# Clapton Diaz tweed twin



## kirk1701 (Sep 14, 2007)

One of my favourite albums is "From the Cradle." I don't think EC's ever sounded so good outside of '60s Cream. It was so cool to trip over this auction. I knew that tweed twin couldn't be stock. Tweeds don't tend to sing like that. They actually get plinky the further up the neck you play. The low end is groovy, but Neil Young is a better example of a tweed's true lead capabilities. Not smooth at all. Sort of squawky. This is cool if you like Neil or Keef, but I like EC. 

Bonhams : A 1957 Fender Twin Amp - Model 5E8A, Serial No. A-00752, Chassis Number A-00752, 2

I didn't realize he'd sold this amp. Anyway, I feel like the individual components like the super twin/showman transformers, tweed twin circuit kit with appropriate mods, a resourceful DIYer could make a head version of this amp quite affordably. Am I wrong?

I expect it would be intolerably loud with the 4 6L6s, but I wonder if that voltage selector doesn't work as an attenuator of some sort. I know nothing about building amps, but I do know Boogie does a voltage thing to "brown out" the sound. There's a pretty good closeup of the circuit on that site.

Finally, if someone wanted a lower wattage version of this, is it even possible to scale it down and still produce that lead tone we all are familiar with?


----------



## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

The larger transformer and additional 6L6 tubes along with heavier duty ceramic magnet speakers are probably mostly responsible for the tone. Clapton's midboost circuit in his guitars is also going to push the amp to overdrive more.

The voltage selection is due to the use of an export transformer. Fender offered these so that the amps could be used in different parts of the world where the wall voltage is different than North America. Typically they were hardwired for the voltage in the market they were sold in but they were also sometimes wired to a selector switch-










There are possibly some other mods as well but it's impossible to tell from the pics on that auction.


----------



## kirk1701 (Sep 14, 2007)

I've been using the Clapton midboost for years. Love it. I do know it's possible to pull two 6L6s for a lower wattage, I read that somewhere. 

I would assume the circuit is the 5E8a, but modified enough to accommodate the silicone diode rectifier, power tubes, and transformers. What would that look like?


----------

