Video

Story

The Fender Deluxe amp of the 1950s was a medium-powered unit designed to let guitarists "hold their own" in a small group. As blues, western swing, Western, and rockabilly bands began getting louder, the overdriven tone of a cranked-up Deluxe found its way onto many live and recorded performances.

At the time, Leo Fender produced amplifiers with the intention of having the amplifier stay clean even at high volumes. The Tweed Deluxe is not known for producing a clean tone at high volumes, and as such, was regarded as being an intermediate amplifier. The saturated tone this amplifier produces at higher volumes is the reason why it is one of the more famous amplifiers Fender ever produced. It is part of the signature tone for many musicians, a few notable examples being Larry Carlton, Don Felder, Billy Gibbons and Neil Young.

This is the one everyone talks about.  For many players the 5E3 is the holy grail.  The circuit is different and runs at higher voltages than the other models giving it more headroom and total gain.  It uses the 12AY7 and 12AX7 preamp tube but with a cathodyne phase inverter.  The cathodyne is cleaner than the phase inverters used in other early Deluxe models and has it's own nasally kind of snarl with the amp turned up.  The 5E3 is truly a classic sounding amp.  There are not a lot of cleans but they are angelic. The overdrive is gritty, warm and punchy. 

Specifications

Type: Tube, Handwired

Number of Channels: 2

Total Power: 12W

Speaker Size: 12" 8 ohm Eminence Special design Alnico speaker

Preamp Tubes: 1 x 12AY7, 1 x 12AX7

Power Tubes: 2 x 6V6 Power tubes, 1 x 5Y3 Rectifier

EQ: Tone control

Inputs: 2 x 1/4" (instrument), 2 x 1/4" (mic)

Manual

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