How To Build a Tweed 5F1 Kit

Let Rob Hull guide you through the construction of a Tweed Champ amplifier using TubeDepot.com's down-loadable instruction manual (Copy and paste tubedepot.com/products/tweed-... to get the PDF). The Tweed Champ is a classic beginner's amp, perfect for beginning guitarists and audio enthusiasts just taking their first step into the larger world of really, really good tone.

[@MichaelLloyd]

Nine years after this video came out and I'm in the middle of building this amp. I sourced a lot of the components for the board from my stock, the chassi came from Weber,. There were some holes in the chassis that were too small but that was easily fixed. The cab, speaker (I went up on speaker quality), and most of the hardware came from Tone Depot. They supply good parts. The cab is gorgeous. I built the big brother to this amp a few years ago. I swapped to a NOS rectifier to get plate voltage in control. If the little amp sounds as good as the big one I'll be happy. It all started with buying the circuit board. I had no intention of building the amp right now. I need a small amp to practice with so why not...

[@RickyMon]

Okay.. Now I wanna build a dual rectifier... :D

[@Mark70609]

There are quite a few mods to the basic Champ circuit which help it along. Firstly the extra stage of filtering prior to the supply to the output transformer to cut down the 50hz hum. Those 1 meg switch pots are a pain as they are often going faulty. I would use a separate switch and pot. You can also use one of those high wattage wire wound 100 ohm pots to adjust the bias of the output tube. Shielded cable is great in these amps too.

[@user-ci4hu9bu3p]

Человек--оркестр.... И на,, телеке,, и на тамбур не и на харпе! Однозначно... ЛАЙК! СУПЕР!!!!

[@spewdog]

Just amazing. Super informative and fun to watch with a neat demo at the end. Great job!

[@michaelpukmel9175]

Beautiful job, you guys make it look easy! Very professional build!!

[@CoquiAudio]

Hello Rob I recently purchase some parts from you guys and and I'm really satisfied with the way you guys pack the box all well done and even have a 'fragile glass handle with care" label on the box thank you for that ^__^

[@yearginclarke]

Thanks so much for posting this, this is a great briefing for beginners. Amp sounds great too.

[@elbenaso]

Great video as usual. Regards from Spain. Awesome job, dudes. we're really learning from you. Thanks

[@timothyjay2012]

Incredible video and build!! I really like the Marshall 45 Build video!!

[@Malikon1]

Nicely done man, you make it look easy.

[@uwetittmann1423]

Great stuff! Well done, many thanks!

[@Rbrownsword]

That is a really neat job, and a well made video as well.

[@CoquiAudio]

I have seen many videos of guys soldering stuff and let me tell ya your soldering work is really nice not too much not too little solder, that denotes attention to details ^__^

[@TubeDepotTV]

Juan, you are most kind. That is my military soldering training showing through.

[@jamestoops7228]

I might try this some day Wonderful little amp.Sounds Great@

[@markzelepugas6046]

Great informative and fun video

[@murmaider2]

need more of these videos!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Great Video!

[@hcgazoo]

Way too cool! Great job!

[@Rbrownsword]

You usually start with the smaller components such as resistors as it's harder to do it the other way round.

[@rl9555]

Anybody notice at 7:42 he solders the neutral wire to the fuse. That"s not safe. The incoming hot(black ) wire goes to the end connector on the fuse holder. Shown correct in the assembly diagram though.

[@alvin10388]

What a beautiful town nicely blend with the music.Do carry any 8 ohms only output transformers for champs or i can use same transformer using single output?

[@geraldnees1330]

I built your 5f1 kit, it's ok. I also built mojotones 5f1 kit. big differences between the two of them. Bottem line is the mojotone kit is a lot closer to the original Fender amp and sounds much better that the tube depot kit.

[@billville111]

Pro soldering lesson and busking in the same video - three thumbs up

[@TubeDepotTV]

anything for a dollar ...

[@billville111]

***** I especially liked when you plugged in while wearing eye protection - safety first! ha ha I would LOVE a class A with a great clean chimey tone that has a good feel with dimension and depth, harmonics and it just makes me want to play it.

