Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: timski on July 29, 2011, 04:29:28 PM
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I have exclusively played Fender silverface amps for the last 10-15yrs but recently got my first tweed amp - a Narrow Panel Deluxe 5E3 clone (mojotone kit) built by an amp builder I know in the NE of England.
WOW! What a cool amp.
Obviously tweeds are the antithesis of the high-gain pre-amp, high power, supertight bass, solid-state rectified 4x12 celestion affairs that are popular on this forum, but I know there are a few vintage Fender fans like me lurking out there.
It is a perfect example of every part of the amp contributing towards its overall sound, and is pure simplicity itself.
I am already contemplating what my next amp will be, once the finances recover:
3x10 Bandmaster?
2x10 Super?
1x15 Pro?
Low Power Twin?
Hmm...
Anyone else out there currently experiencing Tweed Love?
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Seriously considering the Princeton kit or the low power twin myself. Did you buy the kit yourself and have it assembled or buy it ready made?
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mmm tweed
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who built it? - I'm in Newcastle.
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I bought it ready built by Mike Pears (ramamps.co.uk).
He builds his own line of amps in his spare time and occasionally does a small tweed amp.
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Sounds great, not got a deluxe but built myself a Torres Boxer (an early champ clone) a couple of years ago and that has a great sound for such a basic amp, and through a Celestion blue it sounds glorious.
Paul
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That champ he has on site looks nice
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a 15" speaker always adds a certain something 8)
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The 5E3 Deluxe is one of the greatest amps ever.
If it's another tweed you want, I'd look at a tweed Champ or a tweed Bassman.
But, since you already have a tweed amp, you might want to look into blackface amps too.
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I'm not bothered about a Champ or Bassman as they are pretty commonplace (although they are both great amps).
I'm more interested in the likes of the bandmaster, pro, super etc, mentioned earlier.
As for Blackfaces: I've had 5 silverfaces over the last 10-15yrs (currently have two: a princeton reverb and vibrolux reverb) which, apart from the '77 twin reverb I had, were, to all intents and purposes, virtually identical to the equivalent blackfaces.
Of course we haven't even mentioned the brown and blonde amps...
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Firstly you need to bear in mind that there are a lot more versions of the Tweed amps than other Fenders. eg there isn't a huge difference between the BF and SF Twins, but there are sevral versions of the Tweed Twin.
All the Tweed Pros I've seen have been very cool.
The Tweed Bandmaster is v-v-v-v-ery rare. I've only ever seen 1, and to be honest it didn't sound amazing, although there could have been several reasons for this.
2 x 10 Super is also another great amp.
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I tend not to mention Brown or Blonde because that exacerbates a pre-existing GAS syndrome.
Also, for some reason, no one makes kits for them - (save Marsh, who make a Vibroverb, and some custom makers can build Brown/Blondes for you).
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I tend not to mention Brown or Blonde because that exacerbates a pre-existing GAS syndrome.
Also, for some reason, no one makes kits for them - (save Marsh, who make a Vibroverb, and some custom makers can build Brown/Blondes for you).
A great shame. The Blonde/Brown Tolex amps seem to have fallen of the radar of vintage Fender amps.
The Brown Tolex Deluxe and Concert are particular favourites of mine.
The Brown Tolex vibrato is amazing.
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Hi Timski, have you tried one of Ramamp's OD35 pedals? Sounds interesting, more of a tweed-type od.
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After years of topics/discussions I still don't understand why Fender hasn't re-issued the Blonde Bassman yet.
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The same could easily be said of many of their amps but it probably comes down to consumer demand.
When tweed and blackface amps started becoming collectible in the early 90s they 're-issued' the Bassman and Twin Reverb, and subsequently reissued other tweed and BF models.
The only non-black tolex model they have ever reissued, IIRC, is the '63 Vibroverb which only lased a few years as it was superceded by the Custom Vibrolux Reverb.
The brown/blonde tolex amps remain much more of a niche market compared to the popular Tweed and BF models, although I reckon one or two carefully chosen reissues would sell pretty well. The brown 1x12 Vibrolux and blonde 2x10 Tremolux piggyback would be my suggestions!