also be aware that diff brands of speakers don't have identical impedance at all frequencies

I tried a Celestion Gold in parallel with a Fane AXA12 that was 1dB more sensitive, and the Gold was twice as loud - hence it must have been drawing much more from the amp.
If you have a 50w amp and a 30w and a 50w driver in parallel, check which runs the loudest (& take into account the sensitivities), you may put 40w into one driver without realising

where are the mic capsules from?
Any tips on mounting them?

Cheers
Tone

I have sold some bits, and therefore can buy more!

Is the megaboost useful?

Does the SAG switch make a big difference?

Cheers
Tone

I hope there is a way.

Trouble is, the reproductions Nik sells are based on those amp designs that, out of the thousands of designs made over 60 years, have proved the most enduring and popular with guitarists. These are almost all push-pull designs based on 6v6, EL34, 6L6, KT66 valves or similar.

I have bought 8 low-powered valve amps. Only 2 of them sounded good, none of them sound as good as a JTM45 or a DC30, etc
You are entering a market where there has not been 60 years of competition and refinement, most of them are the first or second low-powered design from the builder.

To me it is not yet proven that you can get the tone of the best high-powered amps with the low powered ones. They are getting closer, but there are  obstacles:
1. Each valve type has its own tone
2. push-pull sounds different, but doubles the power
3. We are still at the early experimental phase, there is not a 60 year legacy of low-powered designs from which we can cherry-pick our favourites

The best sounding low-powered amps I have owned have been:
RAT BH5 mod: Blackheart BH5 + valve rectifier + 6L6 mixed in parallel single ended with the EL84 + new OPT. Less than 10w, combines 6L6 sound with EL84 breakup
Wienbrock ME-1. Push-pull using one 6SN7 dual triode valve, plus basic tonestack + valve rectifier. Very low power (1w?).
Biggest problem to ovecome is having no tight bottom end, and getting the right speaker.

My conclusion of buying and selling a lot of amps recently is: the reason some models are so popular and are reproduced so often is that they are the designs that, by fluke or effort, were the ones where all the many factors in the amp came together to create something really, really special. You certainly can tell when you play one.
I've felt this way playing a Matchless DC30, a DZ30, JTM45, Twin II, BM50, Wienbrock ME3 and ME4, Vox AC15H1TV, AC10 Twin.

Whilst it's a fair objective to make a lower powered version of a classic, you have to accept that you're really throwing the dice again, and 98% of the time, you won't be fortunate enough to match the sound of the classic.
Using different valves (to the usual suspects), you're back to the 50s with Leo, trying combinations out for the first time - some designs will work, some not

btw biggest range of low power amps I've seen is a EVA (English Valve Amps), they do about 20-30 models of Marshall derivatives.
I tried 3 at a show, they sounded very good, but I can't pass judgement on any amp until I've had it to myself for a few days in a quieter situation

How can it have the same characteristics and be lower wattage?
Is it a 2x EL84 model?
If so, aside from all the other circuit elements, EL84s do not sound similar enough to EL34s
I just sold a Cornell 18w Plexi - to me it sounded nothing like the Ceriatone JTM45 I had bought subsequently, so I sold the Cornell. Lovely amp, but not the sweet spot of the sound in the JTM45

Cheers
Tone

I got an Expression with VVR and master volume
For me, the VVR adds nothing useful
The master vol works quite well
6v6s sounded lame when I tried them

As far as I can see, the magic of this amp is that it plays clean when you dial the guitar volume down. Not that much use as a trick for most people.
The tone is good, and if you like Marshalls it's a better version of that 80s sound than any Marshalls I've tried (which is not all of them)

I preferred to replace some of the preamp & PI valves to get a better tone and slower breakup
You will not be able to get a good tone from this amp quietly,unless you invest in an Isolation Cab
The THD hotplate and Marshall powerbrake were not good enough for me.
Some people like power scaling or VVR or hotplates. I bought them all. They all suck tone. tbh a dummy load and a speaker emulation from Amplitube 3 does better (I've tired this)
If you need quiet, get an ISO Cab.
The Randall one is not as quiet as you might want, but sounds great. The Axetrak is very quiet but needs a lot of EQ and doesn't work for everything.
Pretty easy to get one built for yourself though.

Cheers
Tone

I think the standard D-styles are though of as Fender-derived, but the OD is certainly not

I'd recommend the BM50, but it's the only Ceriatone one I've tried. The HRM trimmers work great for me, I dial the treble down to the same level it is with no OD

You should get Nik to build the Deep switch the right way up, his schematic is upside down.
The Half-power may be useful to you, I don't use it

I'd like another relay and footswitch for the mid boost, like Fuchs do, but I think it's too much of a change to get Nik to do that

I think Pickmaster tried 10 inch drivers.

