Tungsten Amplification Cortez 112 Combo

This is a reproduction of the Fender Narrow Panel 5E3 Deluxe that ran from 1955 to 1960, one of classic and best amps ever. Solid wood cabinet with fingerjointed corners and a lacquered tweed covering. A 12 Weber speaker built to Adam of Tungsten Amps specs, although I never heard of Tungsten till I found this amp. 2 6V6s (can use 6L6s), two preamps tubes, and 5Y3 rectifier (can use 5AR4). Neat Handwiring and soldering.

2 Normal inputs and 2 Bright inputs, and the 1s have more volume and gain. Two of the inputs that you are not using can be jumped (connected by a cable) to fatten the tone. The four inputs combined with jumping gives several tonal options and although the differences are not dramatic, the are noticeable.

The 1 tone and 2 volume controls are interactive. Increasing the volume also increases the gain and to some extent, the brightness. Increasing the tone also increases the gain and to some extent, the volume. Increasing the volume for the channel that you are not using increases both the headroom and compression and brings out the mids, so again, there are more tone options.

Although not a true feature in the technical sense, I like the fact that its made right here in the USA, even though I know good amps are made in other countries.

The bottom line is that there's more tone options with this amp than you'd expect from 3 knobs. It sounds good at living room levels, and sounds good played loud jamming with friends, including a drummer. The tone is raw, yet sweet. The word organic comes to mind. Its good for live playing and has the reputation of being one of the most recorded studio amps of all time. Its easy to hear why.

Lots of sustain. Great overdrive, without being too fuzztoney, and with good note seperation. Even with humbuckers, you can hear each note in chords and the sound does not get overly thick. Its also not that fizzy noise that you get with most master volume amps. Its real tube overdrive that you can hear from the instant you attack the string, until the note dies off. The overdrive comes on nice and slow in response to how hard you play, that puts the responsibility for your tone in your fingers, not in switches or pedals. This is the authentic Fender tweed tube tome that pedals promise, but can never deliver.

Ease up, and it gives a clean sound that's tough to beat. Plug into Input 2 of the Bright channel, turn up the volume for the normal channel that you're not using and there's tons of headroom, even when loud, but it still has a sense of authority to it. When I hear people complain that a 5E3 Deluxe isn't clean enough, I know that they probably haven't experimented with it, and are plugged into the wrong input.

This is not an amp that you can know after only 15 minutes or even a few days. It takes some experimenting with the input choices, jumping, the interactive quality of the tone knob and the two volume knobs, the controls on your guitar, and your playing technique before you realize the true potential of this amp. Its versatile, but you have to know take the time to know the amp.

I've had it only a few months, but had no problems. The design is one of Leo Fender's best, so this amp will last a long time.

Tungsten is a new company trying to get a good start in the vintage reproduction market. I e mailed Adam, the owner, before I bought this, and got a response within half an hour.

Nowdays, when you buy an amp from a small company, you're a lot better off than when you buy from a big company and get some fancy written limited warranty that their legal department cooked up.

This amp will last 50 years or more, just like the real Fender Deluxes from did from 50s and early 60s, and you don't need a second mortgage to buy one.

This amp does everything I want. I've played for 36 years, and have realized that amps with lots of knobs, on board effects, and pedals are not for me. Just my guitar and this amp. I never heard of Tungsten, but tried this amp because the other HC reviews were good and because it was cheaper than Victoria, which I consider good but way over priced. This amp was one of the best purchases I ever made.

The amp is basically an updated version of Fenders popular 5E3 circuit..
It has 2 inputs for each channel Normal and Bright, 2 volume and 1 tone control. The channels are internally bridged and are very interactive with each other.

Not only is there versatility within the channels, there is verstaility in the tubes as well..The Cortez I bought was an upgraded version that can handle 6V6 tubes or 6L6 tubes as well as different recifier tubes...5Y3, GZ34, or 5AU4...this creates endless possibilites in sound as well as breakup... the power rating is 18 watts with the 6V6's and 25 with the 6L6's..

I prefer amps with fewer knobs as I beleive this allows for minimal distractions...I can't tell you how many guitarists I see that spend way too much time messing with knobs...its a distraction.

In this regard I give it a 10

Sound output is gonna depend on what tubes are in it...I have tried just about every possible tube combination for experimention sake. While the amp stays to its 5E3 roots for the most part, you can achieve Blackface clean as well as Vox punch depending on the tube setup..

Lately I have prefered the 12AT7's for a little less aggressiveness in the overall sound..and cleans up nicely with 6L6's/5881's
Regardless of what tubes are in it, the amp sounds great at low volume...very defined and even...as you turn it up to about midway the breakup begins and stays on the mild to moderate side depending on your pick attack...the more you dig the more the amp gives..when you back off..it lets go....Probably the only amp I've ever played that I would feel comfortable playing without any pedals...While I am mainly a Tele guy, I have to admit my Strat has never sounded so good...with the tele...all the snap, snarl and twang you could ask for...with the Strat, its all gristle, girth and growl...and it loves pedals...I run either a VooDoo Labs Sprakle Drive with the Keely Mod or a G2D Cream-Tone (from the boys down under!!)the amp is loud enough to stand alone up to mid size gigs...for larger venues I woulod imagine you'd need to mic it

My amp came with a Weber Blue dog which is an upgrade...The speaker in this amp has more of a tendency for bass than treble, which is of course typical of the tweed era....if I could make any changes to the amp it may be to experiment with different speakers, or maybe add a separate bass control to tame it a bit. I think it woudl give tha amp a bit more flexibility.

