Hello,

I think that most of you are familiar with that John Frusciante did use Marshall amps with RHCP - Major and Silver Jubilee. Is there any Ceriatone amp that can get me closer to his sound in the range say 18-30 watts?

Thanks

Thank you all...

JD0x0 - what kind of speakers exactly do you use? Jensens? Which type? And do you think the more output tubes the better sound (with the same circuit/amp type)?

Today I just again realized how big difference can the speaker and cab construction make. Engl amp - through Marshall 4x12 with some lower quality level Celestions - OK sound. Mesa oversized Recto cab with V30s...HUGE sound! Great difference!

boldaslove6789 -  how does the Dumbleator work? Is it some kind of attenuator?

Thanks

Hi. I know that loudness is very relative thing. And considering that some amps has more aggressive character than others and all the EQ and rooms and cab configurations and speaker sensitivities and its EQ and character and considering that there is nearly unnoticeable loudness difference between 100W and 50W of similar amps trough the very same cab...it's is very hard to say what is loud and what is not. I have a Roland Cube 30X with 10" speaker and power squeeze mode (switches from 30W to 2W) and I think solid-state 2W are pretty much what I need for home practice.

But as Tim Schroeder wrote in the end of his article "Adventures in Amplification: Lineage of a Dumble OD-100WR" for the latest Premier Guitar Magazine: "I will say that amongst all of the Dumble amps (and Dumble inspired clones) that I have spent time with, this definitely takes the cake! It has headroom, power, incredible touch sensitivity where one can go from clean cords to blistering single note runs with the energy of your picking hand."

And thats is exactly what I'm looking for with an amp! This kind of extreme touch sensitivity!

Also...the latest Jeff Beck album Emotions&Commotions (Jeff Beck is my tone&guitar hero) was nearly all recorded with an old Fender Champ original from 50's. Only his strat, cable and this little combo turned all the way up. He said: "But when we got into the overdubs I just ended up with a Champ. Mine is a 1950s model with that brown rag across the front, the tweed, you know? It sounds amazing really, and you don’t need volume. Some people can’t do without lots of volume to get their tone, but I think if you can’t get it without four million watts, something’s wrong. Because a mic doesn’t read volume, it reads tone. You’ve got all the level in the world at your disposal in the console, and the remixing and the rest of it to compensate for lack of power. But the tone is the thing, and that’s something that came from Scotty Moore, who once told me, “Get some better tone and you’re there - volume you don’t need.”" And he continues...: "You can’t believe what you can get out of a little tenor 20-watt amp. I think Billy Gibbons is on that route as well, as he plays though some blown-up little thing now. You have to work in symphony with the amp for what sounds best, and it depends on what you’re playing. If it’s power chords, then you’d probably use a slightly bigger amp, otherwise it’ll shred down into a narrow bandwidth. Most of the time, though, you can get away with a couple of Champs—one clean, one distorted— and use the clean one to get more definition."

So we got one kind of amp which is extremely touch sensitive... And man (Jeff Beck) with great feel who can go from clean cords to blistering single note runs with the energy of your picking hand and turn of his guitars volume and he uses maybe the simplest and very low power rig.

My question is how to put these things together. How to have Overtone extremely sensitive with very low power say from 5 to max 20 watts? Is the attenuator the only choice? Or any other tricks (6V6 substitution, voltage drop MV etc.).? Thanks

Hi. I have old VHT Pittbull 45 2x10" combo. Very heavy - about 30kg/66lbs. I hate to even move this thing. Anyway it has two channels, green is non-master clean to crunch, red is the crunch to lead with master volume. It has 4xEL84 and class AB/class A switch (45/30watts). I play Warmoth Strat with thick V all maple neck and the body is chambered swamp ash with quilted maple top. It is hard-tail non-tremolo strat. I have two DiMarzio Area 58' in the neck/middle position and just ordered DiMarzio BC-2 Billy Corgan PUP for the bridge position. What I like about the VHT is the solidness of the tone. It is tight and punchy. That is what I like. What I don't like is the bottom end (I believe it is caused by the 2x10" configuration and the open back cab of the combo) or rather the absence of it. When you max the bass control it just gets boomy and unclear. The next thing I don't like is the lack of "3D"ness and color in the tone. What I mainly want to achieve is the great clean/crunch sound. Let's take a look at my tone heroes:

Clean tone: John Mayer, Robert Cray, SRV, John Frusciante, Eric Johnson, Jimi Hendrix

Crunch tone: some lighter Pearl Jam stuff, and some higher gain Keith Urban, Eric Bazilian on Joan Osbourne's Relish Album (Les Paul+Vox AC-30)

As I know Nik has more vintage models than modern, it wouldn't be appropriate to want higher gain amp but I would be glad if the amp could handle pedals well and had tight and clear punchy bottom end for some aggressive more modern stuff such as:

higher gain Pearl Jam stuff, Alice in Chains, and Foo Fighters.

Volume wise I'm not going to play it trough something bigger than 2x12 closed-back cab. I think I'm leaning more towards 1x12" ported closed-back cab. And I'm going to play it mainly at the small to medium indoor gigs, maybe few larger open-air stages a year but not much. So I assume anything between 20-50watts would be good (depends on the punch and tightness of the amp), maybe even less but for the clean tone the headroom is needed and therefore more power. I think I won't need much bells and whistles like power-scaling or so but good working master would be nice too - in other words I would be glad if the amp could sound very good even at lower master volume settings. It doesn't have to be a two channel amp.

