An Original November 1953 Fender "Wide-Panel" Tweed DeLuxe…

1953 Fender Deluxe (Wide-Panel) Amp Model 5C3.

This is an all original 12 watt tweed "wide-panel" cabinet tube combo legend weighing just 24 lbs. The solid pine cabinet measures 18 inches wide x 16 1/4 inches high x 7 1/2 inches deep. One twelve-inch Jensen Alnico 5 PM "Concert Series" Speaker with stamped code: "220-343" (Jensen 34th week of 1953), top control panel, two instrument inputs and one microphone input, one volume knob, one tone knob, tweed covering, dark brown mohair grill cloth. The date code "CK" (November 1953) is stamped in black and the serial number "1359" is written in blue ink on the tube chart. The three potentiometers are all stamped "304 345" (Stackpole November 1953). The tweed covering is remarkably clean and the original leather handle is worn but still in reasonably good shape. One of the cleanest examples we have ever seen - complete with the original Fender brown cloth cover - overall exceptionally fine (9.00) condition. A wonderful little sixty-four-year old legend… just turn it up for real tube gain at a reasonable volume.

"The combination of vertical tweed and mohair grille was replaced with "diagonal" tweed and brown linen grille cloth c. 1949, but little was changed the next few years. The wide-panel cabinet replaced the TV-front c. 1953, but otherwise the model was not much different from the '48 model… Tubes were still two 6SC7s, with glass-bottle 6V6GTs and 5Y3GT substituted for the old metal versions. A separate On/Off switch and a spare speaker output jack were obvious additions; a negative-feedback loop was less obvious, but certainly affected the sound more (model 5C3). This upgrade was deleted from the following model (5D3), which replaced the grid-resistor-biased 6SC7 preamp tube with a cathode-biased 12AY7. A 12AX7 self-balancing paraphase inverter replaced the other 6SC7, leaving the metal tubes gone forever." (Teagle & Sprung. Fender Amps. The First Fifty Years, pp. 43/44).

"The Deluxe was one of the first amplifiers Leo Fender produced in his own name. The wide panel tweed variant was produced from 1952/3 to 1954. Early models (5B#, 5C3) use 6SC7 pre-amp tubes. Later (some 5D3 models) they were replaced by the miniature 12AX7 tubes still used today. The Deluxe is a low output amp, prone to distorting at comparatively low levels, which makes it excellent for recording or playing through a PA." (Morrish. The Fender Amp Book, p. 15).