Ceriatone Forum

Hey Folks,
I received the Overtone but I didn't get a chance to really test it out other than at low volumes.  Thus I can't comment subjectively quite yet.  BUT, I will say based on my experience with the D'lite and my old modded Bassman head I had..... THIS amp is a winner.  Full review, pics, and clips soon to follow.

ChrisL

GREAT news!! Can't wait to get mine. Did you try it "dry" or are you using some effects with it? I have a Rodenberg Flexloop 3D on the way to interface with my Lexicon PCM 70 for a bit of reverb and delay.

:)

Congratulations!  I look forward to hearing it.

I want to know everything about it...

 ;)

Me too

Sounds awesome, congrats on getting it :)

Looking forward to hear some clips too... :)

I just hope Nik reconsiders his decision about the Overtone.. :(

thats great. I shall be looking forward to your review and clips.


thanks

Marin

cmon give it to us.... anything  ???

Is it so good you can't switch it off and write a little review for us?

Lucky bastard  :D

I have mine too.  :)

Review and pics asap.

 Do you have any idea about how many Overtone would be produced in this first, and I hope not last, batch?

 :chairdance:

WEEEEEEEEEEEEELL???  ???

He said waiting patiently for the review and pics........

 :)

Hi,

I've been watching these pages for the last few weeks - someone put me out my misery and post some sound clips.  Truely don't worry about any amazing performances if you are lucky enough to have an overtone just let me hear the amp.  Please.....!

Yours patiently.... :P

Damn, I'm starting to feel something is wrong with the amp.   :(

If I would have the amp, I would scream to the world how wonderful it is...wouldn't  you too?

Tell us SOMETHING!!!

Don´t worry... my "sources" tell me there´s nothing wrong with the amp.. when the time is right you will have clips and reviews. People might be busy with other things besides music, you know?

:P ;)

I wish I ordered one when I had the chance...I'd be locked in my studio playing the heck out of it right now??? But...I didn't so I'm also waiting patiently here with ya'll :P

Ha ha...love watching my fellow amp freaks squirm.....lol...

OK  OK....here goes a preliminary report of my impressions of the amp.  I have had the Overtone for more than a week now and have been playing it and A/B'ing with the D'Lite.  I only had one chance to get it up to gig volumes at a jam the other night so most of my observations are of the amp at less than perfect (lower volume) conditions.

That said,, Let me first dispell the sentiment that there might be something wrong with the amp.  Trust me there is NOTHING wrong with the Overtone.  If a negative thing could be said about the amp is it has far too many great and useable tones and it's going to take much longer than a week to get aquainted with this multitalented amplifier.

Let's begin with the cleans....

Like the D'lite you have two distinct flavors of clean at your disposal.  With the clean volume down and the master up there is a lot of beautiful sparkle and jingle like any good blackface and the bright switch in conjunction with the tone stack can get you all kinds of variability on that theme.  If you crank up the clean channel volume (about 2'oclock) and keep the master low the cleans warm up (like all similar amps) but the range of clean from dark to sparkle can be finely adjusted with the tone tack, bright switch and the deep switch, which itself adds a very attractive scooped tone where the amp is warm yet sparkly on the top end.  Engage the PAB and your mids come alive for a lot of cut in a big band setting.  I don't know why but the treble pot in the tone stack remains somewhat interactive with the PAB engaged.  It made me think of the 5E3 tone/volume interaction and actually makes for a nice jazz tone....lol.  Between all of the switching options and interactivity there are seemingly limitless permutations on the tones you get in the clean channel alone.  
If I were to make a generalization on comparing the cleans of the Overtone to the D'Lite it would be that the Overtone is bigger and bolder.  The mid focus is very present but there is also the ability to dial in more highs and significantly more lows if desired.

The OD channel.....

The jury is still out on this one.  Not because of anything bad but for the most part I haven't had all that much time to dig into it.  In it's stock form the amp is tailored for humbuckers ( like all of these D flavoured circuits) and the wide range of the aforementioned functional clean tones goes for the OD channel as well.  On similar settings as the D'Lite the Overtone sounds very um ....similar...I mean VERY close.  However, I think it's just my style of playing but I just can't seem to get that "chewy" ScottL tone thing happening (on either amp).  The Overtone has quite a bit more punch than the DL so it can do the Marshall grind very nicely.  Again, I have to get into the amp more before I can really say any more.


The FET input??.......haven't even tried it yet....so no comment.


Build quality......

I've put together quite a few amps and I know I couldn't do any better than this.  I don't think there are any components that I would substitute on the basis of poor quality.  Maybe a few Kiwame resistors....lol (I'm on a Kiwame kick these days).  I don't know if it's just me but aren't there a few too many Vishay Dales in here??  I always like to see a dash of CC's for flavour....well, maybe not in this amp.  
The chassis is well made and is plenty strong enough to support the rather hefty transformers.  I like the fact there are eight bolts to help distribute the hanging weight on your cab.  One should consider bracing if you are going to be rough on the cab.




Last but not least......

If you can, try as many different tubes as a possible.  I've settled on Mullards and Syls for pre's and Winged C's for the power section.
 Speakers, too. I am using an Eminence RW&B but as soon as I find one I'm going to try a G12-65 as that is the standard by which all D style amps are played through these days.

Sorry, but you'll have to wait a bit longer for some sound clips.

