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Post subject: 5y3gt in a 5E3 or ????
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 7:11 am
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Just bought a 5E3 tweed clone, the 5Y3 rectifier was smoked in transit, I put a 5U4GB in it for temporary testing, the Amp sounded amazing !!!
The amp has mercury Ot and PT's in it and so its pretty solid.
The builder says don't use the 5U4GB us a GZ34 untill I can get a good 5Y3GT for it.
Am I thinking wrong here, would'nt the 5AR4 be more harsh on the PT than the 5U4GB ?????

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Post subject: Re: 5y3gt in a 5E3 or ????
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 7:30 am
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Filament current is 50% more important for 5U4GB (3 amp instead of 2 amp) I don't have this experience but take care about reliability or ageing issue with the transformer.
8)

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Post subject: Re: 5y3gt in a 5E3 or ????
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 9:06 am
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No overheating that i can see so far, I'm only playing for a n hour at most at a time right now with this amp.
Just got four 5Y3GT's coming my way (all NOS) so hopefully it won't overheat till i get them.

P.S. the 5AR4 made the amp loose most of its lively feel, which is what draws me to Tube rectified amps in the first place.

I found that to be the case with my 59 bassman RI (LTD) and used a 5U4GB on it for over a year with no damaging affects to the PT.

I figure the mercury's in this amp are most likely a little over built any way.

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Post subject: Re: 5y3gt in a 5E3 or ????
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 4:58 pm
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I really like the 5Y3GT in the Deluxe also,gives it a very authentic sound,and seems a little more touch sensitive.


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Post subject: Re: 5y3gt in a 5E3 or ????
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 5:59 pm
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5Y3gt's on the way.
I bought four on an e-bay deal, supposed to be fully tested ect......

I also picked up a weber 12A150 25 watt Alnico to put in there.
this is a custom build with a revolver board and Mercury Magnetics, the builder put a Jensen C12Q in it, its O.K. but I'm betting the webber makes it Great !

There is a crackle very now and then when you hit an A note, I did see a few solder joints that were less than perfect for sure.

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1968 Bandmaster with 2X12 cab C-rex speakers
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Post subject: Re: 5y3gt in a 5E3 or ????
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 6:45 pm
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Be sure to give your new Weber 15-20 hours of break-in time.

HTH

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: 5y3gt in a 5E3 or ????
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 6:46 pm
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(double-post gremlins at it again)

(pinche pendejos)

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: 5y3gt in a 5E3 or ????
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 8:56 pm
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The Deluxe I have is the Fender '57 Reissue and I have that same Weber in my amp,it sounds great,so much better than the Italian made Jensen that came with the amp.
I have Webers in all my amps....someday I want to try a Tone Tubby.
I see that you have a Route 66,I do too....how do you like it?
Even though I don't use pedals much, I think they sound good, the compressor is so much better than the MXR I have.


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Post subject: Re: 5y3gt in a 5E3 or ????
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 10:20 pm
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If that amp sounds really good with a 5U4GB and really funky with a GZ34 (you never really got to hear it with the 5Y3GT?)... the bias setting on those power tubes (6V6GT) maybe a little on the cold side. You know what cathode resistor and bypass cap your tech put into the amp? I believe the original 5A3 used a 250-ohm, 5 watt shared cathode resistor with a 25mfd/25VDC bypass cap. And put about 350-375 VDC onto the plates.

They also ran 0.047mfd/600 VDC coupling caps off the phase inverter to each 6V6GT. Kinda important to stay in this ballpark. As the whole mess with the grid resistors sets the idle. And you want it close to Class "A" with the 5Y3GT. By running that 5U4GB you've up the plate voltage to prolly around the 450-475 VDC range. I'd suspect that if all the other parts were spec'ed to 5A3 standards... those 6V6GT would be nice and toasty with that kinda plate voltage.

