Hi folks,

I am a new member but a fellow DIY enthusiast. I have built a couple Weber kits and the Hammond Firefly little 1W amp and too many guitar pedals to count. I just wanted to say Hi and express my thanks in advance to the Ceriatone forum and community.

I just ordered two overtone amps from Nik. One of each, the special and the HRM. I am having trouble deciding which models to build because of the different versions listed. Can anyone point me in the right direction as the the differences between each of the models. I know there is probably multiple other threads discussing this.

Thanks again,

Scott

Those are two great places to start. I could only choose one to start and went with the HRM, which is a great amp with many sonic possiblilities. However, I will always be curious to own/play a straight up OTS. In your case, beyond what you'll have, venturing into the 183 territory is something to consider. Personally, I would like to find out what one based around EL34's and the precision power supply would be like.

I did manage to order before the cutoff date. That is what inspired my order. Before I built my first amp I wanted to build an Overtone but knew I was way over my head. I started with a 5e3 deluxe and a marshall 36watt from Weber and when I saw Ceriatone was going to be changing it up I knew this was time.

I ordered two kits. A big investment on my part. I play all types of music and gig actively with jazz groups, a top 40 band, and teach during the week. I guess I am just struggling with what "series" to build.

I was thinking a stock Overtone special and then maybe one with el34's? I'm not sure because I do not know what the sound is going to end up being. I have watched a ton of youtube videos but I guess I was just looking for some wisdom that maybe some of you had.

I go back and forth between single coils and humbuckers. My main guitars are a 70's strat with noisless pickups and a RI 58 les paul (warren haynes) with burstbuckers. So I know that doesn't help too much hahaha. But, I guess I will just have to experiment.

They arrived today so I guess I will build the stock overtone and the HRM model. Wish me luck!

Hey

1. Yes the bus bar is floating and held by the connections! it will be very secure once you have them all soldered. I actually just did mine on my HRM yesterday.

2. Not sure about numbering system but more lettering. There are 2 of each, so in other words where you see A at one point a wire will go from it to the A at another point and so on. The way to route the wire is on you or you can check pics at Ceriatone site.  Edit: ok just checked layout for your OTS50 and it does have a numbering system of some sort for most every wire. Not sure what it is and would have to say it is unnecessary for the build, I built the FM model and did not need to use any such system if that helps. Probably a way for Nik to help troubleshoot over the email with someone ( check the connection at B-14 )

3.No build guide but on my first one the build video http://www.overtonehrm.com/
helped out quite a bit.

4. If you look at the layout where the wires land at the level, ratio and master pots you will notice there is a little circle where the wire splits off. that is the shield and anywhere you see that it is to be a shielded cable. Take wire x for example, at the other end where it meets the board the shield is cut off. The shield is only grounded at one end! Not at pins 2 and 7 but where they meet the terminal strip the wire labeled A and B would be the ungrounded side of the shielded cables.

5. The cliff jacks are such that when jack is inserted the ground is lifted. They are called shorting jacks but they actually open the circuit when jack is inserted. The layout is correct. Make sure you wire exactly as pictured. Check the pics on the ceriatone website as well, they are very helpful for doing this build.

6. Not sure about Rob's build where are you looking at this? Not looking at your layout I beleive the green connections you speak of are the shields which will be grounded and the center lead of coax's  goes to  othere terminals on pots.

7. I had trouble understanding how to lead dress the RG-174 on my first build, there is a thread from me asking about it. Do a search here ( RG-174 ) it should pop up and if I recall there was very good advice on it.

Watch that video I linked and then check pics at Ceriatone site and if you have further questions feel free to ask

Let me know if anything here doesn't make sense and I will try to explain further

One last thing, before reposting in this thread, start a new thread labeled need help with new OTS50 build. This will help future builders, atleast if Nik ever brings back the kits

Todd

One more thing I will add is to start on the outside and work your way in. In other words try to get everything done that you can without the preamp and PS bd's in yet. Especially the input jacks and mini toggles, then add the relay bds. This is just my way of doing this and others may have built these the opposite but I find it much easier this way. Let me rephrase much less difficult.

Todd

The other numbers on the layout are just for identification purposes, so everyone knows exactly which wire is being discussed.

I found the wire-coloring confusing until I realized not to take it too literally.
What's this 5 inches of blue for???  Whatever you want.  A blue wire in the layout could be green in the photos, for example.  I thought each color had some specific role, but no, if Nik doesn't have blue, he'll give you purple.

Another tip mentioned elsewhere on this forum - don't cut-to-length the wires from the OT to the tubes, until AFTER you've connected them and turned the amp on for a test. If the amp squeals like a pig when you power up, reverse those wires. For some people, the layout is backwards.
SoundPerf says it has to do with the phase of the PT.

Other than that, if you follow the layout and photos carefully, you'll be fine.  Other than the OT wire reversal, my first build went perfect - and I have a lot less electronics experience than you.

As for how the amps respond to humbuckers vs single coil - it does seem the amps like humbuckers better - at least at bedroom levels.  My OTS sounds a lot different cranked up at gigs than at home.  At home, my humbucker guitar sounds fab, but when I try it at gigs, I always end up back on the Strat.  Most of the UTube vids are at lower levels.

Something else to be aware of, to get max clean headroom, you don't turn the MV up full and the preamp down, the way you would on most amps. Max clean headroom is achieved with MV at 11 o'clock or so, and the Volume at about 2 o'clock.

These amps are quite sophisticated and complex compared to most others.  It takes some experimenting to get the best out of them.

2 more pics + another tip, use Loctite blue threadlocker on all nuts and bolts to keep everything tight for the long run.

Todd