All in all,  the amp is a tweakers seventh heaven but as stock it can hold it's own to any of the goliaths  out there.

And finally...lol   At the recent jam there were several BF Fender's, a signature Two Rock,  a Maz 18, a brown Vibroverb RI and my D'Lite and the Overtone (just the chassis).  The Two Rock and the Overtone were the stars of the party and not to elaborate but .....I don't see any need to be buying a $10,000 Two Rock anytime soon... ;)

To be continued......


ChrisL

Hi Chris:

THANKS for the great preliminary review. VERY helpful. I'm pretty sure you'll notice quite a difference when you try the amp with the Celestion G12-65's. The Emi RWB's are an OK speaker, but the G12-65's really bring something special to the mix. I'm currently building a 2 x 12 cabinet out of finger jointed pine to house my G12-65's and that will be my main cabinet with the Overtone. I will also, (obviously) build a matching head cabinet for the chassis when it arrives.
I have owned 2 Two-Rock's (Opal and a Custom) as well as a Fuchs, so I'm quite looking forward to putting the Overtone through it's paces when it arrives.
I also have a Rodenberg Flexloop 3D on the way to interface with the passive effects loop in the Overtone and my PCM-70.

You didn't mention any effects in your review. Are you using the loop for any delay or reverb?

:)

Yes, I've been searching high and low for a G1265 and none are around.  Hey, you have two....riiiight????Buddy-O-pal....

Well, I was messing around with my DD-20 in the loop and hey, it doesn't sound too bad.  In or out I don't notice much if any negative effect on the tone.  For live, I run the amp (all my amps)  through a Weber MASS 50 (set to bypass) and into my wet effects and into the return loop of a Traynor YCV 40wr with another RW&B and an extension cab off of that.  It sounds better than you might think and in this capacity the Traynor works very well with the preamp bypassed. 

The amp jives very well with my assortment of dirt pedals,...RC booster, AC booster, BB, Blues Devil, and my favorite (lol) Bad Monkey

I have been eyeing the Flexloop for a while as well.   Let me know what you think when you get it.  I was looking for a loop for my D'lite but I went with the Ironsounds buffered DIY loop.  I works perfectly.  There is also a lot of literature for a Dumbleator out there so that is an option as well.

.....two G1265 's eh??? >:( ;D

I agree with everything said in the review, they're just my thoughts about it.
 Too many usable tones to make a complete review after few days, I'm still experimenting with the controls and waiting for the pedal schematic.
 I agree, and this is the most important part I guess, that it can be sparkle but very warm, scooped and deep like no other amp I've ever tried, you can get best of tone worlds, and above all it has the Marshall grind and it's so difficult to get the famous Dumble chewy tone.
 I have the same difficult in getting Ford / Carlton type of sounds, I guess the HRM version are much more suitable to compress it and get that sound, while this one is a rock machine with a wider palette of tones, I can say it's impossible to have the standard Dumble tone everyone raves about.
 Listen to the video samples on steelbender web site, the Overtone is in that territory.
 It sounds better with humbucker, I've played it with my PRS CE-22 with Lollar Imperials, and with friends' 62 reissue strat with German made PUs, Framus Panthera with Duncan Alnico II pro and custom 5 and with an '80 strat with Floyd Rose.

 Cleans are gorgeous, something to die for and with that volume on pre section you can reach so different clean territories that just experimenting with the first channel needs weeks of tests, you can have all the clean stuff you could ever need, brigth or warm, boomy or thin, maybe it doesn't have the overtones you could expect, but is wonderful, I've never played such a beautiful clean, never.  Some days ago there was in the gig room a friend of mine who plays jazz, after small tweaks to controls he got a wonderful tone for his style of music, and with a PRS! 
It can be very clean at loud volume or have a grind suitable to be a single channel amp to do everything with pedals.  Ah, it works wonderfully with pedals, I've tried Fulldrive 2, Fat Boost, BSIAB2 (all diy) and Mi Audio Crunch Box, and then some ambient effects, from Deluxe Memory Man to Marshall Echohead and modded Boss TR-2 tremolo.
 The volume on pre section makes me think about it as a rack stack, it isn't a general gain control, it's much more like a volume on a pre amplifier going to a power amp.  The amp isn't very loud (anyway I'm using a wonderful 1x12" built by me with birch plywood cloning the Two Rock 1x12 dimension, with a Classic Lead clone by Warehouse Guitar Speaker), and it's possible to play it at bedroom level with good tones.

 As for second channel I'm thinking to it as the perfect plexi, a much more refined Marshall grind, with not so much gain, but round bass response, never farting and highs that are never ice pickin' or fuzzy (to tell the truth if you keep all the volume controls all way up basses are farting, but hey man, you'll never need to rise up the controls and remember I'm playing with a 1x12"), with an harmonic content that it's so rich that you will cut through the band even with scooped mids. I've loved to keep the level down and ratio up, quite a super crunchy sound to be clean with guitar volume control and to get more distorted with pedals  It's perfect!!!
 The ratio control is something totally new to me, this is why I'm still experimenting.
 The distorted channel so have the pre volume, obviously the EQ section with added switches, the Level control which acts like a gain control this time, the ratio and the master volume plus presence.
 The ratio makes the sound bigger and fatter with more open gain, it's strage, I cant describe it better now.

