Last week, I published an updated Tweed Amp Rig price comparison, looking at how much it would cost (here in the UK) to build a Tweed Deluxe rig for home use in 2025.
There was one answer that was too long to fit in that blog post: is it worth you spending that amount of money on a Tweed Deluxe rig for home use?
Today, I’m going to try and answer that question.
Table of Contents
A Quick Recap
What Is The Rig That We’re Talking About?
Here’s a quick recap of the rig that I bought back in 2021, and price-tracked in 2023 and again last week in 2025:
- Fender 57 Custom Deluxe valve amplifier (aka 5e3 Tweed Deluxe)
- Fryette PS-100 Power Station attenuator
In the price-tracking, I’ve ignored any additional / optional parts of the signal chain such as a digital effects unit (for IRs, delay and reverb) or DAW plugins.
Why This Rig?
I bought the Fender 57 Custom Deluxe amp partly because it was the only brand-new Tweed Deluxe amp I could find at the time (just after the COVID lockdowns), but mostly because I wanted a completely stock 5e3 amp circuit to educate myself about it. (I’m in the UK, where Marshalls are common and Tweed Deluxe amps are very rare.)
Once I got it home, I quickly realised that it’s far too loud for home use, so I had to go and get an attenuator for it. I went with the Fryette PS-100 Power Station, partly because of its stellar reputation, and partly because it has a bunch of unique features that I believed I would make use of.
Why It Is The Right Rig For Me
I built this rig to satisfy several clear requirements that I had back in 2021:
- I write about tweed tone pedals, but I grew up in the land (and time!) of roaring Marshall amps. Having a stock 5e3 Tweed Deluxe valve amp to compare against gives me some confidence about what I’m writing.
- I didn’t want a modernised Tweed Deluxe amp (one that features an updated circuit to address the 5e3’s problems), because that wouldn’t work for any A/B audio demos.
Since then, I’ve also come to appreciate the unique tones that I get out of my Tweed Deluxe amp. While there’s plenty of excellent (non-amp) alternatives out there (and I’ll get into some of those later on in this blog post), none of them quite do what my amp does.
But … is this the right rig for you? That’s the question I’m exploring today.
Is This The Right Rig For You In 2025?
Five Questions To Ask Yourself Before Buying A Tweed Deluxe Amp Rig
If you came to me, and asked me to recommend a tweed-era amp, I’d ask these questions:
- Is the 5e3 sound your thing?
- How ‘stock’ / ‘authentic’ a 5e3 sound do you want?
- Would you be happier with a Bassman?
- Would you be happier with a digital solution?
- Would you be happier using pedals instead?
Let’s work through those questions together.
Is The 5e3 Sound Your Thing?
Why do you want a Tweed Deluxe amp? Have you heard one? Is it really the sound that you’re after?
Because they’re very rare here in the UK, any Tweed Deluxe amp is going to be an expensive purchase. So my first question to you is meant to get you thinking about whether you really want to spend this kind of money on such a niche sound.
Because, make no mistake about it: nothing else sounds like a 5e3 Tweed Deluxe, and it can be one of the most expensive tweed-era amps around.
Guitarist Magazine recently published a guide to legendary guitars and amps. It did not feature the 5e3 Tweed Deluxe. (It featured a different tweed amp, which I’ll come back to in a later question.) This simply isn’t a sought-after sound.
But if it is your sound, don’t let the price put you off.
Any expensive amp – regardless of genre – is worth considering if it’s going to be your main amp … if it has that unique tone that you’re chasing. Home players spend this kind of money on high-gain fire-breathing monster amps.
Make sure you’re confident that this is the sound you’re after.
How Stock / Authentic A 5e3 Sound Do You Want?
Not all Tweed Deluxe amps are built on a stock 5e3 amp circuit.
Fender’s ’57 Custom Deluxe aims to reproduce (almost) everything about those original Tweed Deluxe amps – including nearly all the bad stuff. (The only things they’ve modified are the bits that don’t meet modern safety and materials standards.)
