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I Finally got one of these!

T

tube-a-lou

Addicted Member
Hi all,

Just received this the other day, the seller had two amps a Fender Deluxe 1953 5B3 and
a Blackface Princeton Reverb 1965, I decided to go with the Deluxe I love the 12 inch speaker.
It's just needs a bit of help and new output transformer and speaker which I'm getting and a
few other things I will be checking, here's some pics. I have removed the output transformer
and in the middle of rewiring the power cord I changed on of the old paper covered electrolytic's.
I tested the resistors and their okay just have to wait for the output transformer to see if all
is good, the orange adapters are for using 9 pin tubes.

P1060238.JPG P1060239.JPG P1060242.JPG P1060246.JPG
 
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Awesome amp!

Man those ancient cardboard coupling caps look so far out of spec you'd need binoculars to see em. :biggrin: I know people like to keep them looking original, but I'd be restuffing those with some new ones that are up to spec. Best of both worlds that way.
 
Very cool. Let us know how it comes out.

I'm in the process of trying to convert an old Pilot mono amp to that very Fender Circuit.

Edit: After reading that the OPs amp uses 6SC7s I realized that the one that I'm building is based on a 5E3, using 12AX&s.
 
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I did a bad thing (in the guitar world) I rewired the power cord black to fuse to switch then to the PT and
the white straight in the PT.
 
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tube-a-lou said:
I did a bad thing (in the guitar world) I rewired the power cord black to fuse to switch then to the PT and
the white straight in the PT.
Click to expand...

Dunno why that's "bad" -- that's how I do all of my amps (guitar or no).

Anyway! That is a way cool amp. Congrats! Couple of things I would do:
  • Looks like the power transformer has been replaced, too. Verify that it is correctly-rated for that model. I think 325-0-325 is correct for that circuit. Hammond 290AX would be the likely candidate if the chassis is actually cut for a lay-down power transformer.
  • Get rid of those front-end tube adapters! I guess they're there so you can use a 12AX7. If you use a 12AX7 there, it won't sound like a 5B3! The front-end tubes in that amp are 6SC7s, which are sort of hard to come by. Their characteristics are, however, very similar to 6SL7, which are much easier to get. I've built Fender clones that originally called for 6SC7 using 6SL7 instead with fantastic results, but note that you must rewire the socket to be able to use 6SL7 (and don't forget to tie the cathodes together if you do so).
  • REPLACE THE DEATH CAP ON THE MAINS INPUT. Polarized plug + appropriate safety cap at least, please. (If it were me, I'd install a 3-wire plug with a proper safety ground, but I can understand not wanting to do that to preserve a bit of originality.)
I love the old no-feedback Tweeds. Such great amps. Have fun with it!!
 
It's bad in the guitar world I think or maybe not, they all like it original as possible you know, I did change to
a three wire grounded cord and I ordered a few RCA 6SC7 wanting for them to get here. Just cleaning it
up a bit I think the Transformer is original it's not cut out for the lay-down PT, I looked at a few pictures
and mine is the same as the one pictured.
 
Shoot I have a bag full of metal 6SC7. Thought they were only used in old radios. If ya need some PM me.
 
Tube -- Actually, that OPT may be an excellent replacement. If it is intended for a typical push-pull 6L6 (two tube) design into twin speakers (4 Ohm), then used with a single 8Ω speaker, that transformer would reflect about 8000Ω back to the output tubes. If the output tubes are 6V6s -- which the Deluxe classically used -- then the transformer would be perfect for them -- and provide and extended power response as well since it is bigger than the stock OPT.

Just a thought.

Dave
 
dcgillespie said:
Tube -- Actually, that OPT may be an excellent replacement. If it is intended for a typical push-pull 6L6 (two tube) design into twin speakers (4 Ohm), then used with a single 8Ω speaker, that transformer would reflect about 8000Ω back to the output tubes. If the output tubes are 6V6s -- which the Deluxe classically used -- then the transformer would be perfect for them -- and provide and extended power response as well since it is bigger than the stock OPT.

Just a thought.

Dave
Click to expand...

Hi Dave thanks, I'm trying to make it more stock, If I use it with one 12 inch speaker
would it be a 4 ohm or 8 ohm speaker, plus the transformer mounting holes don't
line up and in shipping it was almost torn out.
 
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Totally understand wanting to make it as stock as possible -- I'm like that on many projects myself. I just wanted to make sure you were aware of the possibility.

Good luck with it!

Dave
 
Thanks Dave, Here's to hoping it comes out good, I hear so much about these Fender
Deluxe Tweeds.
 
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dcgillespie said:
Tube -- Actually, that OPT may be an excellent replacement. If it is intended for a typical push-pull 6L6 (two tube) design into twin speakers (4 Ohm), then used with a single 8Ω speaker, that transformer would reflect about 8000Ω back to the output tubes. If the output tubes are 6V6s -- which the Deluxe classically used -- then the transformer would be perfect for them -- and provide and extended power response as well since it is bigger than the stock OPT.

Just a thought.

Dave
Click to expand...

Of course, this isn't Hi-Fi... and sometimes saturating the OT is a "feature" of instrument amplifiers...

...but I get the sense that @dcgillespie already knows this ;-)
 
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