Ceriatone Forum

WOO!!!HOO!! Just got my OTS FM50!!! This thing is friggin' awesome!! I am playing through a 2x12 cab with late sixties EV SRO's I have the same setup in another cab for my 2550.

 Now! Hook 'em up in stereo and VAVOOM!!

I will post some sound clips or a YouTube vid with this setup. I can't wait to get out and gig with this.

That's the one I'm interested. Please post clips, even better with a strat or tele. Thanks

Please show some interest guys, I mean he's probably the only folk in here who owns that amp, an amp that is supposed to be a clone of one of the best amp in history, and nobody give a damn' shit! It's not only that this post is not getting replies but it's not even read  ???

I'm having a #102 built and it will be very close to the FM50 (FM100 really).
Of course I want to hear all about it.
Does it include the C-lator?

I have my amp modded to #102 specs for 1,5 year. It's useless without a dumblelator IMO. With dumblelator it's my favourite circuit.

Brian

Happy New Year!

Thats cool man!

As for the FM50, I quite like it. Some find it a bit bright, I guess.

I had a local guy who bought it, and we tweaked it a bit to his liking. Pretty much simple stuff that's done all the time:

a) lower bright cap on the MV
b) 3 way bright cap on the bright switch (68, none, 120pf)

c) 100K slope, 0.001uf treble (instead of 0.0022uf)

d) Switch for the LNFB (local neg feedback loop)

e) Lower bright caps for the Clator as well

f) i also changed the 22m resistors on the PAB relay to 10m.

I guess, my ears are a bit gone, since I dont find the amp that bright?

But then again, I realize that there are people who like it darker (kinda dark for my usual preference), and smoother.

Well, just sayin the mods, if you need it to be less bright, are easy to do.

The switch for LNFB is also always a nice feature to have, IMHO.

The Clator would be nice to have, for sure, but it's not a requirement.

This amp reminds me of the S%M, but less bright.  Its got bite for sure, on the OD.

Thanks!

nik

C'mon Nik, the original design with the 68pF on the master is over the top bright without a dumblelator.
Removing or lowering the master bright cap is more S&M like I agree.

Nik,

This amp is great. I don't find it all that bright, but then again I play humbuckers. It has a very nice attack and grind when playing on the bridge pickup. and a great howel on the neck pickup. I will post up some sound clips when I get some recording gear. Cheers!

Brian - Clator or not?

J.

No C-lator. Straight in. Running a boss DD-3 delay through the effects loop. I may invest in a C-later at some time. I am configuring my setup something like this.

I have 2, 2x12 cabs with late 1960's EV Sro's. I will be putting my 2550 through one of them, The OTS FM50 through the other. Use an A,B,Y switch.

Boss DD-3 delay
Tube screamer
Stereo chorus
Cry baby wah

Guitars: I play the guitars I build Check my website. www.brianpaulguitars.com

So if this amp is too bright, why not just get the regular OTS where all the brightness has been tamed by the Scott Lerner mods?

My understanding is that the effect of the bright cap diminishes as the master volume is turned up.  Further, once you add in the D-lator & the cables needed to interface the amp/D-lator combination, & the brightness, again, is diminished.

It seems Mr. Lerner is a fan of the bright, "Ojai" (or "Ford Mustang") circuit.  The earlier Ayan/Lerner mods (JZucker mods as they are sometimes referred to on this forum) were suggested to bring the early version(s) of the OTS closer to spec with the known, accepted values of a select few Dumble amps.

Regarding C-lator (Dumblelator) or not.

Remember the FM amp is an clone of Robben Fords amp and Robben Ford always use a dumblelator loop to interface his TC2290 with his amp.
The external loop does two things
He uses fairly long connector cables, that 1) dampends the high end. This is why the FM amp uses a 68pf bright cap across the master volume.
Furthermore, the loop can 2) add some compression if you run it like Robben Ford with amp master volume at 11 o'clock and send and return controls on the loop also on 11 0'clock..

Regarding 1) dampening the high end
I have build the (parallel) loop into my #102 clone amp, so I don't use long cables in/out of the amp, and in order to get the same amount of high end dampening I use a 470pf cap across the ratio pot in and ground buss bar................this is infact the same mod forumite 'Pickmaster' presented last week. Only his mod is more flexible, using a 12 step switch with different cap values for different situations.
The cap on the ratio pot only affects the OD channel and I dont feel the need for a bright cap on my master volume.

