Vintage Sound Tweed 15 1x12 Combo, Brown Ostrich
- DESCRIPTION
The Vintage Sound Tweed 15 has been updated for 2019, and is now more versatile than ever! The Tweed 15 is essentially an all hand-wired, all USA made, modified '59 Fender 5E3 Tweed Deluxe based amp with lots of nice tweaks that Vintage Sound Amps are known for. We worked closely with Rick Hayes on the development of this amp and we are extremely pleased with the outcome.
One 5E3 Channel, one Plexi Voiced Channel: Vintage Sound has made quite a name by building vintage era amps with many desirable modifications. The Tweed 15 takes the well known 5E3 Tweed Deluxe circuit and replaces one of the channels with a "Plexi" voiced higher gain channel.
As you probably know, with these Tweed Deluxe circuits you can jumper the channels with a cable to get even more grit. Well, no need for a jumper cable with the Tweed 15! The "Plexi voiced" channel volume knob is a push/pull pot that engages an internal jumper between the channels. How nifty is that!?
New Master Volume Control: As of 2019, the Tweed 15 now comes with the addition of a Master Volume located on the chassis between the preamp tubes. Depending on where you're playing (bedroom, basement, club, Madison Square Garden) you can set your desired output level. But, c'mon, let's face it. This is a vintage tweed circuit. Crank it and let it rip! But, if you need to back it down a bit, or take take the edge off, you can.
The Tweed 15 is a point-to-point, all hand-wired amp using premium TAD tubes, top quality filter caps and electrolytics, carbon comp resistors, Orange Drop tone caps, solid core push back wire, and custom transformers that are hand wound in the USA.
The cab is constructed of finger jointed solid pine with a Baltic birch baffle, and wrapped in beautiful lacquered tweed. Classy!
About the tone: One thing that makes the late 50's era tweed deluxe amps so desirable are the rich clean tones at lower volumes, and the edgy overdrives at levels that are quite manageable at home or on the stage. That, coupled with the compact design makes these amps very usable in a variety of settings, small and large. The Tweed 15 (like all good tweed deluxes) is also a very forgiving amp. While dynamic, the 5Y3 rectifier provides just enough sag to smooth out the notes when varying your pick attack.
If super-clean headroom is what you're looking for, this isn't the one, but I'm sure you know that by now. The threshold between clean and dirty comes on rather quickly with this type of amp, and even more so when using the Plexi voiced channel (which we absolutely LOVE, by the way). The overdriven tones of a tweed deluxe is really what they're known for. From players like Billy Gibbons, Neil Young, Rich Robinson (Black Crows), and countless others, the 5E3 circuit certainly has a firm spot in the history of Rock-n-Roll.
About the speaker: No kidding, this was a hard one. Working with Vintage Sound, we here at Humbucker Music went through about 10 speakers before we made a decision. We tried most all the popular tweed style ones from Celestion, Jensen, and Emminence. None of them were just right. We had a cab in the shop with a custom WGS, so we pulled it and put it in the Tweed 15, and there it was! We were then able to get with WGS and have them replicate this speaker for us, hence the custom spec. (BTW, watch out for WGS speakers. They're USA made, found in *many* boutique amps these days, and are absolutely knocking it out of the park)
Tweed 15 Specifications:
Wattage: Approx. 15 watts
Preamp Tubes: 1 x 12AX7, 1 X 12AT7 (All premium selected TAD tubes)
Power Tubes: 2 x 6V6 (Premium Selected TAD matched)
Rectifier: 1 x 5Y3 (premium selected TAD)
Controls: Tone, Volume, Volume (push/pull channel jumper), Master Volume
Speaker: 12" WGS Custom Spec for Vintage Sound
Inputs: 4 Inputs, 1 x Hi 5E3 Bright, 1 x Lo 5E3 Bright, 1 x Hi Plexi, 1 x Lo Plexi
Circuit Construction: All USA made, Point-to-Point, Hand-wired, Cathode-biased - no negative feedback
Cabinet Construction: Finger jointed pine w/Baltic Birch baffle
Pilot Light: Red Amp Jewel
Combo Dimensions: 16.5" High x 20" Wide x 10" Deep
Weight: 30 lbs