Ceriatone Forum

I just finished building a HRM and a C-Lator that I received a week ago; actually, not quite, the cabinet is arriving on Monday.  I am amazed by the quality of the kit and by the support that Nik provides....  I thought I would make this a new hobby and build more kits, but upon listening to my new amp, I think I won't use anything else for a while.... this is a great amp! 

This has been a fun, but not relaxing experience... could not sleep until completed! ;-)  For any new builder like me, here are some advises I picked from others and that I discovered from wrong doing.

1. Start with the C-Lator;  I did the reverse, but this would have helped me to start simple and then apply the learnings to the beast.
1.5  Build a stand.... this is invaluable for working on the unit, saves time and protect your investment.
2. Despites pictures that show pots mounted rigth at the beginning, resist the temptation to install any knob until everything that go underneath is installed. (start with the fuse holder, then the voltage regulator, the tube mounts and everything that go on the bottom).
3. There is a nice way  of mounting the input jacks... mount them outside the chassis, solder everything and bring them back in.
4. Do not install the trannies until there is nothing else that you can do.  You avoid a mess of wires and the weight when manipulating the chassis.
5. What worked for me is that I downloaded Ceriatone pictures as well as the pictures from James Alber, CaptainBackfire and PeeMonkey on my iPad... I refered to that for the entire build process
6. Use Ceriatone's forum... I did not have to ask questions, but answers are here for almost anything. (Like the reversed manual OD switch behavior that apparently is the way it is).
7. Do not apply the half power mod.... I tried it and as I read on various forums, this is not worthwhile (does not lower the volume much and reduce tonal characteristics).  Removing the switch all together would make much more space to work inside and enable a cleaner setup.  I finally removed it and inserted a plug in the hole.
8. Inventory your parts on a sheet before you start... this helps avoiding mistakes and saves time of searching for parts (note that I succeeded to mix up a 22M resistor with a 1M one --- must have been tired --- and I discovered that at the very end of the build)
9. For the two boards that are installed right on the bottom (with an insulation board), I installed a nylon washer on each attachment point to act as a spacer between the two boards.

Thanks to all that contribute to the forum!

Michel

https://picasaweb.google.com/117432438929768760203/MichelSCeriatoneHRM?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLL866_VopzgmwE&feat=directlink

Congratulations!  Successfully building one of these amps as your first amp build is quite an achievement.

That looks awesome.

Please post more pics especially when the cab arrives. Congrats. I know the feeling.

_ Wait why is your chassis like bare metal? Aren't the new ones in white?
_I like your thread locker what was it?

First, thanks for posting detailed pictures of your build process.

The newer new ones are Zinc plated... no need to scratch paint off anymore as the chassis is conductive :)

I used blue Loctite on most screws.  For those that I did not, I just applied nail varnish to identify those nuts. (I think some have both Loctite and varnish).

Initially,  had a background noise problem.  I spend a couple of hours inspecting all my solders, the parts, the wiring, wearing nitrile gloves and poking with a ceramic screwdriver.  The only thing I found was the chassis being microphonic between V1 and V2... I replaced an EH 12AX7 and the noise went away...   :)

I'm glad to be of help man.

Kudos for making your first amp with no problems whatsoever.

Oh thats so cool you don't have to think about the paint scraping. I actually thought this would take a lot of Nik's production time to do it right. Its also cool that my amp now is like a rare transition color. Hahah its like "Oh I got a '12 white chassis OTS".

@ the OP

first build???  Amazing!

Thanks!

First guitar amplifier build, but not first project... I built a series of guitar pedals; from plans and from kits.  I also built and aicraft with a fairly complex electrical system (http://mthobby.pcperfect.com/ch601).

You can build anything to to do anything after you make a flying machine Kudos sir.