# Feeler: Deluxe 5E3 Clone Market in Canada



## keithb7 (Dec 28, 2006)

Hi folks.

Sorry if this is in the wrong place, or frowned upon here. I am not a commercial business.

I am a hobby amp builder. I like to build clone Tweed Fender style amps. I have scratch built 5F1 Champ, 5F2A Princeton , 6G2 Princeton, 5E3 Deluxe , and 5F6A Bassman models. I am thinking about the upcoming "winter amp season". This is when I get hunkered down in my basement for the cold Canadian winter, and build a few amps. Mainly for the love of it, and to stay out of the cold!

I am putting a feeler out to learn about clone amps around here. I am not soliciting nor taking orders at this time. Just seeing what the market around here in Canada is like. I am just thinking about what I should build this winter. My wife hand builds solid clear knotless pine cabs. I do the rest. We have done mainly stained cabs so far, however we are perfecting tweed cloth cab covering right now.

Disclaimer: You'll see the Fender logo on a couple amps I built for my own use, however the logo will not be used on any clone amp builds.

Here are a few pics of some amps we've built.





































Here are a few cabs coming together this 2017 summer:










I am interested in your feedback. Are you finding that there is a good number of high quality replica 5E3 clone amps out there available for sale, in Canada? Are there members here, who are looking for a high quality built 5E3, made right here in Canada?

I won't list prices here, as I said they are not for sale here in this thread. Your comments and feedback are appreciated.

Again my apologies if this should be under the Dealer Emporium. I am not looking to sell here at this point. Just gather intelligence. Do I have a desirable product here for fellow Canadian members? I'll use your feedback to think about my next step.

Thanks, Keith


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

The good news and bad news, IMO:

G: There's lots of people that love 5E3's - so there's lots of builders, too.
B: There's lots of builders/competition because there's lots of people that love (and apparently buy) them.

How do you separate yourself from the crowd? What will make you stand out? IMO, a tough nut to crack. It's all word of mouth, in a relatively small community of buyers. 

One well known member here bought a 5E3 clone and had it shipped from England. Because it was a well known, highly coveted brand name, he's was able to move it on fairly easy when it didn't work out for him (if I recall correctly). But the less brand cache, the more risk (but probably less expense up front).

I can't speak on the sonics of your amps, but the aesthetics are beautiful. So beautiful I'd hate to take one to a jam and get it marked up. 

I will say one thing that bugs me about CDN builders is when the charge in US dollars (I get it but I don't like it). Simon Jarrett has never been busier - many month long waits for some of his amps and pedals. He does have a great rep and kind of his own thing going on, though. That helps separate him from all the other builders a bit. It's hard to do that without advertising. Again, IMO.


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## keithb7 (Dec 28, 2006)

Good points @High/Deaf. I'm not really looking differeniate myself from other builders. I just want to build a few amps over the winter, I think. Then move them to good owners. A couple amp builds helps pass the winter and it's quite enjoying to me. 

I'm not into the idea of carving out a living, or even part-time work, by buildimg amps.


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## DaddyDog (Apr 21, 2017)

Gorgeous cabinets. Any chance she could include some weathered barn board? Sure I might be interested in one of the styles, but unlikely I'd jump at it unless the cost was significantly less than name brands. But being in Canada would sure help that challenge. For what it's worth, I'm really interested in amps with power scaling these days. I've gotten tired of all the amps out there that excel when played at one volume: loud.


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

they look great!

I doubt I'd ever buy a 5E3 though, I already have a decent amp

send one to Neil Young, maybe he can give you some publicity?


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## StevieMac (Mar 4, 2006)

Hey Keith. For what it's worth, every "5E3 build" I've listed here on GC received a ton of interest and was sold within a week. Most went within 48 hrs however. IMO then, there seems to be an unmet demand among the membership here. If it helps, average sell prices on mine were around $1K.


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## johnnyshaka (Nov 2, 2014)

Personally, I'd rather support a local (i.e. Canadian) manufacturer provided the quality and price are comparable to something with a little more name recognition. If and when I get the scratch to dive into that market this would be the first place I would look as I've seen several very nice builds by forum members.


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## Fox Rox (Aug 9, 2009)

5E3s are just damn fun. You can get that beautiful, harmonically rich tweed drive sound, and they clean up so nicely when you turn down the volume pot on your guitar. Every time I play Brown Sugar or ****** Tonk Women on one of my Teles tuned to open G I can't help but smile.

On another note your cabs look great, and so does your wiring.


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