First time builder looking for a project.

[M Fowler]

For head version you can also USA company selling Ceriatone kits or complete amps www.Ceriatone.net

The shipping is cheaper with this company.

http://www.ceriatone.net/upload/index.p ... duct_id=69

[DavidJNichols]

For head version you can also USA company selling Ceriatone kits or complete amps www.Ceriatone.net

The shipping is cheaper with this company.

http://www.ceriatone.net/upload/index.p ... duct_id=69

That one is a good price, but it comes with the board fully assembled. Wiring and soldering is the exciting part!

[rdjones]

I hate to mention it because they aren't that well liked here but at Ceriatone, you can buy as much of a "kit" as you want.

Hey thanks a lot, Tom. That's a lot of useful info. I noticed a few other people mentioning that book. I'll have to get a copy. Also, from what I've been reading and learning, it might be best for me to start with a kit rather than source all the parts myself. It doesn't make me any less of an amp builder! I think the Ceriatone kit would be a little out of my price range after shipping costs. I am looking at these two right now:

https://taweber.powweb.com/store/kits_50a.htm#5E3P
http://www.boothillamps.com/5E3_Kits.html

The Boothill one is quite a bit cheaper than the Weber one, but it does not come with transformers and tubes. I believe I could find quality tubes and transformers cheaper than the difference in price of the two kits. However, I want to make a head rather than a combo, and the Boothill only advertises a combo-style chassis (knobs on top, tubes hang below). I'm sure I could fit that into a head cabinet, but it may be deep and sit awkwardly atop a speaker cab. Do you have an opinion on the two kits?

My bashing of the CeriaTone layouts is well documented in these forums. (Sorry, Tom)
As long as I see mistakes or safety code violations I will continue to point these out.
Please note that I don't discourage anyone from using Ceria as one of many available sources.
Just be aware that the Ceria layouts consistently contain errors and should be vetted against your country's safety codes and modern best practice.

Once you get closer to construction time you will have plenty of help getting things connected in a safe manner.

The '50s tweed combo style layout should be relatively easy to rearrange to the tubes up, knobs forward style (British) or the American/Fender style tubes down, knobs forward.

reddog Steve

[DavidJNichols]

Well, after doing a fair amount of research, I decided to buy the Weber 5E3P head kit. As my first build, I figured I would save myself the headache of sourcing all the pieces myself and buy a kit. Weber had many good reviews and offered the amp I wanted with the head style chassis included (rather than the combo style with knobs on top, tubes hanging down). I opted not to get the wood cabinet for the head and plan to build my own. I also plan to build my own 2x12 speaker cabinet to go with the amp. Hopefully I can get my building area set up and ready to go by the time the kit arrives. I'll be sure to post progression pics on here. I'm sure I'll also be coming to you guys with a lot of questions!

https://taweber.powweb.com/store/kits_50a.htm#5E3P

Cheers!

[tubeswell]

Weber does make ridiculously good speakers for the price. Some parts of their kits you might want to upgrade for a few extra cents or dollars, but what the hey! 'Proluxe' - good choice.

[M Fowler]

I've eyeballed that kit many times good choice.

[DavidJNichols]

So I've started building my Weber 5E3P kit. So far I've wired up the tube sockets and part of the PT. It looks like the holes that were drilled on the chassis for the OT don't line up. Maybe they sent me the chassis for the 5E3 rather than the 5E3P (I assume the OT for the more powerful amp would be larger). Other than that, everything is moving along smoothly. I'll post photos of the process soon.

[M Fowler]

Weber does that things just don't fit. With transformers they probably don't even sell the one that is suppose to come with the kit.

I bought a pedal kit and non of the pots or jacks fit the small chassis they offered. I complained but did not hear back.

You will just have to drill out the new holes.

[johnnyreece]

I know they've had some issues recently. One, I believe they moved not long ago. Two, they have a new guy doing the amp parts/kits (seemed like a nice enough guy when I met him). There may be new contact info, so be sure you have that. Although, I suspect that in the end, Mark's right. I don't see a separate chassis listed for the 5e3P.

Whoops...after typing all that out, I looked at the layout, and I see it says, "Requires new holes in chassis."

[DavidJNichols]

Alright guys,

I "finished" the Weber 5E3P build. Now time for round one of troubleshooting!

One of the speaker outputs is super quiet. Guitar just barely over a whisper, and no change in volume when adjusting the volume pots. It also sounds really distorted.

The other speaker output works, but there's a loud hum. The volume pots don't really affect the volume. It's either off (no guitar, just hum) when volume is at zero, or pretty loud when volume is turned up to .5 or greater. Turning the volumes up more make the amp seem to break up a little.

Also, when using the better working output and volume cranked, it's loud, but not THAT loud. Nowhere near as loud as it should be. I haven't checked any voltages because I'm not really sure what to check or what the voltages should be.

Any suggestions on where I should look first?

[M Fowler]

Recheck all your wiring especially those going to your speaker jacks.

[rp]

And build a light bulb limiter, right now, see the stickies. Took me 20 years to get to it, sometimes I'm just slow. I use it on every boot now, and on every boot involving any power supply tinkering.

[DavidJNichols]

Recheck all your wiring especially those going to your speaker jacks.

I rechecked the wiring and it seems to be right with the wiring diagram from Weber.

The hum from the amp is (I think) that 60 cycle hum sound. It is present whether or not a guitar is plugged in, and present when volume is at zero. It is not present when the amp is on standby. It is also not present when I'm using the super quiet speaker output.

[JazzGuitarGimp]

If your speaker output jacks are wired per the original Fender layouts, the main speaker jack has the tip switch tied to gnd. This intentionally shorts the OT secondary out when no speaker is plugged in. The rationale here us that, at least on a low power amp, the output stage has a better chance of surviving if the amp is played accidentally with no speaker connected (rather than leaving the OT secondary 'open' which is not good for the amp. That being said, if this is the way you've wired the amp, and you plug your speaker into the other (extension speaker) jack, with nothing plugged into the main speaker output, then the OT secondary is driving a dead short, and you will have no volume.

HTH
Lou

[DavidJNichols]

If your speaker output jacks are wired per the original Fender layouts, the main speaker jack has the tip switch tied to gnd. This intentionally shorts the OT secondary out when no speaker is plugged in. The rationale here us that, at least on a low power amp, the output stage has a better chance of surviving if the amp is played accidentally with no speaker connected (rather than leaving the OT secondary 'open' which is not good for the amp. That being said, if this is the way you've wired the amp, and you plug your speaker into the other (extension speaker) jack, with nothing plugged into the main speaker output, then the OT secondary is driving a dead short, and you will have no volume.

HTH
Lou

Wow, I completely overlooked that. So yeah, forget the speaker jack issue.

I'm still trying to figure out the hum. I'm pretty sure I have my grounds where they need to be going. I have the PT ground, ground from power cord, and ground coming off bias going to bolt near PT. The others are going to the brass plate behind the input jacks. Maybe I missed something?

Could someone take a look at the Weber layout and tell me which grounds should go where? Just so I know I'm not overlooking something or am confused on where to wire them.

https://taweber.powweb.com/store/5e3p_layout.jpg