has anyone tried any wooden knobs?
e.g. at http://www.allparts.uk.com/online-shop/guitar-bass-parts/knobs/wood-horn-knobs-c-277_1_91_102.html, or search on ebay

I'm thinking these could be nice
But then again, they have no dot or pointer!

my amp case is all wood (see pic)

thread is broken

pics!

I've heard that US voltages are much less stable than in the UK, which is pretty good usually, but our village has occasional days where the voltage collapses to 130v or so, only a few times though.

I have not tried any so far. I would assume that if the voltage was too high, and this unit brought it down, then amp would take the power it needed, I can't see how the unit would have a reason to contrain current.

My main thought is not variation, but in "do all amps in the UK get too many volts?"
Mind you, once they have been biased here, I assume they would be OK anyway

Cheers
Tone

Oak, with bird's eye maple and walnut

In the EU, mains voltage is supposed to be 220V:

......The EU decided, in its wisdom, to harmonise the UK standard mains voltage of 240v AC and the European standard of 220v AC, at 230v AC. Fine in theory but the costs of replacing all the supply equipment to deliver 230v was uneconomic (there being no advantage whatever in changing, other than ‘harmonisation’). So to avoid accusations of failure to harmonise, they simply fiddled with the legal voltage limits, nothing actually changed!.
The law now states 230v +10% -6%, thereby allowing the European 220v system to stay at 220v and UK to stay at 240v, yet both appear to be harmonised!
...............

UK amp makers seem to go with 240V, but amps from anywhere else sold here are set at 220V
I have read that most UK houses are supplied with 245v. I just checked mine - dead on 245v But I know it varies as demand changes, especially during peak periods

I've wondered how much this affects the tone.

Just now a company has just launched a product giving a domestic version of what's been used by large companies for a long while:
It's installed at the mains RCD board, and changes the house voltage to 220V (or less if you want to tweak it), and is constant.
This is sold to reduce household bills by 10%, it costs £300. http://www.vphase.co.uk/http://www.vphase.co.uk/

So if I got this, would amps from other countries sound better, woudl UK-made amps sound worse. They should at least be more consistent across the day I assume?

Cheers
Tone

unusually I sold the gt10 for more than I paid for it. For a Multi-FX, the Carl Martin Quattro is the best I've seen/heard, I prefer the older Tremolo version
My current theory is:
I've been shown stuff in guitar shops so many times that sounded good, but 2-3 weeks later, I didn't like
Therefore I try to buy at prices where I lose little or nothing if I dislike the gear.
I make some exceptions for kit that is impossible to get used or reduced. Half my Ceriatones were bought used. The ODS models hold their value the best.
This way I can be more adventurous with buying but really test them in my own time.
e.g. I bought a Fuchs ODS that was good value used, liked it, and bought the BM50 based on that, with the Celestion Gold, the BM50 was better for me, so I moved the Fuchs on at no loss to me.
It's working well for me, I have a non-stop gear beauty contest, and it's gelling into a set of gear I find rewarding to play.

Ideally I'd have a guitar shop that loaned me stuff, but there are no UK shops that sell a good range of boutique or replica amps.

 

The GT10 was the worst FX I ever bought, it trashes the tone even when you switch everything off on it.
Now you have a really pro boutique amp, you'll need better quality FX I am afraid, look at Xotic, Carl Martin, EHX, TC, Way Huge, etc
try your amp on a good warm clean sound, put the GT10 in line and try again. Yack. It ruined my Twin, never mind my top amps.

Picking 2 amps to combine is like telling someone else what favourite sandwich they can like, there's too many combinations.
Try a few

Major advice from me is: get a proper Pro ABY pedal, mine is UK-made (Twinstomp), and has a transformer to decouple one output, otherwise you can get a lot of ground loop issues. Also transparent sounding buffering on it is essential

 

erm at present most used ones:
BM50 (excellent blues/rock/jazzy, John Mayer, ),
DC30  (excellent blues/rock/jazzy) everyone must try one at some point,
Victoria Tweed Twin  (excellent blues/rock/jazzy distorts roughly for me due to Jensen P12Q, but I lke it clean/saturating anyway),
ME4 (like a double 5x3)  (excellent blues/rock very tight sound and clear, similar to Victoria in a way, but more compression and bass),
Independence  (excellent rock - class A El34s + unusual crunch),
ME3 (5E3 ++, nice clean and saturated),
JTM45  (excellent blues/rock/jazzy, has been higher in my list, will be again),



TW is interesting, but I would buy many other amps first. Does a good Marshall sound, and is a feat of engineering, too Buzzy with stock valves for me (into marshall OD straight away)

Again depends on your style, but I will say this:
the classic models that everyone goes on about are classic for a reason.
All the models Nik builds have some appeal. The Dumbley ones are harder to find elsewhere and have a wide range. I sold my Fuchs after I got the BM50, since I preferred the BM50. Currently I rate the OTS50 lower than the Fuchs ODS
If you haven't got the cash the DZ30 is close to the DC30, but by the time you get the right speakers you may get near the cost of a used DC30 (which is my story, looking for a Matchless cab I found a cheap combo). For Matchless I would stick with the originals now, they are so well-tuned, and the speakers have their own sound.
 

