The traditional 5e3 tweed Deluxe amp has two channels – Normal/ Mic and Bright/Instrument. The only difference between these two channels is one small Mica capacitor. Amp techs call this the Bright Cap. El Azteca puts this capacitor on a switch in order to make it more versatile.
The 5e3 Inputs of El Azteca are the traditional 5e3 Tweed Deluxe Channel. Both the Normal and the Bright Channels of the original 5e3 are in this channel. With the Brite switch flipped to the middle “off” position, it is the Normal-Mic Channel of the traditional 5e3. Flip the Brite switch toward the 5e3 volume knob and it will bring in the Bright-Instrument channel of the traditional 5e3.
Using this Brite switch, the 5e3 channel has the exact same specification as a traditional 5e3 circuit.
The Bright Channel of El Azteca is modded for Brightness with Tighter Bass. The purpose is to solve the "problem" of the 5e3 circuit being "too loose" and the sound falling apart when you crank the amp up. I use the word “problem”, because many guitarists love this looseness of the 5e3 circuit. But many guitarists like to tighten up the sound when they turn up the amp for more distortion, especially when using humbucker pickups. The Bright Channel could just as easily be called the Humbucker Channel
The middle position of the Brite Switch is off for both channels. Flip it toward the 5e3 Channel and it adds the bright cap for the traditional 5e3 Bright Channel. Flip the switch toward the Bright Channel and it adds the bright cap for that channel.
Both channels have two inputs. Input 1 is the high sensitivity input and Input 2 is the low sensitivity input.
Many players love the strange interaction of the two volume controls of the 5e3 and El Azteca preserves this quirky aspect of the circuit. If you bring up the volume of the unused channel, it brings in more thickness and mids to the tone. If you keep turning it up all the way to 12 it actually attenuates the signal to clean it up. Very strange but just like an original Tweed Deluxe!! You can think of the unused volume as a thickness/midrange control up to about 8 on the dial.
The amp comes stock with a 12ay7 preamp tube in the V1 position. If you want to take the amp into “over the top” tube distortion you can use a 12ax7 tube in V1. A 12ax7 with the Bright-Tight Channel is a thing of beauty that gets very Marshally or “ Live Rust”.
Features:
Cabinet made with solid pine with handmade ¼" finger joints. The baffle board and backpanels are 100% void-free Baltic birch ply. Original style tweed with 3 coats of lacquer.
Weber 12” 12a125a speaker. Amp is wired point to point with original style fiberboard eyelet circuit board and cloth covered wire for a traditional look. NOS carbon comp resistors are used in important tonal positions and metal film and carbon film resistors in other circuit positions for noise reduction and reliability. Comes with NOS Sylvania or GE 6V6 power tubes, NOS 5E3 rectifier tube and new production preamp tubes.
El Azteca $1799.00 + shipping
El Azteca
The Texwest El Azteca is both a traditional and customized spec of the original 5e3 Tweed Deluxe amplifier. El Azteca is intended to pay full tribute to this classic design while making it more versatile.
Contact Wes Howard for more details
weshoward@gmail.com 217-417-2080