Ceriatone Forum

I am in a need a new amp crisis before tour and I am wondering if anyone built one or has soundclips.
my music sounds like this myspace.com/hesaidshesaidisaband   

Nik just added it to the website it a few weeks ago, I don't think any have shipped, he hasn't even posted pics yet.

hmmmm...that may be my ue to be the first!! :o so lets talk 2550 talk then...Anyone got an opinion on it? I need something fairly high gain. the ideal tone would be something as found on an every time i die record.
myspace.com/everytimeidie

I wonder if it's a 50 watt version of the 5150? will the 5150 be offered anytime soon? How about tube based buffered effect loop and reverb that are integrated rather than requiring a separate unit?

Mid- to late-'80's gain.  Think hair metal.  Appetite for Destruction (maybe Kill 'em All) instead of Master of Puppets (Mesa).

It's not a big high-gain cascading preamp like a SLO, 5150 or Mesa.  It was Marshall's attempt to cheat for higher gain by adding a diode-clipping section, a la Rat or Distortion+, to a modded JCM 800.  By far, the most famous user is Slash, the Slash signature Marshall is just a modded 2550 RI...honestly, if it hadn't been for Slash, the model would have probably just been a footnote as being Marshall's 25th anniversary model (hence the name, Silver Jubilee), Marshall would move on to the JCM 900 shortly after.

IMHO, and others my contradict me, it doesn't have the tone and gain to match the clips on myspace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNF2L9UumEY

No, as you might notice from my post above, it was the Marshall 25th anniversary model and, supposed, alo marked Jim marshalls 50th year in music...25/50...2550, officially called the Silver Jubilee.  It fits inbetween the JCM 800 and JCM 900 in amp lineage.  From 1987, it predated the 5150 by about 4 years nd the two have nothing in common.

(http://www.rocknrollvintage.com/prodimages/1987-Marshall-Silver-Jubilee-Half-Stack-Model-2550-Big.jpg)

I ordered the 2550 Kit #2 and received it this week (the faceplates are coming later).  I'm about half done with its assembly.  This is my third Ceriatone build (DC30 and OTS).  I'll try to post a sound clip when it's ready.

Please Do!!!! I am desperate lol :P

Another big fan of the Silver Jubilee is Joe Bonamassa. His tone is impeccable. He mixes other amps with the 2550, but it is the one amp that is always on.
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Check out more of Joes' music on Youtube.

I finally sold another head, so I can order my Ceriatone 2550. I am psyched and I will report back once I get a chance to play it. 

For clarification, the Marshall 2555 is the 100 watt head; the 2550 is the 50-watt head. These were introduced as the Silver Jubilee Series & carried over for two years after that as the Custom Tube Series. Joe Bonamassa is a 2555 Jubilee user; until recently, Steve Morse used a 2555 Jubilee as a staple in his rig. Now he has his own ENGL model. 
FYI guys.....the Marshall 2555/2550 models had half-power switches which switched between pentode & triode mode, allowing a 100-watt amp to operate @ 50-watts & the 50-watt amp to run @ 25 watts. I don't see this feature on Nik's schematic. 

It's there.

Pentode/triode is totally useless, IMHO, in triode mode, everything goes to mush -- clarity and definition become mud, picking dynamics are compromised, and the distortion is just a spongy mess.

Its there at the bottom just a little left of center

Pentode/triode is totally useless, IMHO, in triode mode, everything goes to mush -- clarity and definition become mud, picking dynamics are compromised, and the distortion is just a spongy mess.
[/quote]

That seems to be the general result with most triode/pentode switchable amps. Some loss in tone quality, anyway.
Maybe there is a better tube than the one supplied for it. A long tail pair??? Might be worth looking into.

(http://www.xs4all.nl/~pelvis/Ceriatone/front3B.jpg)

this will be the amp that finally brings me into ceriatone.

i've owned lotsa high end amps and plenty of nice old marshalls
several jmps and a jubilee, so- i'm really exited about this 2550.

the build looks great. thanks for the pic!!

Nobody yet with some samples??? hehe...  ;D  I am making my mind with this one... I have several options but haven't heard this one yet... Most of the videos on youtube are very low quality sound... and especially with jubilees they sound crappy...  I don't know if it is because this amp needs to be cranked and not any mic can stand that...
And that don't seem to happen with many other amps... sometimes makes me think that this jubilee is overrated, thats the reason of my doubt hehe...
Well hope someone comes soon with some nice clips...
 :)

The Jubilee was NOT a well regarded amp for a hefty chunk of it's early life.  Slash really made the model something people sought out (and really people didn't really pay much attention to it until GnR were all but gone).  It's not as straight forward and organic as a JCM 800, and it's not a thick, complex, high-gain amp like a SLO.  It is what it is a JCM-style amp with a semi-Rat-type distortion built into the signal path to add more gain.  So, it's a bit of an acquired taste.  It'll deliver Appetite-style tones to a good player, and will be able to hold it's own for late '80's, early '90's hair metal.  But to a lot of people it's just too buzzy sounding (as are JCM 900's).

I havent heard a decent AFD sound with the Jubilees.... In fact according to some publications the AFD sound was made with a 1959 marshall modded by Caswell.....  In concert Slash really uses Jubilees... but well... is not only slash using them.... Frusciante is another one and there the jubilee sounds totally different....

