Tweed AMps

[GG3]

I am mainly a stay at home player and i am looking for a reasonable tweed fender sounding amp. I was looking at the 57 deluxe ri but i don't know if i want to spend that much. Can any one point me in the right direction.

[richon]

why not a Clone or a Kit?

[GG3]

do you think a clone would be just as good? which clones should i look at?

[jh45gun]

If your a stay at home player a 5e3 is more than enough. 15 watts of pure tube bliss. The kits are not that tough if you can follow directions and use a soldering iron. If not there are plenty of clones out there. MY OPINION I know Weber sells some good stuff like speakers and such but if their kits have the same parts like I just ordered (Pots and Knobs) I would not be to excited to order one of their kits even though the price is cheaper. The pots nuts were cracked which I never have heard of before and the knobs were too.

[igorBG]

You have Fender Blues Deluxe, but don't exclude Peavey Classic 30. Blues Junior comes in tweed sometimes.

[Jim L]

Originally Posted by igorBG

You have Fender Blues Deluxe, but don't exclude Peavey Classic 30. Blues Junior comes in tweed sometimes.

The post mentioned looking for tweed amps... Blues Deluxe (40 watts), Peavy Classics, or a Blues Jr, while fine amps, are not tweed amps. Being covered in tweed is a far cry from having a tweed circuit.

You can get a decent clone for much less than Fender is getting for the Tweed Deluxe RI. Of course, depending on the maker, resale value can be an issue.

Clark Amps make a great Deluxe clone, but they are more like 1300. If you can find one used, you'd be in great shape.

Others here love Richter tweed clones, too.

I've got a 5e3 build on the way, put together by a very talented dude who is basically using a Mojo kit. Upgraded to a Celestion Blue speaker (like Clark uses) and had the tweed lacquered. I'm willing to pay to have it done as I don't have any amp building experience, and more importantly, no time to do it. Luckily, Michael Moody of Magic Amps was willing to do this build for me in between his Vox and Supro clones.

There are a lot of kits-built 5e3 amps out there by do-it-yourselfers, and depending on the person doing the build, their quality can vary greatly. So if you were to by one used, better to look at established clone-makers, like Clark, Richter, Lil Dawg, etc.

IMHO, Clark uses the highest quality parts throughout his builds, and are comparable to Victoria tweed replicas, which cost a ton.

[sanhozay]

Space Tone Tweed ST-6V6se
Class A 5W - Single-Ended - 6V6 - Tube Rectified

What a smoking amp; plenty loud for home - probably too loud!

$850 new.

[rhinocaster]

Originally Posted by sanhozay

Space Tone Tweed ST-6V6se
Class A 5W - Single-Ended - 6V6 - Tube Rectified

What a smoking amp; plenty loud for home - probably too loud!

$850 new.

Unless you need more volume for gigging, I would look no further than this little guy.

Swart has gained quite a reputation in the boutique tweed field because of the quality, tone and look of his amps. You can get one of these little 6V6se amps used for less that $700.

[GG3]

Is that swart similar to a tweed champ? How similar is the tweed champ to the tweed deluxe?

[sanhozay]

Originally Posted by GG3

Is that swart similar to a tweed champ? How similar is the tweed champ to the tweed deluxe?

Yes, but it's a riff on it - and my fave of all the present ones.

If you want to burn at home then this box will give you a great tweedy vibe. I have the big brother AST 1x12 but it really is to much at the house. As would a tweed deluxe be. If you want portable and gigable then the tweed AST is a monster amp. But it really may be to rich for the home. However, if you want an amp that can be cranked for home and recording then there's few more happening than the 6v6se.

There's plent of sound samples on the swart here:
http://swartamps.com/sound_samples.htm

[rhinocaster]

Originally Posted by GG3

Is that swart similar to a tweed champ? How similar is the tweed champ to the tweed deluxe?

More like a tweed princeton. It has a volume and tone control, and an 8 inch speaker. The amp is quite loud for home playing and sounds bigger than any similarly sized amp with the same speaker size. It sounds like a great classic tweed, and since in runs a single 6V6 power tube, you get that characteristic of the tweed deluxe as well. It's just in a smaller package.

