Amp Finished Day - Ceriatone AFD #35

[mhartman]

I wasn't expecting to finish this up today, but I got a couple extra hours of free time and went ahead and finished soldering. It is a Ceriatone AFD #35 (AFD=Appetite for Destruction). It is a modded Marshall lead channel meant to emulate Slash's amp from AFD and there is an extra channel with the standard Plexi circuit. Additionally, it has a post-phase-inverter master volume and a loop (non-buffered). So, I finished it up, check it out and turned it on to a huge squeal of feedback. Fortunately, I saw this once with a Fender amp that I worked on -- the output transformer was out of phase turning negative feedback into positive feedback. Switched it around and WOW!! This thing rocks. I didn't expect to be as blown away as I was. For my 80's rock thing, I have been using an ADA MP-1 along with a Peavey Classic 60 and I thought that I was loving it. This really brings it to the next level. Tons of gain on tap on the "AFD" channel. The Plexi channel is more subdued, but very cool. Everything seems to work fine and I've got a huge smile on my face (and ringing ears).

As usual, Nik was a class act to deal with. He even e-mailed me when he updated the layout a bit to let me know of the changes.

By the way, to save on shipping, I used a ClassicTone power transformer and choke and a Heyboer output transformer that I had laying around.

Here's a link to the site for this:

Here are some pics (excuse my work area -- I work on the floor in the most uncomfortable situation, but it works for me):

[IMG681]http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk12 ... FD35_4.jpg[/img]
[IMG681]http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk12 ... /AFD35.jpg[/img]
[IMG681]http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk12 ... FD35_1.jpg[/img]
[IMG681]http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk12 ... FD35_2.jpg[/img]
[IMG681]http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk12 ... FD35_3.jpg[/img]

[M Fowler]

Nice amp, you did a great job working on the floor just think what you could build sitting at a work bench.

Nice having the ability to foot switch the extra gain channel in and out. Did Nik say why he used dynamo to label the GN1 and GN2?

I had eyeballed these kits but ended up building a home brew DBM#39 instead.

Mark

[MCK]

Looks amazing!!! Congratulations.

[Lublin]

That thing is the tits!

[Gibsonman63]

Looks like a lot of fun. I have been thinking about building something Marshally myself.

Maybe you are on to something. If I worked on the floor, I could get more done, because I would be there for a while.

[rsalinger]

I had eyeballed these kits but ended up building a home brew DBM#39 instead.

Mark

Hey Mark,

What's a DBM? Sorry, for my ignorance.

Cheers,
Rob

[M Fowler]

What's a DBM? Sorry, for my ignorance.

A member on TAG and other forums Darkbluemurder (DBM) DBM #39 version of a four tube high gain Marshall.

Mark

[dcribbs1412]

Congrats on a great looking amp mhartman
did you use the 40-18054 MC PT?
what are the voltages?
how interactive are the 2 trimmers on V1?

Thanks
Darin

[Reeltarded]

Cool! First one of those I have seen built. That amp has lots of air and bite!

Mark, he used a Dynamo because THAT IS COOL, and let's call them what they really are, 'those clicky label things'.

[mhartman]

Thanks guys. This is a fun amp. I didn't get to play with it too long yesterday, but I'm really liking the tones (both on the normal plexi channel and the lead channel). The gain on the lead channel is pretty insane when cranked. I'm only using the first 40% or so of the gain knob. I played a strat through the plexi channel for a while last night, borrowing my dumbleator and reverb from my HRM build and I was really enjoying the tones -- some nice Hendrix-like tones, which was a fun change from the Fender amps that I typically play through.

I haven't had a chance yet to mess with the trimmers. I set them to the factory recommended levels during the build. I plan on playing with them tonight to see how interactive they are.

I did use the 40-18054 PT. If I remember right, my plate voltage is right around 450-460v.

I think Nik use the "clicky lable thing" because he borrowed the faceplate from one of his other Marshall style amps and because it rings true to form for a modded marshall type design.

One thing that I ran into last night is that I would like to be able to control the volume balance between the lead and the plexi channel. There is too much of a volume difference for me right now. I have to say, though, that I'm really digging both channels. The modded marshall channel really sounds great with a les paul.

[Drew.12345]

Mhartman,
I would love to hear some sound clips of this amp if you get a chance.
I keep visiting the ceriatone web page in hope that a clip will turn up as this amp has me very interested.
Thanks
Drew

[mhartman]

Mhartman,
I would love to hear some sound clips of this amp if you get a chance.
I keep visiting the ceriatone web page in hope that a clip will turn up as this amp has me very interested.
Thanks
Drew

You guys may lose all respect for me , but I'll see if I can get some together this weekend. It is really an impressive sounding amp.

Mike

[dcribbs1412]

Mhartman,
I would love to hear some sound clips of this amp if you get a chance.
I keep visiting the ceriatone web page in hope that a clip will turn up as this amp has me very interested.
Thanks
Drew

You guys may lose all respect for me , but I'll see if I can get some together this weekend. It is really an impressive sounding amp.

Mike

No worries... I've been interested in this design also(trimmer effects)
thanks for the info.

Darin