 Finally, I'm happy with this amp like I've never been with any other amp and it suits my needs much, much, much better than an amp focused on Ford / Carlton tone.
 It's chunky, fat, huge sounding, and above all smooth, even if the sound is so directly punching in your face you can hear a so elegance and pleasant sound that it's a joy just to play open chords.  I love the facts that it doesn't have the smoothness and chewiness of famous Dumble players, it's smooth in a much richer and rocky way.

 There are only two issues with it, the first one is a mistake by me, I  should have ordered it with EL34 in place of 6L6GC (Nik is getting better and better, JJ for power tubes and above all Tung Sols for pre), but this is only me, and inspite it has a lot of dynamic I'm still regretting about selling the 1986 I bought from Nik last year.  That amp was the more dynamic I've ever played, it was possible to have gorgeous clean and hard rock / stoner distortion just with guitar volume pot.  My guitar has the '60 wiring and RS Guitarworks Hovland cap to control the Imperials.

 It's definitely a keeper, it will be the only amp I'll never sell.
 

 :o :o

Thanks for this

Great post Whitewave.

The speaker plays such a big part in the stereotypical dumble tone.  Don't discount the effect a suitable speaker can impart on your tone.

Very cool! Man I'm kicking myself for not buying one when I first saw them available. I had the $$ and everything :(

I was hoping that you were gonna say that it sounds aweful...lol...that would have made me feel better.  Now I just want it all the more... :'(

ChrisL and Whitewave,

thanks for the reviews. It was much appreciated.

Given that Chris is comparing his Overtone to his D'Lite, for us to understand a bit better what its all about: - does it sound similar to the sounds on the D'Lite web page?

http://www.brownnote.net/dlite22.html (scroll down to "sounds").

thanks

Marin

Yes I checked those right away and man, if Overtone sounds like this I JUST HAVE TO HAVE ONE.


Nik stop kidding around and bring it BACK !!!
 >:(

Same here :(

Might ask Nik if he can make a pre assembled board for an overtone, that way I know I can assemble one....hmm. probably not, though.

Marinblues,

Which amp are you refering to when you say "it"?  I haven't listened to any of those clips yet and I'm at work now so I will check them out later today.  Moss has come up with a few variations on the basic D'lite theme so there is going to be some differences in tones.  It may be time to do a little tweaking. 

Right now I'm trying to get a handle on what Nik has put together with this amp.  It's a bit of a "mutt" comprised of several flavors of the various dumbles out there.  I would love to sit down with Nik and rap about this amp.  If you're listening man how about chiming in and giving a few hints as to what you were thinking with this circuit.  Whatever, your reasoning it ended up sounding pretty frickin good.

Nik's Overtone Special.


thanks

Marin

Hey Marin,

Sure, the Overtone can do any of those tones.  My D'lite can do them too... ;D  The problem is "I" can't do them.....lol.   
What I am finding with the Overtone is with the OD trimmer set to anything past 9 oclock the amp gets a little too bright with the PAB engaged and since the tonestack is lifted there is no way to dial it out.  It makes for great Marshall bite but I'm persistant to getting Larry and Robben Dumble tones.  Time for tweaking.

Do you mean the video samples of the Fuchs?

http://www.steelbender.com/picsnclipsfuchsods50.html

Are your tones closer to Eddie's or Jason's tones?

thanks


M.

I'm referring to the Dumble's clips here:
http://www.steelbender.com/videogallery.html (http://www.steelbender.com/videogallery.html)

  Marinblues, I guess this Overtone will be a little bit different from the tone you're thinking about.
I totally agree with what ChrisL is saying, if you really want to listen to a similar amp to Overtone probably  the Fuchs Train 45 is closer.  It doesn't have the creamy sustained dumblish tone from the ODS, or to tell it better, as ChrisL do, we aren't able to get that tone.
 I'm so happy there is another Overtone user and moreover owner of a D'lite who is getting same tones as me, otherwise it would have been a strange feeling to have a Dumble but not the Dumble tone.
 As someone suggested the speakers can do a lot for it, maybe a low headroom speaker is much more suitable for Carlton's tone.
 Sunday my amp will be played by a Van Weelden owner and by a great amp tech, I'm waiting for their response to complete my review.

 

OK, I get you know.... ;) Speaking about creamy tone, this sample rocks, perhaps too much gain, but certainly "creamy" in my books. Actually, it sounds like a Robben tone but with less midrange:

http://www.steelbender.com/mpeg/dumble335a.MPG

If the Overtone can do this thing, its a heck of an amp.


Like a 30w greenback?

I'll be honest, I don't mind the added Marshally flavour. I means that I don't have to buy a Marshall-type amp to complement. :)

thanks


Marin

For those of you who have the Overtone (or don't):

Did or would you go with el34's or 6l6's for the power tubes and why? or 6v6's for that matter.

For the fellas who did the reviews< sounds like you are comparing the Overtone to more of a TW sound that what we generally look to Dumble for (LC, RF).
Are you really not able to coax those sounds out of the amp?
How does this amp compare to Nik's TW amps in sound?
Are you guys running  6l6's?

No 6V6s, too much current for them.
I choose 6L6GC over Nik's suggestion, even if I do prefer EL34s to them.  Nik built the amp with 6L6, so the tweaks  were made with them.  Generally speaking, 6L6 bigger and more defined bass response, but less and thinner mids and distortion "flavour" is thinner, modern, while EL34 give you a not so good bass response but bigger and more pleasant mids and the distortion is much more harmonically rich.  This is just my experience.  I was 6L6 guy, now EL34.


