Broken 5E3 for sale locally - worth checking out?

[jer_vic]

I’m getting ready to build my first amp (see my recent Two Stroke thread) when this popped up locally.

“ 5E3 Deluxe kit built, sounded great then started eating up power tubes. Never had time to troubleshoot it. Comes with Celestion V30 12 inch speaker. ”

Dude wants $800 CAD.

I’ve reached out to ask him a few questions (what kit is it, does it have working power tubes now), but I thought I’d see what people here think. I’m thinking it’s a way to a) gain some building/troubleshooting skills while I await the arrival of parts for my own build, and b) get a cool amp.

I know that’s not a lot of info about the amp, but high level, is it worth pursuing? Or a bottomless moneypit of aggravation and despair?

[maxkracht]

Not sure if it's a good deal or not. If $800. is the cost of a new kit, just buy the kit and avoid the frustration. The fun stuff is done, the annoying stuff remains. Solving the stated problem is likely easy, finding the remaining problems is likely more difficult and could turn into rebuilding the whole amp. If you enjoy the lego aspect of building a kit more than troubleshooting other's mistakes, I would pass.

I have repaired or rebuilt a lot of kits made by beginners. The problems usually come down to bad soldering and other sloppiness, but sometimes you get some serious weirdness that could be hard to spot if you don't have much experience.

[johnnyreece]

Yeah, unless it's some kind of super-deluxe high-quality parts kit, that's way too much money. $800 CAD is around $580 USD, according to Google. I wouldn't pay nearly $600 for something that's known to eat tubes, whether they're boo-teek parts or not.

[ViperDoc]

Don't buy someone else's mistakes if you're just starting out. Start fresh.

[didit]

Hello --

Can you clarify which supplier of kit they used. If it is "premium" (e.g., Trinity Tweed) and you can roughly confirm any problems are assembly errors with nothing damaged but some 6V6 vs junk parts, $800 is about the threshold of reasonable pricing.

https://www.trinityamps.com/product/tweed/

This kit, with cabinet and a brand new V30, will retail cost out to CND$2000 after HST.

However, I fully agree with this.

Don't buy someone else's mistakes if you're just starting out. Start fresh.

If you've limited experience, sorting out something with a known heap of problems is asking for trouble.

Best .. Ian

[cdemike]

Others have covered that it can be a losing game to pick up other people's mistakes, especially when you're starting out, but I did want to add that it can be worth picking up depending on what parts it has. I'd specifically want to know what cabinet, transformers, speaker (you already know V30), and chassis it has. If they're all high-quality parts, you could return most of your kit and likely get a good deal. But if I were you, especially if I'm just starting out, there are real safety issues in picking up someone else's amp, irrespective if it's known to be a working amp, that would be deal-breakers for me. In other words, if it's high-quality stuff assembled badly and not broken through the previous owner's error, salvage the stuff I mentioned earlier, find one of the many 5E3 kit instruction sets online, and proceed with all-new capacitors, resistors, board, wire, switches, and pots. It'll be a better learning experience that way, and if you find like working on amps, some of the stuff from the cannibalized amp will likely be useful parts drawer pieces down the road.

[Phil_S]

That price is ridiculous. You can buy a quality kit new for that price. Of course, that's no speaker and no cabinet. Still, buying someone else's problems for that price? You should pass or offer $250.

[cdemike]

That price is ridiculous. You can buy a quality kit new for that price. Of course, that's no speaker and no cabinet. Still, buying someone else's problems for that price? You should pass or offer $250.

I agree and forgot to mention that if you're looking at buying this you still shouldn't pay anywhere near what they're asking, even if they used really nice parts. And I mean it has to be really luxe stuff to justify going down the road I described (should be easy enough to look up costs if the seller is honest -- if you can't get the information, hard pass). But if you're able to get a speaker, cabinet, transformers, and chassis for less than $300 USD (~$415 CAD) that's a solid deal. Used V30s (assuming that's a speaker you'd like -- an important consideration, and very far from what most people associate with Tweed Deluxes) usually run about $50 in my area. The cab is where I think it gets more expensive unless you have woodworking skills and appropriate tools.

[Colossal]

I agree. The asking price is absurd. You can build a top notch example of the amp using the best transformers, parts, and a well-lacquered tweed cabinet for that. Most so-called kits are a way to get into the hobby, but are often designed around a price point and not necessarily the best representative of the amp they are copying, IMO.

