No457 Snowy wrote:
... over the decades since it's inception, many, many more people have enjoyed owning, playing and hearing a stock 5E3 as compared to an "improved" modified version, in person and on countless recordings. It gets to be pretty subjective as to what actually entails an improvement, that may be why after all those years there's no carved in stone, definitive "improved version". There's a better than excellent chance that you will also be one of the people who loves the Tweed Deluxe tone and functionality stock, at the very least you would have a solid "frame of reference" for your amp to compare the "improvements" should you then decide to modify it.
It's always good practice to try out an amp stock before trying any mods. And there are a lot out there for the 5E3. Opinions on the Volume/tone mod appear to be quite divided in general. Some folks love the mod, while others prefer the way they can control the amp with the stock volume/tone controls. The "Paul C" PI mod is another popular mod for the 5E3, which makes the distortion sound less ragged and ratty, with a smoother transition between the clean and dirt tones -
http://music-electronics-forum.com/atta ... arison.jpg However, if you want the Neil Young "amp falling apart and about to melt down" vibe, then this mod won't be for you.
Having said that, even for a "non-modded" 5E3, I would still change out the 0.1uF signal caps for 0.022uF or at least 0.047uF, to reduce low end flabbiness and fart-out.
Personally, I've got a hankering to see if you could build a 5D3 Deluxe out of a Trinity 5E3 kit, given a few changes. Here's a great 5D3 clip, which shows what I like about the 5D3 tone -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUHaEJ5pzUM