[@skaboosh]

one day, when the pocket is more full, i'll be getting one...the champ is such a classic

[@EMACHERRE]

Buen trabajo, saludos desde España

[@datalaforge]

I just bought some tubes(jjel84's) from you guys. They sound great. Thanks. By the way I love this video.

[@jupjuck]

could you if you were so inclined/possessed fit a 10 inch speaker in the enclosure?

[@holmes1978]

WOW IMPRESSED !!!

[@Arabhacks]

There are a few changes I would make. First. mount the audio output transformer away from the power transformer, it can even be mounted on the basket of the speaker. Second, center tap transformer filament supply, or plop in a bridge rectifier and cap and supply the filaments with DC. Also I would dump the rectifier tube and put in a full wave rectifier with modern diodes. Now make sure that nothing is connected to chassis ground, even the 1/4 " jacks, double insulated.

[@Mrsitarman]

Wow you really do make the build look easy! How many of these have you built? I've got to ask if this kit has all the stock components just the way they originally came or are they the best components available today? Are they better or worse? If you were to build one and you wanted it to be as good as the Eric Clapton model, would this kit be as good as the EC? Are their any variations or upgrade available for the kits?

[@vch42]

The dynamics are slightly changed in a tube rectifier design,versus solid state.Reasons bellow.Also, you might hear the expression about amps, tube amps, "the tone is in the iron". This refers to the output and power transformers, their design and materials change the tone in a pretty recognizable way. These are not just collector's/purists voodoo beliefs, are actually straightforward electric and electronic phenomena.You want that tone, pretty much you need to use that design. More or less. ;-)

[@ShelbyBryant]

i love this guy!

[@nicholastotoro7721]

I know this is an old video, but do you all have this kit in a head shell form?

[@kk5fe]

this looks like a great amp kit! Can this also drive bigger speakers? or maybe two tens?

[@Mark70609]

10" and 12" speakers is another good mod. Though I find the 10" still lacking somewhat in bass response. I found the Weber silver ten to be a pretty good speaker in these amps. In fact Fender used the Weber 8" speaker in their Champs.

[@sxayaxang]

where you get this kit it look very easy to build, i would like to try one

[@peterarnt]

Thanks for the informative reply. It's greatly appreciated. Kindest Regard, -P.

[@lucianos1990]

do you need to bias the amp?

[@greensp4rk]

@greensp4rk never mind, i missed it in the video but I see now that you ARE supposed to solder them. Its such a short clip i missed it the first time.

[@skaboosh]

what a nice video.....

[@LUCKYB.]

Ok how long with that board last before its cooked ..I have never had anyfaith in solid state style boards .. old school Rules .

[@jefferymoffitt]

Hey man! i live about an hour from memphis! do you think you could help me build one if i bought a kit??

[@Marzec309]

I believe they were referring to soldering smaller components first then the larger ones.

[@dawg1157]

how did you put labels on the front of the project box? laser printer?

[@biggstile]

Under the circuit board, did you use standoffs and spacers, or did you use a rubber backer board?

[@WillRanSaxMan]

Sweet! I live in Memphis.

[@murmaider2]

@TubeDepotTV i noticed on your site you have several hi-fi tube amps, maybe one of those? specifically the "model 16ls" stereo amp

[@nickking8317]

would this kit be ideal for a 1st build?

[@DECIFERTHIS09]

Hello, I been looking to build a tube amp, but I have a few questions. what determines the volume of the amp the capacitor size or the transformer,can I install tubes in a solid state using any mods, and that resistor you put on that jack what is that? Thanks

[@dawg1157]

@TubeDepotTV Sweet!...Thanks for the quick response, Sir. :D

[@flashpadxxx]

How long did it take you to build the whole amp??How much is shipping to germany??

[@greensp4rk]

rob, just bought this kit and theres something i'm not 100% sure about: are you supposed to solder the resisters/capacitors into the PCB or do they just sit there?

[@NoahPageReviews]

Lucky that you happen to have a AC outlet on the side of the road, lol

[@chuckjordan6455]

only 5watts, you could probably power it with a 100w solar panel.

