212Mavguy Posted October 26, 2010 Posted October 26, 2010 Getting a bad case of AAS for a Ceriatone Overtone and matching C-lator. Listened to three different models on youtube. Anyboady have one of these? If so, how has it been for you?
tulk1 Posted October 26, 2010 Posted October 26, 2010 I don't have one. But I was an avid Ceriatone fan when he released that model. Guess it's SO close to a Dumble that a lot of people were upset about it. He had to change the name and a few other tweaks. But apparently didn't loose the mojo. I spec'd one out, but ultimately decided against it. What's a C-lator? His version of a power soak?
212Mavguy Posted October 27, 2010 Author Posted October 27, 2010 The c-lator is a separate "tube buffer" designed to work with the amp's fx loop and fx pedals. There can be a compatibility issue with the amps passive fx loop and some fx pedals connnected directly to it. It's a clone of the Dumbulator. There is a slightly less spendy solid state buffer that is designed to work the same way called the Klein-u-lator.
GuitArtMan Posted October 27, 2010 Posted October 27, 2010 My short list... 65 Amps London Pro Magic Amps Britt II Gabriel Voxer Tungsten Crema Wheat Mesa Lonestar Special Mesa Trans Atlantic Fractal Audio Axe FX
212Mavguy Posted October 28, 2010 Author Posted October 28, 2010 @GuitArtMan If you get your self a Mesa LSS and it's used I highly suggest picking up a vintage 5v4ga rectifier tube for it. The early ones blow their Mesa labeled 5y3's with disappointing regularity until the circuit is modified to prevent it from happening. Back to the original post, I'm changing out my PP address to make the delivery address DHL/UPS friendly.
212Mavguy Posted October 29, 2010 Author Posted October 29, 2010 ...done pulled the trigger, now the wait begins. Dumble tone + Heritage guitar...YOW!
212Mavguy Posted December 24, 2010 Author Posted December 24, 2010 ...just got the word from Malaysia that my new Ceriatone Overtone HRM amp and C-lator's has been finished and shipped! Picked up some VOS power tubes during the wait, a couple pair of Siemens el34's, have a pair of old Tesla el34's, a couple pairs of Sylvania 6l6gc's, a pair of GE 6l6gc's, and a pair of slightly used TAD short bottle 6l6wgc's...not to mention a few hundred vintage 12ax7's to choose from. Time for burning in and tube rolling soon! Will have to see if I can get my broken camera working. Boutique amp for boutique Heritage guitars...YAY!
Mikenov Posted December 24, 2010 Posted December 24, 2010 Exciting!! Congrats on the new amp. Can't wait to hear how it sounds. I have looked at those Ceriatone's a bunch .
smurph1 Posted December 24, 2010 Posted December 24, 2010 ...just got the word from Malaysia that my new Ceriatone Overtone HRM amp and C-lator's has been finished and shipped! Picked up some VOS power tubes during the wait, a couple pair of Siemens el34's, have a pair of old Tesla el34's, a couple pairs of Sylvania 6l6gc's, a pair of GE 6l6gc's, and a pair of slightly used TAD short bottle 6l6wgc's...not to mention a few hundred vintage 12ax7's to choose from. Time for burning in and tube rolling soon! Will have to see if I can get my broken camera working. Boutique amp for boutique Heritage guitars...YAY! Now THAT"S a Christmas Present!!
t0aj15 Posted December 25, 2010 Posted December 25, 2010 My short list... 65 Amps London Pro Magic Amps Britt II Gabriel Voxer Tungsten Crema Wheat Mesa Lonestar Special Mesa Trans Atlantic Fractal Audio Axe FX Make your last choice your first choice and you'll forget about all the rest.
FredZepp Posted December 25, 2010 Posted December 25, 2010 I thought that we should have some pics of one.... good stuff.
212Mavguy Posted December 26, 2010 Author Posted December 26, 2010 ...just realized that today is my one year annerversary for joining HOC. And what a nice treat to see how FredZepp has helped me again in the pics department, this time with some cool shots for this thread. Thank you VERY much for being the class act that you are!