[jer_vic]

Thanks to all who replied - some excellent advice and points of view.

First, new info:
- he bought the amp from someone else who built it, and he doesn't know what kit it is

and more concerning:
"I've had it maybe a year? Starting having issues pretty soon, replaced the power tubes
and they lasted about a month. Other tubes seem fine. Sat for several months and last
time I tried to troubleshoot it couldn't get any sound out of it at all."

So the amp may have had one issue, and that, left untreated, as lead to more....

At this point it's a cost benefit analysis. I agree that his asking price is out of line, and that a more reasonable price would be something based on what the value of the salvageable comments are. I think if I was to buy it, it would have to be at a price where I could:
1) be willing to spend the time and effort (and money) to (try and) fix it myself
2) pay for someone to have a look at it, and maybe fix it
3) cut it up for parts for my 2nd amp build (I'm already committed to the 2 stroke for the first build)

I'll think on it more. At around $450 - $500 CAD it might be worthwhile. Might have to go look in person to see what it's all about.

[cdemike]

It's your decision, but since I think I was probably the most optimistic poster previously, I feel obligated to underscore that I would strongly recommend walking away if you can't get information on part sources. At that point the only things I'd trust would be the speaker and cabinet, and even then I would only proceed if:
-The cabinet is of good quality and in good condition;
-You can verify the speaker is in good condition;
-You want a V30 in your build; and
If, and only if, the above conditions are met, I wouldn't pay any more than $300 USD.

Much more important than value, there are serious safety concerns that come with picking up someone else's build if you don't know how to check someone else's work. I trust you're more than capable of learning to check and correct me if you have experience or background working with high-voltage circuits, but short of that kind of experience or background, I think it's a much safer place to start building your own from jump if you're considering your first amp build as per your other thread rather than trying to sort out someone else's dysfunctional build; the only way to be reasonably sure that a high-voltage circuit is up to your standards for safety, short of consumer protections on a commercial product backed by the potential for legal recourse by consumers, is to be the one building it. I don't like being the guy who offers this kind of advice unsolicited, but option 1 seems pretty fraught for that reason. Option 2 is potentially more expensive than just building the amp you wanted in the first place, and I think there are very specific conditions regarding part sourcing that I don't think have been met to justify option 3 unless you're only after the cabinet, speaker, and potentially the chassis.

Really not trying to be a jerk -- like I said, just realized I might not have been clear in my previous posts about the potential issues with this. Unless the seller really doesn't know what he has, it seems doubtful to me that you're prospectively picking up some NOS Tweed Deluxe transformers

[jer_vic]

It's your decision, but since I think I was probably the most optimistic poster previously, I feel obligated to underscore that I would strongly recommend walking away if you can't get information on part sources. At that point the only things I'd trust would be the speaker and cabinet, and even then I would only proceed if:
-The cabinet is of good quality and in good condition;
-You can verify the speaker is in good condition;
-You want a V30 in your build; and
If, and only if, the above conditions are met, I wouldn't pay any more than $300 USD.

Much more important than value, there are serious safety concerns that come with picking up someone else's build if you don't know how to check someone else's work. I trust you're more than capable of learning to check and correct me if you have experience or background working with high-voltage circuits, but short of that kind of experience or background, I think it's a much safer place to start building your own from jump if you're considering your first amp build as per your other thread rather than trying to sort out someone else's dysfunctional build; the only way to be reasonably sure that a high-voltage circuit is up to your standards for safety, short of consumer protections on a commercial product backed by the potential for legal recourse by consumers, is to be the one building it. I don't like being the guy who offers this kind of advice unsolicited, but option 1 seems pretty fraught for that reason. Option 2 is potentially more expensive than just building the amp you wanted in the first place, and I think there are very specific conditions regarding part sourcing that I don't think have been met to justify option 3 unless you're only after the cabinet, speaker, and potentially the chassis.

Really not trying to be a jerk -- like I said, just realized I might not have been clear in my previous posts about the potential issues with this. Unless the seller really doesn't know what he has, it seems doubtful to me that you're prospectively picking up some NOS Tweed Deluxe transformers

Very good advice, and in no way a jerk. I had contacted him about meeting up, but after sober second thought, I'm going to walk away. I'm getting ahead of myself - I need to get the first build done, and see where I am with the whole thing after that. Thanks again to all, for saving me from myself.