Ceriatone Forum

So I"m about ready to order either a 50w HRM-BM or The OTS 183.I like the versatility aspect of the BM and the fact it"s got a great clean platform to work with and an aggressive Marshally style od.The OTS 183 would have that thick meaty sustain I"m really interested in.I play alot of SRV Clapton to GNR blues on steroids type of music.I guess that kind of answers my own question so I guess I"m asking if the BM will do the "thick meaty sustainy"style od the 183 would do. Thanks

This a real tough one to answer. This is sort of being discussed here.
http://ceriatoneforum.com/index.php?topic=3579.0 (http://ceriatoneforum.com/index.php?topic=3579.0)

I would love to have the chance to have a #183 and see what it's really like first hand. But something tells me if I only had one amp to play and get the most versatility, a HRM type amp would be it. Even though I say "if I knew what the #183 was when I got my HRM, I would've ended up with it" in the other thread, it doesn't mean that I woudn't be sitting here wondering what the HRM is really all about.

It's almost a "close your eyes and throw a dart" type of thing. I know one thing, I don't think any choice is going to be a bad one. These amps are incredible.

Sorry for not being much help. ???

The Bluesmaster and 183 are polar opposites but equally as versatile. The Bluesmaster has a fat bass artifact in both the clean and OD that makes it sound huge. 183 (Or most Non-HRm's) has a very focused OD and very chimey/sparkly cleans. The Bluesmaster has separate Master Volumes which is nice to dial in and balance both channels. 183 has 1 master Volume but its very balanced already. If you're using a D-lator with either they are both great circuits.

 You really have to ask your self what guitar you play the most (Strat with single coils or Les Paul style with buckers. In all honesty I was primarily a Strat player when I first got my Bluesmaster and I soon changed to a Les Paul with Humbuckers right after.

A strat with Single coil pups sounds steller with the Bluesmaster cleans. 183 sounds killer with a Les Paul and Tele's alike as well as a very Eric Johnson'ish type OD tonez reminiscent of his song "ZAP" which has a very focused and horn like Midrange.

idk if you've checked youtube yet, but definitely search through all the ceriatone overtone videos there to see if you can find the sound/amp/tone you're looking for. If you find one that has a tone similar to what you're after, email the video to nik and ask him what he recommends. I did this, and he suggested an amp to me, and sent 5 more videos back... I now have a bluesmaster on the way. :chairdance:  <-- ha, that shits funny. Even if you don't find a video, emailing nik won't hurt. he's super nice and helpful. best of luck.

I agree with Greg. When i was younger, i played a fender princeton and a sovtek mig 50 with a les paul almost exclusively. When i sold the paul, i picked up a dano dc59 and a strat and played thru an ampeg Jet and a fender blues jr, along with the sovtek. I have a BM and whereas the strat and the dano sound phenomenal on the clean side, i'm not as happy with the OD side with single coils. If i am usinv my single coil guitars with the BM and plan on having overdrive sounds i will usually throw my tube screamer or a fuzz face in front of the amp and use the clean channel or augment the OD channel with the pedals. My two humbucker guitars sound good through both the clean and OD channel. I have a switch on the HRM tonestack so i can either have the OD channel raw and have a little more gain with it switched out or switch it back in to tighten it up. That being said, as others have said, listen to some clips, talk to Nik and the guys on here, both of whom were/are a big help to me and go from there!

Hope this helps!
Gregg

FWIW it's easy to get the kind of tones the OP was looking for out of my regular 50w HRM with the lift neg feedback mod.  It actually was a bit too bassy with Sylvania 6l6's through my 2/12/s, 1/15, and 2/15 cabs so I stuck some Siemens el34's.  Get the gooey stuff everyone loves on the OD, then kick the OD trim to !!:00-noon, OD gain to 4 or more, and hold on to yer butt!  Very Marshall-y sounding, especially with the neg fb lifted.   A tube cocktail in the preamp of fave NOS tubes will make a monster.  Hard to beat an HRM for versatility.

So did you make any changes to the amp to use the EL34's?

I agree 100%. I have the HRM 50 w/LNFB mod. I can tell that with the LNFB on it gets much closer to the traditional D-style sound. Don't tell anybody, but with the LNFB on the clean channel with a Xotic BB preamp in front, I can get it to sound almost identical to a regular OTS.  8)

Well I went ahead and ordered the 50w OTS 183.I can"t get my mind off that thick gooey sustain thang.I"m sure I would be happy with either one.

It quite easy to convert a #183 to a BM and vise versa, so you can always try both platforms. My guess is you're gonna want one of each :-)

Agree. I think I decided that having a pure #183 is probably best. I felt bad deciding this since you went to such trouble to post the great directions. I still have everything saved for later inquiry and it's great for anyone else. Plust just good knowledge. ;)

But, once I realized I would really loose what I like about the HRM, I gave it a second thought. I do believe that the EL34 based 183 will be my build with sourcing all the parts myself. Not sure when, but sometime down the road.

@tombba, believe me you're gonna love it. While there are difference between the different design. From what I can hear, they all have a very special thing in common. ;)

@soundperf

No changes to the amp are needed to run el34's, it comes ready to go either el34 or 6l6.  How could a Hot Rodded Marshall NOT be able to run el34's?? :)  Well, Hot Rubber Monkey, anyway...

I think I can get it to sound like traditional OTS pretty easily.  When negative feedback is employed, it sounds very OTS-like.  With it lifted, add more gain to OD trim and OD gain and you get to Marshall territory pretty quick, and it's pretty fantastic either Dumble-y or Marshall-y.  It does this running el34's or 6l6's.  YAY!

I think that I'm going to leave it with el34's for a while, but if I get to play some outdoor gigs I will stick the 6l6 Sylvanias back in for the added girth they provide, perfect for an outdoor stage.  Then there's the pairs of 6bg6ga's and adapters I had done up for it...;)  6l6gc Sylvania tones in the Sylvania 6bg6ga for a fraction of the price.  Similar guts, different pinout.