dan46n2 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 4:37 am
There are several amp clones I would like to build from scratch but although I've done alot of basic electronic repair I've never built a complete amp. It looks like Ceriatone has a full kit.. do you guys know of or recommend any other places?
Hi Dan (?),
I have a big recommendation for you, do it from scratch, like I did (and many others too). It will be the highest learning curve, but you'll get the most value of experience and the most possible fun (and maybe frustration) out of it. The good thing: Every information (and when I say every, I mean every) is here! Layouts, schematics, even where to put every single hole in a chassis, you can't ask for more.
I have a collection of files in my drop-box, you'll find a link a few threads below -> https://ampgarage.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... 82#p415472
There is nothing to fear, make a plan and get startet.
Even if you can't make it from scratch like Gerhard is suggesting, you can buy the big items, then source all the small parts yourself. Much more involving and rewarding than just assembling a kit paint-by-numbers style. Instead of patronizing someone who basically strip-mines this forum, you can buy boards, cabinets, chassis, NOS parts, etc., from guys who actually hang out here, share knowledge, and offer help.
drew wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2020 3:14 am
Even if you can't make it from scratch like Gerhard is suggesting, you can buy the big items, then source all the small parts yourself. Much more involving and rewarding than just assembling a kit paint-by-numbers style. Instead of patronizing someone who basically strip-mines this forum, you can buy boards, cabinets, chassis, NOS parts, etc., from guys who actually hang out here, share knowledge, and offer help.
That's exactly what I have done. I don't have the tools for proper metal & woodworks, so I purchased a chassis and a cab.
Does someone have contact info for anyone here that sells the components parts? I guess I'll probably start with the chassis and go from there. I'm guessing for caps, resistors, stuff like that Mouser is the way to go.. any other places that I should try?
SSS chassis and boards are currently available from rccolgan or Erwin (depending on where you are). Look at the listings in the For Sale section. Amplified Nation periodically lists batches of chassis, boards, and cabs for sale there too.
Mouser, Digi-Key, Arrow Electronics, Allied Electronics, Hoffman Amps, Antique Electronics (tubesandmore.com), apexjr.com,, are some places you can get components and supplies. Heyboer, Hammond Mfg, ClassicTone, Mercury Magnetics supply transformers. These are all just off the top of my head, I’m not favoring one over others, and I’m probably leaving out some that deserve to be mentioned.
dan46n2 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 23, 2020 6:17 am
Looks like I stirred up a hornets nest. I've been emailing Nik back and forth about a #102 kit but now think I want a SSS. Seems like he is the only one offering kits so at least in my case I probably wouldn't have ventured to build an amp from scratch without any prior experience. I'de like to try that in the future. Would have never looked into Dumbles either due to an originals cost so a kit is my only option now. I see where the bad feelings come from though... can see both sides.
If your looking for the SSS layout from ceriatone, its posted on the site here. Scroll down the page
Let's not forget the FACT that many "builders" like Tyler, Marsh, Lil Dawg (and surely others), buy Ceriatone amps and resell them as their own. Besides Nik being a direct competitor, we have others reselling his stuff too !! These guys don't mention that the amps are re-branded imported amps. Sometimes a new panel, sometimes US made iron on a C-tone chassis, but still, totally unfair to competition. Tyler's website opens with a banner proclaiming "hand crafted in the USA", but I've seen side-by-side pictures of Ceriatone chassis and Tyler amps, and they are clearly the same builds. How fair is this to hard-working actual US based, actual US builders, trying to run an ethical business ?!
I agree with Tony on this. Nik basically used TAG as his own, free, engineering department and gave nothing back, other than nasty posts when he was called-out and exposed. I understand he literally asked Brandon for the ODS chassis details for a "personal build". Obviously not. As an early member here and an active contributor for quite some time like others, I decided I could no longer share much beyond basic assistance here after a given point. Look, I applaud the free exchange of ideas and newly discovered information, but I no longer am on a quest for that personally. I've taken the original basic Dumble DNA in my own directions, and don't really "clone" anything anymore. I, like many of us, realized Dumble brought audiophile parts and careful component selection, coupled with RCA tube manual and Radiotron Designers Handbook circuits he used and tweaked. He didn't really invent anything, but did advance the art of the craft in a unique way. You truly never know who could take any of the things posted here for commercial gain.
