the subject says it all
I wonder if someone tried different pre tubes.
 I'm going to buy a couple of Svetlana winged C EL34 for the power section, so I'd like to read any suggestions about pre tubes to try something different.
 For example, I'm looking for a warmer sound, especially on cleans.  Even if I'm still in deep love with this amp.

 Thanks.

don't ask me why, but these settings sounded spectacular yesterday with my band (number, not hour):

Volume: slightly under 4
Bright off, Deep on, Rock
Treble: slightly under 4
Middle: slightly under 6
Bass: between 5 and 6
OD Level: just in the middle of 3 and 4 (it's enough gain to have a mid crunch for "Remedy" by Black Crowes)
OD Ratio: slightly under 9
Presence: 4


 Master? It was slightly above....     1!!!!

Clean and OD were astonishing, I've never such a beautiful sound as yesterday.
Really, really great.

Marco.

Ok,  I've played the amp for some hours last week end, and many guitar players played it with their guitars.
 I don't know why but the amp had a different behaviour yesterday and Saturday, maybe it's just me and the knowledge about the amp and its controls, listen again to Steelbender Fuchs ODS clips and re-think to Overtone, finally I did understand why Mr. Fuchs got so angry against Nik, I don't need to add anything else if not a big smile.
 "... if you want to control feedback, just think it...." wow!!!!  The controlled feedback, the creamy, powerful, endless sustain used by Jason Barker in higher gain clips... finally I have it with my Overtone!!  The trick is to set the ratio all the way up.

 Using a 335 with it, played by a guitarist much better than me, was the final step to come into Carlton tone (more than Ford one).  We got that tone finally, and it wasn't difficult with the 335, I've just talked about higher gain, but the Overtone is elegant, read again, it's elegant like no other amp I've ever played.

 I've taken it to a sort of amptest here in Italy, without any doubt everyone who listened to it got totally crazy about the tone, with no exceptions.

 Thanks Nik, really thank a lot.

No 6V6s, too much current for them.
I choose 6L6GC over Nik's suggestion, even if I do prefer EL34s to them.  Nik built the amp with 6L6, so the tweaks  were made with them.  Generally speaking, 6L6 bigger and more defined bass response, but less and thinner mids and distortion "flavour" is thinner, modern, while EL34 give you a not so good bass response but bigger and more pleasant mids and the distortion is much more harmonically rich.  This is just my experience.  I was 6L6 guy, now EL34.


I was thinking the same, I know it's strange, but what I can tell you?  I can't get that tones and I'm near to Marshall grind, with strats and humbuckers too.  As I said sunday my amp will be played by some guitarists, I'll report their settings and tones.

I'm referring to the Dumble's clips here:
http://www.steelbender.com/videogallery.html

  Marinblues, I guess this Overtone will be a little bit different from the tone you're thinking about.
I totally agree with what ChrisL is saying, if you really want to listen to a similar amp to Overtone probably  the Fuchs Train 45 is closer.  It doesn't have the creamy sustained dumblish tone from the ODS, or to tell it better, as ChrisL do, we aren't able to get that tone.
 I'm so happy there is another Overtone user and moreover owner of a D'lite who is getting same tones as me, otherwise it would have been a strange feeling to have a Dumble but not the Dumble tone.
 As someone suggested the speakers can do a lot for it, maybe a low headroom speaker is much more suitable for Carlton's tone.
 Sunday my amp will be played by a Van Weelden owner and by a great amp tech, I'm waiting for their response to complete my review.

 

I agree with everything said in the review, they're just my thoughts about it.
 Too many usable tones to make a complete review after few days, I'm still experimenting with the controls and waiting for the pedal schematic.
 I agree, and this is the most important part I guess, that it can be sparkle but very warm, scooped and deep like no other amp I've ever tried, you can get best of tone worlds, and above all it has the Marshall grind and it's so difficult to get the famous Dumble chewy tone.
 I have the same difficult in getting Ford / Carlton type of sounds, I guess the HRM version are much more suitable to compress it and get that sound, while this one is a rock machine with a wider palette of tones, I can say it's impossible to have the standard Dumble tone everyone raves about.
 Listen to the video samples on steelbender web site, the Overtone is in that territory.
 It sounds better with humbucker, I've played it with my PRS CE-22 with Lollar Imperials, and with friends' 62 reissue strat with German made PUs, Framus Panthera with Duncan Alnico II pro and custom 5 and with an '80 strat with Floyd Rose.

