5E3 Amp Build

Barnezy

As promised, a log of my amp build.

Day 1
The chassis and components arrived from Modulus today. I had day's holiday so decided to get started. I decided to start with the volume and input jacks as there was a lot of soldering to practice before I start the board. They would be very fiddly to do in the chassis, so traced the layout on to some cardboard and built it on that. Alot of soldering and when I transferred it to the chassis I had to rearrange a wire and a transistor to fit it in neatly. Spent about 2 hours on it. Very fun and relaxing. 

RaymondLin

Good luck!

poopot

Nice!

Insulate the legs on those caps on the tone pot!...

Barnezy

poopot said:

Nice!

Insulate the legs on those caps on the tone pot!...

Really? I've not seen that before. They are a good distance from oneanother, about 5mm. Hard to see in the picture. 

poopot

Barnezy said:

poopot said:

Nice!

Insulate the legs on those caps on the tone pot!...

Really? I've not seen that before. They are a good distance from oneanother, about 5mm. Hard to see in the picture. 

Could always get a knock and short on the back of the pot!!!

Vinylfan

Looking good!  Looking forward to following your build.  Good luck.

Barnezy

Day 2
Started with putting the chassis together, power supply etc. I managed to over tighten one of the tiny board stands and sheared to bolt. It's not needed for a while fortunately, whilst a replacement comes. 

Then moved on the the board. It messes with your head a little as you're having to do everything in mirror image to the wiring diagram as you don't have a rear view. With a lot of checking, hopefully it's right. 

Once the rear wiring was done, I moved on the the resistors and caps. 

I ordered some new solder which is in a different league to the stuff I was using yesterday that came free with the solder iron I bought. Makes things much easier and neater. 

All in, probably about 3 hours today. 

nick79

Nice. Is this your first amp build? Only ask as I’m thinking of building one of these but have never built an amp before and am wondering whether to go for a 5f1 first? 

Barnezy

nick79 said:

Nice. Is this your first amp build? Only ask as I’m thinking of building one of these but have never built an amp before and am wondering whether to go for a 5f1 first? 

Yes it is. I've heard this amp is the best to start with a a 5f1 can be quite tight to work on. Plus this is an amp I a totally wanted. 

hotpickups

I’d love to do this but always been fearful of doing it wrong and electrocuting myself

Thats why I was thinking of doing the rift amp build course but then lockdown happened

stickyfiddle

I did a 5e3 about 18 months ago and really enjoyed it. It was pretty tight in the chassis by the end, so I wouldn't suggest anything smaller as a first build. 

Barnezy

Day 3
Today I finished the board and did a dry fit. All went smoothly. Spent about 2.5hrs total. I can't start the tube sockets until I get the replacement board mount/standoff, so next job will the mains and power switch wiring. 

Keefy

Subscribed!

WARNING: Amp building is addictive...

vanlooy1

Looks nice and neat, the heater wiring is where it gets tricky, patience is definitely the key!!

Barnezy

vanlooy1 said:

Looks nice and neat, the heater wiring is where it gets tricky, patience is definitely the key!!

Yes I can imagine. It looks like one of those jobs that you need 3 hands for. 

Vinylfan

Looking good! Really want to try one of these so watching your build with interest. 

Modulus_Amps

all tweed builds are tight as the chassis height is the same from the 5W champ to the 100w models, Never looked into the reason why, maybe steel was expensive and that is how Leo save money, or he was buying C section chassis on long lengths and cutting to size. Would be interesting to know.

Chris.B

That's developing into a really tidy build.  Looking forward to seeing how this develops - I quite like the idea of a build, but last time I touched a valve it was in a TV - valve TVs were just on their way out when I did an apprenticeship. 


Chris.B

Barnezy

Day 4
Taken a few days off the build as work and life has been very busy and I had to wait for the new board mounts to arrive, which Modulus kindly sent me for free.

I also wanted to take some time away from it so I could do my checks of the board with fresh eyes, before I commit it and wire up the tube sockets. 

I've wired the mains and transformer, done a final check of the board and wired up the first preamp socket. 

About 2 hours in total. 

Barnezy

Day 5 - Wiring Complete!
Finished up wiring the tube sockets today and now all the wiring is done. It was probably the fiddlist job so far and it was quite tough to get heat on the some of the pins, just needed to take my time. 

All that's left now is testing, but I'll do that when I've built a current limiter and updated my will

All in probably 2.5hrs today. 

I'm pleased with the how it's gone. Especially considering the last time I held a soldering iron was when I was about 10. It was my dad's and I was burning holes in cardboard. 

RaymondLin

Nicely done sir!