FredZepp Posted December 26, 2010 Posted December 26, 2010 ...just realized that today is my one year annerversary for joining HOC. And what a nice treat to see how FredZepp has helped me again in the pics department, this time with some cool shots for this thread. Thank you VERY much for being the class act that you are! Hey... Happy HOC Anniversary !!! That amp has to be awesome .... you must be anticipating the arrival eagerly. ( p.s. Thanks for the compliment )
kbp810 Posted December 28, 2010 Posted December 28, 2010 Awesome amp! One of these day's I might just talk myself into one of these as well I've always been intrigued by the ever elusive dumbley type amps
212Mavguy Posted January 1, 2011 Author Posted January 1, 2011 Well, they arrived! Have not yet stuck a tube into the c-lator and run it hooked up to the amp, but did have a chance to tube-u-late and fire up the Hot Rubber Monkey unit. WOOOOOOOEEEEEE!! What floored me was not the type of tone that I hear on the youtube demos, I got that right off the bat through my 16 ohm semi closed back 2/12 filled with JBL G125's, but rather, the variety of tones available in that amp. That was the biggest surprise. Never have experienced anything quite like it. Much more than the classic Dumble-y tones you keep repetitively experiencing within the youtube herd of posted clips. The pull bright, mid boost, and bass boost toggles all worked in addition to a well balanced tone stack. The footswitch has two buttons, one for the OD channel and one for pre amp boost, which removes the TMB tone stack for boosted raw guitar tones. That gives four basic voicings for each side of the rock/jazz toggle. The boosted cleans and OD's are louder, and most of the smooth OD tones you hear on youtube clips come from boosted OD settings with relatively low gain on the OD and OD trim knobs. I have not yet opened up the guts yet to try to adjust the TMB OD channel tone stack trimmers, and will do that after some more tube rolling. There is a PI trimmer inside to adjust balance of PI sides, but will leave that alone for now. Stuck in a pair of vintage GE grayplate 6l6gc's to start with for the power tubes, they dropped right in and biased right into the heart of the recommended zone without having to touch the bias pot. It is built ready to handle el34's or kt66's with a drop in and rebiasing for the Brit voices. Have some Siemens and vintage Tesla el34 pairs as well as Genelex kt66's for a later date. Stuck in a Telefunken NOS testing smooth plate 12ax7 in v1 and a balanced one in the PI slot, and sandwiched a Philips/Blackburn made 12ax7a/7025a shortplate 12ax7 in V2 for now. Wanted warm, compressed, smooth, sustain-y tones and got 'em with that pre recipe. Got everyting from a very blackface Fender-y sound up to a snarling, very Marshall-y vibe on the rock setting of the rock/jazz voicing switch, then for giggles pulled out my trans orange Gretsch-y H516 with bigsby and TV Jones-ers. Through many tube amps that hollow body guitar had a rather percussive, thumpy pick attack, but when I stuck that switch in the Jazz position, I was flabbergasted at how beautiful that instrument sounded, as a matter of fact I did drool on the guitar before I realized what I had done, and just sort of sat there and grinned like the guy sitting in the chair on the cover of Steely Dan's "Countdown To Ecstacy" vinyl. Yep, I have Virtuoso products for de-drooling... Each guitar sounds like that guitar, each has a gorgeous voice. My millies and 555 sounded if not absolutely "better" than definitely more versatile than they have ever sounded through any of my other amps. I can't post clips, but from the viewpoint of having around a dozen tube amps in my stable this amp cops more tones with more adroitness than anything I have ever come across, and those tones are pretty damn amazing sounding, and don't have to crank it up loud to get it sounding good either. Easy to balance volume between clean and OD modes. I'm not aware of any other HOC-ers having one of these, but think that this is a truly valuable home playing, studio or stage asset to have, even for jazzboxes. Boutique amp for boutique guitars!
yoslate Posted January 1, 2011 Posted January 1, 2011 ...as a matter of fact I did drool on the guitar before I realized what I had done, and just sort of sat there and grinned like the guy sitting in the chair on the cover of Steely Dan's "Countdown To Ecstacy" vinyl. Yep, I have Virtuoso products for de-drooling... Terrific report, Mavguy! You know your stuff! That sounds like a box any gigging player would love to have at his or her disposal! I've never admitted publicly to the drooling thing, but.... It really is the best endorsement there is! Congrats on a very savvy score!
FredZepp Posted January 1, 2011 Posted January 1, 2011 My Gawd, that is a great tone report. While I have some "one trick pony" amps, the ones that really appeal to me are the ones that can provide a huge palette of tones. It sounds like this one does that in spades. And this kind of endoursement from Mavguy means it has the stuff. It's great that it lived up to ( or exceeded ) your expectations.... Let us know how the c-lator adds to it ..... it should really make this do about anything you'd ever need.
212Mavguy Posted January 2, 2011 Author Posted January 2, 2011 'Slate, you inspired me to name my H516 "Retchin Gretschen," and your posts are filled with passion for playing music and uplifting others. Fred, you not only provided me with pics for my meager contributions more than once, your pics of the inside of the Parsons Street facility are dripping with MOJO...and provided feelings to a viewer reminiscent of a few fine art photographers' work that is lucky to be found on a few coffee tables and fine museums... but I digress. C-lator? Well, I ordered it like the amp, without tube(s) in it. Guess Nik forgot, for a brand new JJ ecc83s was inside it. So I removed it and stuck in a Telefunken ribbed plate 12ax7 that was balanced within about 10% and fairly strong, for the unique 'Funken compression and control of harmonics that the smooth plate provides, but a bit more top end glass in the tone endemic to the ribbed plate unit. Since I got the amp brand spanking new a few nights ago, I wanted to burn things in for the circuit to open up and express more freely, so I left it on all night for the last two nights, last night with the c-lator connected and running too, and the results were plainly apparent when I turned it on tonight to jam along with the comcast blues channel following a beer, bath, and blues session... It blooms like a rose blossom that knows that it's the one special day for it to open, glow with color, and attract the local honeybees... YAY! I went back to the Ceriatone site and RTFM for the C-lator before plugging into my 555 to better glean what was designed for me to do with it. I think that it is the secret weapon for the Dumble sauce. It allows smooth, musical harmonic content along with increased sustain for a given amount of gain settings on the amp's gain and tone settings. Tonight my 555 spoke to me in ways that it never had before, had a voice like an opera singer. Can't say it any better, so time to stop now.
FredZepp Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 I think that it is the secret weapon for the Dumble sauce. It allows smooth, musical harmonic content along with increased sustain for a given amount of gain settings on the amp's gain and tone settings. Tonight my 555 spoke to me in ways that it never had before, had a voice like an opera singer My... that does sound sweet. Adding the C-lator would seem to be the trick to really allow you to dial in "that sound" and it seems that it does just that. Let that 555 sing... !!
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