Product: Clara Amps Tweed 5E3 210 Combo
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted
02/10/2006
at
07:10am
by
rich
Features
:
8
2 channel normal/ bright 2 inputs for each. Volume /Volume /Tone
Standby also which was not present on the original Fender tweeds from the 50's. Also a speaker extention output to run an additional cab.
About 18 watts. Lots for small club stuff and any size room if mic'd.
A reissue of the famous Fender 5E3 tweed circuit but in a Fender Deluxe sized solid pine finger jointed cabinet with laquered tweed with 2 10 inch Jensens ( 1 P10 and 1 C10). Oxblood grill cloth. Looks great. Has all the high end vintage power transformer and capacitors etc that I'm not all that familiar with but create that vintage tone.
Sound Quality
:
10
Stunning with a stratocaster or tele. After about vol 4 it gets no louder but adds a nice power tube saturated distortion very soft on the top end (no ice pick highs on leads just a nice round edge to the sound) . Amp is quiet and extreemly well built. The 2 10's really give this amp some punch and I like the Fender Deluxe sized cabinet better than the old 1x12 cab the old Fender tweeds had. My ES335 drives this amp into some real nice crunch as well and you can roll back the guitar vol to clean it up. I love the way this amp reacts to pick attack and with the band it cuts through the mix real nice.
Reliability
:
9
Kieths build quality is extrordinary. This is a hand built amp. A photo of the circuit board and wiring layout shows the attention to detail. Five year warranty with Clara. Have not owned it long enough to comment on reliability but its really a simple circuit and any thing that fails can easily be detected and replaced by any amp tech.
Customer Support
:
10
Keith is utterly empassioned with tone and amp building. He had heard lots of amp/ guitar combinations plays guitar himself and really understands what people are looking for in tone. He is allways looking at better ways to build these amps (ie the 2x10 version of the 5E3)And seeks out high quality components that will go the distance and add to the tone of the amps. He really likes to determine your needs and desires before building you an amp.
Overall Rating
:
10
Played for 30 years and have owned Fenders Marshalls HiWatts Traynors Gibsons Fenders PRS etc many of which I wish I'd never parted with. This is my first tweed amp however and it is a real treat to play.
