NAD: Cox Amps 5e3 (Ultimate?)

Holy mother of all that's tweed! What a fun amp.

So, I have had my Vibrolux Reverb listed for a while now and finally found a trade and cash deal I was willing to do.

The guy hit me up about the 5e3. It has all the good parts. I think it's actually an Ultimate 5e3, but the seller is still looking for the paperwork. he was avery nice guy and we hit it off right off.

Anyway, the details that I know about: It's got a little bit more than the stock 15 watts, my guess is 18-20. Mercury Magnetic transformers, Tung Sol (new prod) 6v6's, JJ GZ34, EH 12ay7 in V1, JJ ecc83s in V2, Celestion Alnico Gold... and tone for dayzzzzzzz... LOL

So, I tried it at the guy's house and couldn't rally crank it much. I felt kinda weird cranking an amp in the guys smaller basement room. I could tell it was a bit darker than the Vibrolux, but in a good way... and I knew it would open up with some volume.

I took it to a Jam I host last night to see how it would do at band levels. It actually surprised me a lot. I had borrowed a friend's kit built 5e3 a few months ago and had a hard time keeping up with the crowd when they got loud near the end of the night... This one was on the edge of not enough, but with an overdrive pedal (set pretty clean and used as a boost) it kept up. Lesson one... With my band, it seems like it'll be perfect. We are not a loud band. So, that's good.

The Celestion Gold was pretty spectacular! It has such a great bass response! Thick, heavy, without being even slightly muddy. Beautiful mids, that cut through. And a nice crisp treble response! Definitely not too bright (which I appreciate). I was actually a little surprised at how good it really did sound. I think I really like that Celestion Gold!

So, I grabbed some quick phone pics...







But, it's the wiring that is really impressive... The late Mr. Cox was truly a master at making the inside of an map look neat and tidy! He did a beautiful job.


There are some more detailed photos in the dropbox folder. I will probably spend some more time with a camera and the amp next week... I'll update this thread when I'm done fooling around.


Next step will be to figure out which transformers I have and see if I can squeeze a little more oomph out with 6L6's.

 

So, second gig with the 5e3. It was an outdoor gig with the full band and I did not know what the PA situation was gonna be like. So I brought my Vibroverb just in case. Turns out there was sound man who was moving everything... So out the little bugger came.

I used my pedal board this time, which has delay and reverb. It just ate them up. The Tim, Black Secret and Shaky Jimi were hits too. All with just a touch of EQ tweaks.

This amp is definitely a little darker than I am used to.... But, it's a cool tonal palette. I was running the bright channel a little lower on volume, but kept the Normal channel's volume up around 10 to keep things a touch edgy. Still needed the dirt pedal. So, it works for me.

I think she's a keeper!