1959 5F6 Tweed Bassman Tribute
The pix kind of tell the story. This model normally is built in a 4x10 speaker configuration
as everyone knows. I decided to try it with a single Eminence 15" 300-Watt Bass Speaker. I have no regrets!
What you cannot see in
the pix are the premium Mercury Magnetics transformers and choke -- about $300 worth! -- but they are worth it for sure.
I bought the output transformer with four secondary windings: You can drive a 2, 4, 8, or 16 Ohm speaker load with my
amp.
I have also added an
internal adjustable BIAS control. I started with a pair of matched Tung-Sol 5881 power tubes, but one of those had a
microphonic issue when certain notes were played loud. I had a strong set of
JJ 6L6GC tubes here, and they work very well. I simply adjusted the BIAS to a nominal
-48 volts dc.
The bass speaker
can handle anything that this 45-50 watt RMS amp can dish out. Really a gut thumping kick on power cords. Very
nice, bluesy harmonic distortion from the output tubes when you push it.
The cabinet and chassis is from Mojo, but this IS NOT one of their kits.
This is hand-wired to my personal taste for very quiet running. I also added in a 1/2 amp internal circuit breaker on
the high-voltage dc (B+) line to help protect those expensive transformers and the output stage. I got this idea
from Marshall.
The cab came
with one coat of clear shellac, but I added four or five coats of my favorite antique amber shellac because I love the look
it gives.
I built the custom
baffle board for the 15" speaker here, and the eight mounting bolts connect to "T-nuts" on the other side
of the board -- very strong arrangement.
However, I still have the 4x10 baffle board that came with the cab. If anyone would like to have this amp with the 4x10
configuration, I can ship it with that and your choice of speakers.
The amp currently weighs about 54 pounds, which is a hand full. I'll probably add a
set of casters if I keep it here. I have not figured up a price yet, but I'll keep it reasonable. Thanks for looking!!!
Joe
P.S. This is a DYI web site,
and I don't know how to get rid of the baby shoes up in the corner. Grrrrrrrrr. :):)
