Ceriatone Forum

Hi,

I am interested in buying a Ceriatone, pre-assembled, but am having trouble selecting the right amp. I "get" some of the different models but don't know the line up well enough to narrow it down to the right amp.

What I am interested in, and understand that getting close will have to be close enough, is a single channel amp with lots of clean headroom. I use pedals for dirt. I plan on driving an Avatar cab loaded with two G12T-100's. I like Fender Twin like cleans but not married to it. Simple but powerful, I would be happy if all it had was a volume knob although being able to cut the output wattage be a useful feature. I'm thinking in the 50 watt range.

I appreciate any thoughts on the subject and thank you in advance for taking the time to respond.

Well, the problem is, Ceriatone doesn't specialize in big clean amps.  They offer very little in the way of the signature "Fender Tone" of the blackface Fender amps like the Twin Reverb and Super Reverb.

A hefty chuck of their amps are based on Marshalls, Matchless (Vox) and Tweed Fenders (which are more Marshall than Fender).

The two amps that are offered that offer big cleans are the Hiwatt and the clean channel of the OTS, with the Bluesmaster OTS clean channel being very Blackface Fender-esque.  But it's also one of the more complex amps Nik offers (not the simple single channel amp you asked for.).

Nik is getting ready to do a limited run of 100-watt SSS amps (Dumble Steel String Singer) that will be pristine and clean and he has talked about offering something a little more mainstream Fender as well, but the latter may or may not appear anytime soon.

Thanks Wyatt,

That pretty much reduces the list which was exactly what I was interested in. What I think I need to do is look a little closer at the at the Hey Whats. I see a 103 (100 watts), 504 and 504 OL. Can you direct me to where I might find out more about these amplifiers? I would be grateful for any comments on the differences.

Thanks!

The Hey What?!'s are named after their Hiwatt counterparts, there should be plenty of YouTube videos and info online.

The 50-watt Hiwatt DR-504
The 100-watt Hiwatt DR-103

These are big, bright, tight, high-headroom designs with a really flat EQ; considered great canvases for pedal users. While linked the The Who and others, the most famous Hiwatt player would be David Gilmour. 

One of the earliest Master Volume amps, it'll let you dial in some preamp overdrive when needed.

Newbie report it. Enable Signature with it

 ready to do a limited run of 100-watt SSS amps