YANABIP - Tweed Deluxe

[kbp810]

Okay... as a continuation of my Fender clone building madness, a 5E3 build is in fact underway: (this is what happens when your hobbies include things such as guitars, amps, and tinkering with electronics)

 

It started when I happened to stumble across a great deal on a neglected and lonely piece of flamed/quilted maple; and to a madman such as myself I immediately envisioned a new amp cab, of course!

 

But his board had a little too much potential to just take on the cab build myself, so Steiner and his neighbor graciously came on board as consultants - for which I am very grateful because those two really know their way around a chunk of lumber (that, and Steiner has done most of the real work )

 

Still work in progress, but here is a few quick pics of the cab:

 

 

 

 

 

[GuitArtMan]

Schweet!!! I keep thinking about building an amp one of these days. Then I take a look around at all the half finished projects and come to my senses. Still I'd like to do a high power variation on the 5e3, kinda like the Tungsten Amps Crema Wheat. Keep us posted as the amp progresses.

[brentrocks]

you must retired....LOL

 

looks great!!!!

[Steiner]

Nice work KBP810! You got to be happy to have a friend like that Stoner guy who's helping you through this. Love the control area detail! Wait a minute; something about this wood looks familiar...

 

Keep us abreast

[tulk1]

Wow!! That is some beautiful wood, right there. Would look great as a guitar top! Agreed with Greg, that control panel cut out is uber cool!

 

GAM - there just happens to be a high powered version of the 5E3. 5E3x2, using 4 6V6s. It can flat out kick it!!

[kbp810]

Love the control area detail!

That did turn out nice, I'm glad the, er, uhmm, tablesaw came up with that idea!

 

you must retired....LOL

 

looks great!!!!

 

Not retired, lol... for the past few years I've had a rather hectic schedule with nearly zero free time. As of recently, things have settled way down but I've felt the need to try and keep myself busy.

[kbp810]

A few new pics:

 

Baffle board cut to size and speaker hole cut out (baffle will be covered with grill cloth)

 

 

[DetroitBlues]

That is one sweet amp. Very beautiful to look at. If it sounds as good as the other amps, that's going to be one of the best amps money can buy! (or is it make?)

[smurph1]

looks like high quality stuff..what name plate are you gonna put on it?

[big bob]

Great googlie mooglie.. Nice

[golferwave]

That's just flat out beautiful!! Can't wait to see the finished product!!

[iim7v7im7]

Being a fellow 5E3 owner, I can admire the beauty of your cabinetry. Kudos on a beautiful job.

 

That being said, being someone who can't carry much anymore without the aid of 3 naproxin sodium tablets, I wonder how heavy it will be? The density of maple is about 60% higher than pine, but the elastic modulus (stiffness) is only about 20% higher.

 

Also, what speaker are you going to use? I use a 8 ohm, 25w, Weber 12A150A (about 8 lb.). It's a great match with this amp (and not too heavy!).

 

Good Luck with Your Project!

 

:-)

[DetroitBlues]

I believe this amp comes with a portable crane for easy transportation, optionally a guy name Franz or maybe Hanz comes with it to move it around.

[kbp810]

Being a fellow 5E3 owner, I can admire the beauty of your cabinetry. Kudos on a beautiful job.

 

That being said, being someone who can't carry much anymore without the aid of 3 naproxin sodium tablets, I wonder how heavy it will be? The density of maple is about 60% higher than pine, but the elastic modulus (stiffness) is only about 20% higher.

 

Also, what speaker are you going to use? I use a 8 ohm, 25w, Weber 12A150A (about 8 lb.). It's a great match with this amp (and not too heavy!).

 

Good Luck with Your Project!

 

:-)

The cab itself is actually not all that heavy, even with the transformers already sitting in the attached chassis... though I am tentatively planning on using a JBL D120 I have on hand which is not a light speaker by any means(Though it could be worse... I also have another EVM12 sitting arround, and those things are beasts!)

[kbp810]

Still needs plenty of sanding and finishing, but we have an assembled cab!

Time to shift more focus back on to the amp itself now...

 

Already have the chassis drilled out and components set - went with a thin stock piece of lacewood for the faceplate. Still haven't gotten very far with the wiring or actual circuit itself yet though... one small deviation you may notice is that I am only going with two input jacks as opposed to the original design which included four. I just wasn't sure if I had the real estate for four in the 2" deep chassis... so now I need to decide how I want to utilize them as it relates to the Tweed Deluxe - two guitar inputs, one "hot" one "not"... or one guitar input and one mic input?

