Modded Ceriatone OTS soundclip

[erwin_ve]

Hi guys, This week I had a Ceriatone on my bench that needed some attention. It's a high plate skyliner and the owner does want to use it without a dlator.

Some things I changed:
The mid cap is a 0.01uF 715P.(was 6PS)
The treble a: 0.002 6PS into 390pF silver mica.(was 330pF ceramic)
Od v2b resistor after couple cap a 150k.(was 180k)
snubbers stayed at: 330pF
The LNFB at v1b is 4x10M instead of 2x22M.
Dropping string: 2,7K-22K-2,2K(was 3,9k-22k-2,2k)
No master bright cap.
presence cap 1uF tantalum(instead of 1uF electrolytic).

http://soundcloud.com/erwin_ve/modded-ceriatone-ots
Was recorded at low volume with a g12-65 cab with a sm57 mic.
Reverb added afterwards, no eq, no compression.
Plz let me know your thoughts.

[Structo]

That sounds real good!

You did a great job on tweaking the amp.

[Bob-I]

Sounds great, you really nailed the tone.

[pinner]

Sounds great!!!!!

[Zippy]

Some things I changed:

The LNFB at v1b is 4x10M instead of 2x22M.

40M vs 44M???

Or are you summing off-spec resistors to get a desired value?

What am I not getting?

Have you performed such substitutions to know which have the more profound effect or is this a particular recipe that you favor? I could see value in the mods to the dropping and tone stack. The rest seems much more subtle.

Thanks.

[erwin_ve]

Some things I changed:

The LNFB at v1b is 4x10M instead of 2x22M.

40M vs 44M???

Or are you summing off-spec resistors to get a desired value?

What am I not getting?

Have you performed such substitutions to know which have the more profound effect or is this a particular recipe that you favor? I could see value in the mods to the dropping and tone stack. The rest seems much more subtle.

Thanks.

Everything counts; I'm just sharing.
The parts that are substituted are done with a reason. Try them for yourself.
Some are subtle, some are very noticeable.

[da Geezer]

Sounds great Erwin!

Are the PT/OT stock Ceriatone, or something else?

TIA, Geezer

[stelligan]

Very nice sounding playing & tone. I'll have to send my next build to the Netherlands for tweaking.......

[bigmik]

really nice clip erwin love the chirp.

what difference do you notice with the prescence cap being tantalum vs
electrolytic

thanks
neil

[Zippy]

Everything counts; I'm just sharing.
The parts that are substituted are done with a reason. Try them for yourself.
Some are subtle, some are very noticeable.

Thanks, Erwin. I'll be writing (yes, I still use a pen!) those in my note book.

Cheers!

[erwin_ve]

Thnx guys for listening!

Geezer: yes stock OT and PT. The run after summer 2008 is better sounding. Don't know why...
bigmik: tantalum is more efficient in high freq.to my ears. When dialing in half way; it's more open compared to a electrolytic. I'll have to dial in a electrolytic at least to 3/4 open on the presence to get the same results.
Or maybe I'm just using the wrong alu electrolytics; who knows...

[vibratoking]

Great sound and playing. And thank you for the information.

I tried a tant and I found that the highs are sweeter at lower volumes. I had limited time, I was on lunch, so I'll have to listen some more before my final opinion. Only a few minutes before changing the to a tant, I added a 150k FET load resistor, I don't have the full FET circuit yet. So I am a little unsure if the change I heard was due to the FET resistor or the tant or both. I don't want to derail, but what are your B voltages? I found that after adding the FET resistor, my B5, B4, and B3 voltages are all about 15 volts low. So about 182 on V1a.

[Zippy]

I found that after adding the FET resistor, my B5, B4, and B3 voltages are all about 15 volts low. So about 182 on V1a.

Isn't the whole point of the FET load resistor to get the voltages right? Maybe you didn't need it in your build.

[vibratoking]

Yes, but I will be adding the FET circuit and then I won't have a choice.

[ElectronAvalanche]

Great tweaking!

The amp really shines!

Concerning the Tant vs Lytic presence cap:

Did you measure the capacity of both caps? With the tolerances of electrolytics I guess a difference in the amount of presence could maybe be due to the value. The tants do have tighter tolerances?

Again great sounding amp!

Cheers,

Electron