I was thinking the same, I know it's strange, but what I can tell you?  I can't get that tones and I'm near to Marshall grind, with strats and humbuckers too.  As I said sunday my amp will be played by some guitarists, I'll report their settings and tones.

Thanks for the info. very informative. I have been thinking about ordering another amp, so I am gathering as much info as I can. We'll all be looking forward to the additional feedback  from you on those other guitarists.

Wo wo.... :D I'm not saying this amp is getting into the Wreck spectrum of raw mayhem.....no way.  Here is what I have been testing for the past few days.

For the Ford/Carlton flavors the internal OD trimmer is VERY important in determining that tone.  If you check out the amp settings of F/C and set the Overtone similarly you WILL get in the ballpark.  After that it is OD trimmer to taste, guitar and pup combinations, SPEAKER (did I say that loud enough..lol) and massive amounts of talent in that style of playing which unfortunately I can't do very well.  Right now I have the trimmer at 10 oclock and sounds great.

Now, If you up the OD level with a Greenback, V30, Wizard, Sammi 40 or 50, G12H30, you WILL get Marshall tones with plenty of bite and lower mid punch. 

I've yet to try EL34's in the amp.  That might be interesting, too.   Who knows there may be a little "wreckage" hidden away in there in a more refined, sophisticated way..lol

Ok,  I've played the amp for some hours last week end, and many guitar players played it with their guitars.
 I don't know why but the amp had a different behaviour yesterday and Saturday, maybe it's just me and the knowledge about the amp and its controls, listen again to Steelbender Fuchs ODS clips and re-think to Overtone, finally I did understand why Mr. Fuchs got so angry against Nik, I don't need to add anything else if not a big smile.
 "... if you want to control feedback, just think it...." wow!!!!  The controlled feedback, the creamy, powerful, endless sustain used by Jason Barker in higher gain clips... finally I have it with my Overtone!!  The trick is to set the ratio all the way up.

 Using a 335 with it, played by a guitarist much better than me, was the final step to come into Carlton tone (more than Ford one).  We got that tone finally, and it wasn't difficult with the 335, I've just talked about higher gain, but the Overtone is elegant, read again, it's elegant like no other amp I've ever played.

 I've taken it to a sort of amptest here in Italy, without any doubt everyone who listened to it got totally crazy about the tone, with no exceptions.

 Thanks Nik, really thank a lot.

I was just notified that my Ceriatone Overtone was shiped out today! Looks like I'm going to get an early Christmas present. I just finished building a 2 x 12 cabinet out of finger jointed pine loaded with 2 Celestion G12-65 speakers to use with the Overtone so the timing couldn't have been better. Looks like my Rodenberg Flexloop 3D is shipping in the next couple of days as well. :)

I'll post my thoughts once everything arrives and I get a chance to play with it for a day or two.

Chuck

Hey Chuck,

That's great.  I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of the amp given your first hand, extended experience with the Fuchs and Two Rock amps.

Anyone got any Overtone soundclips to post? ??



M.

I've been planning to but I haven't been able to get any time to get in to my buddies studio.  Bedroom recording sounds good but it does the amp no justice not fired up.  I'm off to Hawaii for a couple weeks so after that for sure....ok?

the bedroom stuff will be fine too. 


M.

we want sound clips, we want sound clips, we want sound clips...

Okay. My Ceriatone Overtone Special arrived today. Killer looks and wiring! Nice job. Neatly (safely) packed. :) So far so good. (ha ha)

Questions: Footswitch Yes? No? I didn't get one. Anybody get one? If not, any idea which/what footswitch works with the pin configuration? Does Nik offer one? Needs one in my books.

Internal pots? I count three. Two blue ones (left side of the chassis and center main board) and one black one with a white center. (main board as well). I'm assuming the black pot with the white center is the bias knob? What do the other two do?
Anybody get a manual with the amp? Available online at Ceriatone? Did I miss it?

Clean channel is KILLER. TONS of tones! :) OD channel seems a little weak. have to dime the level and ratio on the OD channel to get anywhere near the gain that was in the OD of my Fuchs. I'm assuming I need to adjust the internal trimmer for the gain? Again, (sorry) which pot? Is there an internal pot for the gain boost? Does the gain boost bypass the tone stack?

Sorry for all the questions that may seem basic, but the OD channel seems so thin and anemic in comparison to the clean channel, it has kind of thrown me here. (I obviously need to adjust somethiing here, just not sure what to start adjusting) When I first fired up this amp I actually thought I was on the OD channel when in fact I was on the clean channel. (found that out when I went to move the level ratio knobs and nothing happened) When I did switch over to the OD channel PAB not engaged) I had to dime the level and ratio to get a louder, thicker tone than the clean channel. (doesn't seem right) 

Sent the same questions to Nik, just thought I might get a quicker response here.

Thanks for your time

Chuck

Never mind. :)

Nik to the rescue. All is good! Just needed to nudge the OD trimmer up a tad. Holy Crap! Does that make a BIG difference.

Full report to follow once I play around with a few tubes.

Chuck :)

Good to see you got the amp.  Get that thing biased right, crank it and let us know what you think of the OD.  The clean channel speaks for itself, eh? Best and most varied cleans I've heard in a long time.

