HRM Bluesmaster Registry and Opinions Thread

[rane008]

100w Bluesmaster HRM built by Ceriatone.  Running it sans cabinet because the Sourmash cabinet does not fit the chassis.  They forgot to allow for the side screw heads.  No response from Sourmash either.  Ordering a new cabinet from Henry.

Ran the BM HRM through a EVM12L and this amp has clean all day long.  The OD is fizzy so I need to work on that and see I need to adjust the HRM trimmers as the OD trimmer sounds best down low with volume up.

Still messing around before I can post anymore.

Mark

Mark,

Lots of folk find the OD on the BM fizzy at first.  It really is important to give it some time to break in.  Also, I'd recommend doing some tube rolling if you haven't already.  ANOS RCA 12ax7 blackplate in V1, good quality new production Tung-Sol in V2 will get you 50% of the way there.  The rest is making sure you ease off of the gain pot on the back (it doesn't really add more gain, just fizz).  I have the same amp and I never run my gain knob higher than 9 o'clock.  I use Alnico V's though, so your experience may differ.  These two things, plus the break-in, will get really help to eliminate the fizz.  If that doesn't work, hit the HRM trimmers.  I wouldn't do this, though, until the amp has properly broken in, since the character will change until that point.

Hope this helps.


Stephen

[M Fowler]

Stephan, thanks for the information on the BM HRM it helps.

I'll keep burning the amp in for awhile.

I'm right in the middle of building a non Ceriatone #183 in a CE chassis, the EL34's of the #183 will be quite different from the BM HRM so I'm anxious to compare these two circuits.

Mark

[boldaslove6789]

Stephan, thanks for the information on the BM HRM it helps.

I'll keep burning the amp in for awhile.

I'm right in the middle of building a non Ceriatone #183 in a CE chassis, the EL34's of the #183 will be quite different from the BM HRM so I'm anxious to compare these two circuits.

Mark

183 and the BM are really different beasts, but they have similar power sections, I think you'll really dig the BM though, lots of Low end content.

Here's the checklist I'd run through on your BM and see how you dig it:

 The HRM trimmers in the BM are finicky to say the least (much like all HRM's in nature) , if I were you I'd get in there and try theses settings,

Bass: 200k
Middle: 9K
Treble: 125k

Then, adjust the PI with a matched 12ax7 ( I dig Long plates )
And a short plate in V1 & V2 (Mullard or Amperex short plates sound killer)

And set the OD Trigger at around 27.4k

Put on some Sonny landreth with his Tan Dumble and see if it sounds close.

[gigs]

Just received the HRM BM 100 watt. Ceriatone built.

Mods: Treble bleed, 3-way mid-boost, 1/2 power switch, tomestack bypass.

Speaker cabs: assortment of 2x12, 1x15, 4x10 - all Weber speakers (alnicos and ceramics)

Axes: Strat (linday fralin pups) and Les Paul (seymour duncan pups)

Note: Only 8 hours of break in so far, I'm sure things will change.

Clean channel: It did not take long to dial in a great sound for the strat and LP. Amazing - the clarity and string separation, never played through anything like this. This is what I bought this amp for. I assume it will just get better after break-in. Seems to want to be bassy, but with the right settings it is controllable. Also found that it sounds best with the 2x12 - 4x10 configuration. The 1x15 cab may be too deep for this amp.

Pedals (Thru Clean channel): I use Fulltone boost pedals (FD-II, OCD and Plimsoul). The OCD (18v) sounds fantastic through it with the strat. The Plimsoul works better with the LP. With my other tube amps, I always left the FD-II engaged with no gain, just as a nice boost to add some sparkle that this pedal is great for. This is not needed with the BM amp, in fact it seemed to get in the way of the great sound. The PAB switch is a nice boost for solos on the clean channel. The Fulltone mini-deja vibe sounds great through this amp.This amp takes pedals very well on the clean channel.

OD channel: If I had any hair on my head, they would be gone by now. This is going to take some time, but I am patient. Sounds fizzy and it appears to need to be extremely loud before the you hit the sweet spot.Hoping that the break in will help this and lots of setting experiments. I'm not keen on popping it open to mess with the interal trimmers, but I will if I have to.

