Tweed Deluxe Clone
This is a Mojotone Tweed Deluxe clone that was gone over thoroughly.
It's a kit amp that was built in amp building class in Chicago.
Here are some of my notes.
The seller did a fairly good job, although one screw holding the output transformer came loose. The Keps nut on the other one was on the outside of the chassis.
The grounding was changed to Pre-CBS soldering to the chassis. Solder makes a much more reliable connection.
The wiring was updated with some lead dress techniques. I use a 3D approach. The basic idea is to separate the wires to minimize cross talk. Positive feedback can happen if a wire farther down the amp chain gets close to a wire before it (if that makes sense).
The green twisted heater wires were routed near the chassis edge, which is a Pre-CBS tweed technique. Modern clones often route them above the tubes. For both, the idea is to keep them away from the yellow signal wires. In this amp, a few of those signal wires ran under the heater wires, and were moved.
A small detail was shifting the chassis so that there was no gap between the back panel. Sometimes small details can take quite a bit of work!
Lastly, the soldering was a bit off. Modern solder is challenging and most irons aren't up to the task. I have several - a temperature controlled Weller, a temperature controlled big iron for the chassis, and a Pace rework station (mostly for the desoldering tool).
Also, the seller spent three days trying to find a wiring mistake. The technique is like that Sunday puzzle where you compare two pictures. Here you're comparing your build with the layout. The secret Larry showed me was using a highlighter to color in one wire at a time on a print copy. Yes; that is what it takes, even with a tweed Champ.
The final step is tone. With a pair of 6V6 output tubes, the Tweed Deluxe is loud enough for the stage. However, it has a thick sound, even at low volumes, and lots of high end brightness. It takes pedals well and the TS808 will get you into rock and roll awesomeness!
Final note on safety...
Why is there a "death cap" included in the kit?
It's called a death cap for a reason, and the first thing techs do is clip them out of vintage amps.
If you want to include it, then change label on the switch "Death" or "Life"!
Rant off!