Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Amp Serial Numbers
Contents.Tweed Deluxe The Fender Deluxe amp of the 1950s was a medium-powered unit designed to let guitarists 'hold their own' in a small group. As, and bands began getting louder, the overdriven tone of a cranked-up Deluxe found its way onto many live and recorded performances.The earliest version of the Deluxe was the 5A3, and is often referred to as having a TV Front appearance because the wide panels around the grill were like the television sets of the 1950s. This was true also of the smaller student and studio amp introduced in 1946 and upgraded in 1948. Subsequent versions of the Deluxe were the 'wide panel' cabinet design 5B3, 5C3, and 5D3, followed by the 'narrow panel' cabinet 5E3.
The Deluxe was the most popular of the made by Fender.It is relatively small in size, having one twelve inch speaker. Depending on the model it has either three or four inputs (5E3 ) and two channels. Each channel has a volume control. Both channels share a tone control. The inputs and controls are mounted at the top of the amplifier. It is often referred to as the 'Tweed Deluxe' because of its covering—a light brown material which is actually a cotton twill that is often lacquered.At the time, produced amplifiers with the intention of having the amplifier stay clean even at high volumes.
The Tweed Deluxe is not known for producing a clean tone at high volumes, and as such, was regarded as being an intermediate amplifier. The saturated tone this amplifier produces at higher volumes is the reason why it is one of the more famous amplifiers Fender ever produced. It is part of the signature tone for many musicians, a few notable examples being, and.Unusual for a Fender amplifier, the Deluxe (models 5D3 and 5E3 ) has a cathode biased output stage, with no negative feedback (a distinctive combination it shares with the and the 18 watt Marshall model 1974).
The output valves are driven by a cathodyne phase splitter. These aspects of the circuit make a key contribution to the complex, wild and ragged sound of an overdriven 5E3 Deluxe, especially in comparison to other Fender amplifiers. Most Fender push-pull amplifier designs use negative feedback, tapped from the output transformer speaker winding to enable more headroom before power stage distortion starts. They also use the more efficient negative-voltage fixed biasing on the output valves, allowing higher output power while running the output valves at a cooler temperature.
(The earlier 5C3 Deluxe model did use negative feedback although it too was cathode biased.)The amplifier has a -GT rectifier, 2 -GT power tubes operating in push-pull mode, and a and a in the preamp. The output is rated at about 15 watts.The Tweed Deluxe originally came equipped with a Jensen P12R speaker. Due to limited power handling, owners sometimes replaced it with the more powerful Jensen P12Q.The Tweed Deluxe is such a seminal amplifier, is so desirable and (in its original form) so expensive, that there are at least 30 or 40 companies making clones or variants of it, either as kits or as completed amplifiers. Brown Deluxe Between 1959 and 1963, Fender began redressing several of their existing amp models in a light brown material known as, and moving the control faces from the top-rear of the cabinet to the front.
These amps are referred to as the Fender amps. The Deluxe was one such model that made this transition in 1961. The circuit was also changed to include a effect, separate tone controls for the input channels, and a long-tail pair-type phase inverter. The preamp tube complement was changed to a trio of 12AX7 tubes, and the rectifier was changed to the more efficient GZ34 tube. The pair of 6V6GT power tubes remained the same, although the bias structure was changed from cathode to fixed biasing, bringing the output power up to around 20 watts.
Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Schematic
The circuit number was changed to 6G3, and Fender continued to build and dress the Deluxe in these circuits and cosmetics until 1963. Blackface Deluxe Fender again made a change in their amplifier cosmetics between 1963 and 1964. The color of the tolex covering was changed to black, and the control knobs were changed from ones with pointers that indicated the level number labeled on the control face to ones that had the level numbers incorporated upon the knobs themselves. These are referred to as the amps.
The Deluxe was given its new look in 1963, and again, the circuitry was altered to the number AA763, devoting a full 12AX7 to the preamp of each of the relabeled 'Normal' and 'Vibrato' channels, as well as to the oscillator for the tremolo effect, a tube as a phase inverter, and individual Treble and Bass control knobs rather than single tone controls for each channel. The output bias remained fixed, but incorporated a to make bias adjustment simpler. The output was also bumped to 22 watts.When Fender redressed the Deluxe in 1963, they began producing a spin-off model that included an integrated tank, thus giving birth to the.
