For sure, for sure! But the clean side of any OTS/HRM would plenty close for rock n' roll. 

A rolled back guitar volume with a proper gain and biased germanium transistor based fuzz is crucial to the actual Hendrix tone.

nudefish11, I would try to give your amp some more time and really bond with what it is, and who knows, it may just end up being exactly what you wanted. If not, then sell it. It would probably be easier to sell it and get something different they try to convert what you have. Not unless you have a lot of experience building and tweaking tube amps.

Also, I know when I first got my HRM I thought that using pedals with it was going to be blasphesmy or something, but some different types of OD and boosts in front open up a whole other pallete of sounds. Does JM get all his tone just from the amp? Just asking, cuz I don't really know. 

Wow, missed your clips somehow. Sounds excellent..nice and smooth.

Did you build your amp or have it built? Anything special with the circuit?

That looks really good!! What's the chance of getting a sound clip to listen to?

Yup!! If there's one solid state amp to have, this is it.(and the JC120) That's really cool you got one. It will be a cool thing to play with. Have fun!!

You're going to love it.

Of all the music equipment I have purchased through the years there's been just a few that were something special. They are a few guitars and my Ceriatone HRM 50.

Are you using a Slo Blo or Fast Blo fuse? I know the layout shows that a Fast Blo is to be used, but after blowing the HT due to un-careful measuring, I replaced with a Fast Blo and it kept blowing. I used a Slo Blo and it was fine. I asked Nik about this and he said it was fine.

The one thing I notice is that the Fast Blo fuse that came with the amp from Nik has a much thicker filament, while all the ones I find in the U.S. are very, very thin. I think this is the problem. Either the spec'd .5 Amp with the thinner element is not right with the exact in-rush current of these amps or else using the Slo Blo is what is needed. I'd rather use a lower total current and Slo Blo then a higher current rating and Fast Blo.

Read through this thread. It's long and goes round and round a bit. But there's a bunch of good info about the whole PI thing. Even though I'm fortunate enough to have a scope, it's not a necessary. But getting just what points you should be measuring is the part that seems to get people confused. I still have to make sure I'm doing it right if I haven't done it for a while. Also, wants you get it close, it's best to just use your ears and follow the suggestions about that.

http://ampgarage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13993&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=&sid=431f2ea81eb16434a3b188af9f1d04af

Yeah, 3mV should be fine. That's what mine are right now. I think a little imbalance is actually not such a bad thing with these amps.

Burning in will help for sure, also with the HRM I find dialing the gains back some will help get you to the Dumble tones. Keep the back panel OD trim to around 11:00 and mess with the internal OD trim too. I tend to keep the preamp level around 6 or 7 and back off the OD drive to (4 to 6). I'm using a C/D-lator so I put the OD Level about 4 or 5. This is in the Rock voice and PAB on.

You'll get there in time.

And if you're talking about the PT being the stock PT from C-tone then I would not spend more money. I think Niks trannies are very good. (and I'm not talking about men who dress like women..... )

Yep, another beauty!!

I'm getting jealous of all the builds you get to do.

 I've been putting my name out there. I do have one person that seems like he's going to have me build him something. Once he comes to a conclusion on just what he wants. I've been guiding him through the process.

As far as PCB's. Probably a good idea on the small boards. Besides time saving, I know the relay and rectifier boards have been a source of issues for the first time builder.

I hope you're not thinking that just because the term "more Marshall like" is used that it is not going to sound like a Dumble. My HRM is much more able to get a Dumble sound than Marshall. It's just that it is able to be pushed into that Marshall territory. I guess what I'm wondering is if you're suggesting that you are going to go with a straight OTS instead. Because IMO, if you're after that straight up Carlton/modern jazz tone an OTS is what you probably want to stick with, but for a bluesy JM type tone then a HRM type circuit is more like it. To me it would be more about a choice between an HRM or BM HRM. And more so about will a BM get a more "exact" OD tone than a HRM. Keeping in mind that based upon all the mods you're getting you going to have a heck of a versatile amp.

I hope this isn't serving to confuse you more. It probably would me...   Mainly, if versatillity is anywhere on your radar in an amp choice, then a HRM type I would say is a must. Also, when I say versatillity, it doesn't mean that the amp lacks unique character.

