From parts to Tweed Deluxe in four days October 2010

This is a Tweed Deluxe 5E3 chassis I built in four days

I built this amp for a friend that I have built Tweed era amps for. It takes time to get parts from the various mail-order companies to build these amps, and this time I had just one week to get the amp together for the customer, a situation I have had many times when building custom gear

I built the amp with vintage Good-All coupling caps after testing them for one day with 300 volts arcoss them and vintage 1-watt and 1/2 watt carbons and vintage pots and toggle switches 

I like finding vintage toggles that have a great look, like the chrome-plated ones on this amp rather than using Carlings, so the amp is as vintage a possible, including the 50 year old knobs

Classic Tone transformers were used for a Big Tone Vintage sound 

I tested the amp by listening to classic Xmas music through my Vintage Wharfdale and everyone in the shop enjoyed the nice smooth Hi-Fi tone, unlike most bright, hot amps
This amp has Metal-Oxide 5-watt resistors in the cathodes of the 6V6 tubes as the M-O resistors are non inductive and give a much smoother, no grain tone


It has a big, bold sound, almost as loud as a amp with 6l6 tubes, using the classic 5E3 circuit with a few very early special circuit tricks that I have found on early version tweed amps


I also have built 20 watt versions with 6L6G tubes, the Classic-tone output and the right power


Here is a pic of some of the Tweed amps I have built and a pic of a typical Tweed High Power chassis I built back just before 9-11 happened and a lot of small businesses stopped


These amps have been in service for over five years with no repairs or complaints

We used Sovetk 5881s and orange drops, but went to Russian Paper-Oil as they have the best sound, more sustain, and much more clarity on chords. These amps ran 100 volts less than everyone's else so they could run four 6V6 tubes as well and were very quiet and Hi-Fi sound

When we were building Tweed amps I sometimes had to get a entire amp together in a week as holdups with parts and other events can cut your time down. You have to be ready to work in a very steady manner so you can get the job finished and tested in time for your customers order