TubeDepot Tweed 5E3+ User manual

Assembly Manual
Tweed 5E3+
Instructions for Assembling with the:
- Printed Circuit Board (PCB)
with additional modification suggestions and recommended amp settings
version 21
21 Aug 2 17
Learn Build Build Play

This manual was developed and published by:
TubeDepot.com
Memphis, TN
Written by:
Robert Hull
Edited by:
Mary Klaebel Josh Phelps
Design and artwork by:
Robert Hull
Mary Klaebel
Christian Magee
Acknowledgements:
Special thanks to:
Joe Austin Brian Overstreet
Matt Kirby Doug Sims
Henry Lum Ben Siler
Special Thanks to Steve Zeller, Todd Fox, Skip Black, Jake Swiatek and Henk
Haitjema for their invaluable proofreading skills.
Copyright © 2 9
TubeDepot.com
1958 Vanderhorn Drive
Memphis, TN 38134
[phone]
[email protected]
REGARDING THESE B K MATERIALS
Reproduction, publication, or duplication of this booklet, or any part thereof, in any manner, mechanically,
electronically, or photographically is prohibited without the express written permission of the publisher.
The Author, Publisher or Seller assume no liability with respect to the use of the information contained herein.
For permission and other rights under this copyright, contact TubeDepot.com.
ii TubeDepot.com

page
Preface and Tweed 5E3 overview ................................................................................................. iv
Chapter 1
Safety …......................................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 2
Tools and Supplies …..................................................................................................... 2
Chapter 3
Parts Inventory ...........................…................................................................................ 3
Chapter 4
Cabinet Preparation …................................................................................................... 5
Chapter 5
Circuit Assembly (PCB)….............................................................................................. 8
Chapter 6
Chassis Preparation and Assembly …......................................................................... 12
Chapter 7
Final Assembly …......................................................................................................... 28
Chapter 8
Testing …..................................................................................................................... 29
Chapter 9
Schematics and Parts Layout ….................................................................................. 32
Chapter 10
Cool Modifications …................................................................................................... 34
Appendix
A. How to Read Resistor and Capacitor Codes …....................................................... 35
B. Soldering Hints ….................................................................................................... 38
C. Amplifier Care, Feeding, and Application Hints …................................................... 4
D. Drilling Templates …................................................................................................ 42
E. Test Equipment ….................................................................................................... 45
F. Output Transformer Wiring Options …..................................................................... 46
TubeDepot.com iii
Table of Contents

Short History of the Tweed Fender Deluxe
The tweed deluxe amplifier has become the “go to” amp when looking for maximum
portability and raw, uncompromising tone. With two 6V6 tubes and a single 12” speaker, the
tone of this amp is nothing short of amazing. Used by a “who's who” list of musicians, this
amp's tone can be found on records, in studios, and on stage around the globe.
With enough power to comfortably sing above the average electrified band, the original
Fender Deluxe was first introduced in the early 5 's as one of Fender's new line of tweed
amps. It had two 6SL7 metal preamp tubes, two 6V6 power tubes, and a 5Y3 rectifier tube.
With the introduction of the new 12AY7 and 12AX7 preamplifier tubes (replacing the two
6SL7 metal tubes), by 1957 the power output was brought to 15W into a 12” Jensen
AlNiCo speaker. With these improvements, the iconic amp and tone was born.
It is this incarnation that we provide for you here.
The tweed deluxe is one of my favorite amps. Inside its diminutive size rests the heart of an
entire world of music. From blues, to rock-a-billy; from rock-n-roll to soul; from country to jazz,
this amp is capable of holding its own across a wide swath of musical history and genres.
When it comes to walking into a gig with only a guitar in one hand and an amp in the other,
there is no other amp that can provide this depth of expression in such a simple package.
Therefore imagine my excitement in designing a kit where you can build an incredible amp
on which to put your musical mark on the world. Wow … this is going to be fun!
Thank you for purchasing this great TubeDepot Tweed 5e3+ kit. You should be able to
easily put this kit together in an evening or two … whether you have any prior amp building
experience or not. I designed this kit for you to enjoy both building and playing. And once
finished, this kit will allow you to make the best music you can and to leave your mark on the
world.
Now, let's have some building and playing fun.
Robert Hull
Director of Technical Services
TubeDepot.com
“Deluxe” and “Fender” are the property of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC). TubeDepot is not
affiliated or associated with FMIC or its subsidiaries and FMIC does not sponsor or endorse any of TubeDepot’s
products.
TM
TM
TM
TM
Preface
iv TubeDepot.com

