Ceriatone Forum

Just pulled the trigger on a 36watter ;D  My wife is going to kill me...but heck she can do it only once ;D
This will be my newest edition to my Ceriatone family...so far each amp has been awesome in the tone department!!! 
Now the wait begins for the DHL van to drive up my drive way :P

You´re in good company then.. I did the same thing last week :D.

LOL!!!
 

I think that many others are in the same boat as us or about to jump in.  I say unto those that are trying to decide to buy or not to buy...just BUY IT!!!  Worry later ::)  Nik makes a great product...you'll be happy you did after the bumps on your head heal up :chairdance:

I've read some great feedback on this amp...I think we're in for a treat Alpedra ;D

Yep.. I know. From the emails I exchanged with Nik, I got the feeling that he really likes this amp.

I was looking for a bit of Marshall flavour... medium wattage... and this was the amp that Nik recommended due to it´s sound and versatility. 18/36w operation. A "Plexiish/marshall" channel... and a taste of vox/matchless on the other channel .:)

I still have to tell my wife though :D

Plexish/Marshall and Vox/Matchless what a great combination to have in one amp!!! 

I order my head cab today...I ordered it to match my creme Lightning and JTM45.  This way my wife will never notice it.  Here's a pic of my Lightning...awesome amp by the way!!!

(http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b11/poipounder57/flashshot.jpg)

And a pic of my JTM45 in creme...

(http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b11/poipounder57/no2.jpg)

A man got's to do what a man got's to ;D

Hehehe....

I will make a head cab in the shape of a sofa then!

The wife will like it in the winter...strangely warm! :)

Thanks!

Nik

LOL...make it very soft.  Cause when my wife finds out about the other amps...that's where I'll be sleeping ::)  A few days on the sofa and a few lumps on the head.  Small price to pay for another Ceriatone ;D

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;DMy 36Watter has landed ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
What a great sounding amp!!!  Very punchy and can be very sweet...depends on how you attack the strings.  The ef86 channel will give me all the Vox chime and can get nasty at the same time.  Does that make sense ???  You have to hear it live...sound clips don't do it justice!!!  The reg channel will give you a black eye if you stand to close to the speakers ;D  Very punchy in your face kinda tone...yet it can get pretty darn sweet with a tweak of the guitars volume knob.  This is at a little above bedroom levels...I haven't really opened her up yet.  But from what I've heard so far...I know I'm going to be a happy camper :chairdance: 
A lot of great tones can be found in this amp for sure...the honeymoon begins tomorrow.  I can't wait!!!

Thanks Nik...for another fine amp!!!

Great to know you are enjoying it. ;)

I´m loving this amp too (got mine 2 days ago) and can relate 100% to what you wrote... I´m glad I followed Nik´s advice on this one :D :D :D :D.

Can either of you guys tell me the size of the chassis please?

I was about to pull the trigger on a DC-30 but maybe the 36watt is a little more felxible? The Dc-30 was intended to go in my spare OTS shell as they are about the same size

Here's what I measured...Depth 6-1/2" X W 21-5/8".   Killer amp...I'm loving it!!! 
 

Thanks for that. Would need a new head shell. DC-30 it is then (then an Expression, then maybe a 36 watt after that!! now where does the SE OTS fit into that list I wonder ;D)

You are more than welcome!!!  I almost purchased the DC30...great sale price for a complete package.  It's on my list for later along with the Mini 5ST ;D 
The 36w EF86 is just oozing with tones...I'm still in the honeymoon phase ;D   Just came out for some fresh air and donnuts...back to my new toy :chairdance:d I can't say this enough...It's a great sounding amp!!!

How does it take OD pedals? Is there plenty of clean headroom ?

I heard Jack Zuckers clips of the 36Watt and was very impressed

Hi hyweig...sorry bout the late response to your post.  I've been playing around with my new toy ;D 
This amp works well with all of my pedals...Od's, delay, wah-wah, and my reverb.  I haven't tried it out with a heavy hitting drummer yet...but it'll keep up for sure.  I'm still waiting on the head cab...I  have it sitting on blocks.  I don't want to take to practice without the cab. 
I'm statisfied with the headroom I'm getting...more than enough for me.  With the Master volume, volume and the volume on the guitar I can get all kinds of clean tones ;D  Crank this baby upl...I'm in Overdrive heaven ;D
Jack Zuckers clips of the 36watter did help me decide on which amp to buy...The Dizzy 30 or the 36Watter. 

