Who makes a decent 5E3 for not too much money?
- Thread starter GuitarStv
- Start date
i have a mission kit 5e3 that scott fitzpatrick wired up, his first amp build actually. i messed with it a ton then finally brought it back to pretty much stock other than changing the coupling caps to .047 rather than the stock .1 to shave off a bit of the low end, also cleaned up the wiring while i was at it so its pretty tight and clean now. wasnt bad before but it was his first build so...
how much is not a lot?
how much is not a lot?
Blille
Well-known member
There’s a bazillion builders out there. It’s not rocket science so as long as it’s built with quality materials you’ll be fine.
I have a Marsh and I’m very happy with it.
http://store.marshamps.com
Apart from Mission, Lil Dawg always has great feedback.
https://www.littledawgamps.com/tweed-deluxe/
I honestly don’t think the fancier ones are worth it.
You can also keep your eyes open for local deals on Craigslist of folks that built one themselves. Or build your own from a kit if you’re up to it.
You can start by getting a Catalinbread Formula 55
I have a Marsh and I’m very happy with it.
http://store.marshamps.com
Apart from Mission, Lil Dawg always has great feedback.
https://www.littledawgamps.com/tweed-deluxe/
I honestly don’t think the fancier ones are worth it.
You can also keep your eyes open for local deals on Craigslist of folks that built one themselves. Or build your own from a kit if you’re up to it.
You can start by getting a Catalinbread Formula 55
Blille
Well-known member
Jeremy mentioned them above
https://www.missionharpamps.com/ordering
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GuitarStv
Sock Market Trader
The Mesa California tweed does what I'm looking for with a lot of bells and whistles (reverb, power scaling), and goes for about 2 grand . . . so, given that the 5E3 is a much simpler/more primitive amp I guess it would have to be under a grand?
Finding one that is built by a builder that has a reputation will be hard. I can build you one, it will be great, but It would cost more than $1K. Getting a used one is probably your best bet given your budget. A new one, built by a person is going to set you back at least $1.5k. I would charge roughly the same as Mesa. The hard part is the cabinet, the speaker, and the remaining parts. Those are fixed costs. A basic cabinet starts at $250 and the speaker is another $150. So just in those two parts, you are $400 deep. The parts to build the chassis are usually around $300-$500 depending on the complexity and quality of parts of the amp. And then tubes, which can cost $100 - $300 for a full set depending on what grade you want to go with. Labor is another big ouch. You are now @ $800 - $1,200 and it hasn't even been built yet. It takes me about one day to build an amp like that from scratch and I value my time @ $500 per day ( call it $50 an hour for 10 hours if you will ). At that, I don't even make any real profit, it would only have me break even on parts and labor. My markup to expense for tools, expendables, utilities, and 30% profit margin will place you right around the $2k mark.
Used for the same grade of an amp is probably around 50% of that. So used may be the better way to go? You can buy kits, and MojoTone is a good source for one at about $850 ( shipping and tax not included ). A person with limited skill should be able to build it in a couple of weekends' worth of time. Troubleshooting is the hard part. Weber also sells a kit that is slightly less expensive, but not overall as good as the MojoTone offering, and even cheaper still is a kit sold by Mable Audio ( an overseas company ) that you may be even able to acquire fully built and shipped for around $700.
I guess my big point is that you probably won't be able to find a new one that is worth a darn for $1k, but a used one should not be as hard a task.
Used for the same grade of an amp is probably around 50% of that. So used may be the better way to go? You can buy kits, and MojoTone is a good source for one at about $850 ( shipping and tax not included ). A person with limited skill should be able to build it in a couple of weekends' worth of time. Troubleshooting is the hard part. Weber also sells a kit that is slightly less expensive, but not overall as good as the MojoTone offering, and even cheaper still is a kit sold by Mable Audio ( an overseas company ) that you may be even able to acquire fully built and shipped for around $700.
I guess my big point is that you probably won't be able to find a new one that is worth a darn for $1k, but a used one should not be as hard a task.
Powdered Toast Man
New member
Everyone keeps suggesting Mission (and I've got a Mission 5E3) however if you actually go to Mission's site, Bruce stopped selling his 5E3 kits some time ago. He sells a harp version now.
Steve it depends on a few things. There are a LOT of local builders around making 5E3 clones. If you're looking for a project I'd suggest a Mojotone kit. The 5E3 isn't a complex circuit and it's such a good "starter" build that I think Mojo actually has a full set of instructions with it (and there's youtube videos on their kit build).
I WILL say from experience that the speaker is the most important component in the entire 5E3 setup. Just trust me when I say whatever you order get it without a speaker and then go to Weber and order the 12A125A, 8ohm, 30W, light dope. That is THE speaker for this amp hands down. I went through many speakers before trying the 12A125A and then it was like boom there it is. My buddy went through the same thing with his 5E3 and finally he got the Weber and it absolutely blew him away.
The Fender 57 Custom Deluxe reissue is absolutely overpriced for what it is.
Steve it depends on a few things. There are a LOT of local builders around making 5E3 clones. If you're looking for a project I'd suggest a Mojotone kit. The 5E3 isn't a complex circuit and it's such a good "starter" build that I think Mojo actually has a full set of instructions with it (and there's youtube videos on their kit build).
I WILL say from experience that the speaker is the most important component in the entire 5E3 setup. Just trust me when I say whatever you order get it without a speaker and then go to Weber and order the 12A125A, 8ohm, 30W, light dope. That is THE speaker for this amp hands down. I went through many speakers before trying the 12A125A and then it was like boom there it is. My buddy went through the same thing with his 5E3 and finally he got the Weber and it absolutely blew him away.
The Fender 57 Custom Deluxe reissue is absolutely overpriced for what it is.
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Blille
Well-known member
Agree with the speaker being key. Some folks swear for Celestion Blue / Gold as well. I ended up with a Cannabis Rex as my favorite flavor. Definitely not a classic like the Weber.
I also found it’s very sensitive to the v1 tube. So worth investing there.
getting to know how the two volumes interact makes a big difference in dialing in your tone. plug into bright 1 input, put the volume at 3 and see how the tone changes as you change the normal channel volume. i agree v1 and the speaker are important. i have a g12h30 in my 5e3 but i had a weber 12a150t which was awesome but it was dangerously close to the power tubes so i swapped it out for the celestion. the 12a125 has a smaller magnet so probably isnt an issue
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