Finally got around to building my Stray Cat that I bought months ago. I was renovating and then moving so I held off till I got settled in the new place. This is my 2nd Stray Cat build and probably my 10th Ceriatone build so I am getting the hang of it I think by now.
Well I finished it and then got bored so this is what I did.

I removed the EDGE and turned it into a Tone pot same as on the Spitfire layout. The wire from the Edge then goes to a 220K resistor to earth.

Then I took out the stand bye switch and fitted it to the back of the amp in 1 of the 2 spare holes and in its place I added a PPIMV

Then I took out the half power switch and added a Hall VVR

from there I decided that the EDGE pot was a must so I placed it next to the standbye switch in the other spare hole next to the stand bye switch.

On the clean channel I strapped a .022uf over the .0015 to thickin it up a little and later made this switchable by making the Volume pot a push pull. I did the same to the drive by adding a push pull to the bass pot and strapping a 0.10uf over the other .0015uf that goes to the Gain pot.

Last move was to replace the clean tone pot with the same value while making it an on off pot so I could by pass the tone if I want to.

I may add some switches like on the Dumble next but this is it for now. All up it is a more versatile amp, much more controllable and has a greater range of tones. 

Special thanks To Jamie my friend, Mal at Evatco and Nik for help and advice along the way.....

Thanks Drew for the reply, I am thinking about the effects loop but you have to have 2 for this amp. I use a G System so I can use that to choose what channel I want to send the signal to instead of an A/B switch. Nik did mention that the original Cathode resistors were too hot and suggests 330R 10w.

ANYBODY ELSE TINKERED WITH THIS AMP

Have any of you guys done and decent mods on the Stray Cat like Tone control, Swapping resistor values,Channel Switching or Effect Loop. Please share,
Regards
Peter

Thanks for the tip. I registered it on amp garage and I have a lead already,
Kind Regards
Peter

http://www.aikenamps.com/Zener2.pdf

Hi All,
I have modded my 50 watt Dumble to a HRM and then gone further with adding 2 valve sockets and running 4 x 6V6 tubes. I have it Biased low as I am getting 480 Volts across pin 3 and earth (Tube installed). Can any one out there show me by way of illustration how to lower the plate voltage. I have thought of using a 5w 50v Zener but I am not sure if 5w is high enough or just where to connect it. I was thinking maybe connect it where the wire comes of the 22uf 500V cap that goes to pin 6.
Any help is appreciated.....

Thanks for the explanation. I have a std OTS and I am about to convert it to a HRM so I might try your mod at the same time. I play a Suhr with Single coils so it should be a help.

Can you give and explanation of what the mod has done for your sound?

I am amazed Nik, that you wrote about the recognition that you now have and with this new found recognition you can offer amps "other than clones". I bought one of your kits a while back and as far as I was concerned you had all the recognition that you needed right their and then. I think I have done about 7 or 8 since then and put friends onto your stuff. You know all the mods that are needed to improve on the old amps and you are more than capable of building your own name brand amps that would blow the big names out of the water. I will never buy a fender production line amp over one of your amps again.
Go hard Nik and get your Ceriatone models out there. You have built the reputation and the people they come.

OK so a great friend of mine has a Voodoo V-Plex amp with all the good gear in it. Made in the USA etc etc. Well we did an A/B test tonight against my newly built AFD#35 and we both new what amp was the better one. It was not even a close race but very noticeable that the Ceriatone AFD was the clear winner. Go Nik.

Hey Todd, just go for it. I did and I am not sorry. It sounds awesome. I had some trouble with the balance between the clean and the AFD channel but I got it sorted with a couple of resistors and some help from Nik. Oh, and it is a bit more than just a mod to the plexi, Major mod maybe a better discription...

Regards
Peter

Has anybody built one of these yet or purchased one? I am just curious.

I will have one built by next week (Late October) and can hardly wait to see how it compaires with my other Ceriatone builds

Regards
Peter

HaHa, so you are him, the 6L6 Prinze Tone man, Well done, I bet it sounds awesome. I have an OTS special with a C Later all in the 1 head unit and the 6L6 amps do sound great but I am so happy to add the 6V6 Prinze Tone amp to my collection. Nice playing by the way on your clip.

Cheers
Peter

Hey Vim, (SNAKEMAN)
I did a Dumble head in snakeskin and it is a great look. I have the next post above yours and I have a couple of questions for you. Does your NFB control seem to make much difference from one extreme to the other and did you have many vibration problems when you have the volume cranked. I am slowly eliminating my vibrations. Great amp though...
Cheers

Peter

No Worries Mcinka,

To any one thinking about this build, This is a very under rated amp I think. It has all the tone that you could ever want in a smaller wattage amp and is very controllable regarding the volume but also kicks in when you wind it up and the Tweed goes to the next level. I would highly recommend this build to any one serious about good tone.

Regards
Peter

Hey mate, read the bottom 2 lines of my original post. It says that the VOX badge was on there because it was a VOX extension cab and has since been removed.
Cheers
Peter