Mission Amps 5E3 Deluxe Kit 112 Combo

It features NOS Tubes, JJs 6V6 power tubes, point to point wiring, two channels, amazing tweed covered pine cabinet, leather strap, 12" Jensen, about 17 watts, 8 and 4 ohm speaker output plug. beautiful and sturdy chrome chassis. There are no trimmings, this is just a high quality simple amp, loud enough to play with a drummer. The sound is the feature.

This amp is fantastic. I have yet to experienced a better sounding amp. I play a strat and tele, both sound fantastic clean or overdriven. There are some slight little differences in the Mission layout that contribute to this amps very low noise level. This was my first build and its dead quiet, no his, no hum, just guitar. The clean sound is almost like a piano at times, so clear and defined. The OD sound is what you have been searching for with all those pedals. Lots of sounds to explore between the two channels and tone control. It's minimalism keeps you focused on playing not looking for 'that sound' because it has that sound already.

When you do this yourself you have a chance to take your time and make it as good as you can. I look at pics of original 5E3s and they look slapped together - but they still work after all this time. If if ever fails, I will take pride in trouble shooting and repairing.

Bruce walked me through what and how to check the amp prior to putting tubes in and powering up. This is the kind of company you want to deal with. Every single customer is important, he cares about every build. He answered questions via. email the same day three different times. Not that the build is hard, I just wanted to make sure.

This was a wonderful experience that continues to give pleasure. The amp is simply super. I eventually put all my pedals away, they only mask and cover the sound of this amp. Its a classic sound, that comes from the highest quality components at a fraction of the cost of an original or the reissue. If you have never built any piece of your rig you owe it to yourself to give it a go. I have no words for my feeling of satisfaction. I have to play it everyday or I get grumpy.

Features? This amp is such pure minimalism but has left out nothing in the tone department. While its technically a 2 channel amp, I have a jumper running between channels to create a bass/treble or pre/post volume setup. There really are no features on this amp, but its all you need. Giving a 3 because there's only 3 knobs on the face and its all it needs. Anything more would be overkill.

I already mentioned having the channels jumpered, I am using a ZVex Box of Rock with this amp which really makes this little tweed classic sing like an old marshall. It's amazing to get such a tone out of this little box. Without the pedal, it's an all out blues amp to the core.
I first fell in love with the 5e3 through a Victoria 20112, and that was in a music store. We all know how when the amp is in the music store, thats usually the best it will ever sound. Even put up next to a Victoria, this amp puts everything to shame. Blues, Jazz, Classic Rock, and maybe a little fuzzed out 80's Metal with the right pedal. This amp is 100% Win.

While this was my first amp ever built, there isn't a whole lot to it and it wouldn't be hard to fix at all if anything were to break. I think this amp would be safe to gig without a backup though. If there are still 5e3's from the 50's floating around in working condition, this sucker will stand the test of time without a doubt. Even the Mission cabinet feels incredibly sturdy.

Bruce is a god! That's really all I can say. After I first got everything built and turned it on to hear... NOTHING, I was rather disappointed. However, Bruce being the great guy he is, instead of getting me to turn around and send the amp back to him to fix, he helped me figure out the problem and fix it myself. Which adds a great deal of satisfaction to every chord I play through this amp.
Never in my life have I met anyone with such a commitment to their customers satisfaction.

I would build a million more of these if I had the money, and I'd definitely build another one if this one were stolen. Everyone I know is full of envy over this thing and it really turns heads if you walk into a guitar shop with it. I have a Marshall stack as well, but I live in a college dorm, which is why I built this amp. I have to say, it's going to give the Marshall a run for its money. And I'm damn glad I didn't buy the Victoria 5e3. This thing is a winner in my book.

Features? Who needs reverb when the Tweed Deluxe sounds this good "dry." The amp has three knobs, plus what you have on your guitar, and four inputs. With a Strat (American Made ~ Not Mexican) the clean sound is lush, thick, shimmering, glassine, delicious, and just about everything else you can want from an amp. I say amp, in leau of tube amp, cause modeling just doesn't make sounds like this. Get lessons, don't layer down with effects! That's the best advice I have ever recieved, or can pass on to the reader of this review. zFeatures are listed as 1 in the spirit of this minimalist philosophy.

