General Information
The Tweed 12 is my take on the Fender Tweed Deluxe. I don’t build clones, but the circuit design on the Tweed 12 is fairly close to the original. It’s the one amp in my product line where I can’t claim to have created something entirely new. I have made changes where Fender got it wrong and made other changes where I felt it made for a better sounding amp. Since it’s not a clone, I make no attempt to stay period correct. I don’t use carbon comp resistors; I use Mercury Magnetic transformers, quality capacitors, switches, pots, jacks, etc.
The other area where the Tweed 12 differentiates itself is in the cabinet design, construction, and appearance. It’s made of dovetail joined ¾” pine. The baffle mounts (top & bottom) are not only glued, but they are dowel pinned, and they are 3/4", not 3/8" as the original. The baffle is ¾” Baltic birch, not 3/8" as the original. As the old tweed cabs have floating baffles, I feel the thick heavy ¾” baffle projects better than the original.
I finish the tweed with 11 coats of shellac and lacquer. You’ll notice I don’t use the ugly dog-bone handle, but rather a heavy leather piece that is much prettier and stronger. As well, you’ll notice the pretty gold woven grill cloth, not the plain ugly brown that was common with tweeds and clones.
The Mercury Magnetics transformers are a significant contributor by delivering a wide bandwidth which allows allows the subtle harmoncis to ring-through. The note separation and note bloom are dramatic with the Tweed 12. You can hear this throughout the first demo.
What I do with the speakers is very unique to this amp. I mix a Ferrite and an alnico with different voicings. The ferrite speaker has a wide bandwith and exceptionally solid low freqs and very crisp high freqs. The alnico provides a very smooth compression that melds with the clean ferrite. The result a a voicing unlike any other tweed I've ever heard. The slide demo really highlights this characteristic.
The Tweed 12 unleashes the the full potential of the 5E3 tweed that was choked by circuit issues and speaker/cabinet dynamics.
Specifications
Despite the presence of the pedal board in the following video, no pedals were used.
If I remember correctly it was recorded with an H4N.
The other area where the Tweed 12 differentiates itself is in the cabinet design, construction, and appearance. It’s made of dovetail joined ¾” pine. The baffle mounts (top & bottom) are not only glued, but they are dowel pinned, and they are 3/4", not 3/8" as the original. The baffle is ¾” Baltic birch, not 3/8" as the original. As the old tweed cabs have floating baffles, I feel the thick heavy ¾” baffle projects better than the original.
I finish the tweed with 11 coats of shellac and lacquer. You’ll notice I don’t use the ugly dog-bone handle, but rather a heavy leather piece that is much prettier and stronger. As well, you’ll notice the pretty gold woven grill cloth, not the plain ugly brown that was common with tweeds and clones.
The Mercury Magnetics transformers are a significant contributor by delivering a wide bandwidth which allows allows the subtle harmoncis to ring-through. The note separation and note bloom are dramatic with the Tweed 12. You can hear this throughout the first demo.
What I do with the speakers is very unique to this amp. I mix a Ferrite and an alnico with different voicings. The ferrite speaker has a wide bandwith and exceptionally solid low freqs and very crisp high freqs. The alnico provides a very smooth compression that melds with the clean ferrite. The result a a voicing unlike any other tweed I've ever heard. The slide demo really highlights this characteristic.
The Tweed 12 unleashes the the full potential of the 5E3 tweed that was choked by circuit issues and speaker/cabinet dynamics.
Specifications
- 12 Watts
- 6V6 X 2 Power Tubes
- Tube Rectifier
- Cathode Bias
- 2X10 Combo Cab
- 2 Channels (Clean & Soul)
- Weber Speakers
Despite the presence of the pedal board in the following video, no pedals were used.
If I remember correctly it was recorded with an H4N.
