The latest amp‑simulation pedal from Origin Effects recreates another much‑loved classic tube guitar amp: the iconic Tweed 5E3 Fender Deluxe.
Housed in a compact pedal enclosure with top‑mounted jacks, and powered from an external 9V DC supply, Origin Effects’ ‘amp recreation’ Deluxe55 uses entirely analogue, solid‑state components to replicate the function of every part of the target‑amp’s circuitry — that means the preamp, phase inverter, push‑pull power amp, output transformer, power supply, and a reactive load with an impedance curve, to make the output stage operate as if it were driving a speaker. Unlike the majority of digital amp modellers on the market, however, the Origin ‘amp’ pedals don’t include an integral speaker‑and‑mic emulation stage, and that’s because they’re designed to be used as conventional pedals into real guitar amps and speakers, as well as in DI recording situations.
In the latter scenario, you’ll need a separate IR host, whether in software or in hardware form, from the likes of Two‑Notes or Boss, or a speaker‑modelling pedal such as the OX Stomp from UA. If you want to choose the IR route, Origin Effects do offer a very nice, free, downloadable library of impulse responses derived from the actual cabinets used in the design of their amp recreations, including a set for the Deluxe55. Speaking of recording, I created a couple of audio examples that demonstrate what this pedal can do, and you can find them on the SOS website at: https://sosm.ag/origin-effects-deluxe55
The 5E3 Deluxe
The Deluxe55 doesn’t include speaker emulation, but Origin offer a free set of IRs, including some taken using an original 5E3 Deluxe.
The mid‑1950s 5E3 Deluxe is a significantly different circuit from the famous ’60s amp that also bore the ‘Deluxe’ part of the name. The latter, with its onboard reverb and vibrato, and a lossy tone stack that results in a mid‑dipped voicing, was designed specifically to overcome what was seen within Fender at the time as the ‘shortcomings’ of the earlier model, specifically to make it better at projecting the clean, bright guitar tones of the era. But once distorted tones had become an integral part of the voicing of electric guitars, in the mid‑'60s and beyond, the limited headroom and midrange‑heavy voicing of the older model started to find favour again among discerning players, especially for studio work. At only 12W, with a single 12‑inch speaker housed in a small enclosure, a 5E3 will always struggle to keep up with any band line‑up featuring a real drum kit, in my experience, and the amount of loose bottom end and rectifier sag from the power supply will always make it feel underpowered compared with any modern amp. But those same characteristics are what make a Tweed Deluxe a beautiful studio amp, where you can get it into ‘singing’ sustain mode without too much volume, or avail yourself of its highly characterful cleaner tones, as well as everything in between.
All Under Control
The four‑control line up of the Deluxe55 — you have just Drive, Tone, Level and Post EQ to play with — reveals that Origin have decided not to replicate the dual‑channel setup of a real 5E3, opting instead for just the Inst(rument) channel. It’s one of the quirks of the Deluxe circuit that you can plug into either input and turn up the Volume control for the other channel and get sound. The two Volumes will also interact: turning up the Mic channel whilst using the Inst channel will initially add some more warmth and midrange, up to about halfway, after which it will seem to suck out some midrange. There are some interesting tones to be had there, and some people may be disappointed to not be able to access them in the usual way. One thing that nobody will miss, however, is the taper of the Volume pots on the real thing, which give you most of the output as soon as you’ve turned them anywhere above zero! The Drive control on Origin’s Deluxe55 is sensibly calibrated to give you some useful operating range.
The single Tone control is not an active stage, but simply rolls off treble as you turn it counterclockwise, and affects the working of the ‘bright’ cap across the volume control as you turn it up beyond halfway, adding both treble and gain. Like all bright caps, its effect diminishes as the Drive pot is increased. Level is just an output volume control and has no effect on tonality, while the Post EQ works with the adjacent three‑position switch to allow the pedal’s voicing to be optimised for different scenarios: ‘neutral’ in the middle position, with the pot inactive, for DI use or with ‘flat’ amplification; or voiced to work with either a mid‑light Fender‑type amp, or a mid‑rich Marshall type with the switch set in either direction. The rotary control can then be used to fine‑tune the basic response shape set by the mode switch. It works well at around unity gain feeding into the front end of amps set fairly clean, as does the neutral setting into the return input of an effects loop, where you can use a bit more of the plentiful output volume available. A small 1x12 open‑back cab with a vintage‑style speaker will get you closest to the Tweed Deluxe experience, but there is still something nice to be had using it with bigger cabs, too, provided you roll off some of the pedal’s loose bottom end at the amp.
