NAD: Ceriatone King Kong

PurityS.L.G

PurityS.L.G

Well-known member
CKKRS.jpg


Been very curious about this amp to see if it is improved upon from the Chupacabra I had a couple of years ago. It most certainly is!

The layout is in the style of a CCV but we all know its not, unless Nik somehow got his hands on a real one to clone but I've never been able to confirm that nor have I reached out to ask him.

Ch.1 is a VERY nice sounding SL. With the right combo of bright and bite switches engaged, it delivers the raw vintage sound we come to expect.

Ch. 2 is supposed to be a cross between a yeti and chupa but since I've only owned the chupa, it sounds more lively and refined to my ears. I love ch.1 but ch.2 is the most fun to play. The feel is incredible.

The addition of the character and feel switches are a nice addition. Gives you some extra "modded" tones to play around with and play nicer with a variety of guitar pickups.

With all that said, I still have a gripe with Ceriatone. It just doesn't have the punch of a vintage Marshall. KK has a very nice bass response no question, but it punches like a jacked middleweight when say a GOOD JMP2203 or JCM800 punch like a concrete fisted heavyweight.

In comparison to my DSL....its funny because that amp is considered a classic, which I mostly agree on especially for the price, but it so thin sounding compared to so many other amps and way too boomy when the deep switch is engaged. The KK is a much fuller sounding amp in comparison. Also its "plexi" channel is much more classic sounding than DSL green. Not to mention you can goose up the gain with the ERA switch.

Ch.1 takes boosts very well. So much fun to experiment with. Ch.2 not so much. It takes boosts ok but it sounds like you are stacking 2 OD's so you have to dial in the amp and pedal accordingly to make it work. That's my experience with modded Marshall amps anyway so that's no surprise. Chupa behaved the same way.

Overall I'm happy. Amp is a ton of fun to play. I may even look into getting it modded to see if I can just get a little more oomph out of it.
 
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Ceriatone’s the kind of company where I could make up my mind if I could go to Malaysia and try every single thing they make..🙂
 
My understanding is that this circuit is very mod friendly and it doesn’t take much to get the amp to open up. You’d be happy with a tweaked version for sure and it’s a ceriatone so no harm no foul going to town to make it sound like you prefer.
 
PurityS.L.G said:
With all that said, I still have a gripe with Ceriatone. It just doesn't have the punch of a vintage Marshall. KK has a very nice bass response no question, but it punches like a jacked middleweight when say a GOOD JMP2203 or JCM800 punch like a concrete fisted heavyweight.
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I'll let you know after my JCM51 is assembled and after I A/B it with a friend's Black Jube and his 1959HW

I think that one should have that kind of punch. It's the reason why after much deliberation with Nik, I just went with a more classic circuit.
 
It's a great amp - enjoy!

I have the 100W version (built in autumn 2023 by Ceriatone) & it packs a punch imho. Flipping the Feel switch down will shave some gain but you can crank the Bass / Depth to get more slam from it.
 
2dor said:
It's a great amp - enjoy!

I have the 100W version (built in autumn 2023 by Ceriatone) & it packs a punch imho. Flipping the Feel switch down will shave some gain but you can crank the Bass / Depth to get more slam from it.
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I don’t remember if I tried that combo of settings yet. So much to explore. I’ll give it go.

I’ll clarify the amp has a very nice punch to it but my opinion stands that it’s still not as hefty as an old 2203. It’s not the end of the world for me.
 
PurityS.L.G said:
With all that said, I still have a gripe with Ceriatone. It just doesn't have the punch of a vintage Marshall. KK has a very nice bass response no question, but it punches like a jacked middleweight when say a GOOD JMP2203 or JCM800 punch like a concrete fisted heavyweight.
Click to expand...

Same goes for the Yeti, there's a smoothness that's not easy to dial out, and makes the amp kinda soft compared to an old Jcm800 (even by Ceriatone); you have to go with offed era switch/Plexi mod, use the brite switches wisely, keep the pussy trimmer low (don't recall if the KK has one) and boost it properly. The Yeti also as a push pull gain, not sure if the KK has one too, adds some bite
 
Zado said:
Same goes for the Yeti, there's a smoothness that's not easy to dial out, and makes the amp kinda soft compared to an old Jcm800 (even by Ceriatone); you have to go with offed era switch/Plexi mod, use the brite switches wisely, keep the pussy trimmer low (don't recall if the KK has one) and boost it properly. The Yeti also as a push pull gain, not sure if the KK has one too, adds some bite
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The good ol' trimmer's on the King Kong as well. Usually, per Jason Tong / Headfirst, getting it to about 8 on the dial (3 o'clock) is about where the Cameron spec ought to be.

I usually always have both bright switches engaged and the ERA (either left or right) for high-gain stuff. In 100W mode with the Feel switch down, it kicks like a donkey. OT a bit but did a short / sloppy vid (in the room) with the amp going through the St.Rock React:IR II attenuator portion and it just hits hard:
 
2dor said:
The good ol' trimmer's on the King Kong as well. Usually, per Jason Tong / Headfirst, getting it to about 8 on the dial (3 o'clock) is about where the Cameron spec ought to be.

