Dear all,
I have recently build a 5F4 Tweed super clone - very close to stock, using hammond transformers and a chassis from TAD.
Speakers are a pair of Weber 10A125, (which I used to use in a RI Bassman 59 - so they are well played in)
As you probably all know, a 5F4 is a pretty simple and straight forward amp, and it worked flawless at first power up.
However, a 5F4 is one of the more bright tweed amps and is often referred to (on the clone companies websites) as the perfect humbucker amp. I'm a strat player, so what do a guy do?
I searched a lot of forums - this one included - in order to get some tricks to fatten up the tone. Have tried all tricks in the book:
After a lot of experimentation I have arrived at the following fat switch - (BTW I didnt 'invent' this feature, but am only posting to share my personal experience that this is a usefull to mod the tone stack in a 5F4):
Fat switch:Installed an on-off-on switch with a 500p Mica cap and a 1000p Mica cap - between V1 and V2 below the chassis - that can put none of one of the caps in parallel with the 250p treble cap. It provides you with the following sound options:
Pos 1 (adding a 1000p): sounds like a big fat Tweed Twin 5E8a
Pos 2 (no extra cap): stock 5F4 circuit
Pos 3: (adding a 500p): sounds like a 5E5 pro
Cathode Bias SwitchI have also used the 'ground' switch for cathode bias with a 250 ohm parallel by a 50uF cap - this option sounds very close the sotck fixed bias option.
Paul C modHave also tried the Paul C mod, but IMO it didn't do anything for the tone of this amp (same goes for a new build 5E3). Paul C used this mod on a Princeton Reverb, but according the himself never on a tweed:
http://www.firebottle.com/fireforum/fireBB.cgi?cfg=dlx&enter=goHope this info is usefull to some of the 5F4 cloners out there!