Could be, but that was kind of my '80's hard rock/hair metal example for the tone.  The Jubilee and JCM 900 tones are really tied into that sound a lot, not that they couldn't do anything else.

i think anyone who wants to try to use the jube as a high gain amp to step toe to toe w/ something like a recto or slo is in for disappointment.

but if you think of it (or use it) as a goosed jcm 800, you'll be ok. that's how i use them and that's why i dig them.

fwiw i never use the clip function.

Does the clone has the pull switches the Jubilee had?... I don't know how to interpret the layout pretty well hehe...  ???
I remember the Jubilee had some gain stage or something like that in one of the knobs...

no it's got mini toggles which i actually prefer!

Cool... hope someone upload some nice clips soon  8)   I really dig the 80's syle sound and GNR tone... is just that everybody who uploads jubilee clips on youtube use crappy mics, crappy settings at full volume saturating the signal, out of tune guitar... etc...

Joe Bonamassa uses his Jubilee 2555 100/watt for a particular tone. Steve Morse used to use one, too, much the same way. Both of these guys are PLAYERS. These 2555/2550 amps aren't really "high gain" amps as most current day players may think. This is high gain for 1993. It's unique. The amp also lets you set the sensitivity level & that changes everything. I'd suggest anyone thinking about getting Nik's 2550, really think about what it is. It's not an uber-gain monster. It's a player's amp with touch control that really comes into it's voice when opened up, not at bedroom levels. And with the variable gain sensitivity, it's not a one trick pony. It's a player's amp that will reward the person who knows how to utilize it's capabilities. An awesome amp for sure. 

New member - new to kit building   :)
Ordered a package 2 kit today. Can't wait!

Anyone got any usable info on building one?

Seems to be a lot of build threads on the Metro kits, and very few on the Ceritones...

I'm quite shure I can assemble the kit, but more unsure when it comes to testing/measuring...
Hope I'll live to tell the result...  :-\

cool let us know be careful!!! hehe...  8)

And yes I agree aint no high gain amp here...., if you need that look other place...  Thats my complain .. the vast majority of youtubers upload the amp, without attenuator, full gain, a lot of noise, mic feedback... etc....

I just finished assembling the 2550.  I supplied power and plugged in a guitar.  I was rather impressed with the clean, overdriven, and all out saturated tones that I initially heard - without dialing in the EQ or matching it with a suitable speaker.

I have some troubleshooting to do: once I turn off the lead channel, the switch doesn't turn it on again unless I turn off the amp and restart it.   Does anyone have any ideas where the problem might be?

Nik uploaded a revised layout today...you might wanna check it out.

nobody yet guys?? come one... !! hehe  ;D

I sent a clip to Nik last week.  He had Azlin ask me for the settings, so perhaps there will be a clip soon on the Ceriatone sound clips page.  I quickly put it together so it's not perfect, but it gives some idea of it's overdrive tones. 

I am rather impressed with this amp.  The cleans are quite nice, and the lead tones will definitely fit in amidst my other two amps (OTS and DC30).  This is another great amp from Ceriatone.  Thanks, Nik.

Hi gbergl, can you send me the clip I am really interested in the amp..

I will PM my email so you may send it pls..

Hi,

  How are you guys? Sorry for not being around, been real tied up lately, with new model designs and what not.

  As for clip, here's a new one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG0930iRGMc

  There should be more coming in next week or two.

  Also, for those who built, and having issues with the switching, maybe we need to change the relay.

  Or, an Omron G5V DPDT type will do.

  There seems to be some issues with the Songle brand, if you got that one.

Thanks!

Nik

Yup! Got it, built it and love it!
Layout was fairly easy to follow and Niks 24/7 support is simply unique!

Soundvise, I did not know the Jubs other than from sounclips online (and Joe B offcourse), but it did not dissapoint, allthough there is very little distortion on tap without blowing both eardrums and marriage.
TS-808 takes care of that.

Edit: I found that there was something wrong with the connection in two of the tube preamp sockets (not a visible soldering accident, but probably a matter of poor socket quality)  :-[
Replaced them and boy is there enough distortion allright! Sweet as candy and louder than hell!  :chairdance:

All in all a great amp and future build of Ceriatone kits is almost guaranteed.

How many hours would you say you have into putting together the kit?  I'm thinking about ordering this kit. 

With kids/wife and no dedicated working space - 10 evenings/nights  :-\

Single and without having to clean up the mess until done - a weekend or so.

I spent almost 2 weeks...  ;)

Sweet.  Yeah I'm single so this should go smooth.  I was thinking I could get it knocked out in a weekend.  Any pointers on this kit?  Anything you found to be difficult?

Hi guys
            here is a clip of my 50w jubilee. they dont have to be loud to sound good . but they dont record well with camera mics they have a big fat distorted sound but not hi gain. but still has the roar of a jcm 800 IMO they are awesome amps and Niks will be better as PTP wiring! the original jubes have PCBs  I have just finished building an overtone HRM to twin with the jubilee.... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpOayhH8cRU

Nice sounds man.  What is that song your playing?  Is that an original, or is it a cover?  Some parts of it sounded familiar.

thaks

       its half assed attempt  at joe bonamassas justgotpaid solo . which is a conglomeration of zztop govtmule and led zep songs

Hey guys,

Can anyone tell me how the Ceriatone 2550 (or 2555) compares soundwise to the Marshall SLX as I've played through one of those several times so it would be a good frame of reference for me.

Thanks

Combinations of pics, a very good layout and some help from the never sleeping Nik, made this quite uncomplicated. I'm a novice and still did'nt have any real problems. Just go ahead!