It does feel weird sending money round the world
In reality you've always done it, but added the same again for some more local guy as a handling fee

I've bought 2 used CT amps, and 3 in one order new from Nik. All arrived on time and work perfectly
The construction is immaculate, I've taken the back off every amp I ever owned, these are tidier than my early 50s Vox and Fenders, and my PTP Twin II.

In fact given the scale of CT now, it would make sense for some of the big US/UK brands to subcontract or buy up CT (a la Squier) to use as an offshore custom workshop
(I shouldn't have suggested thatm should I?)

Cheers
Tone

I've had 4 amps made with power scaling or VVR, and to me it's no better than a THD hotplate (Note: it only works if you have a master vol, otherwise it's horribly fizzy). Triode mode is no worse I think.
I recommend PPIMV + THD hotplate, but really, you never get the proper tone at quieter volume.
Even the half power on the 4 valve models is not the same. I have it on a DZ30, on half power, the headroom is gone, the rectifier is over-spec and the output transformer is not saturating the same way, a different sound, but the closest to full power. But --- not a big decrease in volume.

For quiet levels with real tone, the best solution is an ISO cab, and run you mic'd output through your recording setup into monitors or headphones.
The Randall one is the best I've tried, but it's single skin and the speaker is attached to the outer chassis. Best to build one yourself. Double skinned is best
with insulation in between, or convert a cupboard (closet?) into an ISO room.
I have an Axetrak too. It's convenient, but the tone is poor. You can rescue it a little with EQ, but best to use 12" speakers

This amp sounds great
I can see why it makes #1 in the Aspen Pittman top 10.
For me it's definitely equal to my favourites.
touch sensitive, with well controlled bass but with a touch of sag, sweet gradual breakup that I can vary with the pick, clear when I want it.
I'm playing it mostly on the strat neck pickup into the top input of the treble channel on about 7 or 8, EQ mostly flat (rolling a little bass off because of the room shape)

For my PC, I bought a 2000VA uninterruptable Power supply for £188 new, spec was:

    * UPS,2000VA + USB
    * Output Voltage Fixed:230V
    * External Length / Height:192mm
    * External Width:130mm
    * External Depth:382mm
    * AC Power:2000VA
    * Battery Backup Time:90min
    * Input Frequency:50Hz
    * Max Supply Frequency:60Hz
    * Power Rating:2000VA
    * Supply Voltage:230V
    * Weight:14.5kg

Bear in mind these contain a lead acid battery, so you have to carry them carefully
Fun to carry on playing when the power goes out though!

I'd put this in the general forum if I were you
I couldn't find any bad reviews other than 1 or 2 that did not look genuine, but hundreds of excellent reviews,
I was confident enough to order 3 at once, all went fine.
parts are the same as any amp, email support is always there but returning to base for repair is not practical.
I have 5, and have no faulty components in any of them

out of my speakers, the best sounds with the JTM45 (I bought it used) are from the Fuchs 2x12 with Eminence Red, White and Blues, with the runner up being the 1x12 Vintage 30
bear in mind I usually play with a single coil strat, and the amp sounds smoother in a good way with the darker speakers. It sounded a bit scooped with the neutral 2x12 I use with my Fender Twin II
I have not tried it with a Celestion Gold yet, which may be nice since although Voxes are bright, they sound good with the Alnico, and the perceived strat sound from the JTM45 is a little similar to the Vox with single coils

With humbuckers, and cranked up, the amp is completely changed, I am not so certain which speakers sound the best then. I suspect the same ones

oak and maple?

I rolled off almost all the treble with my HRM, I forget the mid and bass settings, but it was near neutral

My wish is a way to have a PAB level trim, and also a preset treble roll off for the PAB.
I know the mod for the trim level, but not a "Cut" control (like on vox amps)

Cheers
Tone

another owner told me used the same PI valve, plus he liked a 5751 in v1.
I tried it, but I do not prefer one over the other, and the two EH 5751 valves I bought (not cheap) were both microphonic in v1 on this amp

I'm sticking with the change for now
The sound is very different to just reducing volume onthe amp or guitar or using a lower-sensitivity input
The amp sounds less muddy, and the saturation is more subtle, more dependent on my playing rather than "on all the time"

personal taste though, but I always like to have the touch of my fingers determining the tone

Cheers
Tone

I wondered about external trimpots when I ordered one, but if you read all the old threads you will find that people have no problems with this. People who have had the trimpots exposed tend to leave them as-is anyway.
I cannot imagine why the settings would need changing from one gig to the next to compensate for room size, and cannot believe anyone would tweak these mid-gig.
My point is simply, "crank it up to normal volume while you set the pots", do not preset the amp tone at conversation level volumes.
True to the original design, the trimmers for this _extra_ tonestack are inside the amp, right on the signal path and they set up the character of the distortion. the front panel knobs still work too when you're playing live.
If you're having a lot of trouble believing all this, you're going to have to track down one of these amps to try it out, or just buy one based on the good reviews by serious players you see everywhere.

There are other trimpots / mods that could be usefully tweaked for a single performance: PPIMV, half-power, VVR, OD trim
However, not every knob should be on full time display on teh control panel.  I would not want PI tail or bias on my control panel:
HRM is something that would be more convenient on the back panel (perhaps with screwdriver adjustment), but since no-one seems to change their settings, everyone lives with it, you can have it made accessible, but as I said, I doubt you would ever change the settings.

I mean that you will not be able to use HRM ro properly tailor your sound for full gig volume when running it at home on the lowest audible setting, you will need to turn it up as loud as you intend to use it, with the chassis out of the case

You could set them at low volume if your ears and the amp and speakers are linear, but they're not, so you'll need to get it running properly somewhere.
You use them to tweak the distortion sound, it's an extra TMB stack after the distortion. It is a set and forget thing

very helpful, thanks

My JTM45 arrives this week

Any tips on the best speakers for this please, both as a pair for 2x12 (open or closed, please advise), and a single 12" for my iso cab.
Is it a bright or a dark amp?

At present I have:

For dark or neutral amps:
2x12 for my Fender Twin with very clean Eminence drivers (not sure which model, blue labels)
1x12 Celestion Blue

For bright amps:
2x12 with Eminence Red, White and Blues
1x12 Vintage 30

and my iso cab has:
Celestion Gold
Celestion Classic Lead
Weber Ceramic Blue dog 75 watt with the Pre Rola cone treatment.

I just really want to know what is the sweetest single and double speaker setup, and if any of the speakers I have are a good match

Cheers
Tone