Hello All,

 Well I am currently an owner of a Overtone HRM Bluesmaster and I figured I will write a review on it.This is for all the people that are looking to buy a Ceriatone OT and can't make up their mind.

P.S. If you have an Overtone (any kind) please try to write a detailed review on it here so people will know what there getting in to, You Dig?

Well to start I would like to say that my amp was not built from Ceriatone.It was made by Jon Mernyck of Mill Creek Audio who's also has a reputation for making Mic Pre-Amps for recording alike.To say a few words about him would be: Great to work with,very understanding and open to new ideas as well as having some of his own.

   My amp is an Overtone HRM Bluesmaster 100w, 4x6l6, 3x12ax7 Twin Reverb Power xformer/choke, Fender tone-master Output xformer

    Slightly modified to be not as bright as the orig.+ the OD was also changed
to be a little more like the standard HRM

Amp is very Open,Clear,and when people say that that d-style amps are a musical
extension of your hands they are not kidding at all,people say they are fender like ,but they really feel like a different animal to me.


The amp was easy to let me dial in a clean tone,I am using one older Ev-12-L
in a closed back cabinet .

The cleans:

Are huge when paired with the right speaker and have the most refined Bass I have ever heard in an amp.It is very Chimey bell like tones but it feels Hi-def almost.Clean channel note separation is also very nice and revealing. I usually set my Pre-amp volume at 4-5 with the bright switch engaged with a Strat and all I do for humbucking guitars is turn the bright switch push/pull to OFF.The Clean Master is set to suit my surrounding.

The Pre-amp Boost (PAB):

   Toggled via the foot switch and can make your volume cut right threw the mix (plus is seems to add a slight high end while not sounding ice-pickey and retaining most of its mid roundness)-very useful.Also there is a footswitch to change channels.

ROCK/JAZZ switch:
     
   I have kept it in the rock position for the most part.It seems to act like a clean boost unveiling some of the mid-range/bass/ and treble.In addition to that there is a MID BOOST and a DEEP switch,the MID BOOST switch has remained in the on position and the Deep switch can be turned to suit the guitar you are playing i.e. Humbucker OFF ,Single Coil ON.

The EQ (tone-stack)

    Can be very sensitive and should be adjusted with knowledge that a subtle change can make a big impact. My T,M,B are all set under 12:00
and it remains to have the characteristics described above. So all that said, adjust
with attention to detail.

OD Side:

  Things can be complicated until you get to know the sound you are are trying to achieve. With the OD side,setting the Trimmer is a crucial part of the equation and should be moved slightly to taste. There is also Trimmers for the OD for T.M.B. and should also be set to taste. From my experience so far the OD is unlike any other I've played and definitely is very expressive.You will learn to play different to accommodate to these amps and like I said before they feel like they are an extension of yourself.

Before setting trimmers you should:

 HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF TUBE AMPS.
      They contain HIGH voltage and you can be Hurt or even KILLED!!

    My Trimmer is set just before 9:00 and then I turn the drive setting between 6-7 and set the OD master(level) depending on how much gain I desire and how loud I want to play. The HRM Bluesmaster has a TON of Gain available and can be used to suit multi-genres.

      I use a Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail in the loop without a D-lator until I
get one and it sounds fine,keep in mind I am just using small 6 inch patch cords and setting it on top of my amp.

The Effects loop can not handle long cable runs and multiple effects units without a dumbleator (buffer/imp.-match),

Why?
The amp is expecting to see the high level that the pre-amp pushes out, unmolested, back to the power amp.  A small patch cord can be run in the loop without a d-lator to smooth out the highs.

The amp works great with Pedals,  In addition It Is really Quiet!!!



  Overall I still have some learning to do,but the amp is GREAT so far.I think
It will be a good tool for expressing myself musically and its nice to not to have to fight with the amp to get the goods at lower volumes too. Probably the most usable master volume I have ever used.

Pick your amp accordingly to what you want,do your homework,get a builder to build it for you so you can get exactly what you want.If you don't like it get mods done to cature to your style.There are many mods that can be done to this amp, so you have to know that after your amp is done and you have had brief expierience with it. If you  think it is not what you had in mind,find someone you can filter your ideas,do some R&D and get some mods,Don't give up on your amp.Some people expect to have instant dumble Mojo and quit.The Ots is only a building block to the equation........The rest is your fingers and ears

The amp takes some getting used to but when you get it dialed you will be impressed from the minute you flick the standby off!!