As described above, just about the best I've heard from a $700.00 and change piece of equipment that I put together myself. Add $1,000 more for the Fender reissue, and I think you'll agree that this is the best deal on the market. Just don't tell everyone, only your close friends. Secrets like this need to remain too good to be true for the people who think all tube amps are "Class A" or made by Line 6. Sorry, had to rate it a 10. I couldn't resist.

I built this little gem, so if she farts, I gave 'er the beans to do so. Excuse ME! The amp is simple, and doesn't take a genius to put together. If you can figure out which end of the soldering iron to hold, you'll do just fine. Patience is necessary, and experience using a voltmeter and soldering would be helpful. I assume if you want to build your own, you can google just about all the info you need. If you are squeamish, or can't remember to keep one of your hands in your pocket then you need to go to guitar center and buy the overseas stuff. If you want something that will last 50 years like the original, and is easily repairable, call Bruce today. A nine is given here just because I'm not fifty, and won't be for another 29 years. By then this beauty will be well broken in, like your favorite easy chair.

Bruce is the man. I must admit, I had my reservations about ordering from someone I had never heard of before. I guess it was because I never read about Mission Amps in the glossy pages of the guitar magazines, and he doesn't have "big name celebrities" plugging his stuff in every magazine article. But Bruce has quietly sold over 1,000, I repeat 1,000 of these kits, and he's just a phone call or email away. Can't make it work, ship it back and they will fix everything for $70.00. Service like this only exists from the little guys, just like Leo used to do it before he sold out. Greed, a mortal sin indeed.

I Love this amp. It was everything I hoped for and more. You can get great tone from a few knobs, and this baby is the definition of touch sensitive. She looks great with the tweed cabinet I also ordered from Bruce. There was a little bit of a wait, but nothing to complain about. They are a small shop, and this is their life. Support the guys who follow the dream. They may never get rich, but they'll be smiling in the end. I put a Weber 12A125 speaker and the sound, oh the sound! I have to go listen to it again, it's that good. (Hint: If people will sell their most prized guitars just to get their hands on one of those old deluxes, and all the guys who know their stuff use less effects, what should you do? That is the question.) End of sermon.

I purchased my 5E3 kit in 2003 or 2004, and built it at that time. I also installed the phase inverter (Paul C) mod, the cap mod for humbuckers, the Super OT mod for 6L6 capability, and a switch to cut the zener diode out when using 6L6 tubes.

This amp doesn't have much for features in the Mesa/Boogie sense, but it has legendary tone for blues, jazz, and classic rock. With tube swaps it is somewhat versatile, but the interactive volume controls and single tone control limits how much you can shape the basic tone of the circuit. If you can work with that, you will really dig the simplicity and tonal purity of the amp. If not, you will probably get frustrated with it.

With pedals it can probably handle modern music and heavier tones, but it is a bit muddy with 6V6 tubes and/or humbuckers and that might hamper the use of high gain and delay / reverb effects.

I use my amp in small clubs, where it is great, but sometimes I need the extra power and clarity of 6L6s to cut through. For home practicing, it can be too loud to crank without power attenuation.

The circuit can be easily modified to include a line out jack, and you can jumper between the two channels for an improvised FX loop, if you are so inclined.

The amp makes woody, creamy, rich tones with 6V6 tubes and slightly stronger, tighter tones with 6L6. I think 6V6s work better for blues and roots music. The cleans on both channels turn to varying levels of overdrive past 3, which is what you'd expect from this circuit. The overdrive sounds are all cool and vary depending on the guitar, which in my case is a P-90 loaded Hamer Special. I think they sound great together. In fact, there are electric guitar tones that I think you can only get from a 5E3, and if you love blues/roots/jazz/classic rock music and haven't heard one yet, you owe yourself.

I play mostly roots and blues music, and some rock. This amp can deliver great rock crunch with a pedal or with EL34 tubes, but it has to be pretty loud (too loud for some small clubs) to crunch well. Also, you have to do a few mods to the stock circuit to handle 6L6 or EL-34 tubes, so don't try it unless you know what you are doing first.

The chassis has nice quality, looks, heft, and finish. However, the nuts on the chassis that receives the board mounting screws could be more securely attached--one of mine broke loose when I was bearing down on the chassis to drill a hole for the zener switch. Maybe this wouldn't happen in normal use, but it didn't take that much pressure to break.

The circuit board is of good quality, also, but I would probably use turret board construction in any new builds I might attempt. I think they are cleaner looking and would be easier to service.

The pots and the carbon film resistors are average quality, but the Mallory caps and Sprague electrolytic caps are great. However, the input jacks seem cheap and I had to wrestle with them to get rid of a buzz in the preamp due to a bad ground connection with the guitar cable. I would prefer to have had jacks of higher quality, like Switchcraft, all around.

The amp has never broken down and I wouldn't expect it to. I think it's very dependable, and a couple of local technicians who have looked at it commented on its high quality and good sound.

Bruce is a GREAT guy to do as much technical support for the 5E3 community as he does. Due to his well-earned, large following, I will probably make no friends by saying what I am about to say:

After I finished building, I had a bad noise in the amp when I hit certain single notes and chords. I took the amp to a reputable local tech who couldn't figure out the problem, but still charged me $50 for his time. Then I sent it to Bruce, who fixed the problem by telling me I had the speakers hooked up to the wrong output jack on the Super OT (supposed to use 4 ohm for 6L6 and 8 ohm for 6V6, or vice vera--can't remember, but it's written on my amp now), for which he charged me a similar bench fee, and then shipped the amp back. All told, I probably spent two months and $200 on technician fees and shipping for having the speaker jacks backwards. Wow.

When I received the amp back, it was not packed well, and the output transformer mounting tabs were bent crooked. The output tranny and/or something else in the chassis is now rattly despite my efforts to fix it and re-tighten the OT to the chassis. So, for my money I fixed one bad noise and got a new one, mostly due to poor packaging on the return shipping.

Like I said, Bruce is generally high on my list for his customer service, but this really bothers me. By the time I had gotten to this problem, I had the strong feeling I had exhausted Bruce's patience with me, and I had definitely exhausted my patience and funds. I wound up pretty disgusted and discouraged about the whole experience.

I have recently found out that the amp can also handle EL34 tubes with a simple mod to the power tube socket wiring. I wish I had known about that when I was wiring it up, as I would have added it at the time. In fact, there are several mods for this amp that, if published, would probably help all builders to get the amp they want the first time instead of chasing their tails, adding too many moving parts to the build process, and eventually winding up frustrated.

So, in general a 10 for support, but averaged out with a zero for damage due to incorrect packing, I can only rate this a six. I am really, really sorry to say it, as Bruce generally earns greater credit from the 5E3 crew.

I often wish I had just stuck with the stock configuration of this kit, as I think most of my problems came from attempting mods that either I implemented poorly, caused related logistical hardship, or didn't make an appreciable difference to the tone or usefulness of the amp. The stock design is probably just fine or better than what I ended up with, and the farther I deviated from the stock unit, the more annoying I perceive my requests for help became.

I hate the fact that after spending a lot of time and money on expert technical help, it still has a rattle in it that I can't fix (and in this case, didn't cause).

Other than these 'life lesson' type problems, this is a great amp for anyone who is patient, fairly knowledgable and curious, and is up to the challenge of building an amp. I could probably build another one now much faster and cheaper than the first one. For tube purists, the good thing is that the tone is simple, straightforward, and unadultered. For those seeking modern features, it's also the bad thing.

In retrospect, I think most of my problems were, at least in part, self-inflicted. By going off the beaten path, I found some holes in the process that ended up costing me. I learned a lot and I have a more-or-less great amp to show for it, but I don't feel great about the time and money I spent to have an amp that's still broken, and how I didn't get the same quality of support once I started implementing add-on mods.

Don't buy this kit to try to save money unless you know how to build an amp, or have above-average patience. If you are not totally committed to the idea, you'd probably do better to buy a Clark 5E3 clone.

This is Mission Amps's Tweed Deluxe 5E3 clone. I modded mine to use 6L6s instead of 6V6s, ala Neil Young. Go to missionamps.com or webervst.com (to look at their amp chassis pix) to see details of the knobs. In short, you've got four inputs, two each for two "channels" (normal and bright), volume for each channel and a tone knob. On/off switch and standby.

Some folks complain that that sound gets "mushy" when turned up, but that's just the compression kicking in.

This amp might not be the best choice for chugging super-hi-gain 32-note power chords, but that's ok by me.

Actually, no, wait; if you keep the amp turned down and use a solid-state distortion pedal, that actually works just fine. So really, it can do everything, kinda.

This amp is unusual in that the volume knob setting on the channel you are NOT using affects the sound of the channel you are using -- one of the Deluxe's trademarks. Some players jumper the two channels with a short cable (like the kind you use for yr stompboxes) to get even more sounds. I've had this thing for only two months, so I haven't yet exhausted all the possibilities.

One thing this thing does exceedingly well is capture the old Fender twang, until you hit "3" or thereabouts on the volume knob. From that point on, yr fully into Hubert Sumlin/Neil Young/Mudhoney territory.

I also use an old ProCo Rat pedal, an op-amp/diode based clipper, and that really puts an edge on it. Other op-amp-based distortion boxes should sharpen things up, too.

*** Keep in mind, I've modded my amp to take 6L6s, so it gets more power and more clean headroom. ***

Turning the amp beyond three on the channel yr using -- and then mucking with the other channel's volume -- gets an interesting range of sounds by changing the amount of bottom end and compression.

This amp has a LOT of bottom end for an open-backed 1 x 12. You get some thump with yr twang.

The top end is very open and glassy, especially with the tone all the way up. With my Jazzmaster, I have to dial it down to 12 o'clock to keep it dark and round and warm like I like it. Tele in the neck position with the tone dimed sounds pretty cool, too. But a Les Paul with P-90s with the tone knob all the way up is the cat's ass, baby. Hooo! Stinkin' tone. Raunchy. Think ZZ Top after they've been through a night of sipping shoe polish and sweaty humping.

Oddly, even with both volume knobs dimed, you can still roll back the volume on yr guitar and clean things up. Pretty cool.

Reliability? I built it myself, probably the sixth amp or so I've done, so if anything fries, I replace it. No problems as yet, and I've driven this puppy HARD pretty much every day. I make sure there's plenty of ventilation in the back and make sure I don't move it until after the tubes have had plenty of time to cool down. Everything else inside is rock solid, and I know, because the Mission folks provided bullet-proof parts and I did the soldering my own damn self.

Others have criticized the sockets in the kit, but they're actually good quality. Go buy some ceramic-and-gold sockets for another $60 if yr that worried about it.

I had two snafus while building, and while they were the result of my own greasy-fingered slipups, Bruce Collins was both quick and attentive when I e-mailed for help. (Just make sure when assembling the circuit board that you TRIM THE GODDAMNED WIRES in back. Don't ask me why I know this).

Also, I called him on the phone prior to ordering, and he was extraordinarily good-humored, knowledgeable and helpful, which I've found to be a rarity in the vintage-tube-amp world, where one usually deals with curmudgeonly assholes who wax poetic about the differences between vacuum tubes that nobody's bothered to manufacture for 50 years. Screw 'em, I'd rather build my amp and play guitar. The Collins guy is a decent cat.

The kit itself is nothing short of a lazy man's dream. All the parts are packaged according to their function in individual manila envelopes (resistors in one, caps in another, wire in yet another, et cet). And the layout -- optimized over the old Fender design to minimize hum -- is color-coded.

Also, since I opted for the 6L6 mod, Mission threw in another diagram for that layout, as well.

Let's just say I've been using my other amps (1964 Sears Silvertone/Dano 1484, Fender Pro Jr.s, old Marshall 18 watter, various homebrews) as furniture since I built this thing. I've played through maybe 50 old Fender Deluxes over the years, and this kit beats them all -- mainly because the parts are new, the caps aren't all worn out and leaky, and because Mission's amp layout really minimizes the hum.

Also, for less than $700 delivered (via UPS to the East Coast, from Denver), I have a better-than-vintage version of one of my favorite amps.

It's Mission Amp's take on an old 5E3 Fender Tweed Deluxe. Minimum Features, maximum tone.

Kit features everything you'll need to build it yourself, except for the speaker and the actual cabinet. (easy to find both of those on ebay) Typical 5E3 cabinet can be purchased for less than 200 bucks.

4 inputs, 2 bright, 2 normal.

Simple, simple simple. Tone is really really good.

Nice cleans, very little headroom though. If you need a lot of headroom, dont' build this kit.

Wonderful full blown power tube distortion at reasonable volumes. Great amp for anyone, but especially those in an apartment or those that play in a bedroom.

Also makes a great recording amp.

Well, I built mine. If it's not reliable, it's my own fault, right?

All kidding aside, I did have one small problem with mine, but I had a bad tube socket that *I* had screwed up when I installed it. Not Mission Amps fault! Fixed it in a heartbeat.

The really cool thing about this amp is that I can fix it if it ever breaks. I might need to get Bruce's opinion on what is wrong, or the opinions of some very helpful people over at the 5E3 Forum, but I can definitely fix anything that will ever go wrong on this amp. That alone gives it a 10.

Well, through the entire build process, you've got access to Bruce and the entire 5E3 Forum as well. Most of Bruce's instructions are visual. Tons of photographs on his private website where you can see exactly what you need to do. His layout document is color coded. Easy to follow.

Great support.

Okay, with the price of the kit, the cab, and the Jensen P12Q speaker I put in this, I'm up to about $650 total. I had an absolutely fantastic time building this little beast. The satisfaction derived from building some thing yourself is just incredible.

I'm already thinking about what my next project amp will be.

It's a clone of the Tweed Deluxe, and you of course know what that is. Four inputs, two volumes, one tone, a standby instead of a ground. I chose to go with the cabinet that Mission sells (after some misadventures with a homemade cab), and the MOJO power transformer. There are a few other options, but mostly it's a basic 5E3. Is it "versatile"? Not really, but there's nothing I've put into it that comes out sounding anything but great.

It sounds like a Tweed Deluxe! Clear, warm, all that good stuff. Breaks up in the appropriate way. Really, one of the best amps I've played. Reacts well to effects. Sensitive, loud, and NO HUM!!!!

Don't know yet. I built it, so if it breaks, it's my fault. My amp tech gave it a look and thought that the preamp sockets were kind of chintzy, but otherwise it's a solid piece of work.

Here's where Mission really shines--I bought this kit without ever having built anything worthy of mention, and there were no instructions, only a layout diagram and a schematic. So I found myself calling Bruce at Mission Amps a few times for advice. He was always friendly, patient, and generally decent at all times. When I was finished building, he gave me detailed instructions for testing the amp... but I wimped out. And good thing, because I had screwed it up and would have blown my hair off! Bruce fixed my mistakes for cheap and sent back a high-quality, working amp. And this is a guy with better things to do!

A great learning experience, and a great amplifier. I will keep it forever. Can't recommend these guys enough.

If you're reading this review, you probably already know of the legacy of the 5E3 circuit. Anyways....
I built this in April 2002, as of this review, I've been playing it for six months.
This is a you-build-it kit closely based on the original tweed Deluxe 5E3 circuit. It's not an exact clone (but only the most anal purists will scoff) and the speaker choice and cabinet construction are left up to the builder. In my case, I chose a 12" Weber Blue Dog (similar to a Celestion Blue) and built a pine cab very close to the original Deluxe's design.
Two channels (normal and bright), each with a lo and hi gain input. One volume for each channel (kind of interactive with each other), a master tone control, and an external speaker jack. That's it. You can bridge the channels for a bit more grunt, but don't expect plexi roar or MESA triple-rectifier gronk.
This amp isn't what most would consider versatile, but with a decent guitar, your guitar's volume control, and some skill/talent, it's amazing the range of tone you can squeeze out of this little box. I have a set of Yellowjacket tube converters that let me run EL84s in place of the 6V6s, and it changes the tone completely. Not better, not worse, just different. The 6V6 is a more round, fat Fender sound, while the EL84 has a bit more compression, lots of breathe-y clarity, and more Vox-like upper-mid punch. It's also less boomy in certain rooms. I switch between the tubes depnding on the sound of the room. I plan to mod it to accept 6L6s and a stiffer rectifier tube, too, so I guess the features rating could actually be upped a notch or two.



Reverb might be nice, but this amp already has a woody, resonant, lifelike quality on it's own.
At 15-18 watts, you won't be blowing the piercings off the front row, but it's surprisingly potent, thanks to the tweedy midrange. For small clubs and restrained drummers, you shouldn't need PA reinforcement.

I'm gonna stray from the usual gushing H-C review format...

