Ceriatone Express VS a Real Trainwreck Express

[guitonit]

Hey Guys,

Geetarpicker and I got together yesterday and did a shootout between my Ceriatone Express and his real Trainwreck Express complete with clips.

Anyone who is interested can check out the thread over at the Gear Page.

Here is the link....

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showth ... p?t=239051


Scott A.

[Matt72]

Whoo! Wow, thanks for posting that. That's great!
Thanks mucho.

[Normster]

I didn't respond to the TGP thread, but the clips were VERY impressive! Sure, if you did a direct compare, you could hear the difference, but your clone was sooo close it was a tough call on many of the clips. Both great sounding amps.

So, what are you going to do with the $25K you saved?

[Rob Livesey]

I have an earlier Ceriatone Express and I'm wondrin' what the difference is between Nik's trannies before he changed them and after?

I'm really happy with the amp and I gig it regularly, it is a great sounding amp, but you know what guitar players are like, always looking for that something extra........

Anyone have any experience or specs?

Cheers,
Rob.

[castor]

Hi Rob,

I have one with new transformers... Nik told me that thery're now close to the original wreck ones, but I suggest you to contact Nik Directly.
He is very polite and answer to every email.. I think that no one knows differences in construction and in sound better than him.

[Beerman]

I've been talking to Nik about a Rocket Kit, and imagine it will come with the newer trannies. It was interesting to read the Gear Page thread. It seems like the OG was not US$24,000 or so better than the clone..... any other advice? I'd love to be able to buy an original, but I'm not a VG subscriber, just a working muso, and by that, I mean a muso who works by day.....

[guitargodad]

those clips were smokin' unreal tone all around. what mike setup did you use to record?, thanks for posting that

[guitonit]

guitargodad- check the first post on the thread that Glen (geetarpicker) did. All the info on the mic etc is there for ya.

Scott A.

[keithrick]

Scott,

Major props to you and Glen for doing that! It was good to see how close they were. I liked both clips and would be happy with either amp.

FWIW-I did a blind test with the wife comparing the strat clips and the lester clips separately and she did pick the Real Trainwreck Clips both times.

Then I told here the price difference!

[Humbucker]

There IS an audible difference with TW compared to Ceriatone. Great amps, both of them, but TW is more dynamic, liquid, spongy and responding. The ultimate recording amp.

I doubt many could hear the difference live, with a band. However, recording accentuates everything. I could live with either a Ceriatone or an Express - but would like to cradle the latter

[Roe]

the ceriatone will sound better after break in - it was new

[juse]

hey everyone! new here, new to amp building, but not new to tone (have played an orange 120 & custom hiwatt 100 for over 20 yrs now). really enjoyed the shootout. i've been considering building a twclone, and now i am for sure. i've been a/b-ing these clips all morning, and i can't wait to track down the parts myself. since this is my first post & i've only been lurking this forum for a couple of days, can anyone point me to any parts supplier lists? i'm the kind that has to build it myself so i can really get a handle on it all. anyway, thanks for having me and for having such an awesome place.

[keithrick]

hey everyone! new here, new to amp building, but not new to tone (have played an orange 120 & custom hiwatt 100 for over 20 yrs now). really enjoyed the shootout. i've been considering building a twclone, and now i am for sure. i've been a/b-ing these clips all morning, and i can't wait to track down the parts myself. since this is my first post & i've only been lurking this forum for a couple of days, can anyone point me to any parts supplier lists? i'm the kind that has to build it myself so i can really get a handle on it all. anyway, thanks for having me and for having such an awesome place.

Juse,

Good luck on your build! You are going to have alot of fun!

If you want to build it yourself and get your handle on it, use the search function and read through all the posts on subjects you are curious about and look at the files section for pictures, schematics and parts listings posted. I personally think this is the best way to do it, and the most rewarding, YMMV.

If you are not interested in the learning curve you might be better off with a kit from Cieratone. He has a great product and reputation.

FWIW- My first build was either the ODS or the Express and I was losing sleep at night for weeks learning how to read schematics snd follow layouts. I read through every post on this board when I was building my amps, of course there were alot less posts then.

I would bet that every question you have has been answered on this site.

Dig in in get started!

[juse]

keithrick,

awesome - thanks for the info. i have downloaded SO much here already, & need to sit back & go through it all & digest some.

i LOVE this site..... i was trying to go about it all by myself (actually me & mr. google) when i finally stumbled onto this site. sweet.

hope i can contribute somehow someday. i'll be a regular for sure.