New 5E3 Build (Weber Kit)

[romberg]

Thanks for sharing your build! I enjoy reading about the whole journey (bumps along the road and all).

Looks like you did not have much of an issue with the pushback wire fraying at the ends. I think I will give it a go with my upcoming blackface build. I think one of the secrets with it is to do like you did. Don't attach too many wires to the board before it is mounted. This way you avoid bending the solid core wire more than necessary. I had quite a few wires break off the first time I used it.

Mike

[johnnyreece]

Looks like you did not have much of an issue with the pushback wire fraying at the ends.

I remember that being a downside of the Weber kits; the cloth frayed *real* bad. Looks like maybe they've upgraded, which is good!

[Basslice]

The Weber kit came with:

• Coil of yellow solid-core cloth-covered pushback
• Coil of blue solid-core cloth covered pushback
• Coil of Black "fake" cloth covered insulated stranded wire
• Coil of White "fake" cloth covered insulated stranded wire

The black and white wire's cloth frayed easily. I figured out that this wire was meant for the speaker cable.

The blue and yellow were pretty good.

[Basslice]

Final Thoughts and Financial Analysis

I like the amp a lot. It sounds really good. It is probably every bit as good as the $2,300.00 hand-wired amp from Fender. It was a fairly easy build. Not a lot of pitfalls.
I generated a detailed BOM, including shipping costs. Recall that I decided to upgrade a lot of the components.

BOM.png

So I spent $977.00. About $157.00 of that was for better tubes. If I had bought the Mojotone kit, it would have come with JJ tubes. The Mojotone kit was $973.00 and if I had bought it is questionable if I would have upgraded anything. If I had ordered the Weber kit and subtracted for the things I would not use I would have saved $67.00. So IF I had done that, the Weber route might have saved me a little, but not much maybe making my total outlay $910.00 (again I did not do that).

Weber Not Used.png

In doing this final analysis I was surprised that my final cost was so close to the Mojotone kit. Some people would probably be perfectly happy with the components and parts in the Weber kit. In my assessment, the Weber parts would have worked. The upgrades were more of a peace-of-mind decision on my part. I like to know that I put good quality components in when it is so easy while building.

I think knowing what I know now, I would probably have gone with the Mojotone kit if I had to do it all over. Not to knock the Weber – it is great, but the financial case is not as strong. One point I did not (and will not) address is the quality of the transformers.

[johnnyreece]

Very detailed analysis! One small thing to remember is that (last I checked), the Weber came with one of their made in the USA Alnico speakers, where I seem to remember the Mojo has an overseas ceramic (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). Personally, I live close enough to Kokomo that I just drive over and pick mine up when it's ready. Granted, I've not bought a kit in quite a few years. However, if I do, I'm sure I'll go back there to support (somewhat) local business.

[Basslice]

Very detailed analysis! One small thing to remember is that (last I checked), the Weber came with one of their made in the USA Alnico speakers, where I seem to remember the Mojo has an overseas ceramic (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). Personally, I live close enough to Kokomo that I just drive over and pick mine up when it's ready. Granted, I've not bought a kit in quite a few years. However, if I do, I'm sure I'll go back there to support (somewhat) local business.

The cabinet and speaker are excellent. It comes with the Weber 12A125A speaker, which they list ala carte at $140.

Probably the strongest two components in the kit. I have no complaints (other than the missing power chord). I will call them and have them send me a t-shirt and hat

[Ledvedder5150]

Thanks for the awesome, detailed build and analysis thread. I'm currently doing research for my own tweed deluxe build. I've looked and the Mojotone, Weber, and Stew Mac kits.

There are a few others I'm also considering.

Boothill Amps, https://boothillamps.com/5e3-kit. I'd have to get the transformers, cabinet, and speaker elsewhere.

This one is very intriguing, considering the switchable options it has. https://www.tube-town.net/ttstore/tt-ki ... anguage=de