The 1959 Fender Deluxe 5E3 represents the pinnacle of the tweed era and is considered the holy grail of mid-watt amplifiers. Like the Champ, it began as a studio model and ended up defining the sound of rock and roll. It was originally introduced in 1946 as the Woody model. It went through TV Front and Wide Panel cabinets before adopting the definitive Narrow Panel design in 1955 with the introduction of the 5E3 circuit. This 1959 example is rated at 15 watts. The magic of the 5E3 circuit lies in the fact that its two channels are interconnected. Even if you’re only using the “Instrument“ channel, the volume potentiometer on the empty “Mic“ channel alters the tone and gain of the active channel, effectively using the empty channel’s volume as an equalizer.