 Cleans are gorgeous, something to die for and with that volume on pre section you can reach so different clean territories that just experimenting with the first channel needs weeks of tests, you can have all the clean stuff you could ever need, brigth or warm, boomy or thin, maybe it doesn't have the overtones you could expect, but is wonderful, I've never played such a beautiful clean, never.  Some days ago there was in the gig room a friend of mine who plays jazz, after small tweaks to controls he got a wonderful tone for his style of music, and with a PRS! 
It can be very clean at loud volume or have a grind suitable to be a single channel amp to do everything with pedals.  Ah, it works wonderfully with pedals, I've tried Fulldrive 2, Fat Boost, BSIAB2 (all diy) and Mi Audio Crunch Box, and then some ambient effects, from Deluxe Memory Man to Marshall Echohead and modded Boss TR-2 tremolo.
 The volume on pre section makes me think about it as a rack stack, it isn't a general gain control, it's much more like a volume on a pre amplifier going to a power amp.  The amp isn't very loud (anyway I'm using a wonderful 1x12" built by me with birch plywood cloning the Two Rock 1x12 dimension, with a Classic Lead clone by Warehouse Guitar Speaker), and it's possible to play it at bedroom level with good tones.

 As for second channel I'm thinking to it as the perfect plexi, a much more refined Marshall grind, with not so much gain, but round bass response, never farting and highs that are never ice pickin' or fuzzy (to tell the truth if you keep all the volume controls all way up basses are farting, but hey man, you'll never need to rise up the controls and remember I'm playing with a 1x12"), with an harmonic content that it's so rich that you will cut through the band even with scooped mids. I've loved to keep the level down and ratio up, quite a super crunchy sound to be clean with guitar volume control and to get more distorted with pedals  It's perfect!!!
 The ratio control is something totally new to me, this is why I'm still experimenting.
 The distorted channel so have the pre volume, obviously the EQ section with added switches, the Level control which acts like a gain control this time, the ratio and the master volume plus presence.
 The ratio makes the sound bigger and fatter with more open gain, it's strage, I cant describe it better now.

 Finally, I'm happy with this amp like I've never been with any other amp and it suits my needs much, much, much better than an amp focused on Ford / Carlton tone.
 It's chunky, fat, huge sounding, and above all smooth, even if the sound is so directly punching in your face you can hear a so elegance and pleasant sound that it's a joy just to play open chords.  I love the facts that it doesn't have the smoothness and chewiness of famous Dumble players, it's smooth in a much richer and rocky way.

 There are only two issues with it, the first one is a mistake by me, I  should have ordered it with EL34 in place of 6L6GC (Nik is getting better and better, JJ for power tubes and above all Tung Sols for pre), but this is only me, and inspite it has a lot of dynamic I'm still regretting about selling the 1986 I bought from Nik last year.  That amp was the more dynamic I've ever played, it was possible to have gorgeous clean and hard rock / stoner distortion just with guitar volume pot.  My guitar has the '60 wiring and RS Guitarworks Hovland cap to control the Imperials.

 It's definitely a keeper, it will be the only amp I'll never sell.
 

I have mine too. 

Review and pics asap.

 Do you have any idea about how many Overtone would be produced in this first, and I hope not last, batch?

  "negativity" about what?
Quality or a forum snobs thoughts?

Oh, ok, so it's not for me, I've ordered the 50w standard version.  It should arrive here next week.  Does the half power switch simply get off two power tubes?

 Have you got any idea why the half power switch isn't wired to anything in the layout?
Will it work on the final amp?

 Thanks.


PS: great idea this forum, so we can keep Nik's email clean of too many questions and he can work on our orders.  I'm getting my Overtone next week.