Next amp: 5F1?

tweeddeluxe · October 12th, 2006, 10:44 AM

I've lately gotten the urge to build another amp. Not because I'm dissatisfied with my current setup, homebrew 18w M clone & '74 Vibrolux, just looking for something different mainly to use at home in my music room.

In the past, besides several full circuit and single channel 18watters, I've also built;

5E3 tweed Deluxe--Glorious sound with single coils, but too dark for my tastes with a Weber P12R. Plus, at the time I needed more clean headroom for the band I was in.

5E8A-another nice sounding amp but too darn heavy.

Lightning-Another great amp, built for someone else, but too similar to the 18watter

Since I don't currently own a tweed and I've pretty well covered the higher wattage end (sorry, I've no need for 50+ watt amp), the 5F1 intrigues me. Especially since I'm looking to go fairly cheap on parts.

Could anyone who's played or owned one of these offer their thoughts I what I can expect. Are you guys using 8" speakers or what?

TIA

tom

DrewB · October 12th, 2006, 12:32 PM

I finished a 5F1 a few weeks ago. It's great with single coils but over-compresses with humbuckers when its cranked. The neck-position humbucker in a Les Paul is way wooly. I mitigate those shortcomings by giving it just a touch more dirt (barely) with a Blues Driver, which narrows the frequencies enough to firm up the bottom end into quasi-Bluesbreaker territory. I run mine into a Celestion G12-K100 in a Crate 1x12 cabinet, and it sounds great. I can't imagine myself ever using an 8" speaker. When I get around to building a cabinet for it, it will be a tweed Deluxe-sized cab with a 12.

I really like the sound of my clone. The only things I would change are

1 - Make the volume control not act so much like a tone control; it needs to be up fairly high to get the highs out of it.

2 - Increase the filtering to firm up the low end. I haven't experimented with this at all, yet.

A tweed Princeton might be a better fit for me. You can never have too many amps, you know...

tweeddeluxe · October 12th, 2006, 02:26 PM

Thanks Drew. What transformers did you use?

Your complaints are similar to the ones I had about my 5E3. Hit the sweet spot, though, and it's fantastic.

DrewB · October 12th, 2006, 02:33 PM

I got a chassis-only kit from Marsh and specified an 8-ohm OT. I think it's a Mojo. The PT is supposedly an Heyboer. My 5E3 is the same way to a degree, but guitars that sound dark through the 5F1 spank hard through the 5E3. I use the same cabinet for both amps.

October 12th, 2006, 10:44 AM	#1 (permalink)
tweeddeluxe Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: MD Age: 51 Posts: 735	Next amp: 5F1? I've lately gotten the urge to build another amp. Not because I'm dissatisfied with my current setup, homebrew 18w M clone & '74 Vibrolux, just looking for something different mainly to use at home in my music room. In the past, besides several full circuit and single channel 18watters, I've also built; 5E3 tweed Deluxe--Glorious sound with single coils, but too dark for my tastes with a Weber P12R. Plus, at the time I needed more clean headroom for the band I was in. 5E8A-another nice sounding amp but too darn heavy. Lightning-Another great amp, built for someone else, but too similar to the 18watter Since I don't currently own a tweed and I've pretty well covered the higher wattage end (sorry, I've no need for 50+ watt amp), the 5F1 intrigues me. Especially since I'm looking to go fairly cheap on parts. Could anyone who's played or owned one of these offer their thoughts I what I can expect. Are you guys using 8" speakers or what? TIA tom

October 12th, 2006, 12:32 PM	#2 (permalink)
DrewB Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Independence, MO Posts: 1,086	I finished a 5F1 a few weeks ago. It's great with single coils but over-compresses with humbuckers when its cranked. The neck-position humbucker in a Les Paul is way wooly. I mitigate those shortcomings by giving it just a touch more dirt (barely) with a Blues Driver, which narrows the frequencies enough to firm up the bottom end into quasi-Bluesbreaker territory. I run mine into a Celestion G12-K100 in a Crate 1x12 cabinet, and it sounds great. I can't imagine myself ever using an 8" speaker. When I get around to building a cabinet for it, it will be a tweed Deluxe-sized cab with a 12. I really like the sound of my clone. The only things I would change are 1 - Make the volume control not act so much like a tone control; it needs to be up fairly high to get the highs out of it. 2 - Increase the filtering to firm up the low end. I haven't experimented with this at all, yet. A tweed Princeton might be a better fit for me. You can never have too many amps, you know... __________________ There is no substitute for Sound Pressure Level

October 12th, 2006, 02:33 PM	#4 (permalink)
DrewB Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Independence, MO Posts: 1,086	I got a chassis-only kit from Marsh and specified an 8-ohm OT. I think it's a Mojo. The PT is supposedly an Heyboer. My 5E3 is the same way to a degree, but guitars that sound dark through the 5F1 spank hard through the 5E3. I use the same cabinet for both amps. __________________ There is no substitute for Sound Pressure Level

October 12th, 2006, 02:26 PM	#3 (permalink)
tweeddeluxe Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: MD Age: 51 Posts: 735	Thanks Drew. What transformers did you use? Your complaints are similar to the ones I had about my 5E3. Hit the sweet spot, though, and it's fantastic.