SE-5a amplifiers

Josh Ellis' Mod stack

"Just wanted to let you know I finished the amp just in time for my mate's wedding present, suffice to say he was well chuffed! I was so impressed with the sound that I'm planning on building a PP-18 for myself, so thanks for getting me hooked on a new and expensive hobby!

"I'm really proud of it considering it was my first build, and it sounds awesome. The Grille cloth was actually printed by Ken at http://www.wrapedge.com/ who did a great job. The majority of the cab is 18mm MDF with a ply baffle, with a Celestion G12M speaker which sounds great (even though a Google search reveals that cabinet construction has more rules/myths/nonsense than alchemy!)"

Paul Lynch's blonde combo

Is the tide turning against black-tolex covered amps? I'm certainly seeing a lot more blonde and 'contemporary' finishes on customer amps these days. Here's Paul's stunning SE-5a combo: "It's made of solid beech with a Fender ox blood grill."

Jonathan Duffett's 'Shaker/rustic' head

"Please find pics attached of my effort on the SE-5a. Can I just say it was really straightforward to build following the guide on the website. I am staggered how good it sounds. It has impressed my friends and you may be getting some more orders from them in due course.

"I have done a few very simple switchable mods which can be seen on the rear view. The switches are fitted on large penny washers into the unused valve seat holes, so no hacking of the chassis is necessary. There is a full boost/no boost/high boost bypass capacitor voicing switch between the valves and a tone stack lift switch and a footswitch socket in the other spaces. A two switch footswitch can be plugged in and remotely select the chosen settings on or off. The mods work without the footswitch plugged in. The tone stack lift gives a huge gain boost.

"The cabinet is English oak, oiled and waxed, style is quite plain but functional, almost Shaker. I'm yet to put a handle on it. Wood was from local sawmill, it had been lying around for years. Construction is glued and screwed with the screw holes plugged. I did consider dovetails but that would have taken up guitar playing time! If you can get a really wide floorboard plank (9-10in wide or so) from a flooring place that should do it, and one 8ft length would be more than enough and really nice quality."

Daniel Powell's SE-5a combo

Daniel's posted a useful photo guide to his SE-5a build - covering the amp kit itself and his 1x12 combo cabinet. "The guide was very clear and I managed to get it all done correctly first time, so no need for any trouble-shooting and de-bugging at all.

"Anyway many thanks for the fantastic kit and guide. I've really been bitten by the bug now and I don't think it will be long before I'm building another amp of some description. In fact our bassist is talking about getting me to build a small valve amp for him."