I usually always have both bright switches engaged and the ERA (either left or right) for high-gain stuff. In 100W mode with the Feel switch down, it kicks like a donkey. OT a bit but did a short / sloppy vid (in the room) with the amp going through the St.Rock React:IR II attenuator portion and it just hits hard:
Click to expand...

Sounds definitely mean and brootal! Consider Nik mostly uses audio taper on his Jose circuits, so you need to feed some volume to the beast to get the goods. On the Yeti, modern mode, it delivers around 7-8 of the master, try and see if it gets more violent!
 
Any idea what the KK has for negative feedback, stock? Is it more like a 2203, or closer to JMP/NMV era? I had Nik include a NFB pot on the 2203 they built for me, and I prefer it with negative feedback in the plexi range, especially when I'm giving it some volume.
 
I'm going to try and makes some comparison clips against my JCM2000 DSL for you guys. @2dor you were right about keeping the feel switch off. It adds some extra girth and gets ch.2 closer to a JCM800 in terms of feel. Keep bright switch 1 off, add an SD-1 up front and you got a smoking hair metal tone. I got ch. 1 right where I want it but still experimenting with ch.2. A lot of fun!
 
PurityS.L.G said:
View attachment 347201

Been very curious about this amp to see if it is improved upon from the Chupacabra I had a couple of years ago. It most certainly is!

The layout is in the style of a CCV but we all know its not, unless Nik somehow got his hands on a real one to clone but I've never been able to confirm that nor have I reached out to ask him.

Ch.1 is a VERY nice sounding SL. With the right combo of bright and bite switches engaged, it delivers the raw vintage sound we come to expect.

Ch. 2 is supposed to be a cross between a yeti and chupa but since I've only owned the chupa, it sounds more lively and refined to my ears. I love ch.1 but ch.2 is the most fun to play. The feel is incredible.

The addition of the character and feel switches are a nice addition. Gives you some extra "modded" tones to play around with and play nicer with a variety of guitar pickups.

With all that said, I still have a gripe with Ceriatone. It just doesn't have the punch of a vintage Marshall. KK has a very nice bass response no question, but it punches like a jacked middleweight when say a GOOD JMP2203 or JCM800 punch like a concrete fisted heavyweight.

In comparison to my DSL....its funny because that amp is considered a classic, which I mostly agree on especially for the price, but it so thin sounding compared to so many other amps and way too boomy when the deep switch is engaged. The KK is a much fuller sounding amp in comparison. Also its "plexi" channel is much more classic sounding than DSL green. Not to mention you can goose up the gain with the ERA switch.

Ch.1 takes boosts very well. So much fun to experiment with. Ch.2 not so much. It takes boosts ok but it sounds like you are stacking 2 OD's so you have to dial in the amp and pedal accordingly to make it work. That's my experience with modded Marshall amps anyway so that's no surprise. Chupa behaved the same way.

Overall I'm happy. Amp is a ton of fun to play. I may even look into getting it modded to see if I can just get a little more oomph out of it.
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Congrats!

I've only owned 1 Ceriatone, a 2204 clone with a Fortin Cali mod. Cool amp, but after 1 weekend gig, the Sunday after I fired it up and POOF there went the PT.
Got it replaced and sold it fast. If I ever went with one again, I'd order without the transformers and get a pair here.
The lack of punch is something I dislike about any amp; the 5153s also have that feature. They get loud but don't hit you like a good Marshall can. Maybe go with a different OT? Increase the filtering in the power section? Not a tech so maybe one can chime in on that.
 
Racerxrated said:
Congrats!

I've only owned 1 Ceriatone, a 2204 clone with a Fortin Cali mod. Cool amp, but after 1 weekend gig, the Sunday after I fired it up and POOF there went the PT.
Got it replaced and sold it fast. If I ever went with one again, I'd order without the transformers and get a pair here.
The lack of punch is something I dislike about any amp; the 5153s also have that feature. They get loud but don't hit you like a good Marshall can. Maybe go with a different OT? Increase the filtering in the power section? Not a tech so maybe one can chime in on that.
Click to expand...
Some amps surround you with sound, others want to push you out of the way.
 
Racerxrated said:
Congrats!

I've only owned 1 Ceriatone, a 2204 clone with a Fortin Cali mod. Cool amp, but after 1 weekend gig, the Sunday after I fired it up and POOF there went the PT.
Got it replaced and sold it fast. If I ever went with one again, I'd order without the transformers and get a pair here.
The lack of punch is something I dislike about any amp; the 5153s also have that feature. They get loud but don't hit you like a good Marshall can. Maybe go with a different OT? Increase the filtering in the power section? Not a tech so maybe one can chime in on that.
Click to expand...
I was thinking about that also reading this thread. Is the lack of punch due to small transformers? Maybe more compression in the preamp vs. something with fewer gain stages like a 2203?
 
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