so i grabbed one of these off ebay for a decent price. my question is this. why doesn't it drive?
it stays relatively clean right up to 10 on both channels, just gets LOUD!!!!! I've played numerous valve amps so know what to expect. i was looking for something small for playing clean at home that i could drive the shit out of for small gigs. i thought it'd get to a loud level at home but be able to get some sort of drive out of it, even at "loud" home volumes?
its still a great clean sound (obviously) just a bit disappointed that if i wanna gig it I'm gonna have to use pedals again!
How very rock and roll
Comments
Even with a 12AX7 it will get louder than home volume before it really breaks up - to get it distorting a lot quieter than that without using a pedal, you need an attenuator. Luckily it's only 15W so you don't need a huge or expensive one.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
So if that volume is still too high for a gig - which it might be, at some gigs - you'll still need either a dirt pedal or an attenuator.
@koneguitarist - I should probably let other people who know about these things post first sometimes .
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Hmmm. I wonder if it's been modded?
Even with a 12AY7 in V1, it should still break up fairly readily, well before 10. The 5E3 is quite a crude circuit, so there are loads of commonly done mods to refine it to suit modern playing styles. I believe the idea with 50s Fender amps was that the player would use the guitar controls a lot more than is often the case today.
Add to that, that (as ICBM said) distortion was not desirable, and it was assumed the user would back off before it arose, thus the character of the distortion wasn't too important. Hence the 5E3's slightly rough and ragged break up. (Versus the smoother break-up of the long-tailed pair equipped 5F6 for example, designed at a stage where an amp's sound when cranked as loud as it would go had become a factor. To wit Dick Dale).
Most people are disappointed with how dirty a Tweed Deluxe is, if they were expecting Fender cleans and headroom!
The intermediate gain stage - the first half of V2, and which is definitely part of the preamp - might distort at higher settings too. (I haven't scoped it and I don't have one to hand to try.)
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
:-$
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Any recommended level pad's out there???
A simple passive 'volume box' will work fine for a pad, as long as you don't turn it up full. You can buy them for about £20, or build your own for under a tenner.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein