Red Iron Amps 5E3 Head

The amp is very simple control wise - only one input, a master volume, tone and volume controls, but don't think that this limits it's versatility. With the master volume, the amp is capable of a wide range of sounds, from clean, to tweed-like, to singing overdrive. No channel switching, effects loops, etc. It does have a switch to change the grid screening of the tubes (or something like that), but it is a subtle change to my ears. It has front mount power and standby switches, a pilot light, and a rear mounted 4/8 ohm speaker switch. It's tube (of course), but not a direct 5E3 clone - it uses EL34's for power, and has two 6SL7's in the preamp section. I do occasionally miss the vibrato and reverb that an old Fender might have, but this seems to be a no-compromise tone-first amp. It is rated at 30 watts, but it seems to be more powerful than a Traynor that I had, which was rated at 50 watts! I can't imagine needing an overdrive pedal unless you play some pretty heavy rock. I only play at home, but it would definitely sing on stage in any club situation.

The sound is amazing. Sweet, musical, more "open" than any amp I have owned. It isn't all sweetness, it hits the early BB, Clarence Gatemouth Brown sound pretty well. Where the guitar just gets up and wails when the high notes are bent. I've owned many blackface Fenders, but not a tweed, and my last favorite amp was a Traynor. I have never owned a tweed amp, but have heard some pretty good guitar players on stage using them, and this seems to hit that sound pretty well. I think that this amp covers more ground though, due to the master volume. The sound is very sweet, smooth, but it responds well to playing attack, and has good harmonics when overdriven a bit - I'll have to admit to playing jazz and blues in my living room, mostly clean sounding, so I have not really let the amp sing at higher volumes. I would describe the harmonics as more musical, not a dissonant splatter like lesser amps (like the typical master volume setups). With my tele-style guitars, I was always wishing for a bit more signal from the pickups, for more bass and drive to avoid an overly thin sound, but that is not the case with this amp. It makes the Teles sound much fuller, warmer, more bass, but the bite is still there. I think that I have only used about 40% of the amp's capabilities tone-wise.

I haven't had it long enough to comment on the long term reliability, but it is built very sturdily, using a piece of construction steel for the chassis - hence, the Red Iron name. The circuitry is all point to point, without using the fiber board setup, so it should be easily repairable. The parts quality seems to be top-notch, the transformer is some sort of huge industrial monster. The builder, Paul Sanchez, used to work for Kendrick, and seems to be very knowledgable. Mine has a lot of NOS Sylvania tubes, and Groove Tubes for power.

Very friendly. You can talk with the guy who designed and built it. He seems to be open to tube swaps, and likes to talk about amps. Haven't had any problems with it, and from the looks of it, I don't think I will. I expect it will last a long, long time!

I've been playing for 30 + years, going from rock in the early days (daze?), to blues and jazz now. Haven't played on a stage in 15 years or so, but still play regularly. If it were stolen or lost, I would get another one, or maybe a smaller amp from Red Iron. This is definitely more power than I need, but who knows, maybe I'll play on stage again someday...I wish that Red Iron made a matching reverb. Maybe he would if asked? The other amps that I looked at, were Allen amps and 5E3 kit type amps (since I did a lot of Dynaco stuff years ago). I decided that I am too busy (lazy?) to do a kit now, and I have the peace of mind knowing that I didn't work on it! I chose this due to the geographic closeness of the builder, the rock solid construction, the cool looks of the amp, and the sound. It looks like it will last through at least 3 or 4 musical fads! It is really not a 5E3 clone, but a good variation thereof. I always liked minimalist, super-sounding stereo equipment years ago, and I guess I still seek that in guitar amps. Simplicity and purity are good in lotsa things.