NAD - '54 Fender Deluxe

AcornHouse

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Oops, I did it again! I've been thinking about getting some tweediness to go with my BF PR et al. So, while perusing the GC used listings, saw that they had not one, but two '54 Fender Deluxes (5d3) at not too high prices, both in the Hollywood vintage store. (And, they were running a 24 month no interest finance deal for September.) Thanks to LTG, I was able to get a first hand account from or Master Enabler, the one and only Treemster! One of them (listed at $1499) wasn't there, out for repairs. (I later found out that it wouldn't power up.) So he tested the less expensive one for me and declared it a "tone monster." Both were recovered (re-tweeded?) and this one had a replaced transformer. Since an all-original one would go for at least twice the money (and with the nice payment plan) I bit and called my friend at the local GC and made the deal.
It finally arrived last night in a gargantuan box with enough peanuts to supply a stadium on a doubleheader night. (lets just say it was well packed.) The tone is there, although I was getting some ground hum (which might be due to my CFL at home, its done that with other quiet amps) and a rattle at high volume. Something may have loosened in the journey from Cali, so when I get the plug switched to a grounded one, I'll get that checked. All vintage glass as well.

And now, the pics!
l4xy.jpg

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This one goes to 12!
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It looks like they used a 5c3 label and crossed out the old metal pre-amp tubes and put the glass ones used in the 5d3 circuit. Since the date code is March '54, they were probably using up the old labels.
no7k.jpg

(cont.)
 

AcornHouse

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And for the cap-heads in the crowd, some shots of the innards.
First, the lovely signature of Lupe Lopez, mistress of the tweed!
bqx1.jpg

And the guts. The speaker is a Jensen P12Q. I think vintage, but the only date code is P12Q C(?)630C(?)-2, which doesn't follow the normal date codes.
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m55q.jpg

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AcornHouse

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Had a chance to play it at school and didn't get the loud ground hum, so it must be my CFLs or wiring at home. Still getting a vibration on the lowest strings from somewhere inside the amp.
 

Sal

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Congrats Chris! That's a sweet amp! I recall that a tweed Deluxe and your black face Princeton would be similar in wattage, around 12-15. Sounds like a great pair. I'd love to hear them side by side. Cheers!
 

Muovinen

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Gotta love the simplicity of this tone monster! A true plug-and-play amp :) Have you checked the speaker element for that vibration? Lately I've been lusting after 5E3 and 6G3 machines but haven't had the chance to test one.
 

Jeff Haddad

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Sweet amp! Made just after the change to 9-pin preamp tubes - the chassis is even punched for octals. If you play with both volume controls, you can get a lot of variety out of this circuit - the unused channel's volume affects the channel you're using.

Congrats!
 

AcornHouse

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Sweet amp! Made just after the change to 9-pin preamp tubes - the chassis is even punched for octals. If you play with both volume controls, you can get a lot of variety out of this circuit - the unused channel's volume affects the channel you're using.

Congrats!
Thanks Jeff, I wouldn't have even thought to try that! Looks like more fun fiddling when it's ready.
 

Jeff Haddad

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On my 5e3 style amp, if you turn the unused channel volume to around 10 (it goes to 12!) and then control the volume on the channel you plug in to it stays a bit cleaner. Backing off the unused channel volume to around 6 - 8 boosts mids. I'm not sure if it works the same way on 3 input amps like your 5c3.

I bought a '57 champ in 1995 and saw the tape with writing on it inside the chassis. I thought it was some number then I realized it was upside down and spelled 'Lily', another woman who wired amps back then. It just so happened that my wife was pregnant with our 3rd child at the time and she had decided to name her Lily. Choosing that name had nothing to do with the amp but that's one that I won't be selling!
 

Treem

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There she is! Happy to know that the "Tone Monster" has landed, safely. Congratulations Chris! enjoy! :triumphant:
 

AcornHouse

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There she is! Happy to know that the "Tone Monster" has landed, safely. Congratulations Chris! enjoy! :triumphant:
Well, almost safely. I dropped it off today with the top amp guy down here (who only does special amps) to fix the low end vibration that appeared when it arrived here. Maybe something loosened en route, maybe something happened to the speaker, who knows, he'll figure it out (and put a grounded cord on.)
Talked with my GC guy, so I should be taken care of when I get the estimate.

Stay tuned...
 

Bobo

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Very cool amp, you're going to get some incredible tone out of that. I am partial to the tweed sound myself. I have an amp that's a modern-day clone of a '50-'51 5B4 V-front Super, with octal preamp tubes.
 

AcornHouse

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My amp tech tracked down the problem with the low end vibration: a microphonic 6V6 tube that had gotten damaged in shipping and gone microphonic (the pre-amps were in a bad way, too.)
Did one of my favorite old tricks to reveal the problem; Hook up a variable oscillator to it, turn up the volume, sweep slowly thru the audio range, and listen/watch what happens.

Your old Fender started our a little above 40Hz, and was really strong by 70 Hz or so, which is typical of these old guys. Anyway, at about 200Hz, it started crackling and making nasty electrical noises an amplifier shouldn't. going higher, there was at least one harmonic above that that freaked the amp out, but it held strong up into ranges well above anything mechanical that might be loose.

Back to 200Hz. Hmm, one of the 6V6GT output tubes has the elements loose, and is terribly microphonic, for an output tube anyway.
When the frequency is just right, it really wigs out. There's your trouble.
Live and learn!
 
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