Getting Used to the 5E3

[KYChucky]

I speed home each day after work to turn on the 5E3 and play guitar before my kids get home from school. Slowly I have eliminated stomp boxes, one at a time, they just don't seem to ... well, sound good to me any more. I got down to just DOD 250 for low volume drive and my BYOC delay. I did that for a week or so but almost never used them. They just never seemed right. Today I put them away. Its all so distracting, like the more sounds you can make, the more none of them sound quite right. The 5E3 sounds SO good by its self, putting something between it and my guitar seems like a sin and does noting for the tone.

Stoked,
KYC

[Mesotech]

Someone once said on this forum, the 5e3 is what every distortion pedal made was trying to emulate. I don't know if that's true, but nothing sounds good in front of my 5e3, and it sounds better than most anything else I have with pedals in front of them. Then again, I've always tended to use pedals sparingly, and in most cases only when I realize I've brought an amp too big for the venue. At those times is when I'll break out something to assist the amp in its weaker moments.

While I do have a pedalboard, it's filled with specialty effects such as vocal harmonizer, vocal pitch correction, talkbox, wah, and other assorted specialty effects. My distortion pedals tend to reside off the board, but easily within reach in my gig bag for the "just in case" situation.

[NTBluesGuitar]

I have a really good OD pedal; and MI Audio Blues Pro Overdrive. Sounds GREAT, especially with a Tele on a BF amp.

Recently, I had my Hot Rod Tweed Pro (5E5A) at my teacher's place and we compared it with his DRRI and the Blues Pro OD. The discovery was that, with my Tweed on 7, having the OD pedal did nothing that the amp didn't do naturally at that level, except to 'thin out' the overdriven sound with the amp.

Honestly, there was no difference between the amp on 7 and the OD pedal on at that level either outside of the thin/thick quality of the sound.

I still do NOT need a pedal with my tweed.

I'm a fan.

[Gris]

When I used to play thru a 5E3 I got to where I couldn't play it unless it was jumpered, but other than that it was straight in with the bucker guitar and a 'clean' boost on single coils.

[Kap'n]

A 5E3 is sort of a zen experience. You have to really work one to get one.

If you plug into the bright channel....

The bright volume isn't really a volume control above 3. It's a treble rolloff.

The other volume isn't really a volume, it's a mid-rolloff until it gets to 10. Then it's a volume rolloff.

The tone control? It's a tone control, too.

You want volume and dirt control? That's your guitar and your right hand.

[redb]

I cant run pedals into my 18w tbh. I dont know what it is, but for some reason, no matter what cables I use, even my true bypass boxes rob the amp of the sparkly, chimey sound that I bought it to get.

Now, I am actually happy that my treble nosedives on my favorite stratocaster under 8 volume, it sounds soooo amazing with the amp on about 6-7 with the tone on ten and the guitar on about 6. Honestly, I couldnt be happier. That guitar actually sounds good, which I never thought could happen. If its crunch time, a different guitar comes out though, but still with no pedals.

I think that having an amp that says "pedals, I dont need no stinking pedals" is a gift. They are like a new marraige, and pedals are credit cards. They make wild promises and allow for what on face seems like something good but in the end its better for a relationship just to save up and buy with cash.

Some amps like pedals, they are more like marraiges with children. But not every couple wants kids! Chucky if you are happy with the sound you get sans pedals, dont think twice, its alright.

[KYChucky]

O - I'm completely happy putting the pedals away. For where I am right now its all so new. I just started 'trying' to play guitar about 14 months ago. So, to get rid of the distraction of pedals is a very good thing. It is a bit of a drag spending all that time and money on them and not using them. When I know what I'm doing, I'm sure pedals will be an asset. Besides, building my pedals was the gateway to building the amp.

I agree with the comment that good amps are the standard for OD pedals, building this amp has shown me that. Its like have a personal conversation with God, I see the light now, and its obvious to me when you speak with someone who hasn't. At lower volumes, my DOD 250 sound is very satisfying sound, but its an substitute, a dishonest sound, almost unethical. In the mornings I have been playing through a POD with headphones. After that, I have to take a shower to clean off that digital residue it leaves behind.

I have found that jumping the channels is my favorite way to use the amp as well. The amount of control over the sound with those 3 knobs is amazing. There is one set up with pedals that I do enjoy very much. I love the sound of analogue delay between the jump from the bright to the normal channel. The delay in the normal channel gives it a nice warm bounce back deep dimension that lays underneath the braking up bright channel. But once again, its ok for a few moments, but I always turn it off.

Right now, it has a 12AY7 in V1, no complaints. But I have tryed a 12AT7
in that socket and did notice the difference, lots more juice, more saturation. Was that for real, or did I just hear it that way because that is what I expected?

It has a 12AX7 in V2. I have not tried a 12AT7 in that slot to date, maybe today....

My wife has no understanding why I'm so stoked!


P e a c e
KYC

[Don]

Someone once said on this forum, the 5e3 is what every distortion pedal made was trying to emulate.

That was me. I might've been exagerating slightly, though I used my 5E3 clone at a jam last night and I did not use an overdrive pedal. I played my ES-135 with Humbuckers through it and had it set up where I could play from clean to dirty by altering my pick attack. That's where I like it to be!

For pedals, I occasionally used a delay, a Fultone '69 (very occasionally) and a tuner (often, the ES-135 has a Bisgby on it).

When we played "That's All Right" it started out as a straight Elvis cover and built up to a rip roarin' rockabilly rave-up with just the delay. My guitar was clean and round at the begining (with both pickups selected) and smoking by the end. I didn't alter the guitar's volume settings (though I did switch to the bridge pickup at times).
I was plugged into the #1 input of the bright channel with the channel's volume at 5, tone at 5 and other channel all the way down. The guitar's volume and tone controls were all set at about 8.

There were several occasions where I noticed the natural "reverb" effect of this amp.

[rudutch]

use the dod 250 as a volume boost for leads, minimal distortion, lots of volume

[HotRod]

Small Tweeds are quite freeing aren't they?

The only two pedals I have now are a DD-7 and a RV-5, I use them at low volumes just to give some ambiance.

I love my 5E3, I also dig my latest, a 1x12 Champ with a 15 watt OT.

My small tweeds have done in my OD pedals, and this year I've sold some good ones: Analogman king of tone, TS9 808/silver mod, Paul-C Timmy, Zen Drive, Keeley Compressor, Bad Bob and others. all gone. Now most of the time if not a bit of reverb or delay, straight in with a 12 foot chord.

The tweeds are so perfect for natural overdrive that I don't even like pedals with my Super Reverb anymore.
Seems like my ear has become much more sensitive to 'real' tone that the reproduction just doesn't do it any longer.

The 15 watt champ with my Strat is rock heaven.

- HR

[yankeerob]

I use a Black Star Dual HT DS-2 in front of either of my 5E3 clones (well I use it with just about everything ) - one's straight and the other's modded with 6L6GT's, GZ34 rectifier, 6K6 OT and a few other component changes... I'd never say it sounds better - it doesn't... but it doesn't sound worse either... the DS-2 has a three band EQ & a kinda voicing thing they call 'ISP'... whatever... it will also do clean boost on ch. 1 - both amps are filthy as hell without a pedal if you crank it and give it some stick (erm - mine's with the left hand Kap ) - the modded one's that little bit cleaner so a little DS-2 dirt comes in handy for certain stuff - and though I can do nice, crisp, clean country licks when the occasion suits I also have the occasion to take a nice long drag on a 'jazz woodbine' and do 'Earache My Eye' super tortured banshee screechs from hell - tell you what... it does them better than any other amp too!!