I've taken this thing apart and its as solid as any boutique amp out there. I wouldn't be afraid to gig this thing in any situation...Very well built down to the nuts and bolt...

I bought this amp from Adam at a guitar show. After lurking at his amps for the last 3 years, I finally decided it was time to pull the trigger on it. He gave me an offer that I couldn 't refuse and he's a heck of a good guy. You can't put a price on that...

I've owned alot of vintage gear...66 Bandmaster, 66 Princeton, 57 Gibson GA-20, Early 60's Gretsch...Not to mention Dr. Z, Marshall, and Carr. The Cortez can proudly stand next to them
While I haven't played electric guitar for very long (13 years)I've played through and been around alot of great vintage and boutique amps in my time....this is not to say that the Cortez is better than them, but its what I wanted...a well built versatile amp that will last years...
Someone's blood sweat and tears went in to it and it shows..
An amp doesn't have to say Fender or Marshall on it to be good...

Tungsten is a relative newcomer to the boutique and replica amplifier market, though its founder/owner, Adam Palow, has been in the music business for some years and has extensive electronics and amplification experience. This review is of his Cortez model, which is his take on the classic 5E3 Deluxe design. I can't rate this category a 10 but it's not due to any inherent flaw in construction; rather the limitations of the 5E3 design itself (single tone control rather than separate bass/treble controls, etc). However, that said, Adam's take on this amp allows for either 6V6 or 6L6 power tubes to be used; useful if you need to squeeze a few extra watts out of the amp and certainly a handy feature. Also available are several different speaker options and choice of tube complement, which allow you to tailor the amp to suit your personal taste. This one has a 12" Weber Alnico.

Please note first and foremost that this review is for the 6L6-equipped version of the Cortez with the Weber speaker.

I actually borrowed this amp from Adam to use for gigs while he was building a 5E5-A Pro I commissioned him to build, and I liked it so well I wanted to post a review of it. I'm primarily a blues player in the jump/West Coast bag a la Junior Watson, Rick Holmstrom, Hollywood Fats, etc. I use both a goldtop P-90 Les Paul, and a ES-350 copy also equipped with P-90's, through a Fender reissue reverb tank. This amp works extremely well for that style.

In this configuration, the amp isn't noisy at all (well, no noisier than any other amp you're using P-90's through!) I had some worries that this amp would not have enough volume to cut through the mix with my band, which consists of another guitarist, upright bass, and keys. I actually brought an extension cab with me just in case I had a hard time competing. After one set it became obvious that the extra cab was overkill - this little amp was PLENTY loud on just 2 1/2.
The normal channel was a little too dark for my particular application - I had a hard time with the low end of the EQ spectrum causing the upright bass to feed back, and the lack of a separate bass control made it impossible to roll off any of the lows on their own. (I was astounded at how much low end this little box generated!) It was fine when our bassist switched to a solid body bass but not with the upright. The easy fix was using the bright channel for the rest of the gig - much better, problem solved.

The amp overdrives very nicely even at lower volumes - this isn't an amp with a lot of clean headroom. However, if you're looking for a tweed that doesn't have to split your ears before it "gives it up" then this is the amp for you. The overdrive is smooth and controlled - it will get a nice slight breakup but you need to get up a little higher on the dial before you hit Neil Young territory. With the reverb unit in front of it and the pickups dialed out of phase it's truly amazing sounding.

People say these amps aren't very versatile. I have no idea what they're talking about. I played hard rock/classic rock covers with it at noontime last Friday and a strictly purist blues gig that evening.

I have only had the amp on a loaner basis for a few weeks so I don't feel qualified to give this category a rating. It seems built very solidly. The solder job, board layout and overall construction are impeccably neat and the entire unit seems bulletproof.

As I mentioned earlier, Adam is building a 5E5-A Pro replica for me. He was extremely helpful throughout the process of selecting components and a configuration. He went out of his way to answer each and every question I had, which were many (I'm a player, not a technical guy, and I was armed with a lot of dubious internet-gathered information). I think the fact that he was willing to drive 1/2 hour in the rain to deliver a loaner amp to me speaks volumes as to the lengths he's willing to go to ensure customer satisfaction. I don't have any doubt that he will back his products 100% in the unlikely event I have any issues.

- been playing 18 years. I've owned a lot of stuff. Sold a lot of stuff. Sold a lot of stuff I wish I still owned, too!

- sold a Victoria 35310 Bandmaster to commission the Pro. Got tired of lugging the Bassman-sized cab around and really miss the sound of a 15" speaker.

- this Cortez is such a cool amp I'm going to have a hard time parting with it when the Pro is completed.

- the price on Adam's Pro build was FAR less than that of boutique builders like Clark and Victoria, and I felt he offered more options for me to have an amp built to my personal taste. Before borrowing this Cortez I'd never played a tweed Deluxe before, though I'd read volumes about them. This amp was a real kick in the pants - I now see what all the fuss is about!

- the cool thing about tweeds is anything you wish an amp had, you can find another model that actually does have it. This amp does what it does and it does it extremely well; and don't let anyone talk you into believing 5E3's are one-trick ponies - they're not!