Ceriatone Forum

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: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFnnV595byE  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 :)

The DC30 sounds like the one for you but you will still need a crunch pedal in front to get the recto type sounds you want.  Anything by MI Audio ie TubeZone, Radial ToneBone...etc.  The clean ch is way too clean for overdrive pedals but the EF86 ch is great.  And, you'll need a good quality a/b/y pedal

Be prepared to go above $800us though.  You're looking at about $1,000. 

If price is an issue look at the Lightning amp.  It will be twice the volume as the Laney even though it's 15w.  My DC30 is louder than my old 50w Laney.  Whack ToneBone or TubeZone in front of that and you'll have a wide variety of sounds.

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

I go after Mike Einziger's sound as well.  On the latest album, he mainly used an AC-30 with a way huge swollen pickle fuzz pedal.  I'd also recommend the DC-30.  Now Mike's playing SG's through a JCM-800, so he's got a heavier sound now as well.  I had a DC-30 and I was getting very close to his sound.  If you want that tight, gainy sound, I recommend an MIAudio Crunchbox.  I used that with my DC-30 (and I now use it with my vox ac15) and it sounds just like a cranked plexi to me.  Good luck.