[M Fowler]

Stephan, thanks for the information on the BM HRM it helps.

I'll keep burning the amp in for awhile.

I'm right in the middle of building a non Ceriatone #183 in a CE chassis, the EL34's of the #183 will be quite different from the BM HRM so I'm anxious to compare these two circuits.

Mark

183 and the BM are really different beasts, but they have similar power sections, I think you'll really dig the BM though, lots of Low end content.

Here's the checklist I'd run through on your BM and see how you dig it:

 The HRM trimmers in the BM are finicky to say the least (much like all HRM's in nature) , if I were you I'd get in there and try theses settings,

Bass: 200k
Middle: 9K
Treble: 125k

Then, adjust the PI with a matched 12ax7 ( I dig Long plates )
And a short plate in V1 & V2 (Mullard or Amperex short plates sound killer)

And set the OD Trigger at around 27.4k

Put on some Sonny landreth with his Tan Dumble and see if it sounds close.

Greg thanks for the advice I'll give it a try as soon as I stop building amps.  LOL

Mark

[StratUltra]

100w Bluesmaster HRM built by Ceriatone.  Running it sans cabinet because the Sourmash cabinet does not fit the chassis.  They forgot to allow for the side screw heads.  No response from Sourmash either.  Ordering a new cabinet from Henry.

Ran the BM HRM through a EVM12L and this amp has clean all day long.  The OD is fizzy so I need to work on that and see I need to adjust the HRM trimmers as the OD trimmer sounds best down low with volume up.

Still messing around before I can post anymore.

Mark

Mark,

Lots of folk find the OD on the BM fizzy at first.  It really is important to give it some time to break in.  Also, I'd recommend doing some tube rolling if you haven't already.  ANOS RCA 12ax7 blackplate in V1, good quality new production Tung-Sol in V2 will get you 50% of the way there.  The rest is making sure you ease off of the gain pot on the back (it doesn't really add more gain, just fizz).  I have the same amp and I never run my gain knob higher than 9 o'clock.  I use Alnico V's though, so your experience may differ.  These two things, plus the break-in, will get really help to eliminate the fizz.  If that doesn't work, hit the HRM trimmers.  I wouldn't do this, though, until the amp has properly broken in, since the character will change until that point.

Hope this helps.


Stephen

Stephens advice is very solid.... Went through the same myself. ESP the RCA 12ax7, which brought the OD to life for me

[Animalboy71]

Old thread, New HRM BM 100 owner! I'm on day 3 and I'm a little upset I have to go to work in an hour. This ything is a beast! I love it.

[citizen]

Welcome to the BM club dude - have fun with your new amp - they're something else aren't they

[gigs]

Old thread, New HRM BM 100 owner! I'm on day 3 and I'm a little upset I have to go to work in an hour. This ything is a beast! I love it.

Congrats on the purchase. After two years, this is still my fav amp of all time, play thru it at every gig. Take your time and experiment with all the settings. Plenty of sweet spots in there.

Lessons learned so far:
- Find tubes and speakers that work for you. Makes a big difference with quality tubes and speakers
- For strat and tele, I only use the amps clean channel with some pedals.
- Adjust internal trimmers for OD channel until you are happy with OD. I needed to turn bass trimmer almost all the way down. Takes time and be careful in there.
- For les paul, usually use OD channel with PAB always on, sometimes clean channel with drive pedals to change the les paul sound between songs.
- Had the 50/100 switch installed. Its' never in 50W mode anymore. The 100W clean is just too wonderful and  pedals easily add whatever grit it needs.
- The volume controls on your guitar really come into play with this amp (esp single coils). Experiment with adjusting guitar's volume control and pick attack. You will like the dynamics.

Good luck and keep us updated.

[Animalboy71]

Thanks guys! I haven't touched the trimmers yet but I would like to roll the bass back a bit. My other amps are going to get lonely lol.

[TennAmp]

50 Watt BM built by me from the kit.

Adjustable slope control knob. Adjustable volume boost knob.  1x12 cab with Celestion G12H-75.

I use it with a C lator, tube reverb unit and various pedals.

Awesome.