For those of you who may be "click-averse" to going over to the BYOC product page, here are all the gory tech details on this new amp kit. Quite the piece of technology with switchable 5F1 Champ and 5E3 Deluxe operating modes, plus tone and presence (negative feedback loop) controls that can be taken right out of the amp circuit when not used. I also understand that the power transformer will be able to handle 120V and 240V sources, so there's no "export version" constraint to deal with:
"Get all your low wattage, Tweed-era tone from one amp. The Tweed
Royal is a true single ended AND push-pull output amp. Do not confuse this
with all the other amps out there that simply switch between class A and class
AB biasing (which the Tweed Royal does as well, btw), or change from a 6V6
to an EL84, or go from 30watts to 1/2 a watt. That has nothing to do with
changing the output of the amp from Push-Pull to Single Ended. The Tweed
Royal is BOTH a Class A, Single Ended 5watt, single 6V6 amp just like the
Fender 5F1 Champ, AND a Class AB, Push-Pull, 12watt, dual 6V6 amplifier
just like the Fender 5E3 Deluxe.
The natural compression, rich 2nd order harmonics, and buttery overdrive
of Single Ended output, or the crisp, articulate attack, higher headroom, and
crunchy overdrive of Push-Pull output - real honest to goodness Single Ended
output and Push-Pull output from a single amp with just the flip of a switch.
You can't get that with just some clever cathode switching and tube swapping.
It comes from the amp's transformers. The Tweed Royal features a special
set of custom wound power and output transformers from Magnetic
Components. Magnetic Components is a Chicago based company that has
been winding transformers since 1943. They are the same company that
made the transformers for all of the Valco brand amplifiers in the 50's and
60's, including the Supro brand. These aren't just some guys who are winding
transformers the old school way. These ARE the old school guys who are still
winding transformers the exact same way they always have. We worked
closely with the engineer at Magnetic Components for over a year to design
the custom transformers for the BYOC Tweed Royal. The end result was a
set of transformers that achieve something entirely new, but at the same time,
deliver uncompromising and unmistakable vintage tweed-era tone.
The power amp section isn't the only place where we made innovations to
a classic design. The preamp of the Tweed Royal allows you to dial in 5F1
Champ tones, 5E3 Deluxe tones, and a whole lot of other in between tones.
The tone knob on the Tweed Royal has a switch. When you turn it full turn
counter-clockwise, it removes the tone knob from the circuit completely
making the EQ more Champ-like.
The Cut knob on the Tweed Royal is similar to a Presence knob. It
controls the amount of negative feedback from the output transformer to the
phase inverter. But wait a minute! Neither the Champ nor the Deluxe had a
Cut or Presence knob, right? Right. But what you might not know is that the
Champ did have a negative feedback loop. It was just hardwired with a single
resistor so you had no control over it. We added this negative feedback
resistance, but we used a potentiometer instead so you can dial in exact
Champ tones or other varying degrees of cut. And just like the tone knob,
when you turn the cut knob full turn counter-clockwise, it removes it from the
circuit completely and restores it to exact 5E3 Deluxe specs.
As with all BYOC products, the Tweed Royal features the finest
components available: custom wound Classic Tone brand transformers from
Magnetic Components; F&T power filter caps; Mallory and Sprague caps
throughout the rest of the circuit; carbon comp resistors; lacquered cloth
coverd wire; JJ vacuum tubes, and a turret lugged circuit board.
Cabinet/Speaker Options: We offer a 1x12 combo cabinet or a head cab
to house your Tweed Royal amplifier. We also offer several extension cabs
with various speaker combinations. Our cabinets are made of finger jointed
solid pine. The speaker baffle and backs of the 1x12 combo and extension
cabs are made from 13 ply birch. We offer 3 different options for the
covering: tweed tolex with oxblood grill cloth and brown handle; black tolex
with silver/blue grill cloth and black handle; or lacquered tweed with oxblood
grill cloth and brown handle. All of our cabinets are made right here in our
shop in Richland, WA USA."
oke