Regaring 2) compression
I made some experiments this weekend with my build in loop.

I have added a switch allowing selection between series mode, like the c-lator or dumblelator, or parallel mode. I use the latter which allows you to use moderate quality effects, in my case an old Boss SE70.

I wanted to test parallel versus serial in higher volume situations, how much impact does the serial mode has on the sound - how much compression. I used a cable in the loop ot take effects out of the equation.
Using the loop in seral mode, does indeed allow you the get more compression/light distortion from the loop, but it tends to blur the clean sound, so I concluded that I found that I really don't need that extra compression effect and I'm quite happy with my build in loop in parallel mode.
 
Hope you can use this info
for deciding on wheater or not you want to use a loop
wheather or not you need a bright cap
and wheater or not you will run it in serial or parallel mode

Can you try with nothing at all in the loop and tell us how it sounds then ?

Wow, this is getting way over my head. I think the amp sounds great as it is.

Howdy, I saw Renegade Creation at the Sellersville Theatre and Ford was running from a pedal board straight into the tan Dumble and it was superb. I have an HRM 100 watt and I find it very bright. I would love to tone that aspect way down and avoid using any lator type thing. Are some of these mods posted here? Thanks.

There is one Ceriatone Dumble clone which is supposed to be not too bright, that's the regular OTS, but it looks like everybody is buying the brighter ones (S&M, HRM and FM50)...? I tend to like bright guitars but I hate bright amps.

Thanks. I don't really play with distortion. When I bought the amp I was looking for a sound like a Fender that was raised on a farm. The 100 watt HRM is a little too much for me. I just got a Red Plate combo and that is more like the sound I am after. Henry at Red Plate said he thinks Ceriatones are good amps. I would like to steer this amp in that direction if that is possible. Any suggestions ? Thanks.

Well, I have nothing about the amp, I'm actually quite interested, there are just a few things I'd like to know. I know somebody else who has just received his amp too, and he says that without anything in the loop it's totally unusable. As you have a DD-3 in the loop, I was wondering if you would be kind enough to take it out of the loop to tell us what the result.
That's not to diss Nik's amp, as the original design is supposed to react like that too...actually that's more to confirm that the original design has been indeed followed faithfully.

Olrik,

I pulled the delay out of the loop. It is a bit brighter, but nothing that is adeal breaker. The delay does add another layer.  Besides, tone controls on guitars are there for a purpose. I use Sprague .022 orange drop caps in my guitars, and I can really work the pickups with them. 300K vol pot, 500k tone. Especially the bridge pickup. Roll the tone knob back to 5 and it grinds better than a dancer at Rick's caberet. I think this amp is a winner. i am trying to put together some sound clips. As soon as I do I will post them. The settings I am using, initially, are:
Preamp: vol 3,
Bright: off
Deep: on
Rock setting
Treble: 4
Mid: 7
Bass:6

Overdrive: Level 4, Ratio:5

Pwr amp: Master3.5,
Presence: 4

OD Trim:  11 o'clock

Thanks a lot Brian, looking forward to the clips.

Hey Brian and the rest, I'm that local guy ;D

Please do check out the couple of clips recorded with a Zoom H1 (set VERY off axis) of the modded FM with the C-Lator and a 1x12 cab with a G12-65H.

a) Impressions - using an Ibanez AM400 with PAFs, pretty much set to Robben Ford's settings (with all bright switches turned off), I did try to play the Brother and some Carlton licks but only from memory (no practice) and then a bunch of chords while chatting with a buddy and my toddlers.

b) Crunchy - using the Ibby again but somehow the recording was a little more dark, I think the Zoom was shifted even More off axis.

c) Impromptu Minor Blues - using a Tele with Fred Stuart Blackguard pickups with the FM set real clean. The first solo was the tele and then I comp a bit then ended with the final longer solo. My pal was playing a Strat into a Princeton Reverb amp.

http://www.myspace.com/559828367

And oh, for all the clips I had a Strymon El Cap Tape Delay in the C-Lator loop with the mix set low.

Man, I like what I hear...thanks for the clips.