Fender Blues Deluxe Serial Number
Fender discontinued the base Deluxe model in 1966 but as of 2018, the Deluxe Reverb version was still in production.Reproduction In 2007–2011, Fender's Custom Shop division made an authentic recreation of the 5E3 Deluxe. Handwired point-to-point and with custom made transformers based on the 1957 specification it was dubbed the Fender '57 Deluxe Amp. This is the first time Fender made a reproduction of the Tweed Deluxe.In 2012 Fender issued an Artist Signature amplifier based on the 5E3 circuit with the addition of a tremolo effect; the Fender Eric Clapton (or EC) Tremolux.In 2014 Fender introduced a piggyback head version of the 5E3 Deluxe to the Custom Shop lineup, dubbed the Fender '57 Deluxe Head.In 2016 Fender issued a hand-wired Artist Signature model, ' Fender Edge Deluxe', based on a customized 1957 5E3 Tweed Deluxe, part of the rig of U2-guitarist 'The Edge'. It featured the addition of a Celestion Blue Alnico speaker, a tighter 'bass' response from the preamp, a 12AX7 in V1 instead of a 12AY7, and, an added 'Standby' switch.By mid 2016 the '57 Deluxe is once again included in the custom series as the Fender '57 Custom Deluxe.See also.Notes.
Www.ggjaguar.com. Cf. Weber, p.38. ^. The Tube Store (2010, June 21). Tweed Deluxe (Early and 5C3 Models). Retrieved from Deluxe (early and 5C3 models).
Deluxe (5D3 and 5E3 models). Archived from on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2014-01-17. CS1 maint: archived copy as title. ^. Archived from on 2014-01-10. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
CS1 maint: archived copy as title References. Weber, Gerald, Hal Leonard Corporation, 1994.External links. Tweed Deluxe Ultimate Demo. 57 Deluxe with Stratocaster and Les Paul. RecProAudio. Tweed Deluxe Speed Shop. ar American Vintage Guitar.
Ampedia. The Fender Amp Field Guide. John Lennon owned a 'narrow panel' Tweed Deluxe from 1960 to July 1962, when they acquired their Vox amps. He painted it black and added metal corner protectors at some time.
2001 Fender Hot Rod Deluxe
SOLVEDAfter all of the current Blues Deluxe /Hot Rod Deluxe conversations I decided to verify my Blues Deluxe pedigree. I bought it from the original owner maybe two years back in 'as new' MINT condition.It was always assumed to be early to mid 90's as it was purchased by the original owner in the 90's. It DOES NOT HAVE an EXT Speaker jack like all of the early issues, but the OT is the same and has all of the different taps available. This NO EXT speaker jack alone places the amp as one of the original issues but does not date it.The rear name tag states USA, as each of the early issues were.The SN is T-067032 which according to some websites places this as a 2009 build because of the T, but clearly this is not a 2009 build. T would mean 2009.I opened up the amp again and verified the PC bd, dated 1993 which doesn't actually mean a 1993 build but it does place it back into the proper timeline.I kept searching and found a site which stated to view the QC tag inside the cabinet and look for a 2 letter code. Some are easier to read than others. Mine is coded FC.
Ok, A='s 1990, F='s 1995 and C='s March. It makes sense and matches the original owners purchase time line of somewhere in the 90's. This amp is a March 1995 build.Crazy stuff but good to know.
The PCB will have a design date of 1993 on it.no matter what year the amp was built, ime. The serial number???? I have never paid attention to Fender serial numbers for the most part. From 1990 on, that two,letter date code is the accurate indicator of the date of the build of that amp.
Verification of that and also the originality comes with dating of the components, imho.In other words, I am old school.tube chart date stamps if there and component dating for verification and originality. Starting only in 1976 with the A+6 digit serial numbers did the serial number ever have much of a direct indication of the date.and that still doesn’t hold true in all situations. Our Brother Stratocaster has established that with the dating of River era amps. They just did not keep those t8ngs in exact sequential order, and the cusps of the years are problematic at any rate. TPrior, those PCB board copyright dates.as I think they are.will be on any board that is the same as the original. I don’t make a habit of taking note of that in the Blues/Hot Rod amps, so I am not aware of whether or not the PCB has changed over the years.There are other very good examples of this PCB copyright dating.
The Custom Vibrolux Reverb Amps, which were introduced in 1995 iirc, use the 6G16 Vibroverb RI boards that carry a 1990 date. I cannot say for sure, but it may well be that the Custom SF 1968 Vibrolux Reverb amp uses that same board.it has bias vary trem as do these other two amps. I have never opened one of those up. The Custom SF 68 DR also has bias vary trem as I understand it and could possibly use the same board.but I’ve never seen one of those opened up either, though.