Cheers
Tone

Nik

I'm more worried about when (or whether) you sleep, rather than where you are

I've never tried EVs, I'd be happy to try them. My cleanest drivers are the ones I use for my Twin II's 2x12: Eminence ME12-1008LE, which I think are not bright enough for the BM50. I used to swear by them as a clear way to expose the amp's real sound, but with a few 5E3-derived amps and a DC30, I've accepted that some amps can't work properly with a clean, clear driver. Certainly a Twin sounds better through a clean clear driver than through v30s

I agree that 100w is the one to get, I got 50w but I am not convinced it's worth it to lose that headroom, for a Marshall clone I would say 50W every time, but this is a fendery amp.
I assume the half-power is a triode switch, which although not ideal (better to lose 2 valve like the DZ30), is done very well on my BM50

I usually play straight into the amp, so not too keen on the FX loops.
If I do use FX, it's usually just a delay or compressor with true (or nearly true) bypass anyway, but I am mainly doing recording and adding FX later

On speakers I'd say:
Like the amps themselves, you can get a shortlist of people's favourites, but you'll need to try them out to find yours.
If you know few people with good gear, you may have to buy more than you need and sell items on, but it's worth it.
If the EVs are bright, I have no doubt they could work well, and Celestion Golds do too. You can never tell until you personally try it

On a side note.
When you have an excellent amp (e,g, the BM, a DC30, etc), and find the speakers you like best, you then reach a great but horrible realisation that almost all the solos by your favourite guitarists on CD sound like the amp was lame, and that the amp you have sounds way better. OK, the recording, mixing and squashing onto CD doesn't help, but we really have such excellent gear these days that it's sad we can't take it back in a time machine to give to our heroes. I know people like to worship vintage gear, but you will find it hard to locate many recordings from the 60s or 70s that can match the tone I can dial up in my amps. Even recent recordings fail to capture how excellent these amps sound when you're in the room, but isn't that the same with any instrument?
OK, the Deluxe, JTM45 and AC30 were great, but look at what we have now, DC30s, Dumbles, boutique amps with whatever refinements you want

well, I bought a detached, brick-built house for a reason! It is quite loud.When I want to be quiet, I play my DC30 or use an Isobox I had built
As I say, I have master=8, vol=2-3; about same dB in the room as master=2, vol = 6-7 (both in rock mode)
I couldn't see the switches that well in those photos. Which way is on for the switches on those amps?
On the BM50 it should be up=on (athough the deep switch is wired wrong)
On my Fuchs ODS, on is up too

I do plan to try treble bleed caps again (I stopped using them a long time ago), although I have learnt from my DC30 that with the right amp/speakers, it can be more about tweaking the treble down on the guitar when running the guitar on full volume.

I tried a kleinulator and I didn't feel it improved the sound, so I don't use the FX loop

Is Larry Carlton's amp set to jazz mode on those photos?

anyway, just tested my Bm50 with low master vol + high preamp vol
Certainly is a lot cleaner with high Vol and low master vol, sounds a little thin though - not sure if I prefer it, will try more EQ settings soon
With OD on (and trim down to match the new vol/master settings), the OD is a lot smoother but more distorted.
More like the traditional Carlton tone, but I'm not sure I like it as much as my normal settings

Anyway this amp is complicated enough to dial in sounds without this to add to my options
This amp is so flexible

I've had other amps built with a trimmer to adjust the amount of boost for the PAB
For the BM,  by default it's too much of a boost for my liking. Used to be more still apparently. I like enough boost to take it up a level, rather than 3 or 4 levels
I'm told if you have a 100k trimmer put in instead of the 68k between mid pot and earth, you can tweak it.
I haven't had it done yet

Nik should be able to do it

pickmaster's results of his test are at:
http://ceriatoneforum.com/index.php?topic=715.msg5631#msg5631
which says:


With the BM50, I've tried Vintage 30s, Celestion Lead 80, Eminence red white and blues, Celestion Gold, Fane AXA12, Eminence MLE (Bass/clean driver), Matchless 2x12, Weber Blue dog ceramic (doped). The Celestion Gold sounds much better than any of the others

Cheers
Tone

I had a 100w Marshall DSL100, that was hugely louder than a 100w twin run mostly clean
A heavily distorted amp sounds like about 4 times the wattage of a cleaner one
With the BM you can balance the OD level (it functions as a separate master vol in a way, unlike most of the other OTSs) - the master vol on the BM does not affect the OD level, so you can have a 100w BM doing a 100w twin/super thing, then when the OD comes in, you can stop that beig 4 times louder anyway

I have a bluedog ceramic weber, it's good but not as rich as the Celestion Gold. Maybe the full-Alnico Webers are as good.
As I said, you need a bright speaker, and the Alnico effect works well with this amp. If you search, there are some posts on which is best. Pickmaster did a list, I'll have a look for that

Cheers
Tone