Is that what you want, or would you be happier with a more modern design that seeks to get 5e3-like tones, but without the negatives?
This isn’t a question about price. While some modern designs can save you money (Cornell Romany 12 😍), some can also cost even more (Lazy J 20 🤤). These amps offer a mix of more usable sounds and greater utility (better EQ circuits, a master volume, and/or built-in attenuation, and maybe built-in reverb and/or tremolo).
Check them out before making your decision.
If you had a stock 5e3 amp and a more modern design amp for an A/B comparison, I bet you’d find the more modern amp easier to work with. And you might prefer the sound of the modern design amps too.
Would You Be Happier With A Bassman?
There’s a very good chance that the tweed-tone you’re after is actually the sound of a Tweed Bassman, not a Tweed Deluxe.
A Tweed Bassman amp is a far more mainstream sound than the Tweed Deluxe is. It works well with a far wider range of guitars, and is also well respected as a pedal platform amp.
Or, if you prefer, ask yourself this: why are Tweed Deluxe amps so rare? Why do pedals that chase the Tweed Deluxe sound (almost) never stay in production for very long? Why are so many digital models of the Tweed Deluxe either incomplete or not close enough to be a viable alternative?
The Tweed Deluxe sound may be legendary, but ultimately it’s not a sound that’s sought after by modern players. If it was, then there’d be far more amps available, pedals would enjoy long production runs, digital models would be a lot better than they are, and serious guitar magazines would list it as a legendary amp.
The numbers don’t lie: the demand for the 5e3 sound just isn’t there amongst the gear-buying public.
So make sure you check out the Tweed Bassman too before getting a Tweed Deluxe amp. There’s a good chance that you’ll be happier with one.
Would You Be Happier With A Digital Solution?
Are you likely to be more of a casual Tweed Deluxe user? Perhaps someone who wants the sound some of the time, but not all the time? If so, then a digital amp model or profile might be the way to go.
Universal Audio’s UAFX Woodrow is the obvious choice here. It’s the most effortless way to get a variety of great Tweed Deluxe tones in a digital product. It’s a dedicated Tweed Deluxe emulator in a pedal, and it includes both amp and speaker modelling. It fits on a pedalboard, and it doesn’t need an external software editor to setup and use.
The Woodrow is now also available as a standalone plugin for DAWs. (Their Fender 55 plugin is also a great choice if you own an Apollo audio interface. Alas, it still isn’t available as a standalone plugin for DAWs yet.)
I’ve also had great results with the Tweed Deluxe amp profiles that come with IK Multimedia’s ToneX One pedal. They’re not as flexible as the Woodrow, but the amp profiles should cover most casual use in my view.
I’ve been on the fence about the Deluxe Tweed models in the Axe-FX 3 until very recently. (I actually bought my Tweed Deluxe amp instead of an Axe-FX 3 back in 2021, because I had concerns about its Deluxe Tweed model at the time.)
This summer, I’m finally getting the Tweed Deluxe tones that I want out of it.
If you’re getting an Axe-FX 3 for other reasons, then definitely check it out and make up your own mind. (I’m not yet ready to recommend buying one specifically for its Deluxe Tweed amp model.)
I haven’t personally heard a Kemper profile of a Tweed Deluxe amp that does it for me. Maybe that will change when the new modelling in the Kemper MK 2 drops?
I’ve never tried any of the Line6 Helix / HX products. I know that they do have a Tweed Deluxe amp model in the Helix, but I’ve never heard it myself. Weirdly, it’s labelled as a “1958 5C3 Tweed Deluxe”. If it’s a typo, it’s strange that Line6 has never corrected it; and if it isn’t a typo, the amp model will be a bit different to a real 5e3 Tweed Deluxe amp.
Equally, I’ve never tried the NeuralDSP Quad Cortex or Nano Cortex. At the time of writing, they don’t come with a built-in Tweed Deluxe amp model at all, so if you do get one, you’ll need to find a community Tweed Deluxe amp capture.