I have no doubts that the Mercury Magnetics PT can power the 5U4GB. They are WAY over-built. Esp for small amps. But, I hope it sounds cool with those new 5Y3GT.

http://www.ampwares.com/schematics/deluxe_5a3.pdf


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Post subject: Re: 5y3gt in a 5E3 or ????
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 10:42 pm
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BMW2002Ti wrote:
I'd suspect that if all the other parts were spec'ed to 5A3 standards... those 6V6GT would be nice and toasty with that kinda plate voltage.


With stock-spec grid-stoppers and coupling caps I'd feel a skosh more comfortable if that plate voltage were limited to around 425 VDC. The Merc-Mag tranny can handle most anything in that regard but I'd hate to see those output bottles go "tango uniform" prematurely.

Gnome saing, mon?

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: 5y3gt in a 5E3 or ????
Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 6:22 am
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It is very obvious, at least to me that you guys were awake in electronics class, That was nearly 30 years ago for me and I had lets say other interests then.

I installed some of my favorite Tung-Sol 6V6GT's Reissues in it also.
Yes the 5Y3 can to the party with a huge rattle and buzz and so I'm awaitning four used and tested replacements to see what they bring to the game.

The Route 66 is in my humble opinion the best sounding Comp out there, I've tried botique builders and many of the off the shelf varieties and keep coming back to the Visual Sounds second generation model, seems like all of the noise reduction built into the latest model kinda took some of the life out of the pedal for me, the older one with the bass boost and ability to switch off the tone controlls sounds the best.
Made in America helps too (I was raised that way).

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Post subject: Re: 5y3gt in a 5E3 or ????
Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 8:08 pm
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Just got word directly from the folks at Mercury, they say the 5U4GB is a no no ! and that the only way to use that rectifier is to upgrade to their "fat stack".
So I'm gonna pull the plug till I have the proper 5Y3GT's

I have been playing the weber in it tonight (a few minutes at a time)The speaker is a bit stiff, but the tone is there for sure ! it will only get sweeter with time too.

I have a couple of RCA and Sylvania 5Y3GT's that will be here later this week, hopefully the Cybertwin will keep me sane till they get here.

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Keepn' the Blues Alive

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2017 50's Baja Telecaster BSB

1968 Bandmaster with 2X12 cab C-rex speakers
VHT Special 6 Ultra combo

Visual Sound Route 66
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Post subject: Re: 5y3gt in a 5E3 or ????
Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 9:16 pm
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Patience, weed-hoppah.

Sooner than you think it will be "later this week".

And we'll expect a full sonic sitrep at that time.

:mrgreen:

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: 5y3gt in a 5E3 or ????
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:26 pm
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SOLID! The 5y3 will give you the most sag from a rectifier tube, and the GZ34 the least. With a 25 watt alnico speaker and the 5y3 you'll get a lot of breakup early. You can experiment with a higher efficent ceramic 30 watt speaker and the 5y3 or GZ34 and it will give you more clean tones.


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Post subject: Re: 5y3gt in a 5E3 or ????
Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 6:53 am
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Here we go !!!
NOS 5Y3GT (sure if you believe it) but it tested like a new one so....

Weber 12A150 8 ohm 25 watt no dope at all.

Even with the boost of my route 66 comp (comp full on, gain 50%) this little tweed stays clean till after Three (pretty dang loud) gets perfect litlle bit of hair at four then howls with delight from five on.

I'm amazed at how clean it is and with volume to boot, had the typical back panel buzz just like my old Victoria 20112 had and a extra heavy pick fixed it just the same.

Wish the heck I still had that Melody Maker with the single P-90 in it, they sound so cool through these little tweeds !!!!

I'm not crazy about the cab, painted black inside and not exactly shaped right for a deluxe clone, not sure if its pine or not due to the paint.

I'll try to post some pictures tonight.

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2004 50th Ann. Limited edition AMSE Stratocaster
2017 50's Baja Telecaster BSB

1968 Bandmaster with 2X12 cab C-rex speakers
VHT Special 6 Ultra combo

Visual Sound Route 66
Cmatmods Signa Drive


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