Before I recommend anything, I would say: what type of guitars, amps and settings do you normally prefer?
please give a list of your current gear and opinions

e.g. I rarely go for full-on Marshall style OD, but I have amps to do that
I tend to just saturate the amps, or go into a light OD.

With a strat playing neck pickup blues sound, the BM50 is wonderful. I think there is nothing better. Speaker choice is critical though. For me, an Alnico is essential.
Sounds nearly as nice as my Victoria Tweed twin when clean.
Sounds good with all my humbuckers too.
GM50 is a dark amp though, even with Celestion Golds, with volume on 2 or 3 and master vol on 7 (of 10), treble and presence are on nearly max with any strat.
Gets brighter with higher vol & lower master vol though
The high gain sounds are not as Santana/rock as the OTS, and you cannot ride the sustain like on the OTS
For ne, it gets that cleaner Rev Gibbons / Dave Gilmour sound, so well that when I listen to their CDs, the tone sounds weak

I'm starting to think that the normal OTS50 is better suited to humbuckers. Certainly the OD/PAB work best with humbuckers and the bright switch on - PAB is very nasal with single coils and bright switch off

Before ordering, I just described my playing style to Nik, and said who I tend to sound like, and he recommended the BM50. If I said I play it a little more than I play my DC30, or any other amp I own, you'll get an idea of how good it is - but I like Fendery clean tones with a bit of saturation - high gain is something else.
Tell us who you sound like a mixture of, and what guitars you use

Anyway, as everyone says. either would be an excellent amp.
Personally I think the HRM is great, you can tweak the OD, which in my case means taming the extra treble that OD always brings
Also the ones HRM effectively have another way to balance the OD/clean vol, since the master vol is bypassed for OD

You should maybe think of the HRM Mk2, with the EL34s, which are always a bit rockier than 6L6s - probably gets a bit of JTM45 ?
tbh I am not sure I would call any Dumbley amp high-gain though

I tried a k-lator. It definitely lets you use FX in the loop without the usual treble loss.
I didn't like it as an amp-add-on, but I like to run amps quite loud anyway, and love the tone of the BM as-is. Usually I run the OD to be only a little grittier than the clean (which is just compressing a little the way I set up), so I am probably not the best candidate for a k-lator or c-lator anyway. The BM sounds fine without one, and as many have learnt, it's hardly simple to dial in the best tones when moving to a d-style amp the first time.

Cheers
Tone

The BM is a special amp, after 6 months, I kept it and discarded my Fuchs ODS - my recommended settings are:

turn all the controls to 12 o'clock (incl the OD trim)
then turn the treble and presence to  9/10
Turn bass to 3/10 - very important!!
Sounds great with strats
If you have a humbucker, pull the Vol to get it bright.

If you run the master vol at 3 o'clock, and the preamp vol at 9 o'clock, it runs cleaner, but a little darker, decide what you prefer

It sounds excellent with every guitar I own. Strats, Dark jazz archtops, LPs
If you run it through a dark speaker, it sounds poor - do not underestimate this - the BM needs the correct speaker, I prefer the Celestion Gold.
The Matchless 2x12 is good too - very bright.

btw, for anyone out there (not aimed at you Gregg) - with the BM you have entered into the territory of amps that are so good they make most FX pedals sound lame, and most Boss pedals come into this category, so for you Gregg, adding a GE-7 may damage the sound.
I have never bought a modern Boss pedal that did not spoil the sound of my good amps (incl GT10, RC50), I hope the older ones are better. I sold my old Boss pedals before I entered the boutique world (because they made my Ac10 Twin and Twin II sound lame)
You'll need to upgrade your pedals probably! Sorry! Or disconnect them.
Go to any store selling boutique amps and tell them you have a great amp, and tell them you want to try pedals that do not destroy the tone. Although it sounds like voodoo, they will know exactly what you mean, and have a shortlist: carl Martin, Way Huge, EHX Cathedral, TC delay, Xotic etc.

I just use a bit of Carl Martin delay and sometimes compression, more than that kills the tone for me.

Victoria used to fit the jensens, but Mark there says that although they are more authentic, they don't break up as nicely, and now he uses eminence legend 1258s (which I have not tried)

Any opinions?

Also which would best suit a 5e3?

Same here, no problems with the BM sounds, with no valve changes.
I have a BM and plain OTS, both stock. The BM is much better I think. It's true the BM is dark, but it only needs a Celestion Gold, and the treble and presence set high, especially if you run the Master volume high. I'd say that stock, with the original JJ valves, my BM is one of my top 3-4 favourite amps, and probably the one I play most. A very special amp.
All I want to change is to lower the PAB and reverse the deep switch.

have a look at the good manuals Nik has written and put on the Ceriatone site, but to summarise:
The HRM has an extra TMB tonestack after the OD, which is only active with the OD. So you can scoop mids or whatever after the OD. Personally I roll off the top a little, to make it no more harsh than the clean tone. So far I prefer the BM50 to the OTS50