Here's a thought. I have 2 OTS head shells and an OTS combo waiting to be finished. I'm wondering if I could shoehorn the 36watt into a DC-30 chassis since the Dc and the OTs chassis are only different in depth and only by ¼" I believe.

I've looked at the layouts and it looks doable but the problem is the transformers. On the DC-30 both are throug the chassis whilst on the 36watt the OT is above it.

Might have to talk to Nik about this.

I think talking to Nik would be best.  Good luck with your project!!!

LOL  Just notice the warning on the back of the amp.

"Warning Shock and Fire Hazard...Do not expose to rain or beer"  :-)

Just got my EF86 36W
What a great amp
Lovely Marshall tones, some nice hints of Voxy/DC30 tones on the EF86 channel,
nice power switching and NFB switch

Sounds much better than my old Cornell 18/20

can't say I found any real cleans on here though, regardless of what others have said, maybe my idea of clean is a bit cleaner

Well, neither the TMB nor the EF86 channel were designed for clean.  Those were both preamp designs adapted to the 18-watter over the last decade or so.  The TMB was invented by 18-watt cloners who wanted more plexi-style drive and crunch, and the EF86 option, which Nik was the first to offer that I saw is obviously the C30 dirty channel, based on the late '50's AC15, which was one of the earliest amps ever designed for distortion.

Both are a far cry from the real 1974x circuit, which does allow for some cleans, and a nice "sweet spot" tone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ratQgMlr-SU

I'm perfectly happy with no cleans on it. Some earlier posters mentioned the cleans on it, and I think it's not a clean amp

Is the Cornell 18/20 not similar to the 1974x?

No, a quick search says its based on the 20-watt 1917x, that's the early-'70's PA brother to the 2061x (Nik's 20-watt Lead & Bass).

I think the 20-watt PA may be the most common of the small Marshall amps here in the US, and still isn't common at all.

ahh
do most people prefer the 18w-derived amps?

Well, I don't know.

The 18-watters used to nothing more than legend here in the States.  People always said the 18-watt was better than the 20-watt, but I had never met anyone who ever played or owned an 18-watt Marshall.

Sometime around, around the turn of the last century, Graydon Stuckley (GDS Amps) pretty much single-handedly launched the 18-watt clone craze.  He helped distribute the schematic, got transformers and chassis made, etc.  Then the 18-watt.com forum started up and just exploded.  It's hard to believe now that as recently as the '90's, there weren't any 18-watt clones on the market, not even the Marshalls.

The 1974x really has a unique thing going.  It is not a low-power JTM45 or JMP Plexi, but is its own beast with its own tone.  It's just a great, lo-gain, touch-responsive small amp that is very bluesy and early classic rock, it really has a great warm clean tone and "sweet spot," that moment when the amp just starts to break up.  The 1974x peers are NOT the Plexi, JTM, JCM, or anything Marshall, they are the Tweed Deluxe, Supro, Gibson GA series, AC-15, etc.  It shares a lot with these amps, and how they "react" to the players picking nuances, but has its own tone. 

But people instead wanted it to be what it isn't, a low-powered Plexi, so they invented the TMB, and then dozens of other preamp variations.  It's a great platform for mods and people take advantage of it, but all of them make the amp stiffer and it's clean tone is never quite as bell-like.

The 20-watters are another thing all together.  They ARE truly low-power versions of the '70's JMP's.  Very clean way up the dial (more clean headroom than the 18-watter, but a little less warm and complex) and then they crunch, but very little preamp gain, and big Marshall amp tone in droves.  For hard rock, I would easily prefer the 20-watter over any of the 18-watt variations., but it isn't as "reactive" a small amp as the 18-watter for more expressive, intimate playing.  Original 20-watters were NOT common, but they weren't super rare here in the States either, and until the vintage marekt went totally out of control, they were rather affordable (after all, no one in 1993 wanted a small Marshall).

I tried a Watkins Westminster, which had a lovely warm sound
Also I had that Cornell 12/20, which was good but not great

This EF86 36w is very nice, but it's not a clean warm amp, The EF86 channel could use a bit less gain, and maybe something like the cut pot on voxes and Matchless