Narrowed down my choices to these two amps.

The Fender Twin Custom 15 (85w) I can get used for around $900

The Gretsch Executive 15 (Victoria built hand-to-hand 20w) for $1700.

Other than the 'cool factor' and vibe of the Executive, what else would I gain (if anything) over the Fender Twin w/ 15"

I can afford either one, just want to justify the extra expense for the Executive if that's the way I go?

Any advice ?

I'm not familiar with the Fender, but I have the Executive (for only about 2 months now). Some quick thoughts:

1. Wow it's plenty loud. But I'm just a basement player, albeit with a drummer and bass player.

2. I play it clean. It doesn't get dirty until 7 or 8 on the dial. I normally keep it around 4 (with Tavo's Atomic Brain). I switch over to another amp to get distortion.

3. The tone is fantastic. Makes my Gretschs sound very rich. I found a review somewhere that in the category of tone, they just wrote: Ridiculous.

4. I don't use a lot of Reverb. Note it is available even without the footswitch. But the footswitch is required for the Vibrato. Which I don't use.

5. Be sure you're okay with the dimensions and weight. In my excitement when it arrived, I threw out my back while carrying it up and down stairs. Couldn't play for 2 days, LOL. It stays put. I'm not a gigging musician, so portability is not an issue.

I have a Twin with a Piggyback cab and a single 15" speaker. It's a great amp but I'd trade it for an Executive in a heartbeat. IMHO, no contest, buy the Executive.

Yup the Executive is wunnerful, so is the Playboy! I am really thinking of selling some stuff to buy a used Executive myself!

The Fender Twin is one loud amp. If headroom is part of the equation, the Twin should cover that bill. The Fender re-issues have great reputations. I know the point to point work on the Gretsch's, Victorias is certainly attractive, but I'm not sure that there is a definitive answer as to if it is worth the expense. You will undoubtedly get a ton of opinions.

Well I went with the Executive. Signed up for 'Bill Me Later'...
6 months same as cash on my first purchase so that's what I did.

UPDATE... Denied the Bill Me Later, so I had to cancel the Executive :-(

you'll find one cheaper

What's the reasoning behind 1x15 vs 2x12 on the Twin?

Just buy a used Victoria you won't lose any money on it most likely and you will get a better built amp. According to JeffO who knows the owner of Victoria and is very knowlegable amp guy. Might check with him and Tavo for the full scoop of the poop just send them a PM. Fender made Victoria use cheaper parts in the production of the "Gretsch amps." This has all been sorted out on the Gretsch Page Site several times. I don't believe Gretsch ever made an amp themselves. With $1700.00 to spend you have a lot of options for some real quality gear. On the Gear Pages you will find used Victorias a lot of their members are high $$buck$$ amp nuts and they do buy and sell just like mere mortals. For what it is worth the best amp I have and have ever had is my 1966 Fender Pro-Reverb. Good luck on your hunt. ON SECOND THOUGHT YOU COULD JUST BUY THIS ;) http://www.gretsch-talk.com/forum/buy-sell-trade-negotiations/

The Twin would be the perfect amp for playing steel guitar in a country and western band in big stadiums.

Wow, hatin on the Gretsch amps! I love mine! I have not played anything better yet, but hey when you win it at a jam,,,,,well let's just say you are grateful for the sweetest sounding amp you have ever heard! I even owned a 50 watt Bassman stack and I still like my lil Playboy bettah! Heck I have owned everything from Ampegs and Alamos to Musicman and Lab Series, Fenders and Legend, Peavey and Earth, not to mention Trayner! I owned a Fender silverfaces like the Super Six,and Bassman, and now own a BDRI which is gathering dust. All I can tell ya is my Playboy is by far the best!

Another choice is a used Fender Silverface Vibrosonic. I had a '78 with a JBL D-130 and it was VERY nice! Played inside and outside. Only amp I've owned that sounded great in a school gym. Sold it for $800 in excellent condition about 2 years ago.

No disrespect meant to you Raye, I value and respect your opinions, but I'm surprised to hear this. I had thought that the Gretsch amps were pretty decent. As I understand it these amps are out of production now but I'm sure that Victoria could come pretty close.

No disrespect meant to you Raye, I value and respect your opinions, but I'm surprised to hear this. I had thought that the Gretsch amps were pretty decent. As I understand it these amps are out of production now but I'm sure that Victoria could come pretty close.

I didn't say they were bad amplifiers. I just stated that according to "those in the know" (maybe maybe not sources might be as reliable as network news coverage) some corners had to be cut to get the deal with Fender to build them. This of course could be Bull. They are very very very nice amps and I would be proud to have one. From an investment point they are only desired by a few of us Gretsch folk and the Victoria label has a much wider appeal and the resale is higher. That being said picking up a used Gretsch/Victoria at a good price would be a sweet deal. The Gretsch Playboy is being blown out at $1199.00 right now at RockyStreet new. The comparable Victoria MSRP is $2095.00. Didn't mean to tork anybody off I sincerely apologize if I did offend any of my friends here.

