
Dave's Guitar Shop
1227 Third Street South
La Crosse, WI 54601
608-785-7704
davesguitar.com
In 1953 Fender launched an amp that
would become the industry standard
for decades: the Twin. Named for its
pair of 12" speakers, the Twin evolved
in looks and power output through the
1950s. In1955 it changed from a wide-panel 25-watt amp to a narrow-panel
50-watt amp. By 1958, the tweed Twin
had reached 80 watts.
The new high-powered Twins were
favored by late-‘50s rock and roll musicians, because the sound was able to
fill most dance halls (this was before
micing amps through a PA system was
standard practice). A number of these
rockers also plugged Fender’s space age
Stratocaster into the Twin because of the
solidbody’s ability to reach high volumes
without feedback. The Strat/Twin setup
was favored by Buddy Holly and Tommy
Allsup of The Crickets, and by Johnny
Meeks of Gene Vincent’s Blue Caps.
Even though the high-powered tweed
Twin was eventually replaced by the
black tolex-covered Twin Reverb and
various incarnations of channel-switching Twins, it is still a sought-after, collectable amp. The most notable proponent of the 80-watt tweed Twin today
is Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.
Since the ‘90s, he’s always had a Twin
or two on stage to achieve his signature
clean/dirty rhythm and lead sound.
More detailed information on Fender
amps can be found in Fender Amps:
The First Fifty Years by John Teagle
and John Sprung, and in The Soul of
Tone by Tom Wheeler.