 

 

 

 

[DetroitBlues]

Still needs plenty of sanding and finishing, but we have an assembled cab!

Time to shift more focus back on to the amp itself now...

 

Already have the chassis drilled out and components set - went with a thin stock piece of lacewood for the faceplate. Still haven't gotten very far with the wiring or actual circuit itself yet though... one small deviation you may notice is that I am only going with two input jacks as opposed to the original design which included four. I just wasn't sure if I had the real estate for four in the 2" deep chassis... so now I need to decide how I want to utilize them as it relates to the Tweed Deluxe - two guitar inputs, one "hot" one "not"... or one guitar input and one mic input?

 

 

 

 

 

 

So when do we get to see it in action? I know an axe slinger that would love to demo it for you if you need a second opinion!

[tulk1]

Still needs plenty of sanding and finishing, but we have an assembled cab!

Time to shift more focus back on to the amp itself now...

 

Already have the chassis drilled out and components set - went with a thin stock piece of lacewood for the faceplate. Still haven't gotten very far with the wiring or actual circuit itself yet though... one small deviation you may notice is that I am only going with two input jacks as opposed to the original design which included four. I just wasn't sure if I had the real estate for four in the 2" deep chassis... so now I need to decide how I want to utilize them as it relates to the Tweed Deluxe - two guitar inputs, one "hot" one "not"... or one guitar input and one mic input?

 

Having used my 5E3 for gigging, and with different guitars, I'd suggest using the two "normal" hot inputs - one normal/ one bright. That gives you inputs for 'buckers vs single coils. Really works well that way, too. Never found a use for the lower input channels.

[kbp810]

Having used my 5E3 for gigging, and with different guitars, I'd suggest using the two "normal" hot inputs - one normal/ one bright. That gives you inputs for 'buckers vs single coils. Really works well that way, too. Never found a use for the lower input channels.

Yep, I like the sound of that idea!

 

I agree on the lower inputs, I'm sure they would indeed go unused

[FredZepp]

Great Looking maple there....

 

and , oh my... it should be a sweet amp to rock on.

[kbp810]

Sanding, sanding, and more sanding on the cab... so much in fact that I have now have offically dubbed the name of today to be "Sanderday"

 

I think I am getting close to the first coat of finish... just trying to get it all smoothed out as much as possible first.

 

In other news... I've also got quite a bit of the wiring done as well:

 

I'm trying out the TAD filter caps this time as opposed to the Sprague Atoms I usually use - I've heard a lot of good feedback on them, and heck, the price on Sprague caps has long since become borderline outrageous. (though to me it looks a bit odd to not see the big ole blue blobs hanging out on the power side, the TAD's are much smaller in size)

 

Also went with orange drops for most all the others (as if you couldn't tell from the below picture)

 

[DetroitBlues]

The internal side of the amp looks great. You might have it all done and ready to jam by next week! Now here's a question, how many hours are spent putting all these together?

[kbp810]

First coat of finish applied, once again going with Tru-Oil (Gun Stock Oil):

 

 

 

Put the baffle back in temporarily just to get an idea of what it will look like - still some more smoothing, buffing, and more coats of finish to go

 

[kbp810]

The internal side of the amp looks great. You might have it all done and ready to jam by next week! Now here's a question, how many hours are spent putting all these together?

I very well might have it ready to go! The amp itself doesn't take me all that long to build. I sort of get into a groove with the soldering iron and it all just seems to come right together. This one would even long since be done by now, except I had taken a break at the point in which that last picture was taken, and just haven't come back over to it yet (been working on some other stuff along with finishing the cab - i.e. playing hooky over at Steiners putting my finger prints all over his gee-tars).

 

It's pretty much dependant now on how close to perfect I want the finish to come out on the cab... whenever I reach that point where I just step away and say "there, good enough" it will all come together in a snap.

[Steiner]

First coat of finish applied, once again going with Tru-Oil (Gun Stock Oil):

 

 

 

 

 

Put the baffle back in temporarily just to get an idea of what it will look like - still some more smoothing, buffing, and more coats of finish to go

 

 

Holy frijoles! I call dibbs!

 

The oil brought out the flame beyond what I thought it would. The top's grain wrapping around to the front panel is seductive; Baby! If the amp sounds half as good as it looks, you'll have the One; I already know it will based on your other amps. Wow!

[DetroitBlues]

I'll have to concede to your dibbs on that amp. But rest assured, when I get a hold of it, its going to need a day or two of rest. I'm going to tear it up!