It really depends on the sound and volume you're going for. If you're going to play very clean most of the time, any tweed deluxe by the host of builders out there is going to work great. If you want to get some drive happening, and don't want to torture the rest of your family, a tweed deluxe can be a bit too much power.

I was awfully fond of my Richter 5E3. Handbuilt and $825 new.

[bagpipe]

I guess theres probably a good reason that the classic Fender Tweed doesn't come with reverb? I've seen lots of comments to the effect of "the tone is so good that you dont need reverb"? I'm on the hunt for something similar right now - something like a Tweed Deluxe clone (Richter, Trinity amps etc) but I'm wondering if I'll miss the reverb I normally use. Its mainly for playing clean and recording at home. I'd love to get one of the Swart ASP Spacetones but thats a little spendy for me(But, it also includes trem, which I also really like). Some of the samples on the Swart site are awesome. This one of the Spacetone for instance (it also doesn't hurt that its Greg V playing on it!):

http://gregv.us/SwartAmp/SwartAmp_GregV_003.mp3

[EdMax]

The Richter RS 5.8 is a pretty nice buy also, $725 and free shipping in conus.

Though Blackface based, it certainly has a lot of tweed flavor and is either 5W or 8W depending on the selected tube, 6V6 or 6L6. Bonus, Stock cab has a 12" speaker.

I love mine.

This guy made some really cool clips.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxnXZYe7crA

[Billm]

I know there are a lot of guys who dislike Blues Juniors around here, but a light dusting of mods on a relatively inexpensive used Blues Junior will get you plenty of tweed tone (I don't care what the amp is wrapped in; I care how it sounds). A modded BJr will give you sweet breakup tones at whatever loudness you like because of the master volume (another thing people love to hate), and will give you more clean headroom than a 5E3 Deluxe or any of its 15 watt clones.

And reverb.

And tweed covering if you don't mind waiting for the right one to come along on eBay or Craigslist.

[Bill]

I agree with Rhinocaster. I've got a couple of late tweed Princetons that I bought as a result of looking for the ultimate around-the-house blues amp. I gotta say that even those 4-1/2 watts turned up are enough to get the neighbors angry if I didn't have double-paned windows that I kept shut when I play.

No way could I crank it if I was in an apartment. As for a Deluxe, I'd think you could only play it on the clean settings without it getting too loud indoors.

I suspect 1/2 watt or under and a sensitive speaker would be fine for an overdriven sound indoors.

[JamonHamon]

Originally Posted by GG3

I am mainly a stay at home player and i am looking for a reasonable tweed fender sounding amp. I was looking at the 57 deluxe ri but i don't know if i want to spend that much. Can any one point me in the right direction.

Go check out the new Roland Micro Cube RX it is 2.1/2 x2.1/2 stereo amp
I like mine a lot with it new 4x4" speakers its a mini Super Reverb
I have a champ clone and its a one trick pony
but the roland is way better sounding
the Cube dosen't do tweed but it does do Blackface Jazz Chorus Ac30 R-Fier and a lot more

[GG3]

Yeah I dont want anything solid state so. Its either a Tweed deluxe or a tweed champ.

[rhinocaster]

It's not inexpensive, but one of my favorites across the board is the Kendrick Roughneck. Real tweed tone and a 10" speaker. It also stays clean with my Teles up past the halfway point. Then the drive and saturation start kicking in. It gets quite loud, but it has one of the best ranges of clean to drive I've heard. You can also run any octal based power tube. I think that the quality of the sound is enhanced by the fact that the cab is as deep as your average deluxe. Very flexible. Cute too!



Something else to think about would be something like the Victoria 5112. A champ amp in a bigger box with a 12" speaker. That may be the perfect amp for your needs.

[bgood]

Build a Mission Tweedy Deluxe kit - you won't be sorry.

Another tweedy sounding tube amp kit with low wattage - 1/2 watt - is a Guytronix Gilmore Jr. It was my first build and it is a suprisingly good around the house amp. I'm not using it since I built my 5E3 which is kind of a shame. Stick it in a tweed cab and you have a cool house amp.

Good luck. There are good choices out there.