ceriatone releasing an SSS apparently

[musicmaddness2011]

Now i know there's a little bit of dislike out there for Nik (lol), and i dont want to ruffle any feathers (i am impartial) ... but it IS interesting that he somehow found out how to build one.

Apparently its SSS #2

what concerns me is apparently there's no driver tube post PI, which from what i understand is extremely important for that SSS sound.

Does it seem legit or do you reckon he's trying to put one over us?

Convo is here:

http://ceriatoneforum.com/index.php?topic=3868.45

He has uploaded pictures and gut shots etc too.

He says:

"Guys

Thanks!

I guess there are many questions on specs.

I have to say, this is a 100W, and doesn't have the driver tube. I guess we will have to do that version later?

It does have footswitchable FET and PAB, with the FET having control on the front.

Treble, Middle, Bass, Hi, Lo, Reverb Send and Return, Master, and Presence.

The switches in front include bright (3 way), mid boost, Deep, and Rock/Jazz.

At the back, there's LNFB switches (3 way) for V1A and V2A.

Impedance selector (4 8 and 16), speaker jacks, and Loop.

External bias jacks are at the back.

Also 1/2 power switch.

5 12AX7s , 4 6L6GC, reverb tank, footswitch.

Hand made, hand wired (on eyelet boards) construction. (Hey, people sell 300 bucks amp on PCB and call it handwired these days!)

OK, hope I didnt miss anything?"


peace,
MM.

[brentm]

I'm sure its as close as the information on the amplifier that he had access to. Looks like a couple of TAG forumites chimed in on the thread too...

I hear that Nik works very hard to be a player in the amp market from Malasysia. He likely didn't have an original amplifier in front of him to copy, but found the information that was out there and shared freely. But having something on this platform that is accessible to folks is a move in the right direction.

Everyone benefits from the competition in this market space. Can't wait to hear some reviews!

[musicmaddness2011]

i shot him off an email.

he said:

"This is pretty close to the original SSS (100W), I think. I can't be sure,
the amp didn't exactly come here..

As for the sound, sounds as it should indeed. Very Mayerish for the cleans
(don't know who else uses that type of SSS, though)..."

hmmm....

should be interesting

[Max]

what concerns me is apparently there's no driver tube post PI, which from what i understand is extremely important for that SSS sound.

As you can see on the attached picture of an original SSS 100W without a separate driver tube, Alexander Dumble obviously didn't think so.

picture source: https://tubeamparchive.com/viewtopic.php?p=94433#94433

Here's a clip of this SSS without a separate driver tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH6AI2mA ... re=related

Here's a discussion about this SSS without a separate driver tube: https://tubeamparchive.com/viewtopic.php?t=17298

And here I posted my personal opinion concerning that SSS sound: https://tubeamparchive.com/viewtopic.ph ... 938#197938

Cheers,

Max

[musicmaddness2011]

thanks for clearing that up Max!

Hmmm... thin sounding according to Jelle...

May need to thicken it up haha!
I personally love the thick, smooth, soulful tone reminiscent of some mayerish stuff... not sure if this amp could do that at louder volumes... although i do use lower output pickups (1960)...

ns why BoldasLove in the ceriatone forum said "Without the driver tube the amp will sound like the cleans of a regular Dumble ODS" then...

ah well

[talbany]

IMO for you players sitting in your living room or playing the smaller clubs the cathode follower opt section won't by you much in the way of tonal nirvana.its not until you really begin to drive the output section at either loud volumes or fairly loud volumes with a heavy right hand..This is where the follower begins to compress and generate those 2nd order harmonics.. I can see where the follower section would benefit a player like SRV and not so much a player like a Mayer or someone with a light touch who plays with the amp barely churning..Layout. wiring technique and lead dress plays a critical role in the tone of an SSS IMO..A kit build for the not so faint of heart!
Btw... An eyelett board version would sound different than a PCB version

Tony

[jelle]

I do not see a SSS but a clean side of an ODS with added reverb in that gut shot.

The SSS critical stuff appears to be missing.