Yeah, the clean channel is spectacular. VERY easy to get that Carlton clean that's clean but at the same time is "not" clean. Very cool! I've played around with a few tubes as well. I changed V1 to a NOS smooth plate Telefunken and that really added something special to the cleans as well as taking away a bit of the "grittiness" in channel two. I changed V2 to a NOS Tesla (not JJ) E83CC and that helped smooth things out a bit in the OD channel as well. I also changed the power tubes to TAD 6L6GC's and they sound pretty good, but I'm just about to try the TAD 6L6WGC's and the short bottle JAN Phillips as well. To my ears, and as posted earlier, the internal trimmer is the key to getting the smooth RF tones. Too high and it takes into Marshall territory in a big hurry, and too low, (as mine was set from the factory to my ears anyway) it sounds a little thin and anemic. Not much wiggle room either, as the slightest move makes quite  big difference.

The experimentation continues

:) 

Hi Chuck,

thanks for the feedback.

Few questions:

Is it easy to set this internal trimmer?

Does the amp need to be crancked to sound good?

Have you tried the lexicon in the loop?


thanks


Marin

Hi everyone,

Just went to see Nik about half an hour ago. Tested a DC30 and also an Overtone. Both are tone monsters - but the Overtone is so so versatile. It can be real smooth and real nasty if you want it to. I was using it with a Strat. Can't imagine how good it'll sound with humbuckers!

You can do no wrong with this amp - too much tone inside it.

I'll post clips when I manage to get hold of it.

Anyhow short intro - I am also crosse79 in TGP and I live about 10 mins away from Nik's Workshop.

Regards,
Andrew

Lucky bastard  :o


Welcome to the forum
 ;)

Hi Marin:

There are three internal trimmers inside the chassis. Two blue and one black with a whiter center. If you are looking into the chassis from the front of the amp, the BLUE trimmer on the far left (on a small board actually mounted on the left side of the chassis) is for the FET channel and Nik states that should be left "high" which is at least at 12:00 and that is how mine came set from the factory. (I haven't experimented with the FET input yet by the way) Moving to the right from the first BLUE trimmer, you'll discover another BLUE trimmer that is on the MAIN circuit board and is located just below and slightly to the left of the second pre amp tube socket (V2). This is the OD trimmer. It is very easy to adjust, (small slotted screwdriver will do) and mine came set (stock) from Nik at 9:00. (basically the slot was straight across) The OD trimmer has a HUGE impact on the tone, volume, and overall vibe of the OD channel. Set too low, (I found 9:00 o'clock too low for my ears/tastes) the OD channel sounds thin and anemic, (even with humbuckers), at volume levels that will get you invited back to many a gig, but the OD channel does seem to come to life a bit at that setting if in fact you do CRANK up the amp, but holy crap is it loud when you do that. Set too high, and the OD channel comes ROARING to life at pretty much any volume, but it VERY QUICKLY moves away from Dumblesque heaven and into Marshall mayhem in a big hurry. Don't get me wrong, the amp sounds great a pretty much any OD trimmer setting (VERY versatile) but it does take some time to dial in the OD channel using the OD trimmer, level, ratio, volume and master volume as well as tone contols set to taste obviously. To answer your question about does the amp have to be cranked or not. It does sound pretty spectacular at the higher volumes, and to my ears, it sounds MUCH closer to the RF stuff I'm used to playing with the OD trimmer set just below 10:00 o'clock and the amp "up" a bit, than it does at lower volumes with the OD trimmer set to say 11:00 o'clock or so. VERY fine line on the OD channel between slightly anemic, right on loud, proud, RF stuff with just the perfect amount of Dumble rumble, and over the top fizzy, buzzy Marshall stuff.
The last trimmer is the black one with the white center, and that sets the balance for the phase inverter, (V3) and it's located on the far right of the main board. Nik stated this should be adjusted when only using a scope and is best left at 12:00 so that both sides of the PI are balanced.
I tried the Lexicon PCM-70 VERY briefly in the loop, but I have it all set up for use with my Ulbrick Sound Stadium 80 Special head that has a world class tube buffered effects loop with send and return, so for obvious reasons, it didn't sound very good in the passive effects loop of the Overtone Special. I have a Rodenberg Flexloop 3D (basically a Dumbleator) on the way, and when that arrives I'll revisit the Lexicon. I'm actually quite surprised how good this amp sounds "dry", and that to me is the mark of a good/great sounding amp. It doesn't needs effects to sound good/great. More to come.

Chuck  :)
 

Hey Chuck,

Great review.  It seems we are all having a nice honeymoon with this amp.  There is one thing I've been trying to slightly "dial out" though.  On the OD with the PAB on for the typical RF tones I'm wanting to soften a wee bit of harshness in the upper mids and then the amp will be perfect.  I've been plugging all my NOS ax7 stash (amperex, Mullards, telefunken, Syls, Matsushitas) in V2 and the early 60's Sylvanias are absolutely the smoothest in this amp but there is still a hair of adjusting to do.

Thus...

