5F4 Super Amp Question

[TheDTrain]

So I'm looking to do a Weber 5F4 Super but my one question is where is that sweet spot. I'm looking for that tone of a pushed to slight breakup tweed but I'm worried that it might be too loud for where I play (smaller clubs like the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park NJ etc.)

Anyone have an idea of how loud that spot is on a Super?Is it too loud for a small club? I also hate the idea of having to rely on the monitors to hear myself.

 

[muchxs]

So I'm looking to do a Weber 5F4 Super but my one question is where is that sweet spot. I'm looking for that tone of a pushed to slight breakup tweed but I'm worried that it might be too loud for where I play (smaller clubs like the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park NJ etc.)

Anyone have an idea of how loud that spot is on a Super?Is it too loud for a small club? I also hate the idea of having to rely on the monitors to hear myself.

Lotta people misunderstand the "tweed pushed to slight breakup" thing.

Here's the recipe:

Crank it up until it roars. Some tweeds yield "JCM800" style distortion, cranked.

Roll off your guitar volume to throttle the amp back into the "clean on the edge of breakup" zone.

Control amp dynamics with your picking dynamics.

When you want to haul a little ass in a solo just grab your guitar volume. That's why they put knobs on these things.

No pedals necessary.

.

 

[1955]

"Use the volume knob on your guitar to grind the rim of the Bottomless Pit of Endless Distortion."

Another great quote from Muchxs!.

 

[gwjensen]

Lotta people misunderstand the "tweed pushed to slight breakup" thing.

Here's the recipe:

Crank it up until it roars. Some tweeds yield "JCM800" style distortion, cranked.

Roll off your guitar volume to throttle the amp back into the "clean on the edge of breakup" zone.

Control amp dynamics with your picking dynamics.

When you want to haul a little ass in a solo just grab your guitar volume. That's why they put knobs on these things.

No pedals necessary.

.

+1, but I'm still trying to get in the habit of using the guitar volume more.

 

[SoK66]

A 5F4 will stay clean until about 2/3s of the way up on the volume control. Do as suggested, set you V at about 3/4s & use you guitar to control the sweet spot. Use a "Y" cord or jumper the channels for additional fun.

 

[marshman]

As for volume for different gigs, that's where heads & cabs become so versatile...the same amp with a single 12 can play a small room, and you can bust out a 2x12 for bigger gigs...mix and match for best results

By the way, the basic muchxs technique works with all kinds of amps, not just tweeds. It is the only way to rock my 18-watt clone as well as my Excelsior. I used to get to play a little guitar a few bands back and used my friends' Mesa Nomad. I'd just select his mid-grind channel and dial back the strat volume for great clean, then wick it up for leads. It seems a bit silly when you've got 3 channels with lead boost, and it's not as easy as it sounds to get used to, but once you get the technique, the rewards are tremendous.

 

[mr.danny]

Build the 6V6 version of the Super and I think the volume will hit the sweet spot based on your description.

I am one of those guys who never ever uses the guitar vol pot, and I don't think it's a sin either

 

[Inventour]

And slap a 5751 in V1 in place of the 12AY7 and it will
raise the gain from 44% to about 70%, and the 12AX7 is 100%.

The 12AV7 is 41 %, and a good inexpensive tube ti use as a 12AY7

 

[TNO]

I'm planning to build one at some point and have thought converting to cathode bias to lower the headroom.

 

[TheDTrain]

Thank you all for your input, just getting around to check this (school has been hell this year) and I am very grateful for your suggestions and help.

 

[Inventour]

Are you going to build one?

I own an original 5E5A Pro amp, and it's exactly the same as a 5F4 Super except the Pro has the 8 ohm Output transformer and the Super has the 4 ohm Output transformer.

The 8 ohm OT is great because it allows you to use an old single P15N Jensen you can buy on ebay from an old Organ system. The speakers are sometimes minty inside the organ enclosure. The Tele and the old Jensen P15N is a great match and will work in any club setting.

And the larger Pro cab allows you to make a 2x10 baffle and run the amp as a Super 5F4 amp. It's the same circuit as the Pro. The Celestion Gold ALNiCo 10" speakers at 15 ohms each will give you the 8 ohm load from the Pro platform.

So the 5E5A Pro gives you two amps in one. And the Super 5F4 gives you the 2x10. Unless you use the Pro Tweed Cab and use a Weber 4 ohm speaker to run it as a Pro. But it will be near impossible to find an old Jensen P15N speaker at 4 ohms.

The Fender schematics show a couple resistor values are changed in the 5E5A and the 5F4 amps, but they are exactly the same from the factory. There are threads here where we talked about the changes, they did not use any 5 Meg resistors, they used all 4.7 Meg.

And the chassis's are the exact same with the amps.

Just something to think about.

 

[TheDTrain]

Thanks for the advice, I wanna build one over the summer. I'm open to either 2x10 or 1x15. I have a modded Excelsior (which now reminds me of a small tweed) which is 1x15 and I like the smooth feel of 2x10s. The Peavey Classic 50 with 4x10s is nice and big sounding but killer on my back. Can anyone give info or opinions on the weight difference between 2x10 and 1x15? I like the big mids I hear from 15 inch speakers.

 

[fezz parka]

Here's the recipe:

Crank it up until it roars. Some tweeds yield "JCM800" style distortion, cranked.

Roll off your guitar volume to throttle the amp back into the "clean on the edge of breakup" zone.

Control amp dynamics with your picking dynamics.

When you want to haul a little ass in a solo just grab your guitar volume. That's why they put knobs on these things.

No pedals necessary.

.

Tried and true. I set everything up to be a razor's edge from uncontrollable, and use the volume knob to dial it back from there.