Uncannily Accurate
Paired with its matching speaker IR from Origin’s library and DI’ed for recording, I found the Deluxe55 to offer an uncannily accurate replication of everything that players love about a Tweed Deluxe, and — perhaps attesting to the authenticity of the circuit — some of the bits they don’t, such as the amount of bass ‘flub’ in any strongly overdriven sounds. To me that’s just part of the sound of a Tweed Deluxe, though, and something that you work around in how you play, which guitar you choose and the pickup you select. It’s a common mod to reduce the large coupling cap values to try to limit the ‘flub’ in a real 5E3, but I find that compromises the beautiful cleans too much for it to be worthwhile. Another common mod is to substitute a 12AX7 for the 12AY7 normally used as the preamp tube — yes, the preamp tube: there’s only one! It is replicated here as a switched option and makes the amp louder and dirtier. In 12AX7 mode with the Drive maxed you can get to full‑on Neil Young ‘edge of explosion’ tone... should you want to. Personally, I always prefer the Tweed Deluxe with its 12AY7 tonal palette, for both clean and driven sounds.
A real 5E3 interacts beautifully with different guitar volume‑control settings and the Deluxe55 replicates that perfectly.
A real 5E3 interacts beautifully with different guitar volume‑control settings and the Deluxe55 replicates that perfectly. Set the Drive somewhere above halfway and you can find everything from warm cleans to singing lead under your fingertips, responding to picking pressure and volume setting, with the lovely natural compression of a 6V6 output stage working with a tube‑rectified power supply and relatively small output transformer. I put Tone at halfway for single coils and three‑quarters for humbuckers and never feel the need to touch it again. That’s the thing about these older amp designs with simple circuitry and no negative feedback, they instantly offer up so much of the classic guitar‑tone ‘vocabulary’ that it simply never matters that there are hardly any controls to play around with. You can push the front end a little harder with a pedal for a bit more drive without having to set the Deluxe55 itself at ‘meltdown’, but with so much midrange in the voicing already, I find it better to keep away from the ‘usual suspects’ (Tube Screamer, Fulldrive et al), but things that are a bit flatter like a plain boost, or even something a bit scooped like an OCD, can also tend to accentuate the loose bottom end. Personally, I like it best with the guitar connected directly, with nothing in between.
When using the real thing, of course, the speaker, the lightweight, resonant pine cabinet and its floating baffle, as well as a bit of ‘volume‑effect’, all play a part in the experience, but the Origin speaker IR really is rather good and combined with a bit of ‘faux room mic’ from a digital reverb makes for a very comfortable DI recording sound.
Verdict
Origin’s Deluxe55 is another gem from the makers of some of the very best all‑analogue amp recreations on the market. If you are looking for what a Tweed Deluxe can do in a pedal format, you won’t be disappointed. If you are not, then be careful about trying one — you just might find you’ve been converted!
Alternatives
Universal Audio’s digital Woodrow pedal perhaps offers a bit more versatility, in having the tonal option of channel interaction and integral speaker emulation, but Origin’s Deluxe55 is more adapted to working as a pedal with real amps. For recording, be sure to try the Origin ‘Tweed Combo’ IRs for the full effect — I couldn’t beat it with anything else.
Pros
- Sounds and ‘feels’ like a real 5E3 Deluxe.
- Works well with real amps and as a DI solution.
- All‑analogue circuitry.
- Robust build quality.
- Good‑quality, click‑free buffered bypass.
Cons
- Replicates the loose bottom end of the real thing!
Summary
An outstanding, all‑analogue, solid‑state pedal rendering of a classic 6V6 tube amp circuit.
Information
£279 including VAT.
$339.
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