Ceriatone Forum

I am thoroughly convinced that these OTS amps are alive and have moods. Anyone else ever get that feeling?

Glad to hear I'm not the only one !

I had to make mine sit in a corner for an hour in time out... I said I'd turn it back on when it had a better attitude.

My BM is very happy til I plug the strat in. The cleans are beautiful, but I still can't dial in the OD channel with the strat. I was thinking maybe it was single coils, but the Dano sounds great. Garr

I probably will get shouted at for this  :P but I find I need to use some kinda of booster or tubescreamer pedal   :-[ to get a nice smooth OD sound with my strat  :-\

It's a shame because my tubescreamer clone is very noisey....

I think my amp gets travel sickness, it seems to respond different at every gig I play!

I have to do the same thing! I use either my boosta grande, tube screamer, or fulltone 2 .If I turn the drive up enough to get a good overdrive goin it gets way too compressed sounding. My strat seems to have particularly weak pickups in it, kinda like how SRV's lenny guitar was, bright and sparkly and beautiful for clean tones, but not so much for OD, and not just with the BM either. I may try some hotter pickups in her, maybe some Fralin vintage hots or blues specials.

I've been using a variac lately, even at gigs. It will make the supply voltage consistent making the amp's tone more consistent. No wonder why Robben Ford uses one.

I was thinking along those same lines, and thinking about getting a voltage regulator. Also, since I was bored, I switched the power tubes back to the JAN Phillips 6L6WGB's, switched the sag resistor on, which i'm starting to treat more like a hi/lo switch like on the univalve amps, to drop  the plate voltages down to 430 like I usually do to run those tubes and i got "my" sound again. They really tighten the bass up and accentuate the mids nicely. I keep going back to em, so I think I'll prolly stick with em. Also, I'm sure that the voltage drop throughout the amp affects things as well and helps get the sound I want. Who knows? I'm just glad I got it back :)

I can get a fatter tone with my Strat if I use the clean channel on my Bluesmaster with a boost from a Zendrive- still haven't managed to get a sound with Strat and O/D channel that cuts through in a live situation as good.

Using a strat for the first time in my life ('96 American Standard) and it sings with the Bluesmaster.  The amp is 100w, don't know if that has anything to do with it.  However, I did find that the pickups weren't driving as hard as I wanted them, which I expected.  There are 2 good options for this.  One is to use a line buffer or a clean boost pedal at the beginning of your pedal chain to fatten up the pups.  I have a Smart People Factory Ego Boost (which I think it out of production), but a Keeley Katana or Analogman boost would work really well.  Or, you could try this:
http://this1smyne.com/shop/mb-mini-buffer/
Dan at T1M is fantastic and his stuff is really really cheap, all things considered. 

The other option is to increase the level knob on your compressor, if you are using one.  Either way works well and I've gotten good results with them.


S

Well, I played the strat all morning long, thru the BM, my sovtek, and my ampeg tried boosting the compressor and the tube screamer etc, and I've decided that after two years, I'm just not a strat guy. I went and traded it in on an Epi Les Paul standard. The strat was great for cleans, but I just can't get the OD sounds I wanted out of it. I played les pauls most of my life anyway, so it's kinda like coming home

I can relate to that - I prefer my LP too but I keep a Strat for 3 big reasons - Jimi, SRV and E flat tuning - nothing beats the sound of a loud snarling cleanish neck pickup on a 6L6 amp that's ready to explode ;) ;)

I feel the same way, that's why I picked up the strat again. I may build a guitar with just middle and neck single coil pickups just for that purpose :) but then again I used to play jimi and srv and tune down a half step on a les paul too. :)

Out of my 5 guitars my Tele is the only one I keep in standard tuning - the others are kept in E flat - helps our singer but I just love E flat anyway :)

I'm not a strat guy either, but strangely enough today my Eric Jihnson strat was sounding killer through the HRM-50!

Related to another thread, I've been digging having the OD trim control on a remote box with a big dial so I can dial in OD level with my foot!

Moody, yes!  In a good mood today for sure!
Sean

Yeah I think my OTS (customised by Erwin) has "moods". One moment is has all the nice high frequencies the other they seem to have disapeared. I always blame myself and think I'm "hearing things". Good to know other have the same feeling.

I wonder if a Variac would help in Holland. We have 220 volts 50Hz. The networks is in good shape and I live in a new house.
I have done gigs where even the light bulbs seem to have a life of their own ;-)
Variac is not that expensive. maybe I should try it.

I'm rather convinced that it is my interpretation of sounds that varies.  With the amp in the same room and with the same guitar, settings, etc. some times the tone is very pleasing and other times I'm making adjustments.  I think it's similar to how our tastes for the same foods can vary. 

I am a medical doctor and had to learn in much detail about our mechanisms for hearing and the neurotransmitters involved.  When you hear a pleasing sound from your guitar and amp it gives you energy because certain neurotransmitters are released (in particular - dopamine).  How many times have you played late into the night and are not tired?  This is similar to the good feelings that long distance runners get with production of enkaphalins and endorphins.  When dopamine and other neurotransmitters are released our bodies need some time to replenish or recycle them.  This is the primary variation that affects how pleasing our setup sounds at the time. 

Incidently, the street drugs that are addictive involve these same neurotransmitters.  After taking methamphetamines, for example, one's dopamines supplies are depleted in about a day or so.  Then this person feels terrible and can only think how much better it would feel to be on the drug again.  I play guitar, listen to music, and exercise because I enjoy it and I feel good in a healthy way. 