!!! Read these safety precautions before continuing !!!
ALL tube amplifiers contain LETHAL V LTAGES, often several hundred volts which WILL
leave burnt entrance and exit wounds in skin. These voltages have the potential to cause
permanent physical damage and death. These voltages are present when the amp is
turned on and also for some time after the amp has been turned off. You can still get
shocked with a tube amp turned off and disconnected from AC power.
The above statement is a bit scary, but we want to stress that every piece of electronic
equipment must be treated with respect. When AC power is applied, there is always a chance
for injury or death. With tube amps, even when the AC power is not applied there is still
danger. Being shocked with high voltage is very painful and we do not want anyone finding
out the hard way.
When building this kit, we want your experiences to be both enjoyable and safe. There are
more kits to assemble and we want you to enjoy building and playing them all.
Throughout this manual at key points in the construction, we have annotated important
steps with the below alerts. For your safety and to improve construction quality, It is important
that you become familiar with each of these alerts and adhere to their recommendations when
they appear.
Explanation of Alerts
TubeDepot.com 1
1Safety
CAUTI N
N TE
- Used when identifying an action that may cause damage to components
and or equipment.
- Used when identifying general points of interest.
- Used when identifying an action that may cause physical injury or death.
WARNING
- DISCLAIMER -
TubeDepot.com, it's employees, officers, shareholders, investors and
subsidiaries accept no liability for any damage(s), injury(s) or death incurred from
or while building or using this kit.
TubeDepot.com reserves the right to make changes to this manual as new
construction methods are found to be more efficient and/or safer. When a
particular procedure in this assembly manual differs from the assembly video, our
recommendation is to follow this manual to insure the best construction possible.

As with any construction project, there are certain tools and supplies that are recommended
to complete the project. These are tools and supplies not provided with the kit and are instead
provided by the builder.
TubeDepot.com
The following is our recommended list: part number
Phillips screwdriver, #1 and #2 TL-VTSCRSET8
Slip joint pliers
Needle nose pliers TL-VT33
Wire cutters, diagonal TL-VT33
Wire strippers, for 18 and 2 awg wire TL-VT5 21
Electric Drill (cordless recommended)
Drill bit, 3/16” - Chassis mounting into the cabinet
Drill bit, 5/32” - PCB and turret board chassis mounting
Masking tape, 2”
Ruler or scale, 12” w/ 1/16” markings
Permanent marker, fine tip
Soldering iron, 25W – 4 W (35W recommended) TL-WP35
Solder, electronics safe (6 /4 w/ rosin core recommended) TS-24-6 4 - 27
Flux, electronic – liquid or paste (must be safe for electronic work) TS-83-1 - 186
De-soldering pump extractor TS-384-1
Solder wick TS-1817-1 F
Sponge
The following are really nice to have:
Soldering station w/ temperature control TL-WTCPT
Multimeter w/ DC range of at least 5 V TL-DVM85 BL
Variable AC supply (Variac® style)
Current Limiting AC source (dim bulb tester) – self built
Needle nose pliers – small size, for electronics work TL-NN7776
Wire cutters, diagonal – small size, for electronics work TL-17 M
Center punch
Nutdrivers - 5/16”, 11/32”, 7/16”, 1/2”
Square, 9”
Scratch Awl
De-burring tool TL-DB-1
Fingernail polish (for holding nuts and screws in place)
2 TubeDepot.com
2Tools and Supplies