 I've been spending a lot of time over at the amp garage site and have found this fine tweaking of the upper OD harmonics is where the magic occurs.  And the problem is, each amp is different and the guys over there who have been obsessing over these circuits for YEARS have developed the magic touch that gets the last 10th of a percent, that last piece of the puzzle of "the tone" equation figured out.  I think that is what you are paying for when you buy a Glasswerks, Bludotone, Carol Anns, Fuchs.........you buy "in the tone zone" expertise.   
That is never what I wanted or particularly expected from the Overtone.  I wanted exactly what Nik provided; an extremely well made ODS amp that gets me to the 99.9% stage.  Hell, this Overtone hangs with ANY of the "big boys" I have ever played,,no question.  The last .1% is personal taste anyway so this is where my OCD...lol......gets to do it's thing.  Now, it's down to component adjustments, pickups, guitar body woods, brands of strings,  seasonal humidity, moon phase and gravitational pull on electrons in my Winged C's.......lol,   yep.....OCD.

Great post!

Love the bit about your ocd, and moon phase, grav pull etc.
thats  right on the money!  ;D :chairdance:

Hi Chuck,

thanks for this very useful response.

Please keep us updated on your new tweaks and experiences.


Marin

....when is MY amp going to arrive.....? ???


M. :D

Marin,

  Soon. :)

  We're shipping em as soon as we can. We can only do 3 per week it seems, cant go any faster than that, we tried.

  And new cabs just arrived. Finally, these look real good, I think and should be the final.

  I should have pics very soon, with amp inside cab. Do check Monday, latest, if anybody is interested.

  And footswitches! Still need to wire em all up, as the enclosure is tolexed wood as well and a batch just also arrived.

  As for the amp, I must say that it was done on the basis of the 80s type. Its got its own sound going.

  The HRM type would be a different thing. We'll see...

  The OD can be quite brutal if needed. If playing at ratio and level max or close, do disengage the mid boost (deep). It will tighten it up.

  If you find cool settings, do write it down. I keep forgetting to do this, and it's hard to find it again. It can do many things so the problem is always, while searching for one sound, Id find another and start going with that for a while. And forgetting about what I looked for in the first place.

   As pointed out, guitar, speakers, etc do matter. I am still being surprised each time something new is played with the amp. (Andrew - those Lollar blackfaces did sound awesome with that guitar of yours!).

  Anyways, it's late and Im off to bed early tonight!

  To all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (dont worry, all of us here are working throughout the break, ye waiting for amps!).

Thanks!

Nik

don't ask me why, but these settings sounded spectacular yesterday with my band (number, not hour):

Volume: slightly under 4
Bright off, Deep on, Rock
Treble: slightly under 4
Middle: slightly under 6
Bass: between 5 and 6
OD Level: just in the middle of 3 and 4 (it's enough gain to have a mid crunch for "Remedy" by Black Crowes)
OD Ratio: slightly under 9
Presence: 4


 Master? It was slightly above....     1!!!!

Clean and OD were astonishing, I've never such a beautiful sound as yesterday.
Really, really great.

Marco.

pics are up

pls visit the Cabinet sub page and the Complete Amp sub page


Have a Merry Xmas to all from all of us at Ceriatone

- lin

Thanks Nik.

I was hoping to see mine before Xmas but no worry. I am sure it will be worth the wait.

Footswitches? That's great.

Maybe even some bufferred loops....("Ceriatators" aka "*umbleators"). :)

now does this look good or what? ;)

(http://www.ceriatone.com/images/HeadCabPic/OTS_new/front5B.jpg)


Marin

Please post some soundclips

that looks so nice

Indeed it looks good...

Alhough I would like it more with the wood separation betwen the amp front panel and the black cloth ala Dumble/Two Rock/D-Lite ;)

But..as it is... it looks already good enough ;)

Overtone users: Can the amp get pushed clean tones like this? It's a british blues guy named matt schofield, check him out at:

http://www.mattschofield.com/music.php

and the the tunes Heart Don't Need A Compass, All You Need and Once In A While. (he uses two rocks, sometimes a super etc) That's what I'm after.

thanks y'all!!

Wow, I like that guys playing, very tasty.  "Room at the back" has a great tone. Sure, the Overtone can do those tones but a lot of amps can get there as well with a guy of that calibre playing them.  Between my 73 Super Reverb and Overtone I think I could have most of what I hear covered. 
I haven't gotten into the Overtone's clean channel all that much with regards to the Carlton pushed cleans.  Tweaking the OD has me pretty much consumed at the moment.

Do you have any sound clips of the overdrive channel?

It's official...

I'm waiting for Overtone bliss as well
 :chairdance:


 ;)

Me 3 :D

Me 4.  I have just ordered mine...Can't wait!!!

I have JTM45, DC30, Trainwreck and soon the Overtone...

What a collection..

Hey Herby...I also have a JTM45, Expression and a Lightning instead of the DC30 (Great amps!!!)...and I do have a Overtone on order;-)
Oh by the way...Me 5

Nice one.....Cant wait.. Congratulations on yours....

Newbie here...
Just ordered mine last night...I couldn't wait the 6-8 weeks, so I got the kit.   My friend (and amp tech) has no idea...I'm just gonna' show up at his house with this stuff.

I just wanted to say how nice it was to deal with Nik...he's been so helpful, patient, and friendly...quite refreshing.

Now the waiting...oh, it hurts...IT HURTS!!!

Any Music Man guitar players here?  I'm an AXIS fanatic, and can't wait to hear the axis with the overtone!