Psycho acoustics are involved but also wall voltages!
Since the powertransformer is basically a step up transformer(voltage wise) lower or higher wall voltages can make the voltage onthe v1 preamp tube go 20 volts higher or lower.
This is very noticable. Lower voltages wil give a more dark and compressed sound. High voltages will give a stiff and brighter sound.
Fe. here in the EU wall voltages can go in one day from 220v to 240 v. The B+ can be  420v@220v wall voltage.
The B+ can be 460v@240 wall voltage.
No mumbo jumbo but measurable and very noticable soundwise!

Wall voltages are important. I always wanted to try Furman power regulator/conditioner but never had a chance. It is very expensive and I don’t want to spend 1000 pounds on it before trying it properly.
Is anyone using it? Your thoughts please.
Only variac won’t work because it will change voltage up or down depending on wall voltage change. 

I'm wondering if that's why I like mine better in Sag mode. It drops my B+ down to around 430, which should darken it, but since I'm running the 6L6WGB's, everything is a little brighter and the mids are more pronounced and the bass is tightened up, so the perception is it is brighter, especially on breakup. Hmm

I got the impression from Boldaslove's comment it does work?

It only works if you measure the voltage of the variac and set it for the right voltage; During a show you can ask your roadie to monitor this voltage and correct it if necessary. ;D

Very true. In *most* cases it would need to be adjusted up at most venues due to the load of all the equipment at the venue

I've had great success getting a killer strat sound on my OTS however...it does require me to change many of my normal HB settings. The first thing I do is boost the input gain.

I swapped the normal input pot for a push/pull bright switch. Also added a 3 position toggle for the bright switch. It allows me to completely remove the bright cap from the circuit or add two different cap values. This along with the push/pull gives me a bunch of different variables by combining the settings to tame or accentuate the brightness which really helped in quickly switching between my strats/teles and HB equipped guitars. Kind of difficult to do live of course but I've got it down to a science....LOL.

I bough this cheap power conditioner, it's working fine and good thing about it is, that it has this voltmeter on it...

(http://freeweb.siol.net/mcinku/images/guitars/Rack.jpg)

...the idea was, that with volmeter I can at least follow the correlation between the wall voltage and tone I have.

...but the jury is still out on that one... I think that ear fatigue or even the way I feel at times, has more to do with that.
...but what do I know.
 ???

That's the type I'm looking at getting. I had one back when I had some rack gear back in the day. They seem to work

Does this thing keep the voltage level at 220? or does it only show the voltage?

I saw there's a Phonic 9000E. Is that the same?

This one only shows the voltage and current consumption...
... I guess Phonic is something similar.

I can say that Samson is a good piece of HW... I opened it up and it's not a toy. It has some serious iron in there and it looks really sturdy.
I don't know anything about Phonic...

Sorry for my ignorance but I thought the whole point was to even out the voltage and making sure it always is 220V?
I sometimes feel voltage drops changes the sound. But I must confess this is based on knowledge just on gut feeling.

You are right but a device which keeps the voltage at 220V is not cheap... that's why I decided that at least I should have a voltmeter. This way I can at least see what's going on with the wall voltage.

Exactly, I would've owned a true regulator long ago if t wasn't that even a mid level one is in the $700 to $1000 range. Like this one. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/P1800AR/ (http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/P1800AR/)

yeah, they are quite pricey, that's why i don't have one. I just have a line filter power strip, that's about it.

Oh, popped the 6L6WGB's out and put the TAD 6L6WGC's back in, turned the Sag off, and biased it back to a more D-Style rating of 40ma. I miss that saginess and crunchiness at times, but overall the amp sounds like it's supposed to (quick attack, more singing sustain, less dark, etc) and it has got to be safer. I guess i'll have to wait until i get the cathode bypass switch installed to explore the saggy side with less fuss ;)

i would try a 240/240 power inverter regulator (australia uses 240V) as used with many generators to regulate the output and keep it constant.

they are much cheper than power conditioners and the output Voltage is filtered and fixed

you get them on ebay for about $200

have a look at item 390339897302

fab

So, turns out my BM isn't moody at all. Turns out it was the brand new set of Monster Cable "Rock" Series i have been using off and on. I noticed by accident, because i had one plugged into my guitar then into a boost pedal, then a cable that i have had for literally 20 years from the pedal to the amp. I wanted to take the boost pedal off, so pulled it out of the line and then plugged my guitar in with the older cable. My dound was noticeably brighter and fuller. I kept using it for a few days, and sure as heck, my tone was very consistent. So, i took the Monsters back and traded em in for two Vox Coil cables, having heard nothing but good things about from my buddies. I gotta say, those Vox Coil cables live up to their hype, and I had change back!

What's strange is that i have two less expensive Monster Cables going from my c-lator out to my effects (10 feet each) and there is no drop in tone from those at all. I even plugged in straight from the guitar to the amp with em, and they didn't have any tone drop like their more expensive counterparts. Only thing i can figure is that the "Rock" series is for more "modern" rock sounds that don't need much high end, or maybe better suited for a light bodied guitar or something, who knows.

Anyway, i'm glad to say my amp isn't as moody as i thought :)

Gregg

I actually found mine to be great with a strat. I just decided I really wasn't a strat guy. I actually made that decision back in 1992, but I figured I'd give em one more shot ;)

the HRM is counter intuitive in settings ......for a les paul i tend to back off the input gain and leave the bright inactive
for a strat...i wind up the input gain and pull out the bright switch....and also back off the mids.... the amp somehow responds better to singles like this....it shines and is ever so nasty

Regarding power conditioners, Guys, try the Furman m8x-2.  It's a $50 power conditioner in a rack space.  Right now, it just sits on the amp.  Really does a lot to even out the waves.