And let’s not forget Fender, who have finally added a Tweed Deluxe model to their Tone Master Pro digital modelling floor unit. (I haven’t heard it myself yet. Hopefully, I will on Saturday.)
Another thing to remember is that the Axe-FX 3 and Line6 Helix / HX products also come with many other excellent amp models too – including other tweed amp models. (Other tweed amps were an add-on purchase when I looked at ToneX.) If you need multiple tweed amps, then it’s very hard to beat digital modellers for value.
One thing about digital: the amp models are normally checked against so-called “golden” reference amps. These are specific amps owned by the amp modelling company. They’re normally vintage amps. To my ears, they don’t sound quite like a Tweed Deluxe amp made today, and the models from these amps all sound slightly different too. I found that I have a strong preference for one particular flavour over the others. You may find the same.
There’s another reason to consider digital: reliability.
Valve amps are temperamental beasts, and my 5e3 Tweed Deluxe amp is probably the most temperamental amp that I’ve owned to date. Some days, it sounds glorious; other days, it can sound uninspiring. Its tone changes depending on how long I use it. I definitely have to baby it somewhat.
A digital model / profile / capture, on the other hand, will give you the exact same tone all day, every day. You don’t have to worry about it at all; you can trust it.
The other thing about reliability … valve amps need maintenance. Do you have an amp tech that you can take your amp to when it starts to fail or play up? Here in the UK, there aren’t many amp techs around (partly because we abandoned valve electronics over 40 years ago). And very few guitar stores (if any) offer amp tech services.
If you do live somewhere without an amp tech that you can trust, then digital might well be the wiser choice. Yes, digital products go obsolete in a way that a real valve amp never will (which makes a real Tweed Deluxe amp a better value choice over its lifetime), but a faulty valve amp is no more usable than an obsolete digital modeller.
Would You Be Happier Using Pedals Instead?
Given how much of this blog is dedicated to writing about drive pedals in general (and tweed-tone pedals in particular), you might be surprised to see me list this as the last option to consider.
There’s quite a few reasons to go with a tweed-tone drive pedal over the other options:
- You already prefer getting your dirt from drive pedals, instead of a cranked amp. Another drive pedal will be the easiest way to add tweed-tone to your options.
- Drive pedals are often the cheapest way to add a new sound to your options.
- A set of drive pedals can offer you more flexibility at a gig than the Tweed Deluxe amp does (the real amp does not offer channel-switching via a foot switch; it’s very much a set-and-forget device).
- Drive pedals can offer tones that you can’t get elsewhere. Neither Line6 nor Fractal Audio offer any tweed-tone drive pedal models in their products at the time of writing.
- You don’t have space for a real Tweed Deluxe amp.
- You can’t find a digital model or capture / profile that you like.
- Digital isn’t for you.
The downside is that it’s a lot more difficult – if not downright impossible – to get the Tweed Deluxe sound from a drive pedal + pedal platform amp.
The Origin Effects Deluxe55 can get close, but (imho) it’s at its best when I run it directly into my recording setup. I think it can sound good as a traditional overdrive pedal, but I don’t think it sounds like a Tweed Deluxe when used that way.
The DanDrive Tweedy 5B3 has some phenomenal Tweed Deluxe tones in it, but the pedal’s both very hard to find and (imho) only covers a limited range of what the real amp has to offer.
After that, I think there’s a big drop-off in how close a drive pedal can get to the Tweed Deluxe tone.
Don’t get me wrong, I think some of these drive pedals offer phenomenal tweed tones in their own right (especially my beloved Mad Professor Sweet Honey Overdrive and their cousins from the Honey Bee pedal family), but we’re firmly into the territory of enjoying these pedals for their own sounds in my view.
Another thing to consider is speaker choice. Your pedal platform amp’s speaker probably sounds nothing like the kinds of speakers commonly found in tweed amps. Some pedals are designed with that in mind, but (in my opinion) most pedals sound most tweed-like when paired with a traditional tweed-amp speaker or impulse response.
