I have a Ceriatone 36 Watt and a ZT Lunchbox.  Not that the ZT sounds bad, but I'm thinking the Ceriatone Lunchbox will be a winner here.  And just for keeping a crazy small setup, I wonder if the new lunchbox head will work well through a ZT extension cab. "Sure bigger cabs sound great, but will you need them now?"

http://www.ztamplifiers.com/products/lunchboxcab.html

Great news, I replaced all the tubes and this tone machine is back to fully functional!

Thanks everybody.

Oh man, very excited to get this link to test the OT for shorts!  thanks so much for that.  I will try it and let you know the results.

Thanks Hired Hand,

Yes it was working beautifully till then.  I'm in the Spokane Washington area.  I've built some effects pedals and done simple amp repairs.  I have a multimeter and get how to solder.   Just not too excited about taking measurements while the amp is on.  I will try a new set of tubes and let you know how it goes.

Turned the power on, turned the standby on, no sound...  Turned the volume up, no sound...  bypassed my effects and plugged direct in with the guitar volume all the way up, no sound... Can you guess whats next?

After about a minute I realized I did not have the speaker plugged in.  Powered off, plugged in the speaker.   Powered on again and ... after it warmed up, the sounds were, well not right.  Its, kind of choppy and unpredictable at loud volumes.  I have not been brave enough to turn it back on for quite a while.

This is my 36 Watt TMB / EF86 combo.   Nik built the chassis, I built the cab. 

I was too upset to deal with it for a while, but now I'm over it and ready to face the truth.  Probably needs a new OT, but how do I know for sure?  Would it be safe to buy new tubes and test normal playing, or would I just be throwing new tubes away?

Is there a simple test I can do to tell if the OT is blown, or maybe test a few caps or resistors?  I'm not really comfortable with poking around in the chassis while the amp is on.  Is it possible to do offline checks of some sort?  The amp has not been plugged in to power in more than a month so the caps should be drained.

I could take it to an amp tech, but I don't really know anyone locally and I'd like to see how much I can figure out myself.

My VibroKing was one of the most inspiring amps I ever had. I know there are lots of die hard followers and pro users (Pete Townsend!) too (among some critics as well . ) If Nik built one, I can bet it would be even better!  (A couple mods I can think of would be 1. adjustable 'fat' boost level.  2.  switchable reverb)

I paid $1350 new for mine in '95, but now they want $3500.

They would cost quite a bit for parts and complicated to build, but man what a nice amp.
Anybody agree?

Just make sure you have enough depth for the transformers and tubes.

I don't know about your specific cab, but I built a combo cab for my 36 watt EF86.  Its a clone of a 1974 1x12 combo cab.  The chassis was designed for a head, but it works fine in a combo cab.  With a stock 1974 combo cab you might have to mod it slightly to get the chassis to fit.

What it comes down to for me is this - Can I get enough clean headroom with the 36W EF86? 

I think the tones described for this one must be very close to what I'm shooting for, but I'm concerned I wont be able to keep up with my drummer without getting into quite a bit of saturation.  I can definitely get the headroom I need with my JCM800.  I also have a (2xEL84 15 watt) Fender Pro Jr. which saturates a bit too early but not much - just to give you an idea.

I'm definitely into checking more into the 36w ef86 - Its probably the closed mojo jojo to where I'm going for tonally.  BUT... can I get ENOUGH clean headroom with that amp?  I'll ask over there as well

Fascinating, the 36w / EF86 was my first choice, but I kept reading comments that seemed to suggest it breaks up pretty early.  I'm mostly interested in the thick clean tones I think the JTM45 will give me.  I just want the very edge of crunch.  Can I get just to the edge with the JTM45 at a moderate level?

I've always been a Marshall fan and I really like the clips I've heard of the JTM45.  There's an element the Marshall has I cant explain, but it seems to be missing from the Dizzy.  Could it be the "Sound of Rock"?

Hmmm. . .  I was just about to order a JTM45...  I checked out some youtubes of the dizzy 30 and the tone seemed rather thin / weak in comparison to the JTM45 samples I found.  I wish I could A/B them in person.  I've never owned a Vox style amp, mostly Fenders and Marshalls.  I did use a reisssue AC30 for several hours in a studio and found it to be quite pleasing, but my JCM800 has really got close to the sound I want even though it has way too much gain for my needs.

I guess the only way to really know is to compare side by side.  Any other thoughts?

I've got similar questions.  I currently use a JCM800 4010 (non-reverb, non switching) 1x12 combo running 6550's.  I plug my medium - low gain pickup tele or guild into the HI input.  I don't get quite enough gain with the low input on max, but the HI input gives me really more than enough at the lowest useable setting (1 or 2).  Thats where I run it all the time.  This gives me beautiful  yet aggressive clean tones with very little distortion at full volume on the guitar.

I'm really pretty happy with this sound but I want to use a more 'authentic' 60's amp for my 60's retro band.  (Think early Who, Beatles, Kinks) Plus I want to get my hands dirty building a kit.

Any suggestions?

If you have strong opinions about another model not listed, let me know!