Vintage 1954 Fender Tweed Deluxe Guitar Amplifier 5D3 Wide Panel

This is a 1954 Fender 5D3 Deluxe Guitar Amp...Tube Chart is dated DJ (1954, July)..Original Jensen P12R is dated 220420 (20th week of 1954).  Serial #3129

When I got this, it was an absolute mess...but it had potential!

The first thing I noticed was that the original tweed had been painted gold a very long time ago. The gold didn't age well either. It just makes the amp look dirty and dingy. My first instinct was to clean it, or at least give some thought to the idea of what to do with it. I disassembled the amp and cleaned all the bugs and dirt out of the back, tightened everything,  and gave the cab a good wipe down. I then set the cab aside to work on the chassis.  Long story short, the dingy gold grew on me, and I left it alone, including the garden hose/electrical tape handle! I did get a leather replacement that will be included, but I chose not to install it at this time.

The electronics were a bigger mess. I recapped it, undid all the bad "fixes" that were done, installed a 3 prong cable, new fuse holder, power switch, and a few other necessary repairs...but, only what was necessary. All pots, jacks, tube sockets are original. As you can see in the pics, the control panel has quite a bit of pitting.

I thought I had it ready to go, fired it up, bad news...No Go...A little more checking revealed a blown output transformer and a blown rectifier tube. I sent the original output off to Mercury Magnetics for a rewind, 2 months later it arrived and I installed it, along with a NOS JAN Phillips 5Y3, and she fired right up.  To be clear, the power tranny is original, the output tranny is original and rewound by Mercury Magnetics (better than it was when new)....The rectifier tube is NOS, the output and preamp tubes are original to the amp, the best I can tell.

The speaker is the original P12R..It works perfectly and sounds very good...Although it isn't very efficient/loud... I have played this amp through other speakers, and I think there is something to be gained by using a newer, more efficient speaker and save the original. But, that's your call.

All in all, although the amp looks rough cosmetically, it is rock solid and as reliable as it can be. It sounds like an old Deluxe should, nasty and greasy. 

I have more pictures available if there is something else you'd like to see. 

Thanks alot,

Johnny