Jelle

[ToneMerc]

Don't feed the phishing trolls.....................

TM

[Max]

The SSS critical stuff appears to be missing.

As long as an original Dumble amp says "Steel String Singer" on its front, I'm completely sure that all the "SSS crictical stuff" is in its inside, too.

picture source: https://tubeamparchive.com/viewtopic.php?p=94433#94433

A nice sunday to all here!

Max

[ChrisM]

I do not see a SSS but a clean side of an ODS with added reverb in that gut shot.

The SSS critical stuff appears to be missing.

Jelle

I don't know why your saying this now after these pics being around here for quite some time now.

How can you tell from just the gut shot though? I can barely see any connections let alone values. Just looking at the gut shot as it is....

Just an observation, not trying to be rude or stir anything up.

[jelle]

I do not see a SSS but a clean side of an ODS with added reverb in that gut shot.

The SSS critical stuff appears to be missing.

Jelle

I don't know why your saying this now after these pics being around here for quite some time now.

How can you tell from just the gut shot though? I can barely see any connections let alone values. Just looking at the gut shot as it is....

Just an observation, not trying to be rude or stir anything up.

No worries, I can just see it based on the info I have. The pics are clear enough for that.

[ChrisM]

I do not see a SSS but a clean side of an ODS with added reverb in that gut shot.

The SSS critical stuff appears to be missing.

Jelle

I don't know why your saying this now after these pics being around here for quite some time now.

How can you tell from just the gut shot though? I can barely see any connections let alone values. Just looking at the gut shot as it is....

Just an observation, not trying to be rude or stir anything up.

No worries, I can just see it based on the info I have. The pics are clear enough for that.

I figured as much! So the SSS amp is actually a ODS though labelled SSS?

[boldaslove6789]

I do not see a SSS but a clean side of an ODS with added reverb in that gut shot.

The SSS critical stuff appears to be missing.

Jelle

Indeed thats what i said.

I figured as much! So the SSS amp is actually a ODS though labelled SSS?

Yes.

The Hi/Low Inductor Filters on the SSS are merely for Tone shaping and they only adjust the EQ of the amp. They are not Crucial for "That Sound"

I stated on the Ceriatone forum that the Driver tube has a large effect on the overall sound of the SSS, especially at loud Volumes. There is also some other things that are missing in the Preamp (Feedback loops etc.).

Calling the Ceriatone amp the "SSS" is really a poor representation of what the amp will actually sound like.

Like Jelle said its Basically a Dumble ODS Clean side with Reverb and Hi/Low Step Filters

[ChrisM]

Isn't the amp whatever HAD wanted it to be though?

It does say SSS right on the front.

As this forum has said countless times, there is no single SSS design, they were all different. And like all HAD amps each circuit is essentially a "prototype" for the ultimate Dumble amp.

I'm not trying to defend Ceriatone here or anything just wondering how now at this moment in time it's coming up that an amp labelled SSS that has had internal pictures circulating for a while is now consider to not be a SSS.

[boldaslove6789]

Yeah Dumble always left the SSS open for interpretation and no two amps were the same.

Although there are some parts of the circuit that stayed permanent just like the non-molecular of his other amps.

Some of them had Tube Tremolo, 6 position Filters, 11 position filters, Skyliner, 2nd Gen tonestack, 100w, 120w, or 150w Power sections, 2 tube Reverb, 3 tube reverb, and of course some with and without the Post Pi Driver tube etc.,

The question only remains is which SSS sounds are you looking for.

John Mayers doesn't have a Driver tube and used Twin Reverb Iron instead (100w 6L6's),

SRV's had a stiffer Power supply with a Driver tube and 150w pwr section (6550's)

Eric Johnsons had a Driver tube, Skyliner tonestack, and a Preamp Boost 150w pwr section (6550's)

David Lindley was 100w w/ 6L6's, Ftsw'able Preamp Boost (not sure on the other spec's of this amp)

Henry Kaisers had 2 tube Tremolo, 100w Pwr section, 2nd Gen Classic tonestack, inductor based Hi/Low filter section