I'm sure many of the other builders who frequented this place feel the same way. You find out something unique or discover something, why would you share it when people like Nik will simply take it ?
FUCHSAUDIO wrote: ↑Sat Aug 29, 2020 2:57 pm
A few thoughts... You find out something unique or discover something, why would you share it when people like Nik will simply take it ?
Don't get me wrong. I do respect & understand your point but this is the exact reason why so much craftmanship tips & techniques have been lost in France. There - in my own country almost nobody knows anymore about "french stiching"& other "french things" I am always amazed to discover on US forums...
... & what about Linus Torvalds nearly starving in a small & unknown company in his country when Google is litterally making billions of dollars out of his Linux "kernel", he gave for free to the human kind...
Buddha's way is right in the middle - they say...
(& I like your post, anyway)
FUCHSAUDIO wrote: ↑Sat Aug 29, 2020 2:57 pm
A few thoughts:
Let's not forget the FACT that many "builders" like Tyler, Marsh, Lil Dawg (and surely others), buy Ceriatone amps and resell them as their own. Besides Nik being a direct competitor, we have others reselling his stuff too !! These guys don't mention that the amps are re-branded imported amps. Sometimes a new panel, sometimes US made iron on a C-tone chassis, but still, totally unfair to competition. Tyler's website opens with a banner proclaiming "hand crafted in the USA", but I've seen side-by-side pictures of Ceriatone chassis and Tyler amps, and they are clearly the same builds. How fair is this to hard-working actual US based, actual US builders, trying to run an ethical business ?!
I agree with Tony on this. Nik basically used TAG as his own, free, engineering department and gave nothing back, other than nasty posts when he was called-out and exposed. I understand he literally asked Brandon for the ODS chassis details for a "personal build". Obviously not. As an early member here and an active contributor for quite some time like others, I decided I could no longer share much beyond basic assistance here after a given point. Look, I applaud the free exchange of ideas and newly discovered information, but I no longer am on a quest for that personally. I've taken the original basic Dumble DNA in my own directions, and don't really "clone" anything anymore. I, like many of us, realized Dumble brought audiophile parts and careful component selection, coupled with RCA tube manual and Radiotron Designers Handbook circuits he used and tweaked. He didn't really invent anything, but did advance the art of the craft in a unique way. You truly never know who could take any of the things posted here for commercial gain.
I'm sure many of the other builders who frequented this place feel the same way. You find out something unique or discover something, why would you share it when people like Nik will simply take it ?
Every single member of this board has taken something from it. I firmly believe there are no exceptions to this, none... unless Dumble, unbeknownst to all of us, has been a secret member lurking in silence from the start. The extent to which people have given something back in return varies and Nik may as well have topped the list of those who contributed less -- possibly nothing at all in his case. Some of those with no commercial interest were historically very forthcoming with the latest intel, but, in the beginning, so were a few of the folks that had already gone into business. I think Brandon's posts showing how to build a Dumbleator from scratch, step by step, are still up in the Dumble files section, for example. And let's not even mention S/N 102, the most fabled Dumble ODS amp every built, and Tony's collection of layouts, etc., etc. Inevitably, as competition continued to increase over time, builders realized that their livelihood was at odds with the original spirit of this board. Nik may have been the biggest thorn in their side, but there were many other cases in which someone would post something new only to find that the competition would use the information to implement the same feature in their subsequent builds. I would often hear those types of stories back in the day. Maybe things would have remained the same for a longer period if it hadn't been for Nik, but the ultimate outcome was inevitable, and I completely understand that. I don't think I know any of the other folks you mention, Andy, nor anything about their business practices. I believe the term "made in the USA" has lost at least some of its original meaning with, for instance, Switchcraft parts being made in Mexico, a great deal of the electronic components being made in China, etc. I'd be cautious about correlating the part of the world where assembly takes place with the quality of the final product. I still have some pictures you shared about a few Dumble inspired amps built in the US -- closer to you than me -- that don't look so pretty.