That said … I definitely play my pedals more than my Tweed Deluxe amp. The pedals are (normally) more forgiving over which guitar you plug into them. They’re often less noisy than the real amp too.
And, some days, I just prefer the variety that pedals can offer over a single amp.
Other Considerations
What Guitar(s) Do You Play?
You definitely can plug most guitars into a Tweed Deluxe amp. But over the last four years, I’ve learned that I strongly prefer the results with certain guitars.
I’ve had the best results with mid-rangy guitars that have a more rounded top-end, don’t have excessive low-end (although that can be fun), and have fairly low-output pickups.
Guitars that push a lot of low-end (or just a lot of output period) tend to cause a Tweed Deluxe amp (and quite a few tweed-tone pedals) to fuzz out (at best) or turn into a collapsing, indistinct mess.
Guitars that lack mid-range (which, to my ears, is a lot of modern Telecasters) aren’t working in sympathy with the amp. A Tweed Deluxe amp is all about the mid-range, and if the guitar isn’t bringing it, the amp doesn’t have much to work with.
If you’d prefer to build a rig around the guitar and not the amp – and the guitar isn’t famous for use with a Tweed Deluxe – then you might be happier with a Tweed Bassman instead.
These Amps Have No Effects Loop
A stock 5e3 Tweed Deluxe doesn’t have an effects loop. As far as I know, most of the modded Tweed Deluxe amp circuits don’t include one either.
If you hate playing without delay and/or reverb, then you’ve got three choices:
- use an attenuator (like the Fryette PS-100 Power Station) that has an effects loop, and plug your delay and reverb in there;
- use the amp as part of a silent rig, and add your delay and reverb in your DAW; or
- find a Tweed Deluxe amp (like the Lazy J 20) that has a built-in reverb.
I Prefer The Sound Of A Recorded Tweed Deluxe Amp
I learned the hard way that I really don’t like the sound of a Tweed Deluxe amp in the room. The sound that I love is its recorded sound, which is quite different.
Modded 5e3 amps (or amps loosely based on the Tweed Deluxe) like the Lazy J 10LC or Cornell Romany? Those I do like in the room.
Tweed Deluxe Amps Do Not Hold Their Value
Well, Lazy J amps do, because they’re considered to be the very best in the world.
These Fender 57 Custom Deluxe amps? There just isn’t the demand for them in the second-hand market here. If you buy one and don’t like it, you’ll do well to get two-thirds of your money back from what I’ve seen.
Most Attenuators Aren’t Voiced For A Tweed Deluxe Amp
There’s a reason I’ve focused almost entirely on alternatives to the amp, and not alternatives to the attenuator in my rig.
Most attenuators seem to work good (or better) with modern amps, especially amps that sound great into Celestion Vintage 30 speakers or equivalent. But pair them with a Tweed Deluxe, and the results just aren’t as stellar.
I’ve spoke to a few attenuator makers and/or resellers about whether their product pairs well with a Tweed Deluxe amp. I didn’t get convincing answers back from them. To be fair, a Tweed Deluxe amp is just too niche for most attenuator makers to have included in their testing – especially if the attenuator isn’t designed in the USA.
I’m recommending the Fryette PS-100 Power Station because I’ve actually paired it with my Tweed Deluxe amp, and I’m happy with the results.
If you decide to try a different attenuator, make sure you can return it if you don’t like what you hear.
Final Thoughts
When I was buying my amp, I couldn’t find this information in one place. If you’re thinking of buying one, I hope my experience is helpful.
There’s a lot of ways to get a tweed tone at home in 2025. Most of them cost a lot less than the real 5e3 Tweed Deluxe amp rig. Most of them offer something that most people will probably prefer.
And remember Stu’s 1st rule of tweed tone: you probably want the sound of a Tweed Bassman, not a Tweed Deluxe.
I’m not trying to talk you out of getting your own Tweed Deluxe amp. I just want you to be able to make an informed decision before spending that much cash on an amp that depreciates so much so quickly.
Mine has brought me so much joy – more than I expected when I bought mine. It’s the sound that I’ve been looking for over the last 30+ years.