Ceriatone Forum

Yesterday evening I picked up my new OTS together with a 2x12 oversized cab. Both build beautifully by Franc Vernet, he did a great job. He also put an additional (real) deep switch in.

I took it to a band rehearsal which took all day and I was surprised than in the end, the OTS sounded different, thicker, smoother and less trebly... . It has Tung-Sol 12ax7 pre amp tubes and SED Winged C EL34's. After some fiddling the od trimmer is now at noon. It seems like you get a lot more gain when the amp is turned up? Anyway, it sounded quite good and I'm looking forward to the point that the amp and speakers are properly 'burned in'.

Many thanks to all of you for helping me out with this great forum. I've said it multiple times but I think I might have found the amp I've been looking for for ages...

If there are any useful tips to set this amp up properly (fiddled it for quite some time but it's it has so many options), please post them.

No real pics yet but I managed to make a quick one with my cellphone just before leaving the house...

Cheers,
Emiel


(http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/7169/afb0536.jpg)

Gefeliciteerd man! ziet er goed uit!

(Congrats man that looks nice)

Played for several hours yesterdag including a loud outside gig and it sounded great! Love the EL34 character! It seems to sound better every hour I play with it...

To be honest I wasn't quite happy with the sound of the amplifier for the last month. Much too undefined and trebly. But recently the amp+speakers seems to have changed. Maybe everything got burned in? I got a Fuchs Verbrator lately and that took the whole to a different level. It sounds so much better now. With the EL34's it is very much Bonamassa like, not that I'm looking for that exact sound but it was sort of what I was searching for, a thick creamy overdrive with a nice aggressive top end. Almost like a Marshall JTM45 I'd say... but then you can get it at a bedroom level...!!

I would like to try some different tubes though. I took the metal enclosure thingy off one of the pre amp tubes but is it that you have to unscrew the other part too to get able to change the tube? I have the tendency to break everything so I thought I'd better ask :)

And is it me or is it a hard amplifier to record? Haven't found a sweet spot yet... I'm using a Shure SM57.

Hi Emiel,

Sm57 with overtone and g12-65 is a perfect couple to record, so far I haven't found anything better in this pricerange.

OTS with fuchs verberator; I'll bet that sounds awesome!

Emiel, you don't have to unscrew anything to swap tubes, just (gently) pull down on the tubes.  Take notice of how each tube is oriented in its socket, though, as they only fit in one way.

Seems odd but I can't get any pre amp tube out of it's socket. If I put more force on it I'm afraid I will break anything. I will send an email to the amp builder...

Wiggle it slow/gently from side to side until it seems to be free of the socket. Don't push towards the tube, just downward and side to side.....

The wiggling was the trick. Didn't notice much difference compared to an old Phillips 12ax7 and a newish Tung-Sol so the Tung-Sol will stay in for now...