Well I wanted to wait for the Ceriatone version but I'm building one from scratch instead.
100w with 4 6L6's (John Mayer Style power section based off SSS #2) 2 tube Reverb Built in Dumbleator (controls on the back panel) 6 way Hi & Low Filter Section Bright, Mid Boost, and Rock/Jazz switches 2 12ax7's driving the Phase inverter & Driver Tube Skyliner Tonestack Ftsw'able PAB, Reverb, and FET
I was hoping to fit the built in Dumbleator too, we'll see how that pans out and if I have room.
All built in a gutted out Twin Reverb chassis with the Twin Reverb Iron. I'm choping the combo case into a Headcase, getting it recovered in purple suede, and doing purple threaded Vox Grillcloth.
I use this rotary control in the loop to simulate RG-400 cables.
Sure, yes It rolls off the high end of both the cleans and OD, which is what I prefer, balanced tone from both the clean and OD.
It doesn't effect the clean tones because the .0022uf cap only slightly rolls highs so it doesn't effect the clean tone any more than 10 ft. of RG-400 cable would.
I use this box with my Quinn SDO-R which has a push/pull pot on the Master Vol with a 68pf bright cap. The reason i used it in the first place is because my Quinn has the Dumbleator built in so I can't use cables from the amp to D-lator.
Bludotone does it in there "Ojai" Loop-A-lator and Glaswerks has it on a switch in there SOD-II.
It all about simulating a high end roll off and getting balanced tones without the need for special cables in the loop, it's not permanent, and is adjustable to taste.
You can also put a .0022uf cap from signal to ground on the Return jack of a Dumbleator. It rolls off a nice amount of highs when there's a big bright cap on the master.
This is what Brandon at Bludotone does to the Bludo-Lator that you get when you buy an Ojai amp. This is so you don't have to have 10 ft. lengths of RG-400 cable, you can just use standard cables with a slight high end roll off from the cap.
I made a box with a Rotary Control to switch out certain Capacitor values. I usually use it on the .0022uf setting.
It has a "Bypass" setting, .001uf, .0047uf, .01uf, and .022 uf settings.
I used to use this box to spec out cut lengths of RG-400 when the amp was ready for cables but I just leave it in the Dumbleator now and adjust to taste.
I just talked to the owner recently of a real 120w Dumble Overdrive Special Reverb that was tweaked extensively by HAD. He told me RG-400 cables were included standard with all Rack Dumbleator purchases from Dumble.
Go with a C-ulator or the Qiunn Loopalator. There is a used Quinn on the gear Page for $375.00 which is a great deal and Shad backs up his stuff. I'm having him build me a SDO right now.
Agreed, I don't own any Ceriatone products anymore as I have an Artist Endorsement with Quinn Amps and have been helping design new D-style amps with Shad but the statement above is true, Shad is the best in the biz when it comes to a warranty, he'll service anything with no time limit (lifetime warranty). Also Shad can build a Dumbleator in a half rack size enclosure about 1/2 of the footprint of a 1u rack space. Which is great because having a Rack can be a real pain in the ass, if you're a touring musician or just a regular gigging around town type a guy. Just throw it in the back of the headcase and go.
One thing that I didn't like about the C-lator is the quality of the rack case, it was kinda flimsy compared to the other ones I've owned or still own (Quinn Q-loop, Mill Creek Audio Creekator, Bludotone Loop-a-lator, Glaswerks Matchbox)
Instead of unhooking the ground to the HRM board via a 1pdt switch you could use a 3 way switch to switch between the HRm stack, 15-30k (or whatever you prefer) to ground, or the stack lifted completely.
Or use a dpdt Push pull pot on the Drive or OD master pot with the k to ground or HRM tonestack ON
Definitely experiment with how much resistance to ground config you like to even out the Volume difference between channels. Use a 50k trimmer to experiment with how much K you want to ground then replace with said value.
If you need a nice D'style 1x12 or 2x12 oval ported cab at a decent price go with an Avatar Traditional cab. They usually sell on Craigslist for cheap (under $200 or so).
V-Boutique makes great exact Dumble replica Cabs too:
The HRM Bluesmaster and the serial #102 "Ojai" Robben Ford amp are 2 completely different sounding amps. Both sound great in there own right although.
