Could use some guidance with a Fender Deluxe 5E3 amp

Hi all,

I just came across a beautiful Fender Deluxe 5E3 amp, in amazing condition. I have some questions about the restoration process. Any help would be appreciated. Some background: I don't normally work on amps but rebuild 1930s transformered radios and can find my way around inside a chassis with not much difficulty.

Anyway, not being familiar with Fender equipment/techniques, my questions:

1. What is the best way to remove the electrolytics, bypass caps etc.? Is my best bet to remove the entire eyelet board? And if so, can someone advise the best way to remove it? I am going to replace the electrolytic filter caps with 16/475 Sprague Atoms, the bypass caps with 25/25 Sprague Atoms, and the coupling caps (If any are bad/leaky) with Mallory 150s.
Ideally, I would like to preserve the full leads on all of the original caps, to keep with the amp. If that involves removing the eyelet board, so be it.

2. One half of the primary on the output transformer is open, and it will need to be replaced. If you were going to replace an AOT on a nice vintage 5E3, what transformer would you use? Heyboer? Magnetic? Any thoughts on my best bet for the best tone would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Here's a link to an album with a few pics of the amp:

http://imgur.com/a/AlVii

Nice amp! All though I can't help with the questions I had to chime in on that bad boy. I hope you can get her up to snuff and enjoy it.

You don't need to take the board out to replace caps. I used Cornell Dubilier WMFs in my '64 Ampeg Jet wherever new polyester film coupling caps were needed.

I don't know what to recommend for an OT. I wonder if anything pulled out of old equipment is suitable. I have a Magnetic Components 40-18022 in my clone and really like it, but the amp is a clone, not the real deal.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Don

You don't need to take the board out to replace caps. I used Cornell Dubilier WMFs in my '64 Ampeg Jet wherever new polyester film coupling caps were needed.

I don't know what to recommend for an OT. I wonder if anything pulled out of old equipment is suitable. I have a Magnetic Components 40-18022 in my clone and really like it, but the amp is a clone, not the real deal.

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Great. I've never worked with these boards before so I don't have any experience into whether they're a hassle to work with in place. If they're not difficult to work with, all the better.

Also, in the interim I just sourced out and bought the same output transformer you have in your clone. If I ever want to upgrade, I can find a use for it. But it sounds like it's going to do the job just fine.

Thanks.

You're welcome. Let us know how it turns out.

Quick question on resistor wattages: The 5K between the first two filter caps B+ is dead open. It looks like a 1W carbon comp but I would think this resistor should be at least a few watts. Neither the 5E3 schematic nor wiring diagram hint at the wattage. Anyone know? I'm just going to go with a 5W wirewound since I have some and they're small enough and look like the original; but I'm interested in knowing. Thanks!

http://imgur.com/TUKKnZa

Mojotone uses a 2 watt resistor there in their kit. 5 watts is fine if it fits.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Don

Mojotone uses a 2 watt resistor there in their kit. 5 watts is fine if it fits.

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Thanks Don. In limbo now until the caps and xfmr arrive. Can't wait, I'll have more questions, I'm sure.

I've been out of town and missed this until now. Diverted, glad to hear that
you have a plan of action. I'm excited for you -- waiting for parts is indeed
a challenge.

If/when you get a chance, post a few pics..!

Cheers,

JR

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jeru

I've been out of town and missed this until now. Diverted, glad to hear that
you have a plan of action. I'm excited for you -- waiting for parts is indeed
a challenge.

If/when you get a chance, post a few pics..!

Cheers,

JR

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I'll post a link to an album soon if anyone wants to see the exact layout, lead dress, grounding scheme, etc. of this amp. It's never been touched, so there's a lot to learn and I have lots of photos. If there are photos of anything you want to see, but don't, let me know and I'll take pics and send them to you.
I went ahead and removed the circuit board. On a test run I had a hard time easily removing one of the large filter caps. Factory worker left large J-hooks on a lot of the caps and resistors so it wasn't as easy as just pulling them straight out. So I figured rather than damage the eyelet board or accidentally desolder/etc the hidden backside jumpers I'd take it out completely and do the recap in a controlled environment. Easy enough to get it out and I'll just re-solder the cut grounds where they were. It helps that there's so much information on this amp, I love it! A big difference from the 1930s sets I work on. You're lucky to get voltage charts on many of them.
Link to lots of photos on the way.

Here's a link to a lot of photos. They're unsorted but they show pretty much everything going on with the amp. If you want to see something else, let me know. I might have a go at building this amp after I'm done recapping this one. It looks like a lot of fun! It's interesting to see how Fender did a lot of stuff that somewhat bucks Internet opinion now ... grounding the HV center tap to chassis, etc , doing some different things with other grounds etc. Pretty cool stuff!
Also, sorry about the random microphone stuff in there. Can't figure out how to take those pics out.

http://imgur.com/a/DXQJo

In case that link doesn't work:

http://www.imgur.com/a/DXQJo

As far as the Magnetic Componetes transformers go, I have the in both my 5e3 clone and a Marshall 1973 18 watt clone. I have Classic Tone trannies in both builds. Great sounding American made transformers and I haven't had a seconds problem with either amp. Great prices too.

Thanks, it's good to hear about your luck with those transformers. I also bought the ClassicTone 40-18022 for this old amp.

As for the amp, I did the service today. Put in the Classictone AOT, recapped and reinstalled the board. Cleaned the switches, pots etc. Everything went very smoothly; this is a fun chassis to work on compared to the 30s shortwave sets I'm normally in. Very fun to go through and it's nice to have so much info online about this amp.

I know the issue of these coupling caps is controversial. But here's my reasoning for swapping them out:

First off, I don't have a way of testing for leakage. When Neil Young and the rest fell in love with these amps 50 years ago, they were playing on coupling caps that weren't anywhere as leaky as they are now.
So for as long as I own it, I don't want to have to worry about leaky caps.

But I understand that many would love to have them back in. So none of the original caps were cut, just desoldered. The foil direction and and order of each was recorded. I took notes of every change I made and all the notes and pictures I took are going on a thumb drive which is staying with the amp. If anyone down the road wants to return this amp to stock with its original caps, they'll have everything they need.

Everything's 100 percent reversible (xpt for new AOT and 5K power resistor, both of which were dead).


Anyway, back to the startup: I quadruple checked my work and brought it up slow on the variac; eventually had it running on 115V; swapped the two dead 6V6GTs from a Voice of Music console I have. The amp sounds just great and I'll run it on a bucking transformer.

I can't wait to start the clone of this amp now that I've seen how the original's built. I'm going to follow the wiring, lead dress as close as possible. If there's any interest in a thread on building a true to original lead dress and grounding, let me know.

Pic of the recapped board:
http://imgur.com/ZahoicQ

Pic of original caps, salvaged and saved with original leads for future owner's possible use:
http://imgur.com/N4VcX9M

Wow.

Thanks for taking the time to post so many great pictures.

I'm always game for a clone build thread.

Yes, build thread is clearly the way forward here.

Looking forward to it..!

Cool! Well then I will. Hopefully it will be useful to someone.