NAD - Lil Dawg Tweed Delux

[Vibroluxer]

I've had 2 of these quite a long time ago and I saw this and couldn't resist. It came with all available upgrades and the speaker is a Weber 12 inch AlNiCo Blue.

I got a very good price. And am ecstatic! All I want to do is pull the tubes and replace them with old RCA tubes.

Just as an aside, I also have a Lil Dawg Mutt and this amp combines the front end of a 5e3 Deluxe and a 5f1 Champ backend. 5 watts and a 12 inch speaker. A crazy wonderful little amp.

Both the amps and the maker, Jim, are 1st quality. I can't say enough about Jim, a great
guy to visit with and a builder that you can rely on.

 

[Dukex]

Great score! I have one of his 5e3 heads and usually play it through a Weber 10A100 + 10F150 combo or a Blue Pup + Silver Ten combo.

You just can't beat the quality/price of Jim's amps.

 

[Vibroluxer]

I forgot to add, over the yrs I've been able to afford Victoria amps, I can't now but that's life. Of those I had a tweed Super, a reverberto, Bassman, and Bandmaster. I'm not knocking any of those, Mark the owner of Victoria has excellent builds and quality as well. That 3 speaker Bandmaster was just heaven with my TV Jones equipped Gretsch. But I have to say, I prefer the Lil Dawgs. The wiring isn't as neat as a Victoria but the tones are just as good.

Any other Dawg owners?

 

[Back at it]

I’ve had my lunchbox delux for a while now….dig it hard!

im running through a 2-12 with scumbacks, just lovely

 

[klasher]

I forgot to add, over the yrs I've been able to afford Victoria amps, I can't now but that's life. Of those I had a tweed Super, a reverberto, Bassman, and Bandmaster. I'm not knocking any of those, Mark the owner of Victoria has excellent builds and quality as well. That 3 speaker Bandmaster was just heaven with my TV Jones equipped Gretsch. But I have to say, I prefer the Lil Dawgs. The wiring isn't as neat as a Victoria but the tones are just as good.

I'd be really curious to hear from those who have compared Lil Dawgs 5e3 model vs Victoria's 5e3, the 20112 or whatever it's called. Playing a Tele through that Vic, the highs were like butter. No need to reach for the tone knob at all. Is the Lil Dawgs 5e3 like that?

 

[6stringcowboy]

I forgot to add, over the yrs I've been able to afford Victoria amps, I can't now but that's life. Of those I had a tweed Super, a reverberto, Bassman, and Bandmaster. I'm not knocking any of those, Mark the owner of Victoria has excellent builds and quality as well. That 3 speaker Bandmaster was just heaven with my TV Jones equipped Gretsch. But I have to say, I prefer the Lil Dawgs. The wiring isn't as neat as a Victoria but the tones are just as good.

Any other Dawg owners?

Yep, 5E3 head has been my go to for 13 years. Jim is the best, as are his amps.

 

[klasher]

Yep, 5E3 head has been my go to for 13 years. Jim is the best, as are his amps.

Man that was the fastest reply ever, thanks!
Oops sorry, thought u had quoted my post. My bad.

 

[Vibroluxer]

I've never played the Vicky version so keeping that in mind on the Lil Dawg, I either have the amps tone at 12 o'clock or maxed and then I use the tone control on my Tele. To my ears, it's smooth all over the fretboard.

Quick story about Mark and his company, Victoria Amps:

Back around 2010 I bought a used Vicky Bassman from eBay. The amp arrived, looked great, sounded great but I soon found out the tone controls weren't working. So I called Mark, I'm a complete stranger, told him the scoop and he said send it back and he'll get it going and that we would discuss the price once he got the amp.

So a week or so later he calls and, ever the gentleman, I could here in his voice a little irritation. He informed me that he had an amp tech that had quit about a year or so ago and when he left, he took, stole an enormous amount of the custom parts and had built a few amps under the Victoria name. He was positive my amp was one of those. So keeping in mind I bought it used, and it was a copycat, what does he do? He fixed it for free and covered shipping both ways. You can't top that! He, like Jim of Lil Dawg are top notch acts in my book. You won't go wrong with either.

 

[Chicago Matt]

Glad your experience has been good! A good 5e3 is a thing of beauty. I can't compare Lil Dawg to anyone elses, but my Mission Tweedy Deluxe kit amp has been a solid gigger for smaller clubs ever since I built it 10 years ago. There's just something about that circuit with a Tele or a Strat!

 

[Vibroluxer]

Agreed, Matt!

So let me ask this, I'm not an amp builder in any way so this might be a stupid question but this is supposed to be a fairly simple circuit. So, if it is, are there any 5e3 makers that don't make a good product?

 

[Jakeboy]

I have owned 7 Lil Dawgs over the years and all are simply outstanding tone machines. I gigged my 5e3 HARD for about 10 years. I loved that thing with a Weber 12a125a.
I recently had Jim build me a 15 watt non-reverb WonderDawg in a lunchbox head. It may be my fave Dawg yet.

 

[The Ballzz]

Agreed, Matt!

So let me ask this, I'm not an amp builder in any way so this might be a stupid question but this is supposed to be a fairly simple circuit. So, if it is, are there any 5e3 makers that don't make a good product?

I've heard rumors that some lousy 5E3s have been built, but haven't seen one! I think a person would either have to be a totally incompetent butcher or actually "TRY" to mess up such a simple circuit! Mods and supposed "improvements" notwithstanding. Let's face it, Leo was known for being about as cheap (ahem, frugal, ahem) as they come and even using the lowest price, in spec, current production components available, the circuit is still "the circuit" and should perform quite well, if tried and true "best practice" is adhered to.

My 5E3, mostly from a MojoTone kit, is absolutely stellar and it was only my third amp build. I did make my own turret board for it, added screen resistors for longevity/posterity and a completely passive effects loop that allows me to nicely use reverb and delay that I'm addicted to! Other than that, and the '69 Pre-Rola Greenback, it's bone stock! Any who know the originals and plug into mine tell me it's as close to the real deal as you can get! Most want to buy it!

Just Tweedlin'
Gene

 

[Vibroluxer]

I've heard rumors that some lousy 5E3s have been built, but haven't seen one! I think a person would either have to be a totally incompetent butcher or actually "TRY" to mess up such a simple circuit! Mods and supposed "improvements" notwithstanding. Let's face it, Leo was known for being about as cheap (ahem, frugal, ahem) as they come and even using the lowest price, in spec, current production components available, the circuit is still "the circuit" and should perform quite well, if tried and true "best practice" is adhered to.

My 5E3, mostly from a MojoTone kit, is absolutely stellar and it was only my third amp build. I did make my own turret board for it, added screen resistors for longevity/posterity and a completely passive effects loop that allows me to nicely use reverb and delay that I'm addicted to! Other than that, and the '69 Pre-Rola Greenback, it's bone stock! Any who know the originals and plug into mine tell me it's as close to the real deal as you can get! Most want to buy it!

Just Tweedlin'
Gene

That's a pretty high compliment, Brother! Good work and thanks for the insights.

 

[bluesintheblood]

Yup...a 5F11
..and it's a beaut