modding a ceriatone

[fredy]

Hello there, i have been looking at building a ceriatone express but judging by the videos on youtube, it sounds a little on the "fizzy" side. So i was wondering how they can be modded to be more like the originals. I assume the fizzyness is coming from a cold PI tail resistor and easy to fix, but thats a guess from someone who doesn't know a lot, or even a little, about amps.

Has anyone here made a ceriatone kit and found good results via certain mods?

thanks in advance.

[leaveitalone84]

If you get the kit from Nik make sure you get the Orange Drop PS cap upgrade. My Express really isn't as "fizzy" with them. I feel my express doesn't sound like youtube clips per-say. Mine does not have the Master Volume and I am using an oval back 2x12 cab instead of a 4x12. But still theres no real fizz. This is probably one of the smoothest amps I've played through.

I have also tweaked the layout. I moved the shielded input wire and NFB wire to franchesca specs. That helped "open" up the tone a little bit.

My ceria has also gotten less fizzy as it's been burning in as well. Tube choice is important too.

[CaseyJones]

judging by the videos on youtube

That might be your difficulty right there. What are you listening to your YouTube clips through? If you have anything like my computer speakers there's no way you're getting an accurate representation.

All you need to do is plug an Express into an old slant front with Greenbacks, that'll take care of your doubts!

The old rule of thumb for a Top 40 mix was to play it back through Spark-o-Matic 6"x 9"s in front of the Ureis. If it sounded good through shitty car speakers then you knew it would sound good on the radio during morning drive.

If you want an amp that makes crummy speakers sound good save yourself the effort and buy a Tech 21. PLease please PLEASE don't try to voice a Trainwreck for cheap speakers, that just ain't right!

[leaveitalone84]

I just went back and watched the youtube vids.

The ones with the moving background has so/so tone. But it's a master volume express and does not have the same mojo as my Non-master volume.

The second set of videos with the camera pointed at the amp and some effects like the Klon and Deep Blue Delay is indeep fizzy. I'm really not sure what that is. It could be the cheap mic on the camcorder or it could be youtube compression. Or he just got a fizzy express.

Mine really does not sound like either of those. If you wanna hear what a good ceriatone sounds like check out the files section on this site. There's a shootout between and original and a clone. Guitarpicker plays the guitar in all the takes (he's freakin awsome).

[Tubetwang]

what does fizzy mean?

[fredy]

if you think of distortion a sand, and crunchy over drive as boulders, then fizz is like dust and fluff. Similar to fuzz effect.

AC30s can sound fizzy at times. Often the fizz is added at the recording stage when equipment clips or the mic is positioned poorly. Thanks for the help guys. If i do end up with a fizzy amp, i am sure i can mod it away somehow, if only i knew how.

[Tubetwang]

thanks Fredy!!

[leaveitalone84]

if you think of distortion a sand, and crunchy over drive as boulders, then fizz is like dust and fluff. Similar to fuzz effect.

AC30s can sound fizzy at times. Often the fizz is added at the recording stage when equipment clips or the mic is positioned poorly. Thanks for the help guys. If i do end up with a fizzy amp, i am sure i can mod it away somehow, if only i knew how.

Fredy, when you get your amp just shoot me a PM and I can help ya get sorted. Theres still a few layout issues I want to rectify first (bascially getting mine to francesca pretty exact).

If you're buying an express from Nik get these options atleast.

Orange Drop PS Cap Upgrade
External Bias

You could get a Master Volume if you want but I don't like them IMHO.

[Lonely Raven]

How about posting links to those you tube videos rather then describing them?

I'm pretty sure I saw the one with the moving background...guy has a Les Paul and longish hair I think...man his playing is painful to me. I mean, I suck and I know it, but his playing sounds like my drunken noodling...so like suck X2.

Note: I could try and make some recordings of my Ceriatone TW, but as I said, I suck...and I'm in an apartment building so it's rare that I get to turn it louder then about #1 on the dial. Anything louder is painfull in my little apartment, and the TW had the police show up one night already.

I'm itching to use this Zoom H2 recorder I got though. So maybe I'll try to record some clean tones at least.

[fredy]

thanks guys, i will definitely ask for the ODs and an external bias can only make life easier.
here are the links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2nMFvu-x4U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWlzFdrJ ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU5OJS8nFKY&feature=user

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h-mr46ZPlY&feature=user

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=472K5yGVKeQ&feature=user

[leaveitalone84]

I'm pretty sure I saw the one with the moving background...guy has a Les Paul and longish hair I think...man his playing is painful to me. I mean, I suck and I know it, but his playing sounds like my drunken noodling...so like suck X2.

I didn't want to be the one to say it but +1. I totally agree. I don't care about someone noodling on camera; but, when you take yourself way too serious when you do it, it becomes hilarious. I burst out laughing the first time I saw it and his playing really grated on me.

IMHO He acts like the Ceriatone is KF level of work. Now, I respect Nik immensly. He is a great guy and has only treated me well. His products are a huge bang for the buck too, but they arn't KF quality. Even Nik has told me the amps will ususally need some tweaking to get them just right. This guy sounds like he took the amp outta the box and plugged it in.

Again, its great that he put the video up and took the time for the special effects.