I play a DeArmod Starfire Special and a Fury BBM with coil-tappable humbuckers.
It sounds incredible, no question, but...
Everybody raves about the dimed (or, technically, 'twelved') tone of the Tweed Deluxe, but to me when you play chords hard, it's a bit farty, even with the EL84 tubes. Don't get me wrong, I like it, but it's not the dream rhythm tone I hear in my head. Lead sounds are fat, singing, bluesy, potent, smooth, creamy. I can only imagine what a good overdrive pedal can do to enhance this.

Now, where this amp really excels is with clean to mildly overdriven sounds.
With the amp volume on 8 or 9 (out of 12), and the Starfire Special's volume controls rolled back a bit, the tone is incredibly clear, defined, and complex. Turn the guitar volume up and it gets fatter, meaner, and the treble rolls off just enough. Switch pickups or volume knob settings, and the sound and feel change dramatically. This amp really enhances the tonal subtleties of different guitars, too. You need to work to play this amp, but if you know how to play dynamically, and you don't rely on compression, distortion and other effects, you will be justly rewarded. This amp is making me a better guitar player.

Simple design, PTP construction, and I built it myself, so I can fix it, too. Although it's my first DIY amp, I feel comfortable gigging without a backup. So far, so good.

Bruce, from Mission Amps is without equal in his field. Professional, courteous, helpful and knowledgeable. He even posts regular answers to queries on a DIY 5E3 forum.

I've been playing about 17 years, most types of music (except modern jazz and nu-metal). This amp got me away from the dreaded digital modeling amps and back into tubes (the Line 6 AX212 collects dust in the closet now). So far, I plug straight in.
It sounds like a Tweed Deluxe, which means it's tonal palette is somehwat limited. (You're never gonna get 80's studio sheen, early EVH, or fuzzy nu-metal out of the amp alone).
HOWEVER... as previously mentioned, you can get a surprisingly broad range of sounds out of this box with your own two hands, and that's the beauty of this little amp.
In terms of value, if you can wield a soldering iron and read a schematic (and are keen to do so), you can have a vintage amp with none of the noise and a fraction of the price.

I purchased this amp kit from Bruce at Mission in the spring of 2001. I play a variety of styles including surf, blues, country, rockabilly, and good old 3 chord garage rock. The amp is versatile enough to cover all these styles very well. It is a "clone" of the Fender tweed narrow panel Deluxe from the late 50's. Power rating is a loud 15-20 watts, 1 12" speaker, Three knobs:tone, volume bright, and volume. The controls are interactive, lending tonal versatility. Four inputs, same as the original allowing the user to bridge the channels for additional tonal options. All tube, cathode biased, no reverb or vibrato/tremolo. I use this amp for home use and jamming with friends. I am not a pro and do not play out. Anyplace other than small clubs this amplifier would need to be miked through a P. A. system.

I use this amp with many instruments, including Strats, Teles, a Gretsch 6120, non pedal steels, a L.P. jr., even Danelectro reissues. As previously stated it covers all the styles listed above. Tonal range goes from low vol.= sweet and smooth, medium vol.= more dynamic with added textures, cranked = pure tweed distortion. When assembled according to instructions this unit is considerably quieter than an original, and several users have noted this characteristic. Since it is an all tube circuit, a small ammount of single coil/60 cycle hum is present at times. The kit, known as the Tweedy Deluxe includes chassis, point to point circuit board and all electronic parts and components. The cabinet, speaker and hardware are up to the builder to select. There are many options available along these lines.

I have run this amp hard since completion and have not had any problems whatsoever. Backup is not an issue but I feel confident regarding dependability. After all this amp's forefathers are still going strong some 40 + years later!

All my dealings with Bruce Collins have been very positive. There is plenty of "tech support" available primarily through two websites complete with step by step pictures. Bruce deals with people from all over the country and the world. He stands behind his product and provides prompt, courteous service. In addition to marketing kits, custom built amps, and parts he also offers expert repairs and personalized amp voicing.

I have been playing since my teens.{And I'm a greyboy now!} I have owned or played through numerous amps. New, vintage, tube and solid state. This little "Rockin' Dog" may very well be my favorite. The thing I like best about it is the pure unadulterated tone. There is not really anything I dislike about the amp. I don't even really miss my reverb/vibrato since the tone is so pleasing. If it came up missing in action, I would definitely replace it. Compared to an original tweed Deluxe it is much quieter, more dependable and costs a fraction of the price that a vintage piece would go for. Building this amp was an enjoyable experience and since I did it myself, I am confident about dependability and quality.