Did you guys get an e-mail from Niki telling you your amp shipped, or did it just show up? Can't wait for mine to get here but I don't want to keep bugging Niki with e-mail "is it ready yet..." I'm waiting on a kit/parts so I hope it is not 6 weeks. Did Niki say how long for the kit?

Normally it just shows up.....

Yeah, that's what always happens when I buy an amp from him.

Does the overtone come with a footswitch btw? if not, what kind does it use?

It comes with a footswitch..

I ordered the kit, too....Nik said he was just waiting for some parts to come in (and he should have them next week).  Once he gets those, he said I should get the kit much sooner than the amp (I'm assuming a couple of weeks as opposed to 6-8 weeks)

Did you order the head box, too or just the chassis?

I'll be posting some clips as soon as I get it in and put it together.

No one has replied to my first post but having read all this, I am expecting an email from Nik tonight and will pull that proverbial trigger. As always, very excited to get a new amp..I have been looking for the right one forever..707, that  makes me unique? not.

Okay...Mine came in on Friday!!!  I couldn't open it fast enough!  By the way, HUGE Kudos to Nik for all of his help (answering a million questions patiently), working with me to get the amp to me quickly, and a SUPERB packing job!   I wish the amp had some sort of manual, as it's a little confusing if you're not familiar with the Dumble controls.  Thank Goodness for this forum.

Okay, first impressions:  Build quality is great and seems very solid!  When I plugged it up, I immediately fell in love with the huge, powerful, punchy clean tones!  I own/have owned many, MANY tubes amps and great clean tones and loud clean headroom are a must.  This amp did not diasappoint there!  I took it out on a gig Friday night, and was having a hard time dialing in an overdrive tone that I liked.  It was very "buzzy"  I ended up just using my Xotic BB Preamp and Keeley Tubescreamer with it.  I had some of the really good local players come out and sit in and everyone loved it...it handles pedals perfectly, but I still want to learn to get the overdrive tones that I've read about for so long.  Nik has given me some suggestions, and I'll keep tweaking it.   I'll post some clips here soon....
Anyone have suggestions?  should I be tweaking the internal gain trimmer?
THANKS AGAIN NIK for everything! 

My suggestion is: give some time (a couple of weeks).

The way the overdrive works, the different switches, ecc....it takes a bit of time to get used to it. Also, the tubes are new, give them a few hours.


Marin

Still having problems getting a good overdrive tone...It sounds buzzy and a little harsh....like it's lacking in the mids.  I read somewhere that someone put a patch cable in effects loop and that's what RF does in his Dumble to smooth out the highs a bit.....any truth to that?
Also, should I adjust the gain trim pot inside the amp....maybe back it off a bit?

I've tried several guitars.... american strat with texas specials, 57 reissue custom shop les paul gold top, music man axis, and carvin carved top (PRS style)....it's definitely the closest with the Carvin to what I'm after.

It sounds amazing with it running loud and clean with my Keeley TubeScreamer or Xotic BB Preamp in front of it, but I shouldn't need those with this amp (hopefully I'll figure it out)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

-Jeff

As I see that effect loop thing,... there are two ways of doing it.

If you take a close look at the effect loop schematic
(http://users.volja.net/mcinku/send_return.jpg)
...you'll see that using a patch cable will bypass that resistor and capacitor. So try it out and if you like it, you could remove that C&R and keep it like that.

As for RF patch in the loop... I read somewhere he used a long low grade cable which translates into High capacitance cable... and that would smooth out the highs a bit.

...but maybe it's just a myth, I don't know

 ;)

Are the tubes OK?

Maybe its worth trying to swap out the 12ax7's one by one with a good tube.

Marin

IMHO-without being a tech, you shouldn't have to put a patch cable in your amp to make it sound good, you have another problem. If everyone who has gotten this amp is getting to hear what they want then yours  is an anomaly. so guys, are you all happy with what you hear?-serious question, I just sent a thousand dollars and I want to know
Like Marin said-check tubes and do it one tube at a time without changing anything else 

Okay...I've been working with this thing for quite a while...It almost seems as if the tone controls (Bass, mid, treble) don't work at all when the overdrive is engaged....so, i'm wondering....is there a way to put a mod on the overdrive circuit that will tame the highs a bit?  The amp sounds gorgeous, but again, I feel that the overdrive is a bit fuzzy or ratty in the high end....someone mentioned replacing the preamp tubes...are there some that will actually smooth out the high end????

Also, I read about making adjustments to the gain trim inside the amp...does that control the overdrive or the preamp boost?

I'm getting closer....maybe the amp is breaking in a little, too.

This is strange... I don't even have the amp yet but I'm passing advices how to make it sound better... maybe I should just :-X
What I've heard from Sami and Marin, that amp doesn't need any mods but still...

... for the OD you could increase 270pf snubber caps to 330pf
Smaller snubber caps will give the OD sound a little more presence and bigger caps will mellow out the sound a bit.

Why don't you ask Nik about this, he should have a few ideas as well I think.
 ;)

Oh, those damn pesky snubber caps!

I don't really want to do anything to the amp if it's not necessary.
I'm curious to see what settings SPM is using....his tones are what I'm after.

From what I have read, I would change the od trimmer settings. What I would do is turn the mid and treble down to zero, and drive the bass up. Then dial in the amount of highs. In all my old Marshalls, I never turn the treble up unless I have to cut through. But playing at home sitting right in front of any amp, you most often dont need to set the amp up with a lot of treble. Give it a whirl.