It is important to review all the parts that came with your kit. The list below is what you
should have received to complete your kit. If you find anything missing, contact us:
Qty Description
Speaker, Chassis, Cabinet, PC Board
1speaker, 12" Jensen MOD, 8ohms
1chassis, steel chrome plated 5E3
1cabinet, tweed 5E3
1PCB board, 5E3
Transformers
1 tPower transformer, ClassicTone 18017
1 Output transformer, Classictone 18002
Tubes
15AR4 / GZ34 rectifier tube various brands
26V6GT beam power tetrode various brands
212AX7 / ECC83 dual triode various brands
Hardware, Cabinet (provided with cabinet)
4 bolt 1 1/2” 6x32 copper plated truss screw baffle mounting bolts
4 bolt 1 1/2” 8x32 flat head, black oxide coated speaker mounting bolts
4nuts, KEPS 6x32 baffle mounting nuts
4nuts, KEPS 8x32 speaker mounting nuts
1 handle, brown flat leather w/ mounts and screws handle assembly
4 feet, metal glide w/ screw glide feet
8 screw, #6 oval head phillips, 1 1/4” stainless steel back panel screws
Hardware, General
3knob, vintage pointer volume and tone knob
1fuse holder, conical cap, vintage style fuse holder
2fuse, 3AG 2A slow-blow fuse (one extra fuse)
1lamp holder indicator lamp holder
1jewel, red red jewel
1lamp, #47, 6.3 V lamp
4jack, 12A, shorting, Switchcraft ¼" input jacks
2jack, 11A, open, Switchcraft ¼" speaker output jacks
9washer, lock; 3/8" lock washer for jacks and potentiometers
1plug, Switchcraft ¼" speaker phone plug
2switch, toggle SPST; Carling power and standby switches
2washer, lock 1/2” lock washer for switches
1power cord, grounded three prong, 12' power cord
1strain relief, Heyco strain relief
1nylon cable clamp cable clamp
1screw, zinc plated #8 x 5/8", phillips flat head cable clamp screw
2screw, zinc plated 6-32 x 3/8", phillips pan head V1 tube socket shock mounting
2washer, flat zinc plated, #6 screw V1 tube socket shock mounting
2grommet, rubber 1/4" chassis hole / #6 screw V1 tube socket shock mounting
2grommets, rubber 3/8" hole rubber chassis grommets
4washer, neoprene bonded speaker mounting
2bolt, 1 1/2" 1 x32 truss screw chassis mounting
2nuts, KEPS 1 x32 chassis mounting
1 screw, zinc plated 6-32 x 1/4", phillips pan head tube socket mounting
13 nuts, KEPS 6x32 tube socket / PC board mounting
2nuts, 6x32 preamp tube socket mounting
4screw, zinc plated 6-32 x 1/2" phillips pan head PC board mounting
4standoff, nylon; L = .25"; id = .14 "; od = .25 " PC board mounting
4nuts, KEPS 8x32 power / output xfmr mounting
2nuts, 8x32 power xfmr mounting
TubeDepot.com 3
Parts Inventory
3
TubeDepot.com
1958 Vanderhorn Dr.
Memphis, TN 38134
[phone]
[email protected]

2screw, zinc plated 8-32 x 1/4", phillips pan head output xfmr mounting
1screw, zinc plated #6 philips pan head back panel ground connection
2solder lug, locking, #8 screw power xfmr mounting / chassis ground
2solder lug, locking, #6 screw preamp tube socket mounting / chassis ground
1header, 3 pin / two position feedback select
1shorting jumper feedback select
3 ft. alum. tape, 2" width, self adhesive electrical and temperature shieldin
2heat shrink, 1/8" - black, 6" piece insulation, wire dressing
2 wire nut, 2 AWG – 14AWG AC wiring
2 rubber foot, clear adhesive PC board anti-vibration
Tube Sockets
2socket, tube, miniature 9 pin preamp tube sockets
3socket, tube, octal, 8 pin power and rectifier tube sockets
Resistors
21 , 1/2w carbon film pseudo filament center tap
182 , 1/2w carbon film cathode resistor
468K, 1/2w carbon film input resistor
31M, 1/2w carbon film preamp tube grid biasing
31 K, 1/2w carbon film plate resistor
41.5K, 1/2w carbon film cathode resistor
256K, 1/2w carbon film bias resistor
222 K, 1/2w carbon film power tube grid biasing
12.7K, 1/2w carbon film feedback resistor
147, 1/2w carbon film feedback resistor
125 , 5w metal oxide power tube cathode resistor
14.7K, 3w metal oxide B+ voltage divider resistors
122K, 1w metal oxide B+ voltage divider resistors
247 , 2w metal oxide screen grid resistors
Capacitors
15 pfd / 5 V tone capacitors
1. 47ufd / 63 V tone capacitors
1. 22ufd / 63 V coupling capacitors
4.1ufd / 63 V coupling capacitors
1. 1ufd / 63 V coupling capacitor (alternate for C7 cap)
322ufd / 5 V cathode bypass capacitors
322ufd / 5 V power supply filter capacitors
Potentiometers
31M audio volume and tone controls
Wire
1 ft wire, 2 awg, stranded, hi-temp PVC – yellow general signal wiring
8 ft. wire, 2 awg, stranded, hi-temp PVC – red B+ and input signal wiring
8 ft. wire, 2 awg, stranded, hi-temp PVC – black ground
4 ft. wire, 18 awg, stranded, hi-temp PVC – green filament wiring
2 ft. wire, 18 awg, stranded, hi-temp PVC – black speaker
2 ft. wire, 18 awg, stranded, hi-temp PVC – white speaker
1 ft. wire, 2 awg, solid buss wire, tinned copper ground wire across volume and tone controls
-----------------------------------------------------------
4 TubeDepot.com

