5E3 tweed deluxe--tone chameleon

[mitchfit]

mitchfit

[pete1951]

I built a tweed deluxe a few years ago and it sounded great but as a tinkerer I had to make it ‘better’. I isolated the channels and put a separate ( lower voiced ) tone control. My thoughts were to use one side for guitar and one for harp. Unfortunately the band I was playing harp with folded before the amp was finished so it still sits ready for some volume and tone controls!
I think I will turn it back to standard, (if I ever get round to it, there’s another amp that switches between EL84s and 6L6s that I need to finish then there’s the fiddle edge neck and half a dozen others........)
Pete

[mitchfit]

pete1951,

Niel Young made his "better" also. swapped out the push-pull 6V6 pair for 6L6. not sure of any other changes but assume rectifier tube had to be at minimum.

now it needs a custom built aftermarket fan system to avoid a critical mass like meltdown.

below from:https://www.guitarworld.com/features/neil-young-ragged-glory

..."the 1959 tweed Fender Deluxe he’s used since the late Sixties. A small, 15-watt unit, with just two volume knobs and a shared tone control, this amp, says Cragg, “makes all the sound. Onstage, as loud as everything gets, that’s what you hear. And it’s totally stock except for two 6L6’s in place of the original tubes. That boosts the output from 15 to 19 watts, and it kills.” An added consequence of this rebiasing is that the amp runs extremely hot; Cragg has high-powered fans trained on the back of the Deluxe to “keep it from blowing up"...

mitchfit

[thinline72]

In addition Jay's video, I found this one to be very helpful in understanding all these knobs interactions in 5E3 circuit. It doesn't have a lot of sound samples, it rather explains what's happening and provides with a bit more combinations to try.

[jono1uk]

I had a head built by Modulas engineering A few years ago got it matchup with a Zila cab packing an EVM12l wonderful bit of kit

[mitchfit]

jono1uk,

[IIRC] is this one you have posted about before that has 6L6 power tubes/valves instead of 6V6?

if true, what rectifier tube does the circuit use?

OEM circuit used 5Y3 for 6V6 power pair:

robrobinette.com/images/Guitar/5E3P_Build/5E3_Layout._Annotated_Signal.gif

mitchfit

[jono1uk]

Hi Mitch

You have a good memory .
Yes that’s the one but I have no idea what that valve is and cdnt get to it without taking the back panel off.
If you contact modulus amps I am sure they would tell you.
The model is the Tweedle Dee version.

[mitchfit]

i also have a custom built 5E3. one that runs [6L6 + 6L6]. uses 5V4 RCA instead of original circuit 5Y3 rectifier. also has vastly over spec'd transformer to handle well beyond the demands of 6L6 extra power output.

= higher clean volume levels before break-up.

checked modulus web page. they don't list any tubes except 6L6 to differentiate wattage boost. if there was no schematic delivered with the amp you should request tube listing/location map. even if NOS bottles, there are ways they can fail other than being used to death.

so why bother with all of this extra info?

think of it as a public service announcement. the guy who tweaked Niel Young's amp warned it normally runs on the ragged edge of going Chernobyl [wormwood] at any time. even with industrial strength cooling system.

or as they would say on the television, DON'T TRY THIS TRICK AT HOME.

mitchfit