Just finished my 5E3 Mission Kit............

[bgood]

and it came out great. Very sensitive and feels like an extension of the guitar. What you feed it is what you get - yikes. Sustain is superb. Sounds great with my Strat and G&L ASAT Bluesboy - even the neck bucker. Very happy!! It's quiet and the cabinet is beautiful. Can't wait to play it some more. I like it at low volume and cranked. The way it interacts with the guitar is hard to describe but it feels very "direct". Never played anything like this before.

Credit to Mission Amps. Great kit and great support.

Now, what are the secret settings that you Tweed afficionados like? For only three controls they sure do alot. I have to find good settings but my favorite so far is:

Guitar in bright 1
Bright channel 12
Normal 6
Tone 7

Tasty. Getting some slight vibration from the back panel but nothing problematice. I'll let it settle in for a while before I fix that. Very nice.

Here are some pics. Second build so go easy on me

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

Very nice work!
I like this... plug the guitar into the bright channel, normal volume pot set to +9 to 10, set the tone control at 8-9 and then turn the bright volume up till it starts singing when playing strongly....but you can roll the guitar volume down a little to clean it up.

Use a little felt strip between the upper rear valance panel and the chassis.
Sometimes the lower panel will buzz to and I find removing it... then putting some space, like with a felt strip.... under the bottom of it and re-attaching it seems to help.

[bgood]

thanks Bruce. I'll try that felt trick.

I'm wondering if you know of a definitive source of info on how to use the channels on this amp. Also, does your design allow you to jump the channels and if so, how do you do it? I tried it today and something was wrong, I got sound but VERY low. Don't even know if this is possible on this amp.

thanks

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

thanks Bruce. I'll try that felt trick.

I'm wondering if you know of a definitive source of info on how to use the channels on this amp. Also, does your design allow you to jump the channels and if so, how do you do it? I tried it today and something was wrong, I got sound but VERY low. Don't even know if this is possible on this amp.

thanks

Yes, if the input jacks are wired correctly, just use a short guitar cable jumper cable from the low "gain" jack of the channel you are plugged into and insert the other end in the high "gain" jack of the unused channel.
Then you can use both volume pots to increase the overall signal strength.
It sounds like maybe one or two of your input jacks might not be wired right if this doesn't work.

[bgood]

Thanks - the jumpering works perfectly. The jumper cable I tried was flakey.

This amp is GREAT! Playing out with it this Thursday night at a local blues mic I do. Can't wait.

[TD_Madden]

What sort of speaker are you using?

[bgood]

TD Madden - I'm using the C12Q that comes with the Mission kit. The speaker sounds very good to me and handles the range nicely - my amp is not that flubby at all.

I suspect that I am going to need this thing to be a bit louder so I am contemplating a speaker swap. I want to play it in a gig situation tomorrow night first but I can pretty much already tell it will have to be louder. I find the max "cleanish" tone to be pretty usable (blues) so I just need that sound to go a little louder. A little cleaner would be a bonus but not necessary. The OD sounds are just fine volume wise and my Bad Monkey sounds great in front of the amp. I bought an AB switch and have each channel pretty much set for my rhythm and lead tones. Plenty more to tinker with on the knobs and jumper settings but for now I think I need a more sensitive speaker to get there. I'll know after Thurs. Playing in a loudish blues band with a 30x50 foot room.

I'm thinking of the Red Fang but would be open to some suggestions too. What speaker to you run?

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

Both the light weight Eminence NEO speakers sound really good and all are a +100dB rated speakers
Lil' Texas:
http://eminence.com/guitar_speaker_d...2&SUB_CAT_ID=4
and Tonker Lite:
http://eminence.com/guitar_speaker_d...2&SUB_CAT_ID=4
And the 5lb heavier Red Fang:
http://eminence.com/guitar_speaker_d...2&SUB_CAT_ID=4

The Red Fang is probably a bit better but costs a lot more:

For what it is worth, I find that Eminences SPL ratings are blown up by about +2 to +3dB@1watt then what is really there but, these three speakers are still louder then the reissue C12Q at the same power level. For that matter louder then any of the reissue Jensen speakers.

C12Q:
http://www.tubesandmore.com/scripts/...?item=P-A-C12Q
Or, reissue P12Q:
http://www.tubesandmore.com/scripts/...?item=P-A-P12Q

Even though some builders don't care for the less expensive reissue C12Q, I find it to be a very good sounding entry level speaker for the 5E3.

One more thing, +10dB over another speaker will sound twice as loud, but +3dB to +4dB will be noticeable.
Don't be fooled by "numbers" if the speaker you choose is rated at only 3dB or 4dB more sensitive. It is an average from around 80Hz to 6KHz and you do not only play one note with your guitar.

**************************

Reducing the amp's bass response a few dB will make the amp sound a little louder and cleaner.
This is especially very useful if you actually are playing in a band/combo with a bass player!