So...any suggestions? Thank you all

Hi. I play 50 watts 1x 12" Peavey ValveKing and mostly my clean channel volume is set from 4 to 6. I know this amp sucks. And I know every added speaker means that I will hear more and there will be more SPL. I'd like to start to use 4x 12" cab or combination of 2x 12" with 1x 15" cab and so I think 30 watts head with 4x 12" cab will be maybe louder than 50watt in 1x 12" combo. I know I could buy Mesa Boogie Dual Recto or some Engl and I will probably do the job. But I feel that everyone uses only these kinds of amps for that kind of music I want to play. I want to be different. And I definitely won't use 100watts of Recto or 120watts of Engl - it's nearly impossible to get powertube breakup from these amps and not be beaten to death by your bandmates (if they're not deaf) of the club owner. I love the sound of Guano Apes, Linkin Park, Papa Roach, Tool, Korn, Evanescence etc. and I know they all play Rectos. So I want similar sound (not exactly the same - i know it is not possible) and I know it can be done wit pedals through clean amps. For example:

Catalinbread Supercharged OD pedal to a clean Fender combo:  

Or Zvex Box of Metal to a clean AC-15: http://media1.zvex.com/FLASH/BOM/bom_ac15/

Or Creation Audio Holy Fire pedal to Silverface Fender:

So I think those samples have cleared what I am trying to say. Which amp from a Ceriatone would you recommend for me to do that? I would like to have some powertube breakup at reasonable volumes (not bedroom level) but I can use THD Hot Plate attenuator a little which I'm going to buy for bedroom practise. It should be tight and articulate amp with beatiful clean, lot of punch and definiton but not unpleasantly bright or loose in bass. I want it in head configuration with max. power about 50watts, but it could be ideally 30 watts so I could turn it up and don't have to use Hot Plate so much to affect my tone. So could you help me? Any tips, tricks, help? Tweed? AC style? Blackface? Marshall? Or anything else should I try? Thank you very much...

Thanks Timd : ) I will think about it. What do you think of what I posted in a DC30 section? http://ceriatoneforum.com/index.php?topic=191.0

I have read pretty much about what others have to say about Matchless DC-30 and Spitfire and Lightning. Seem to me some of them don't like them because they sound too bright. Everything can be heard. What is the difference between Spitfire and Lighting anyway except the eq controls? Thanks

Hi. I am curious if it's possible to split the guitar signal into two signals and divide it via stereo volume pedal and then mix it as I wish and gradually change the channels on the DC-30. For example left side would be channel one clean and right side would be channel two dirty. When the volume pedal is in the middle there will be 50% of the guitar signal going in each channel. What about that? Is it possible? Will it work well? Isn't it dangerous for the amp? Thanks

Hi to all. CeriaTone is very interesting for me. I need cheaper amp of very good quality and at the gearpage.net they really recommended me to order one. But I don't know which one. I play SSS Strat with maple fretboard and .11 gauge set. I used to have Laney LC15 with reverb. Good amp, loud enough for garage playing. But now I play with very loud bigband with drums and bass. Laney starts to hum and hiss with volume passed 4 and the speaker can't handle the power - everything rattles and. The another problem is also in the name of the topic. I like nice fendery pushed punchy cleans with shimmering highs and warmth. The crunch I like is more in the Vox/Marshall territory - full of glass and hair, but still tight and articulate - touch sensitive. The hi-gain I love is mainly the Recto sound, maybe little bit tighter. When I comapred two 1x12" combos one 2xEL84 and the second one with 2x6V6, the 6V6 were the winners for me. I love many guitarist's sounds and band sounds: Clapton, Jeff Beck, Robert Cray, David Rhodes (Peter Gabriel band), SRV and the bands like Incubus, Pearl Jam, Guano Apes, Audioslave, Deftones, Linkin Park...many of them. So it's hard for me to choose, but if I had to choose one clean sound and one dirty sound it would be the one of Mike Einziger of Incubus. His dirty sound in the main riff of Megalomaniac song is awsome:   I am not sure but I think he made it with 50w Plexi, fuzz and Les Paul...Anyway now he's using Vox AC-30 for cleans and Plexi for his dirty sounds. I would really be glad if I could come close to this sound as you can hear in Megalomaniac with my new amp. But I like the cleans as well. So if I had to stay with the british flavour of the clean I would probably choose pushed Vox. I like tight and clear punchy sound full of warmth and very touch sensitive - seems to me 18 watt marshall get too compressed when the volume is pushed hard, giving only little headroom. I want my amp to be able to get the pristine clean sound as loud as the dirty sound if I need it. So I was thinking about the 36 watts EF86, or DC-30. It is taking me closer to the DC-30 because it has the half-power switch which for me would be very handy (I also want to play in more ambient occasions). But my price limit is $800 including the shipping to the Czech Republic where I live. I definitely want a completed one, idealy with the cabinet of the head or even better with the combo cabinet included. Which CeriaTone amp would you recommend to me?

Thank you very much