This chapter deals with preparing the cabinet for installation of the completed chassis. But
first, we need to take inventory of the parts that came installed on the cabinet.
1. Handle w/ mounting hardware – There should be a single flat brown leather handle
with two metal securing ends all fastened to the cabinet with four screws.
2. Feet, chrome metal glide – There should be four metal feet attached with screws to
the underside of the cabinet.
3. Back panels, upper and lower with screws – There should be two back panels. The
top back panel should be secured with four panel screws, the bottom panel should be
secured with four panel screws.
4. Baffle bolts with nuts – There should be four
bronze plated bolts attaching the baffle to the
cabinet. The baffle is secured with four KEPS
nuts, one on each of these bolts.
5. Speaker bolts with nuts – There should be four
black oxide coated bolts for securing the speaker
to the baffle board. Additionally, there should be
four KEPS nuts, one on each of these bolts to be
used when mounting the speaker.
Drilling for the Chassis Mounting Bolts
Step 1 – Remove the amp handle from the top of
cabinet and remove the top back panel.
Step 2 – Apply masking tape on each side of cabinet
opening (photo 4.1a).
Step 3 – Remove template page from manual (appendix
D1) and fold on indicated line.
Step 4 – Place template on top of cabinet. Properly align over the right opening (photo 4.1b).
Step 5 – With a pointed tool, make a mark through the template at the
cross hair points marked “drill 3/16” (photo 4.1c). Press lightly into the
tape and cabinet. This mark should be just deep enough to see the
mark on the masking tape underneath.
Step 6 – Repeat step 4 & 5 for the left edge
Step 7 – Remove the template. With a ruler or scale, check and verify
that the marks are properly aligned on the cabinet top as referenced to
the measurements on the template.
Step 8 – If the marks are verified correct, drill the two 3/16” holes, one
at each of these two marks all the way through the top of the tweed cabinet.
Step 9 – Remove the masking tape and clean up any loose splinters and / or tweed from the
Be certain of template placement before drilling. The rounded edges of the cabinet can skew
measurements and cause improper placement. Always measure several times before
drilling.
CAUTI N
photo 4.1a
photo 4.1b
4.1
4Cabinet Preparation
photo 4.1c
TubeDepot.com 5
Some printers may automatically reduce the size of the template when printed. Therefore,
prior to use, always physically measure the printed template to insure proper scale is
maintained.
CAUTI N

holes and install the chassis mounting bolts.
Step 10 – Test fit the chassis onto the bolts to make sure the
holes are properly aligned.
Step 11 – Remove chassis and reinstall handle, leaving chassis mounting bolts installed.
Proceed to 4.2
Installing the Speaker
Step 1 – Remove the four nuts from the speaker mounting bolts inside the cabinet.
Step 2 – Remove the speaker from its shipping box. With speaker in hand, carefully align the
speaker mounting holes to the baffle bolts. I recommend installing the speaker with
connecting terminals on top.
Step 3 – Slowly press the speaker onto these bolts, being certain that the bolts are
proceeding through the mounting holes of the speaker equally (photos 4.2a).
Step 4 – Once the speaker is installed on the bolts, install the neoprene bonded washers
(photo 4.2b) and press the bonded washer fully against the speaker frame.
Step 5 – Once the neoprene bonded washers are mounted on the bolts, install and tighten
the KEPS nuts.
Step 6 – With the nuts and washers tight, I recommend using a small dab of fingernail polish
to further guarantee that the nuts do not come loose or the lock washer buzzes (photo 4.2c).
Proceed to steps 4.3
Wiring the Speaker
Step 1 – Twist the two 15” lengths of black and
white wire together (photo 4.3a).
Step 2 – At one end, strip the insulation back ½ ”
from both wires and tin these two wires (photo 4.3b).
Step 3 – Unscrew the barrel of the ¼ ” phone plug.
Step 4 – Solder the two tinned wires to the plug; white to center and black to shield (photo
4.3c). Reinstall plug barrel.
Step 5 – At the opposite end of the twisted wire pair, strip back the insulation ¼” and tin these
two wires.
Alignment of all holes during speaker installation is crucial Otherwise, one or more of the
bolts may accidentally puncture the speaker cone.
CAUTI N
photo 4.2a
4.2
4.3
6 TubeDepot.com
photo 4.3a
photo 4.3b
CAUTI N It is important to fully tighten the KEPS nuts so that the lock washer around the nut does not
spin. If loose, this lock washer will cause a vibrational “buzz” when the amp is played.
photo 4.2b photo 4.2c