The Deluxe
Hands down the most popular Tweed amp I build and probably one of the most popular amps in the market today.
Characterized by a great natural overdrive, a nice bell like clean tone and all in a size that is good for at home and small gig use. The Deluxe puts out about 12-18 watts. Why such a big range? Well, you can build them with higher voltages and get more volume- usually with a bit more headroom before breakup, or you can use a lower voltage power transformer and get that breakup sooner with slightly lower wattage.
The amp uses 2 6V6 power tubes, two 12??7 series preamp tubes and a 5Y3 recitifier tube. What does 12??7 mean? You can use any of the 12AU7, 12AY7, 12AT7, 12AX7, 5751, 7025 preamp tubes in the two preamp sockets of this amp to tailor the amount of clean headroom and overdrive characteristics of the amp. Leo Fender fit them up with a 12Ay7 tube in the first spot then a 12AX7 tube in the second. Mix yours up and try them all.
The other thing about the Deluxe is the interaction of the input and volume controls of the amp. The volume control of the unused channel still effects the output of the channel and inputs you are using. And you can jumper the two sets of inputs together for more gain and overdrive. I do a modification to the tone and volume controls when requested to make them less interactive and get cleaner headroom before the start of overdrive. I did not invent this, it was made popular by Bruce at Mission Amps.
Cost of these amps are highly variable. I have built them for folks at $600 right on up to nearly $1200 depending on choice of transformers, with or without a cabinet, speaker choice, etc. Here's some picures of Deluxes I have built.
Here's a Tweed Deluxe in a custom oak cabinet, NOS smoked glass 6V6 tubes and Weber Alnico speaker
Here are the inputs and the volume and tone controls of the amp. Plugging into the normal inputs will still allow the other volume control to effect the overall volume and tone of the amp. Its a unique feature of the Deluxe amps. You can also jumper the two input channels together as mentioned before. This allows more gain.
Here is a look at my typical wiring work. I like to use vintage correct cloth covered wire and I like solid core wire as it allows me to keep wiring paths neat and noise low. I used the classic Fender brass grounding plate on this build as well. The customer wanted sprague orange drop capacitors and I was able to find a set of sprague atoms in orange as well. You can also see the heavy black shielded cable run from the volume pot to the preamp tube. This keeps interference and noise down in the amp.
I scored a custom walnut cabinet for this build. It was not cheap and it featured solid walnut front, back and sides and a beautiful box joint construction. This amp just sings! The new owner is very happy but I was sad to see her go.
This shot shows the power tube and rectifier tube sockets. The green wires are the 6 volt tube heater wiring. Keeping them tightly wrapped helps to avoid hum in the amp. The wires make a first stop to the pilot light as its 6 volts as well. You can see two resistors also attached to the pilot light- this forms an artificial center tap for the windings and keeps hum from the heater circuit low. The yellow wires from the power transformer are the 5 volt leads to the 5Y3 rectifier socket. That tube needs a 5 volt supply unlike the rest of the tubes 6 volt requirement. I like things neat and tidy inside- it keeps things quiet. That is until you start to play.
Who says your amp need to be in a combo cabinet with a speaker and needs to be tweed? Here's a head cabinet version I built that had an output transformer that could run 4/8/16 ohm speaker loads. Kinda classy looking and very nice for those of you with speaker cabinets already that want to run different heads and save space.
Characterized by a great natural overdrive, a nice bell like clean tone and all in a size that is good for at home and small gig use. The Deluxe puts out about 12-18 watts. Why such a big range? Well, you can build them with higher voltages and get more volume- usually with a bit more headroom before breakup, or you can use a lower voltage power transformer and get that breakup sooner with slightly lower wattage.
The amp uses 2 6V6 power tubes, two 12??7 series preamp tubes and a 5Y3 recitifier tube. What does 12??7 mean? You can use any of the 12AU7, 12AY7, 12AT7, 12AX7, 5751, 7025 preamp tubes in the two preamp sockets of this amp to tailor the amount of clean headroom and overdrive characteristics of the amp. Leo Fender fit them up with a 12Ay7 tube in the first spot then a 12AX7 tube in the second. Mix yours up and try them all.
The other thing about the Deluxe is the interaction of the input and volume controls of the amp. The volume control of the unused channel still effects the output of the channel and inputs you are using. And you can jumper the two sets of inputs together for more gain and overdrive. I do a modification to the tone and volume controls when requested to make them less interactive and get cleaner headroom before the start of overdrive. I did not invent this, it was made popular by Bruce at Mission Amps.
Cost of these amps are highly variable. I have built them for folks at $600 right on up to nearly $1200 depending on choice of transformers, with or without a cabinet, speaker choice, etc. Here's some picures of Deluxes I have built.
Here's a Tweed Deluxe in a custom oak cabinet, NOS smoked glass 6V6 tubes and Weber Alnico speaker
Here are the inputs and the volume and tone controls of the amp. Plugging into the normal inputs will still allow the other volume control to effect the overall volume and tone of the amp. Its a unique feature of the Deluxe amps. You can also jumper the two input channels together as mentioned before. This allows more gain.
Here is a look at my typical wiring work. I like to use vintage correct cloth covered wire and I like solid core wire as it allows me to keep wiring paths neat and noise low. I used the classic Fender brass grounding plate on this build as well. The customer wanted sprague orange drop capacitors and I was able to find a set of sprague atoms in orange as well. You can also see the heavy black shielded cable run from the volume pot to the preamp tube. This keeps interference and noise down in the amp.
I scored a custom walnut cabinet for this build. It was not cheap and it featured solid walnut front, back and sides and a beautiful box joint construction. This amp just sings! The new owner is very happy but I was sad to see her go.
This shot shows the power tube and rectifier tube sockets. The green wires are the 6 volt tube heater wiring. Keeping them tightly wrapped helps to avoid hum in the amp. The wires make a first stop to the pilot light as its 6 volts as well. You can see two resistors also attached to the pilot light- this forms an artificial center tap for the windings and keeps hum from the heater circuit low. The yellow wires from the power transformer are the 5 volt leads to the 5Y3 rectifier socket. That tube needs a 5 volt supply unlike the rest of the tubes 6 volt requirement. I like things neat and tidy inside- it keeps things quiet. That is until you start to play.
Who says your amp need to be in a combo cabinet with a speaker and needs to be tweed? Here's a head cabinet version I built that had an output transformer that could run 4/8/16 ohm speaker loads. Kinda classy looking and very nice for those of you with speaker cabinets already that want to run different heads and save space.