5F11

[cminor9]

I got seriously sidelined over the last 5 months with my shoulder rebuilding surgery (getting much better now) and haven't done any kits except the 5E3.

The Mission 5F11 has a 12" speaker and uses the larger 5E3 trannys, higher B+, fixed bias, but can make a very respectable 17-18 watts and although gets hard core tweed overdrive, is louder, brighter when needed and clearer sounding then the 5E3... but many players are really hung up on the 5E3 +10 watt tone ... it has been a hard sell.

The other thing I've mentioned is that I am still considering taking the remaining 20 chassis' over to my silkscreener's shop and having all the ink wiped off and redoing them to read more like a single channel tweed Bassman only with 6V6s...
the Mission: Bassboy.

I have a friend who had a rotator cuff done, and he has to get the other. Recovery didn't sound like much fun. Sorry to hear that.

As for comparisons to a 5E3, well, I have a 5E3. I love it. Now I want something different. I have been thinking about the 5G9, but I'll give the 5F11 schematic a look. I wish there was some way to actually hear, or better yet, play one. Only have so much time and cash, so I want to pick something that will knock my socks off.

I saw another post you made about the bassboy. I have a Fender Hot Rod DeVille (which they *say* is based on the tweed bassman) and I put JJ 6V6s in there and it is a MUCH better amp for it. I love 6V6s. I am sure the bassboy will sound amazing.

Now if only I could find some more freelance web development jobs to fund my next amp...

[Gone Fission]

If I were to ditch the trem for 6V6 Bassman-ish thing, I'd just go with a 5F4/5E5-A/5E7 set up for 6V6's. But I really, really like trem.

Bear

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

If I were to ditch the trem for 6V6 Bassman-ish thing, I'd just go with a 5F4/5E5-A/5E7 set up for 6V6's. But I really, really like trem.

Bear

But I've already done a hundred of those. I think a little 6V6 sing 1x12 Bassman would be fun and satisfy a lot of requests for a good <20 watt amp with treble bass and midrange.

[Gone Fission]

But I've already done a hundred of those. I think a little 6V6 sing 1x12 Bassman would be fun and satisfy a lot of requests for a good <20 watt amp with treble bass and midrange.

I guess I get where you're coming from, then. I imagine you've also spent more time than most with one-knob tone controls, so the charms might wear off a bit.

(But if you give people a bass knob and a mid knob, they'll dial in too much of the former and too little of the later. The horror, the horror . . . )

Bear

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

I guess I get where you're coming from, then. I imagine you've also spent more time than most with one-knob tone controls, so the charms might wear off a bit.

(But if you give people a bass knob and a mid knob, they'll dial in too much of the former and too little of the later. The horror, the horror . . . )

Bear

Don't get me wrong, the 5F4 tone stack, with tweed treble control and that weird bass control is still cool and in fact, better then the standard tweed single knob tone control, but the 5F6A circuit is really versatile and gives the amp the ability to get a classic and more modern day tone, all in one.
The beauty of the single knob tone is that it still rips even if you can't really turn the bass down much at all.
It only makes the amp much brighter and upper midrangey with higher sounding gain or less bright duller and less gainy... but with proper volume control use at the same time, you can get some fabulous tone out of that single tone knob.

[echuta13]

I think a little 6V6 sing 1x12 Bassman would be fun and satisfy a lot of requests for a good <20 watt amp with treble bass and midrange.

I agree 100%. That's why the 6BM8 Bassman build was so appealing to me (with closer to 10watts of output though).

I really like 6V6 based amps though, and I think a 6V6Bassman varient would be really sweet.

[Crawfish]

The Mission 5F11 has a 12" speaker and uses the larger 5E3 trannys, higher B+, fixed bias, but can make a very respectable 17-18 watts and although gets hard core tweed overdrive, is louder, brighter when needed and clearer sounding then the 5E3... but many players are really hung up on the 5E3 +10 watt tone ... it has been a hard sell.

The other thing I've mentioned is that I am still considering taking the remaining 20 chassis' over to my silkscreener's shop and having all the ink wiped off and redoing them to read more like a single channel tweed Bassman only with 6V6s...
the Mission: Bassboy.
I have a modified eyelet board to do that and a chassis inked for it....

Hi Bruce -

I built a stock 5F11 clone a while back (posted about it here) and I really like it. I recall your comments about the limitations of the stock iron (I used Mercury 5F11 xformers) and you mentioned you use bigger iron. I personally would love to try one. I'd be very interested in buying a chassis and iron from you if you'd sell 'em that way. Or if you offered the whole thing as a kit, I'd be interested.

-Kevin

[chocorookie]

Hello everyone, floated this toppic bottom-up again.
I've finished one last month.

Dan Marsh got a chassis for me and fun began.
I took a stock Tweed vibrolux MM PT and a MM 5E3 OT for this one.
The amp's got a liniar tonecontrol but still harsch volume increase; paul -C mod was added.
Also a NFB switch added wat does the 5F11" tammed" -/ 5E3 trick. (closed-/open)

The 3 input's are changed with different input resistors 1M +68k-/ stock 5e3 and a single 47k input.

