Started 5E3 build

[boojo35]

First time poster here. I have lurked a little bit in the past and have found a lot of good info towards building my own Tweed Deluxe.

When I first got the bug to build my own amp, I seriously considered a kit. The more I researched and studied, the more I wanted to do my own design. I guess I ended up splitting the difference, building a 5E3 clone but doing it from scratch... kind of..... I have the cabinet started and the electronic parts should start arriving tomorrow. I did cheat a little and ordered the small parts kit from Mojotone. All the rest of the knick nacks are from here and there.

I will photo this entire build. So far the most challenging tasks have been building my own box joint jig for my router table and to a lesser degree my own circle/radius jig for the router table. I love woodworking so the cabinet build has been a pleasure so far. I know the box joint jig does not look like much but it is made using a digital caliper and its accuracy was pretty good. The limiting factor is the sloppy miter guage channel on by Delta Shaper/router table. Even my high end table saw miter guage is less than can be desired in this channel. One of the worst purchases I ever made but that is another story.

Thanks to all here for posting and sharing so much great info and understanding the addiction and obsession that we all share.

[boojo35]

Cabinet is getting close to putting the tweed on. The chassis is coming along nicely too. The whole project has taken much longer than I expected but patience is a virtue.

[mort]

Nice. You build a nicer looking cab than I do. It's my least favorite part of a project. Looks good dude.

[boojo35]

Finished up the chassis tonight. Fired it up, checked some quick voltages, seems normal although will check more closely again. Plugged in the guitar and Presto, it makes noise...... Good noise... It doesn't have any hum and has a very faint hiss with the volumes maxed. That I believe is the price you pay when you have all carbon comp resistors. Unfortunately the wifey is already in bed so I could only play a bit at a really low volume. The neighbors are probably in bed too but who cares, I don't have to live with them.

I am geeked. It seems as though there is no debugging to do, not bad for a first time build. Only real problem along the way was I had solder run down into a tube socket pin hole. Had to get on the phone to find one and drive an hour to get it.

So I guess the weekend is really going to be focused on getting the cabinet done. Making the speaker baffle, glueing on the tweed, installing the grille cloth cover, making the back covers, applying the poly coat.......

[boojo35]

Got my baffle board and rear panels done today. Installed the cleats in the cabinet. Got all the drilling done. Did a trial fit of all the parts and played for a little bit of course. The sound is AWESOME. I did not want a 5E3 that went into distortion real early like many clones do. I accomplished that but expected it to go into distortion a little sooner than it does. The clean sounds are absolutely amazing though, it blows my mesa out of the water in that dept. This amp is super quiet. Tomorrow I will disassemble it and start on the tweed covering and grille cloth.

I did all the holes such as the speaker hole and radii in the rear covers with my homebuilt router table jig. I am getting clean and perfect holes and radii with little fuss and almost no cleanup and sanding when finished. I am posting a pic of the speaker mounted in the hole. It is flawless, the hole matches the speaker absolutely perfect... Even better than I could have ever hoped for.

Dang, this is fun.

[boojo35]

I got my Tweed put on the cabinet yesterday. I am applying the poly coat to it now. Here are some pics of the tweed in the raw. Getting closer. Finish the urethane, put grille cloth on and re-assemble.

[Danelectron]

boojo35, Nice job. You're making good time!

[boojo35]

Done!!