Fender Deluxe 5E3 vs Fender Bassman 5F6-A

Circuit differences, stage by stage, from Gridleak’s verified redraws of both schematics: 31 differences, 16 the same.

What’s different, and why it matters

Both tweeds start the same way, with a 12AY7 first stage whose two halves share one cathode, and then have very little in common. The 5E3 has a single tone control, no cathode follower, a cathodyne phase inverter, no negative feedback and two cathode-biased 6V6GTs on a 5Y3GT. The Bassman adds a treble/bass/middle stack driven by a cathode follower, a long-tail pair with feedback and presence, and two fixed-bias 5881s on a GZ34.

The 5E3 Deluxe runs two 6V6GTs and the Bassman 5F6-A runs two 5881s. 6V6s are smaller tubes that run out of headroom, and break up, at lower power; 5881s (a 6L6-type tube) are usually described as round, with a firm low end.
Both use a tube rectifier, but different ones: 5Y3GT in the 5E3 Deluxe, GZ34 in the Bassman 5F6-A.
The Bassman 5F6-A has a cathode follower and the 5E3 Deluxe doesn't. A cathode follower drives what follows it from a low impedance, so less is lost in the tone stack, and it compresses when pushed.
The Bassman 5F6-A's tone stack sits after all of its gain stages; the 5E3 Deluxe's sits before one more gain stage. EQ at the end of the preamp shapes the finished sound; EQ ahead of a gain stage shapes what that stage amplifies, and clips if it is driven hard.
The 5E3 Deluxe's output tubes are cathode-biased; the Bassman 5F6-A's are fixed-biased. Cathode bias lets the operating point shift as the tubes are driven harder, which compresses and softens the breakup; fixed bias holds it steady, for more headroom and a firmer response.
Tone controls: single tone control on the 5E3 Deluxe, treble / bass / middle stack with a slope resistor on the Bassman 5F6-A.
The Bassman 5F6-A uses negative feedback around the power amp and the 5E3 Deluxe uses none; no feedback means more gain, a rawer, more forward midrange and an earlier, looser breakup.
Phase inverter: cathodyne (split load) in the 5E3 Deluxe, long-tail pair in the Bassman 5F6-A. A long-tail pair has gain of its own and a larger output swing to drive the power tubes; a cathodyne has no gain of its own and a smaller swing.
Only the Bassman 5F6-A has a presence control (it shapes the feedback loop to lift the upper treble); the 5E3 Deluxe has none.

At a glance

	Fender Deluxe 5E3	Fender Bassman 5F6-A
Years	1955–1960	1958–1960
Origin	USA	USA
Rated power	15 W	—
Channels	2	2
Preamp tubes	1 × 12AY7 + 1 × 12AX7	2 × 12AX7 + 1 × 12AY7
Power tubes	2 × 6V6GT	2 × 5881
Rectifier	Tube (5Y3GT)	Tube (GZ34)
Phase inverter	Cathodyne (split load)	Long-tail pair
Master volume	none	none
Effects loop	no	no
Reverb	no	no
Notable players	Neil Young	—

Stage by stage

Inputs and channels

	Fender Deluxe 5E3	Fender Bassman 5F6-A
Inputs	4	4
Channel switching	front panel only / none	front panel only / none
Voicing / power switches	none	none

Preamp

	Fender Deluxe 5E3	Fender Bassman 5F6-A
Preamp tubes	1 × 12AY7 + 1 × 12AX7	2 × 12AX7 + 1 × 12AY7
Triode gain stages (all channels)	3	3
Most gain stages in series	2	2
Gain stage 1	12AY7 · plate 100 kΩ · cathode 820 Ω, 25 µF bypass (shared) (×2: Instrument channel, Microphone channel)	12AY7 · plate 100 kΩ · cathode 820 Ω, 250 µF bypass (shared) (×2: Bright channel, Normal channel)
Gain stage 2	12AX7 · plate 100 kΩ · cathode 1.5 kΩ, 25 µF bypass	12AX7 · plate 100 kΩ · cathode 820 Ω, unbypassed
Cold-biased stage (clipper)	none	none
Cathode follower	no	yes
Bright cap(s)	none	100 pF
Coupling caps (preamp)	0.1 µF	0.02 µF
Diode clipping	no	no

Tone stack

	Fender Deluxe 5E3	Fender Bassman 5F6-A
Type	Single tone control	Treble / bass / middle stack with a slope resistor
Position	after gain stage 1, driven by a plate; 1 gain stage after it	after gain stage 2, driven by a cathode follower; no gain stages after it
Slope resistor	not on the drawing	56 kΩ
Treble cap	not on the drawing	250 pF
Bass cap	not on the drawing	0.02 µF
Middle cap	not on the drawing	0.02 µF
Pots	tone 1 MΩ	treble 250 kΩ · bass 1 MΩ · middle 25 kΩ
Master volume	none	none

Effects

	Fender Deluxe 5E3	Fender Bassman 5F6-A
Effects loop	no	no
Reverb	no	no
Tremolo / vibrato	no	no

Phase inverter

	Fender Deluxe 5E3	Fender Bassman 5F6-A
Type	Cathodyne (split load)	Long-tail pair
Tube	12AX7	12AX7
Plate loads	56 kΩ	82 kΩ / 100 kΩ
Tail / cathode load	56 kΩ	10 kΩ
Cathode bias resistor	1.5 kΩ	470 Ω
Input coupling cap	0.02 µF	0.02 µF
Coupling to power tubes	0.1 µF	0.1 µF

Feedback

	Fender Deluxe 5E3	Fender Bassman 5F6-A
Negative feedback	no	yes
Feedback resistor	not on the drawing	27 kΩ
Feedback taken from	not on the drawing	speaker output
Presence	no	yes (5 kΩ pot, 0.1 µF cap)
Resonance / depth	no	no

Power amp

	Fender Deluxe 5E3	Fender Bassman 5F6-A
Power tubes	2 × 6V6GT	2 × 5881
Configuration	Push-pull	Push-pull
Bias	Cathode bias (250 Ω)	Fixed bias
Screen resistors	none (screens straight from the supply)	470 Ω
Grid stoppers	1.5 kΩ	none

Power supply

	Fender Deluxe 5E3	Fender Bassman 5F6-A
Rectifier	Tube (5Y3GT)	Tube (GZ34)
First filter (reservoir)	16 µF	40 µF (2 × 20 µF)
Filter nodes, in order	16 µF → 16 µF → 16 µF	40 µF (2 × 20 µF) → 20 µF → 20 µF → 8 µF
Filter choke	no	yes
Highest DC voltage printed on the drawing	not printed	432 V
Printed bias voltage	not printed	-48 V

Presets and schematics

More comparisons

Product and amplifier names are trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify the amplifiers compared. Gridleak is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of these companies.