SPM nailed the tone I am looking for in this amp, give him a shout, and check his youtube video, I think he indicates his settings on that video.

I TOTALLY agree with you...SPM has absolutely nailed the tone I want from the amp...
I haven't been able to get his settings... I have tried rolling all the treble off...as i usually don't play with very much anyway, and have played with the mids when the OD is engaged, but it seems as if the tone controls do almost nothing when using the OD...

so, I'm thinking it has to do with getting the ratio and overdrive set right and the internal trimmer set right.

SPM?  are you around?????

HELP!!!!

JeffreyB,

I posted a thought or two in the other thread where your clip is.  Great playing BTW and I think the tone you are getting is pretty damn fine, too.  Tube compliment and trimmer settings might get you where you want to go but I'm afraid I see a soldering iron in your not too distant future....Snubbers, MV cap, OD entrance, OD bypass network, plate and cathode values are only but a few tricks in HAD's bag of mojo for dialing in "your" tone. 

Hey guys...you're probably not going to believe this....but I went back and watched the clip that I posted again, and realized that particular clip was my Peavey classic 30 head. I was comparing the 2 side by side and recorded several clips....my favorite ones were the overtone run clean with the reverend drivetrain pedal, and straight into the Peavey Head on the drive channel.   I'm going to work some more this week and post more clips.  I'm having computer problems, and my computer keeps freezing when I try to record into pro tools, so my only way to get the clips up is to play the backing tracks through my powered monitors and set my cheap kodak digi camera in between the monitors and my amp to try to get a decent mix.  The mic on the camera is crappy, but you can still hear how the amp sounds (and how rusty my playing is)

Once again, I'm glad to be working through this stuff with you guys in this forum.  Thanks for everything!

-Jeff

What speakers /pickups you use?
OD trimmer setting now ?

Try make some clip with setting like this ...

Vol = 4 or 5, Bright = off, Deep = ON, Jazz/Rock = Rock, Treble = 4, Middle = 6, Bass= 6, Level= 5, Ratio= 4, Master= 3-4 , Presence= 3

-sami

I still haven't opened the chassis to see where the OD trimmer is...where is yours set?

thanks,
Jeff

Got an email from Nik today, my amp shipped :chairdance:
I bought tubes last week..I am ready, to play and tweak.

Man, I'm happy for you.

 ;D

Right on...just a few more days of waiting!!!  I'm in the same boat...I rec'd notice that my OT has been shipped ;D  We can soon join the ranks of happy OT owners through out the world ;D
I also have my tubes ready to plug in as soon as it lands :chairdance: :chairdance: :chairdance:

I also have my tubes ready to plug in as soon as it lands  :chairdance: :chairdance: :chairdance:

Do you mind my asking what toobz?
JJ 6l6 gc
3 gold pin JJ ec83s
here.

I have a matched set of NOS GE 6L6GC and some minty Mullard 12ax7's that are waiting the arrival of my OT ;D
I should see my OT in a couple of days...I feel like a lil' kid 2 days before X-Mas ;D
 

Man...i'm very excited for you guys...You realize, that we fully expect some sound clips from you immediately.  It can't be left up to me and Marin.  If I post any more clips, Nik won't sell any more amps  ;D

Nik is a busy guy because of those clips ;D  The order list for the Overtone must be getting longer...I'm glad I ordered when I did.
Thanks ya'll for the awesome clips...I must've listened to them a gazillion times.   
I can almost smell the freshly glued tolex of my OT...it's that close ;D

I have my OT ;D...and it sounds killer!!!  Yup...I'm one lucky bastard ;D  It's going to be a long honeymoon!!!
The only bummer part...was the match set of NOS GE 6L6's weren't matched.  I picked up a matched set of Groove Tubes GT6L6B from the local guitar shop.  They do sound pretty good!!!  I also ended up using a set of Amperex 12ax7's...sounded a lil sweeter ;D
Anyways...I gotta run.  I have a Overtone waiting to be played with :chairdance:

Me too,
This is very sweet. A buddy of mine came over who is familiar with these amps and gave me an eq lesson. Right now I have no od on and the jazz on, I think bright and deep are off, I get mixed up because I am going to make a cab and right now it sits upside down. Unlike you guys I am running GT el34ls's that I cannot get close to even bias and it still sounds good, I know I just got it but I have never had an amp like this and it is so inspiring. I am not yet a proficient guitar player and but this amp makes me play better, or my bad playing sounds better. 8) ::)
Have fun in Hawaii :chairdance: ;D

poipounder57, congrats! I'm still tweeking around with mine but I'm diggin it.

Me too,
This is very sweet. A buddy of mine came over who is familiar with these amps and gave me an eq lesson. Right now I have no od on and the jazz on, I think bright and deep are off, I get mixed up because I am going to make a cab and right now it sits upside down. Unlike you guys I am running GT el34ls's that I cannot get close to even bias and it still sounds good, I know I just got it but I have never had an amp like this and it is so inspiring. I am not yet a proficient guitar player and but this amp makes me play better, or my bad playing sounds better. Cool :Smiley
Have fun in Hawaii Chair Dance Grin

I wanted to add that I am using a Lansing Altec 417 8c speaker in a generic open back (wide open) cab and it is the perfect match-wow!

Hope you are having as much fun way out there to the west of me poipounder.
Burnie  8)