Ceriatone Forum

Hello I am new to this forum and long story short, I need help.

So here's the problem...

I received my amp yesterday.  Completely built and tested by Nik @ Ceriatone.  Bought from Him directly.  Came with tubes still in their boxes.  Nik stated that these were the same tubes that they used to test & test my amp for over 15 hours I believe.

I have a 2x12 matchless cab with G12-65's not hooked up to the cab itself but i plug in both @ impedance 4 since they're both 8ohms..

FIRST: my problem was that 2 of the outer power tubes werent lighting up.  Nik suggested that they're loose so i switched all of them up and finally got all of them to light up.. Now what I play, especially the low strings, there's this crazy loud sounds that happens.. It's a popping sound that can sometimes happen really big or sound like a helicopter.. THAT's not normal for an amp (a working one) But I know that maybe something (small or big) must be wrong.  I tried to see what was going on in the back and it looked like the tubes were flashing with every pop...

Are my tubes supposed to turn blue then super hot red? 

Someone please help me!

If you're in SoCal, i'd appreciate some help as well.   

Thanks,

Daniel

have you biased your tubes yet?

Well shouldn't they already be biased by Nik? He already tried to help me out and he would have mentioned that.  I don't have any tools to do it.. unless you know of another way?? lol. 

Thanks for the reply! I really appreciate it!

they may have been biased at the factory, but it is conceivable that during shipping the tubes may have vibrated enough to make them drift, or the bias knob may have been bumped. it's easy to do, all you need is a digital multimeter. the instructions are on ceriatone's website

Wow.. I don't know what just happened.. I had a consistency of the popping noise... i kept swapping power tube in different places and what ended up happening was each tube started going redplate.. so I got bored and frustrated and switched out the 12ax7's and got the clean channel to work (crystal clear).. then the OD channel was dead.. swapped again and BAM! Both channels now work! I don't know what happened but i'm wondering if this has happened to anyone else??? 

Thanks for the advice plastic! I'll buy a digital multimeter soon too.. i know i'll need it.

If all 4 power tubes are redplating, I would not use the amp until you check the bias.

You can try installing just 2 power tubes in the outer two sockets or the inside two sockets only.
Try it both ways and see what happens. Never install the 2 tubes on the right or left side.
You may find that a tube socket is bad.

Man.. IT WAS JUST WORKING LAST NIGHT!!!! IT'S AT IT AGAIN!!! WTHECK!!?

Seriously? Is there anyone in the SoCal area that can help me out?? even if its over the phone??

Much help would be appreciated..

Thanks tenguitars.. I'll give it a try.

Sounds like your tubes may have gotten damaged in shipping. Unforunately UPS is not as gentle as they could be...

OH I'm so glad they're not! Ok guys.. confession time.. Found out the problem was that I wasn't pushing in the preamp tubes in enough  :-[ Phew! What a relief that was!  WOW! This amp is friiigin awesome!!!

Can't wait to get reverb!!!

Thanks for all your help guys! I'll keep this just in case something else goes wrong.

Yes, I found that getting my tungsol 12ax7's into the tube sockets to be really difficult - they didn't want to fit at all at first. I ended up using some kind of rounded tool to work around the edges of the tube sockets to expand them slightly - I just had to do this enough so that I was confident that the tubes had made a good connection on all pins.

Yeah.. It was pretty weird but i'm glad it all worked out.  esp with the $$ that was paid.

:D Cheers!

Hi,

Congrats on the new amp...

What's the JM Mod you mention???

Hi,

Thanks! it's almost done with it's burn in process.. trying to do it as natural as possible.. when I can't i just put on my iPod.  Some Joe Pass.

I'm not entirely sure but Nik said it's his "specs" to make the amp sound more on the JM= John Mayer side.  Which it DOES!

PM Nik, He'll tell ya.

Just sayin... if you were to compare Nik's prices compared to other D-style amp builders for something similar you would be more than a little pleased at what you got for what you paid.  I'm VERY thankful for the opportunity to own mine.  Glad things worked out for you!

JM = John Mayer - that's what I thought but didn't want to assume!!

@MAV oh yeah! And I realized that now.  This thing ROCKS!  ;D The reason I say that is because i've never spent that much on an amp, let alone anything than my guitar.  :D I've put about 40 hours now for the burn in.. Going to spend more on it today :D

JM = John Mayer :D  There are no dumb questions here, dude!

Any chance of a demo vid/clip?

I assume you're a JM fan - would really love to hear one of these played in that sort of style!!

Has anyone discovered what the JM mod is? Nik., would you mind sharing?

Not sure on the JM thang but congrats on the new amp - I love my Bluesmaster - most versatile amp I ever had or wanted- get yourself a Klein or c-lator if you're wanting reverb buddy. Adds another dimension to the amp & more or less essential for these if you want to use the loop..

John Mayer
Jim Marshall
Jose Mod Mod
Just guessing

on page 1 of post he says its the John Mayer mod.
I am guilty of not reading before guessing sorry
Now does anyone know what the component changes are?