[@Mark70609]

Thanks for your reply but I must respectfully disagree. I've found the "breath" quality to come from the screen grid conducting and not so much sag from the rectifier. I put a signal into my Champ and measured the rails, I found when the amp was putting out full undistorted output the screen grid had pulled down the pre-amp supply while the voltage at the output supply had increased in voltage as is the case in a Class A design. Also check out the Gibson Skylark that is a good alternative too.

[@DemonKingOFFICIAL]

Anyone new at this… do yourself a favor and get PTFE jacketed wire. Its way more difficult to burn or melt PTFE jacketed wire as opposed to normal vinyl wire when soldering. Idk why milspec PTFE hasn’t become standard in amps, tbh.

[@perfuzz]

@Rob - Do you ever go point to point wiring in you're builds? You even got a 1 - 12 pot on it. Groovy! My builds only goes to 10. ;-)

[@Brenners2010]

Sorry I don't understand - did you get the empty cabinet from Fender and then you make everything else yourself?

[@Dankphu]

segoviate No, the company he represents (Tube Depot) sells the entire kit.

[@murmaider2]

@TubeDepotTV thanks! it will be greatly appriciated. I never had the, lets say courage, to attempt one of these but I'd be very interested in trying the 16LS kit

[@blackie75]

could you do a jcm 800 next? lol

[@katiyabeygi174]

I love V.Tubes

[@eranswisa]

Is this Jim Carry?

[@bluesrock75]

mitiiiiicoooooo......yyyeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa......

[@dzikusek0987]

Why PCB? :( Why not turret or eyelet board?

[@jessie102]

Oh, man great video, are you ended any electronic school or is it your passion? For the next video would be nice to see another amp, but more difficult, maybe some old Marshall?

[@peterarnt]

Forgive the naive question, but why does this design use a rectifier tube instead of a semiconductor diode? I realize that musicians buy tube amps for their particular sound quality, but how does the power supply rectification impact the amp's sound quality? Or does it? DC voltage supplied to an amplifer circuit is just that--DC voltage. If it's done for the sake of having a pure tube design, than I think the extra cost of the rectifer tube isn't justifyable.

[@mudfly3]

pretty much grown ups LEGO´s ....... would be fun to learn what actually goes on signal-wise

[@nerguss]

I do not see the difference, to build on the large elements to small, from the output transformer to the preamplifier or vice versa. you can at least start from the middle. The main thing - to validate and verify the configuration of the cascade of the power transformer to the input of the preamplifier

[@ltbproductionz]

Good stuff man if you need some sample kits hit up my vids

[@sheehy933]

I am no soldering expert, but aren't you supposed to make a solid physical connection between the wire and component before soldering ? I see you just inserting the wire through the hole and then soldering without making a solid connection first.

[@comendat]

solder form smaller to biger, not from big to smaller !!!

[@donatolepore3520]

Why ? Why printed circuit board why ? If ruins it for me .

[@Kmiommi]

The point is that the champ amp is tiny. The freight quote they your site gave me and I paid for was $30 but to come back and ask for another $200 is just rude. More importantly the shitty tone your team member into the response Cutting and pasting a disclaimer. I stepped him through the purchase path I went through and there was no disclaimer. Anyway it's feedback. Do with it what you like regards k

[@nerguss]

Google translator - Evil, and I do not know much English =)

[@johnsoncoleman593]

soldering over unprotected speaker is stupid

[@dzikusek0987]

You don't need special tools to put the turret/eyelet board together. God! Making the simpliest amplifier on the PCB is a sin!

[@kevykev38]

I learned absolutely nothing from this video. Your basically showing how to drill holes. You talk nothing about soldering and the right and wrong ways of soldering. No talk about the components (resistors and Capacitors). Damn guy!

[@ampworx1972]

I've seen your kits and the price y'all are selling them for are ridiculous. You might as well be selling a brand new amplifier. At least the amp will come complete. instead you are basically selling the amp in pieces. All the labor involved putting this kit together brings the price to a considerably higher amount than the resale value would be for a amp without any warranty. Outrageous. The kits price needs to be reevaluated