Finished my Ceriatone Express - Loud and sweet!

[pdrie]

I just finished my Ceriatone Express kit and fired it up. I have to say that this is the meanest, baddest amp I've ever played. I've used a '62 MIJ re-issue tele and a McCarty and it is amazing. There are a couple of things that I need to work out. There is a constant 60Hz hum. It isn't that loud (Any sound out of the guitar will drown it out), and it doesn't vary with the volume. I'll move some leads around and see if I can get rid of it. More problematic is a very infrequent crackle (the sound is like a noisy pot being turned or a bad cord). It may be a cable, a jack or a bad solder joint, but I'll have to try a few cables to see if it goes away...It is intermittent, so it may be hard to find. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Anyway, I am loving the Express...now, on to troubleshooting, then the partially finished DC30 kit!

Paul

[Rick]

I had a loud 60 Hz hum, I moved the bias ground lead to a different stud on the chassis away from the two transformer grounds and the hum completely disappeared. Just in case it helps...
Rick

[joe6v6]

The Humm sounds like a ground issue if it dosnt vary with the volume, I didnt use the pots as a ground but other than that I pretty much did my grounds just like Fransesca & its very quiet. The crackle is most likely a bad or missed solder joint, I missed one on the treble control & it did what you are describing. . . I borrowed a friends Tele & I like it much better than a paul, seems to my ears that this amp is made for single coils, dont get me wrong the Les sounds great but singles clean up beuatiful with the guitar volume.

JOE

[pdrie]

I traced the crackiling to the volume and treble pots. Thhey needed a cleaning. I'm still working on the hum issue. I pulled tubes, one at a time. Pulling either of the first two tubes had no effect. The hum went away when I pulled the phase inverter tube. This leads me to suspect the phase inverter or output stages. I moved the bias ground to its own stud, but that had no effect. I tried poking around with a fiberglass rod to see if moving a wire might fix it. Any suggestions for spots to look at?

Thanks in advance for any and all insights.

Regards,

Paul

[keithrick]

Make sure your speaker jacks are grounded to the chassis.

[pureoldsound]

Are all the tube sockets bolted tightly to the chassis. When I finished my amp I had hum and it was one of my power tube sockets that was loose.

[pdrie]

keithrick,

Thanks. I had a bad ground on the speaker jack. The hum is gone. Now the amp develops a loud howl within seconds of taking it out of standby. I probably need to reverse the output transformer leads. I hope to get that done this evening.

Thanks for all of the help.

Paul

[keithrick]

Cool! Glad I could help. I know enough people have helped me! Rock on!