Found a mint Executive at a Guitar Center near me... $1300 out the door... AND 30 days to 'try it out' ...keep it or return it. I SHOULD be able to determine if I like it wihin that window.

Thanks for the input guys !

Found a mint Executive at a Guitar Center near me... $1300 out the door... AND 30 days to 'try it out' ...keep it or return it. I SHOULD be able to determine if I like it wihin that window.

Thanks for the input guys !

Ifn you don't like it, I will trade you a beautiful Blues Deluxe Reissue fer it! My BDRI is a factory lacquered one and hasn't hardly been played!;)

Found a mint Executive at a Guitar Center near me... $1300 out the door... AND 30 days to 'try it out' ...keep it or return it. I SHOULD be able to determine if I like it wihin that window.

Thanks for the input guys !
Congrats, Don't see how you can lose on that deal. No monkeying around with shipping 30 day money back.

They are shipping it to a GC closer to me. I'll have it next Tues.

I'm not much of a tinkerer myself, but curious as to what you Exec owners may have done (if anything) to 'uprgrade' it from it's stock condition.

It's coming with Groove Tubes, right ? Never been too keen on them, but if they do the job, fine... anyone do NOS tubes ? If so, what ?

A JBL D130 is an obvious candidate, but will definately give the Legend 15 a fair shot.

... so what did you do (if anything) to 'dink' with a good thing ? ;-)

They are shipping it to a GC closer to me. I'll have it next Tues.

I'm not much of a tinkerer myself, but curious as to what you Exec owners may have done (if anything) to 'uprgrade' it from it's stock condition.

It's coming with Groove Tubes, right ? Never been too keen on them, but if they do the job, fine... anyone do NOS tubes ? If so, what ?

A JBL D130 is an obvious candidate, but will definately give the Legend 15 a fair shot.

... so what did you do (if anything) to 'dink' with a good thing ? ;-)
I ordered a quad of 6L6 tubes that were expensive, high quality reproductions of RCA blackplates. A friend with a high quality mil spec tube tester tested them against the well worn, el-cheapo Groove Tubes in my TRRI, the el-cheapos were better by a longshot.

I ordered a quad of 6L6 tubes that were expensive, high quality reproductions of RCA blackplates. A friend with a high quality mil spec tube tester tested them against the well worn, el-cheapo Groove Tubes in my TRRI, the el-cheapos were better by a longshot.

Have had no problems with Groove tubes been in several amp I have owned. I do like JJ's the best of new production tubes. Bob at Eurotubes is great.

They are shipping it to a GC closer to me. I'll have it next Tues.

I'm not much of a tinkerer myself, but curious as to what you Exec owners may have done (if anything) to 'uprgrade' it from it's stock condition.

It's coming with Groove Tubes, right ? Never been too keen on them, but if they do the job, fine... anyone do NOS tubes ? If so, what ?

A JBL D130 is an obvious candidate, but will definately give the Legend 15 a fair shot.

... so what did you do (if anything) to 'dink' with a good thing ? ;-)

Been down the road for NOS tubes more than I care in the last 10 years spent lots of $$$$ had Sylvania, GE, RCA, Right now I have four matched pairs of JAN Phillips 6L6WGB short bottle NOS tubes now I bought 5 years ago. I have them in my 66 Pro Reverb no real noticable difference between them and the JJ's I had in there before. I also had four of them in a Twin reverb yes the Jan Phillips are tough enough for the plate current. They really did not ad anything over the other JJ's. Honestly I couldn't really tell any difference between them and the JJ's which I have had very good luck never had one fail. I also had some Groove GT GE's when they supossedly actual built a reproduction of the old GE here in the US they claimed. Those tubes are still going strong without any problems. If your Groove tubes sound good I would leave them alone and not waste your time and money on "NOS" which are really few and far between but you can be sold anything claiming NOS. In short I wouldn't waste time chasing NOS tubes again as you really have no idea whether they are new or not, most claiming NOS are not new.. Spend the time playing that amp you won't regret it.

Has anyone swapped out the Legend 15 for a Weber Ceramic California 15 ? Just curious.

Got the amp today and the Legend sounds pretty darn good to me, but may get the Weber just for the heck of it and compare.

I LOVE THIS AMP ! It's only day 1, but sure sounds sweet to me !! Even my Godin Nylon SA sounds great through this amp !

Settings Volume 4, Treble 1-2, Bass 8-9, Middle 2 or off. Everything stock sounds amazing at first playing. About the best amp I've owned for clean playing so far !

I tried out a Twin Custom 15 when I picked up the Executive. Nice amp but too much power for me. I like 20-50max watt amps personally.

Big Kenny swapped out for a Weber. You can ask him.

My foot pedal switches went bad, had to have them replaced. I wasn't getting any reverb. I'll pick it up tomorrow. Looking forward to that lush reverb sound. I had a PRRI, this is a much deeper reverb sound.