Good Point!

++1

If you're not comparing apples to apples it's not going to be a fair comparison anyway.

So with all the mods that Nik is going to do does he think the BM will get you what you want?

I guess to simplify my opinion I should just state why I went with the HRM50 and not a regular OTS or BM. The main reason is I wanted to get as much OD gain as possible without going overboard. The fact that the HRM had a tonestack for the OD vs. the OTS seemed like what I would need because much of my playing is with OD.(although since getting the amp, it has opened up a whole new spectrum of clean playing) At the time with what little there was about the BM I did keep reading people elluding to not being able to get exactly the best OD with them. That sort of scared me and I didn't want bad OD. But like I said I was going on a few opinions that could have been accurate or not. Since then things I have read makes me think my fear was mostly unfounded.

All this was predicated on the fact that I have an electronics background and built the amp and knew I could change anything I didn't like. So I figured starting with a HRM would be a right fit. I think with all the mods you should have a huge pallete to choose from. I guess the thing to find out is Niks opinion on how much different the OD is on the BM from the regular HRM. I understand wanting to get it right the first time.

Also, it took some time to draw all the tone out of the amp. When I first fired it up, it sounded good and I could tell I had something special, but it took a good month or two to really start to squeeze out all the juice. In fact I'm still getting new flavors. I had modded a crappy Ibanez TS7 to be more TS9 like and paired that with a Xotic BB Preamp both as more boosts than OD and cascaded them into the HRM and was getting some awesome tones. Both on the clean and OD channel. A lot of tweaking these amps is using the "less is more" principal. Over doing any of the controls can get you in less than stellar territory fast.

Back to the speaker, if you can get an real EVM12L it's probably a good place to start especially since you just want a 1X12. The WGS's are awesome speakers, just the ET-65 is a different beast.

I think the best power tubes are ones that will get the closest to a RCA black plate sound. I really think the TAD WGC STR's are great. I'm still using the ones I started with. When it's time to replace these tubes I will mostly likely get the same thing. Unless I happen upon some great NOS at a great price. I don't see that happening though. Preamp tubes are probably more tricky. Have you been to visit http://www.ampgarage.com yet. There's lots of info on tubes over there in the Dumble section. The one thing that got me some better tone than what I started out with was putting an RCA grey short plate in V1. This really was an eye opener about NOS. I'm still not someone who's going to go crazy with NOS tubes, especially since it seems like most the good supply have dried up unless you're willing to spend a truckload of money. I hope I can find a couple more NOS 12AX7's without emptying the bank account. It seems everytime someone has some at a good prices I just miss them and they are sold. 

I hope my long and rambling post is coherent enough to help. 

First, let me say that those clips are perfect for conveying what you want. I'll try to answer some of your answers, but might not be able to get all of them. Also, this is coming from someone who owns a HRM 50, not Bluesmaster, but I don't really think in the grand scheme of things, it's a big difference.

The speaker issue. I have a 2X12 cab with a WGS ET-65 & Veteran 30. I chose that combo because I too was a little concerned about the ET-65 being too dark. While the two paired together is superb, I really don't think the ET-65 is too dark at all. It does have great bass response, but the top end is really nice. If I had to just use one of those speakers the ET-65 would be it. Now you bring up a EVM12L which is a sort of a whole new ball game. Up until recently, I have never played though one of these speakers, but got a chance the other day. While I still love the combo I have that speaker was really something to play. The efficency is really suited for a 1X12 setup and it has a clearness with just the right compression that really is suited for these amps. Your talking a different price range with the EV so that's something to consider.

As far as getting JM tone, I really think the amp your going for will get you what you're after. While I don't really ever try to sound like JM and don't listen to his music on a regular basis, everytime I hear clips like the ones above I hear my amp all over. In some ways, while Larry Carlton's tone can be considered classic D-style, JM's is classic D-style of a different sort. I think the HRM aspect is probably a part of it, along with the cleans being more blackface fender.

As far as tubes, if you know how to bias the amp I would get it with no tubes and choose something other than JJ's. But if you don't than letting Nik get it all setup with the tubes and then send it to you would probably be best.

I feel for your nervousness. It's about exactly a year ago I was going over and over which of Niks kits/amps to get. Don't sweat it too much it will be great.