The Ford amp has a Skyliner clean tonestack with NON-HRM OD it has more "chime'y" clean tones, and a much more focused OD w/ an almost horn like sound. This voicing has a Ratio control to balance the clean and Overdrive.It is also a very bright amp because of the large Master Volume Bright cap. The brightness is tamed with high pF (aka capacitance) RG-400 cables and a Dumbleator, also giving the amp an overall smoothing effect and increasing harmonic bloom and adding compression. A very "fast" response and a great sounding amp that all your tonal nuances will come out (good or bad LOL).
The Bluesmaster has a Bluesmaster (Marshall/tweed Fender) style clean tonestack with HRM "bluesmaster OD". The cleans are very girthy and has more Bass content that other voicing's. The Overdrive is also very fat sounding giving a broad range of Overdrive tones. The Bluesmaster also has a Bluesmaster Phase inverter (ala Marshall) and has less "clean headroom" then all the other voicing's. In addition it has separate Master volume controls for the clean and Overdrive. This amp also sounds better with a Dumbleator (but no need for high pF cables).
On an HRM amp the Clean and OD have separate Master Volume's.
On a NON-HRm amp the Clean and OD share a Master Volume. The Ratio control on the NON-HRM amp is to balance the OD to the clean volume.
When you add a Dumblealator to the equation the Return or Level control on the D-lator becomes your Overall Master Volume. This will give ya the ability to set the amps tone and volume all up (Running the Masters on the amp Very High) and then control the overall Volume to taste. You can also use a larger bright cap on the Master Vol and use high capacitance RG-400 cables to Roll off Highs (ala Robben Ford)
IMO these amp do not sound nearly as good without a D-lator. The Dumbleator adds slight compression, gives you the ability to run the Masters High, and adds a 3D smoothing effect to bot the Cleans and OD. Also a Dumbleator is a key component for interfacing line level time based effects (Verb, flanger,Delay etc.) with the amp.
Actually Long cables is not what your supposed to use. You should b using RG-400 high'er pF (braided conductor) cables. They're used to Roll off highs when using a D-lator and huge bright cap on the Master Vol
Set the Volume (1st control from the right) on the TC M300 to 12:00, then set the "Mix" or blend (second knob from the right) to 9:00, then set the Verb to taste. I set a slight Robben Ford type slapback Delay on the "Slapback" setting.
Then set the Drive on the Lator to 12:00, the Recovery on 12:00, then set the Volume to taste.
I use a MiniMix with the TC + Lator so I may have slightly different results though.
I think a lot of folks would say that for cleans the BM amp is the best for strats. But for OD I strongly suggest looking into Erwin_VE's Bluesmaster with NON-HRm OD. I've modded a few scratch builds with this config and it has a ton of versatility for single coil pups (Both Tele's and Strat bridge pups). Most D-style amps Overdrive can sound nasl'y with single coil pups so having the right set of pups is just as important.
Eric Johnson used a Dumble ODS NON-HRM skyliner amp (possibly a serial number very close to the ODS RF #102 OJAI amp) for the song "Zap" using both a 59 Les Paul Burst (bridge pup) and his 58' strat (bridge pup) it's kind of hard to distinguish both guitars but if you listen closely it's there. That song would be a good starting point IMO for the "Violin" sounding OD.
I used 2 vintage EvM12L's (Mesa labeled from the 80's) for the 1st year with a Bluesmaster and switched to Celestion G1265's because the Ev's had almost too much Bottom end bass response not to mention the extreme weight with a 2x12 cab.
After a while I dug the sound of the G1265's (and still do) but bought a second cab and put a g1265 and an Eminence Texas Heat in it, this config seems to have a great balance with articulate Mids and highs, not overly bright like the Ev's. Although with non-HRM Skyliner type amps I just prefer g1265's.
Believe it or not the sound of the Ev's and the G1265's is not that different, headroom and efficiency is the only big difference IMO. I play extremely loud mic'd and the Ev's don't have the same feedback quality's as the g1265's, I'd say that the Ev's have too much headroom for my liking. This is all IMHO though, too many variable's to consider, everybody has there own preference.
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