New Ceriatone Expression for a n00b! Plus a few ?'s

[leaveitalone84]

Hey everyone, first time post, long time lurker.

I recieved a Ceriatone Express a few weeks ago. This amp may be the best I have ever played and hands down rivals/beats my '74 Orange OR120. From how everyone was talking here I was led to believe it was almost impossible to play, but I found no difficulty in using her. I could go from crunch to clean just by cleaning up my playing and using the volume on the guitar. I was using my '94 LP Classic and Epi Dot w/ Duncan '59's. My RMC wizard wah is incredibly vocal with this amp as well. All in all it sounds amazing, lead and rhythm. I tend to mix country licks into my rock playing and they pop right out.

I really only got to crank it for the first time last night into an older peavey 4x12. I'm having a 2x12 matchless style cabinet being made by Jeff at Swanson, with a weber blue and silver alnico. I'm cloning an airbrake as well.

Yeah, yeah. I know its going to be a combo, im well aware of the issues and taking the neccesary steps. Im getting it made with a lil more room. Shielded speaker wire, grounding the speaker frames, an extra plate on the bottom of chasis, plus dampening the chasis around V1 and lil silicone o-rings on V1. I even have some hot glue and weather stripping if neccesary.

But on to my questions...

1. The Fast/Gradual preamp switch? How useful is this on an express? I love how the amp is now, but if I could make it even more versitle it would be great. I understand it lowers the gain a lil and changes the dynamics of string attack?

2. Tone Slut trannies? The Ceriatone Irons smoke in this..and the tone sluts that much better? Would it be worth it? This particular ceriatone is pretty smooth up top.

Again, thanks for all the great info you guys put out! If it wasnt for this forum I wouldn't have picked up this amp.

Yes I'll try to get pics and sound samples soon.

Peace!

[castor]

Hi...
I tested many mods on my amp... here are my ideas:

- fast/gradual... not usesfull for me... i think it will be usesfull in this amp for country playing (as you mentioned) but you 'll miss some of the touch resp. of the express.
- Ceriatone OT is good in my opinion, but toneslut is another word! but consider that the amp is very sensible and everything you will change will change the sound... so tubes make the big difference... caps... cables..
everything will change the sound...

castor

[leaveitalone84]

Howdy

Maybe I'll add in the Fast/grad switch..it looks pretty simple. Im sure in the fast mode it's completely transparent? Im not too worried if I lose some of the sensitivity, I could probably throw a Keely Comp in front of it and compromise.

I've already got the Orange Drop cap upgrade.

I'll look into the tone sluts after I break her in for a bit then.

[Tiki]

Congrats on your new amp.

I've been considering building one of these but am concerned it's over my head. How much experience does a man need to tackle this project? How long? I've got the tools, but this is a bigger project than I've tried.

You're from Boston and you say "Howdy"? LOL

[Bob-I]

A few comments.

First off, congrats on a new build.

"Orange Drop" is a pretty generic term. I believe there's about 50 varieties of OD's. Bottom line, if it sounds good, it IS good.

I'm not sure that a shielded speaker cable is always a good idea. Some shielded cannot handle the heat because the shield surrounds the hot lead, and can melt the insulation. If you feel that you need shielded speaker cable make sure it can handle the heat, not just the current.

Go slow with the mods. I've made the mistake of changing more than one thing at a time, then couldn't figure out what was wrong. Change one thing at a time, and listen.

Good luck.

[briane]

I've already got the Orange Drop cap upgrade.

I also found that strange. But if it sounds good go with it.

trainwrecks are not know for orange drops (dumble are though). Trainwrecks are known for sozo, mallory, etc...

[paulster]

I've already got the Orange Drop cap upgrade.

I also found that strange. But if it sounds good go with it.

trainwrecks are not know for orange drops (dumble are though). Trainwrecks are known for sozo, mallory, etc...

Trainwrecks are actually known for Mallory (Cornell Dubilier) PVC series caps, which happen to look identical to orange drops.

A lot of people have tried Sozos and Mallories, and a lot have ended up switching to the correct PVC series afterwards.

YMMV

[Bob-I]

Again, Orange drop is generic. There are at least 50 versions of Sprague alone, not to mention other brands. The 6PS vs. the 715P sound is dramatic. Amps this close to runaway are very sensitive to these little differences.

[leaveitalone84]

Nik offers a $10 Sprague PS upgrade. So I said...what the hell. They are poly/metal film.

Tiki, I had Nik's company build the amp.

I was going to do it all DIY but I just don't have the time/space in my apt. My father is an avionics tech so I've got most of the tools at home. I was going to tackle it with him, but for the price difference between built and kit it just wasn't worth my time. I'd rather be playing.

Also . . . I am friends/work with a lot with people from the South/Midwest. "Howdy" is sort of a habit; didn't know it was offensive. I'm also not from Boston originally. . . I pronounce my "r"s.

[Tiki]

Howdy's not offensive. That was just an attempt at internet humour. My bad.

Again, congrats on your build.

[leaveitalone84]

Howdy's not offensive. That was just an attempt at internet humour. My bad.

Again, congrats on your build.

Hey don't worry Tiki. I figured it was probably a joke.

[tele_player]

I'm not sure that a shielded speaker cable is always a good idea. Some shielded cannot handle the heat because the shield surrounds the hot lead, and can melt the insulation. If you feel that you need shielded speaker cable make sure it can handle the heat, not just the current.
Good luck.

If your speaker cable is even slightly warm, it's way too small.