Kept it kathode biased, but the 56k was way's off a nice bias(50k-lin in series did the trick).
And last but not least a nice 12" Weber was placed into it ( had to rout the speakerbaffle up to spec's and tube-allignment eg the alnico back of the speaker. A darn job but it fits nice)

Sound? It's warm and creamy, 5E3 loudness but not distorted till the clock hits 8,5 for a nice tweed growl. NFB switched off and at 6 the bluese was back with slightly more headroom.

The pre-amp tubes had to be dailed-in again at the kathodes to have the best bais. Esp. V1 ( 1.05V before, brought it back to 1.33V nearly stock schematic)

The vibrato? Wel you have like it and learn to love it, it's a kind of " delayed vibrato" very loose, easy to dail in. (it does not match the Vibrochamp vibrato witch I think it's the best I'll ever heard)

Rating? on a scale from 1 to 10 a nice 8+, droven in a couple of year's a shure 9.


Greatings Chocorookie,
The netherlands

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

NEW ... 5F11 Harp amp

The latest one I built has been retuned for harp players and I like it a lot!
Remember, all my cabinets are using a 12" speaker and baffle.
This one has a Texas Heat in it with a little home made beaming and top end defeating, cone diffuser.
I started with a GZ34/5AR4 and the power tubes idling hot at around +11 to 13 watts each.
However, since my 5F11s are all fixed bias and I found I liked the harp amp tone better with the power tubes idling at about 5-7 watts each and a GZ30 rectifier. What a surprise to me.
That is totally backwards to the NET driven, Class A tone, mass hysteria... you know, power tubes at full idle current opinions with respect to harp amps.

Also, I redid the tweed tone control to match the Mission Amps designed 5F2H harp amp (seen on webervst) ... and added the first stage local NFB using a 4m7 resistor after the new 100nF coupling cap.
https://taweber.powweb.com/store/5f2h_schem.jpg
The other things I did were to keep the first stage plate voltage at around 135vdc-140vdc by altering the preamp stage B+ node resistor and fatten the tone a little with one step up larger coupling caps and cathode bypass caps plus, limit the total amount of top end by using a snubber cap across the first preamp stage's plate load resistor.

The amp still has enough balls to drive the speaker to +18 watts at 80Hz with a reasonably clean signal, although it is a bit sensitive to microphone feedback so you have to stand back from it to turn it up real loud.

Vibrato... I not have been able to 100% fix the slower start up of the vibrato circuit design.
It is different circuit and different sounding then the black face ones of course but there is still something there that makes it a little sluggish when tapping on the foot pedal on-off switch.
I can only assume it has to do with the single triode function of it and it taking a few hundred milliseconds to start oscillation again.

[chocorookie]

Hi Bruce,

your's is build, as i see, with a total different aproach of use. I kept mine a bit 5E3-isch with single coil guitars as main target.

Everybody knows the dail-in-distorted 4+ on the 5E3 witch shows as an annoying feature for this amp.
V1 pre-amp was kept low, tryed a 12ay7, vibrato dissapeared to the back ground. 1500 + 470 series at the kathode did the trick and tempered the thing + the discutable DC couppled Paul-C mod(I slightly differed it for lowwer dc at the anode and the NFB )
The amp listens very wel to is volume knob now, and also (part of the volume) the tone knob. Sweetspot's in a row.

20uF as 1-st filtercap kept the amp a bit thighter, in respect to the 16uF, but not that noticeable.
I love to keep the 120Hz out when no choke is used (in respect to neat and nice builing, earthpath's, 90dgr. crossings etc.)

Got nice 140V at the anodes, the PT( a shot in the dark chance for a mayby underrating power supply) settled very well regarding voltages.
Stock 5Y3 rectifier, but no serious sag, only nice floating when cranked.

Then de Vibrato, the kathode is grounded before you turn on the footswitch. The Caps needs a few 2*phi* f* C cycles to turn on the vib.
Voltage swing on the bias is not liniar by turning on.
This also in respect to the chosen biassettings, 14-/15 watt's at idle.

NFB switch loosened the amp towards the 5E3 in respect to V1 and 12aY7.

[Robert M. Martinelli]

Bruce,
sorry for this slight thread hijack,
I took a look at your site and liked very much that "Aurora Reverb" of yours.....
Is there any chance you could offer it as a kit one day?
I'm asking this because the shipping costs/customs/VAT fees here are terribly high, so with a kit I could build one saving some money, but I think others might as well be interested in such a project.
Best regards
Bob

[ajeffcote]

What about this 5F11 kit Bruce?

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

If there were enough builders interested, I would put a few kits together... but pulling all the parts and docs for just one kit is kinda like, ... well, geeze, few more steps and I'll just build it myself from here and be done with it in about 6-8 hours. ha ha

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

Bruce,
sorry for this slight thread hijack,
I took a look at your site and liked very much that "Aurora Reverb" of yours.....
Is there any chance you could offer it as a kit one day?
I'm asking this because the shipping costs/customs/VAT fees here are terribly high, so with a kit I could build one saving some money, but I think others might as well be interested in such a project.
Best regards
Bob

I haven't considered doing the Aurora as a kit... it has some proprietary circuitry that has some of my magic fairly dust on it... etc