NAD; Ceriatone Molecular

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bad.Seed
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ClintN667 said:
I don't think there transformers are bad at all to be honest. I know they have caught a bad rep but I have owned a ceriatone 2204 with classictone and with stock transformers plus I've owned a Molecular, leviathan and used ceriatone transformers in several builds. Maybe they had an issue a long time ago but they have corrected it. I feel like the overengineered their iron at this point
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How did the Molecular compare to the '74 and Skeleton key Monomyths?
 
FourT6and2 said:
If it were me, I'd ditch the boost pedal and set internal trim pot to 470K, replace 8K B+ resistor with a 5K for a total of 10K to raise preamp voltages a little (might need to adjust loop a bit to compensate since it draws power from B+). Original amp's NFB is 82K on 8ohm tap, so set the NFB control somewhere around there. The Feel/Bleed control is set a bit too high compared to the original amp and other similar designs. 82K or 68K would be a little better and yield a tighter, clearer sound as you increase gain. And if you really want to put some icing on the cake, replace OT with a Merren or Marstran 50W JMP. All of these changes will give the amp more upper-mid snarl and character and a tighter, more angry response. If that's what you're after.
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Apprecate the info! Honestly, I prefer boosting over plugging straight in, as Ilike to be able to pair the boost/guitar to the particular amp and cab I'm playing, and certain guitars and boosts shape the tone nicely or in different ways, depending on what I'm going for
 
Agreed with others, demo sounded great. Ceriatone makes solid equipment and I would purchase again from them and maybe a Yeti or Chuc.
 
RedPlated said:
Sounds pretty good. Is that boosted or just a gate?

I think Ceriatone has some good designs, although they are just reproduced based on popular amps. The only thing I wonder about is the quality of the transformers at that price point. Building and selling an amp for $1200-1300 is extremely hard to do with quality parts and good transformers. And that's not even factoring in labor.
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I had a bad PT in a Ceriatone 2204…replacement was a Classictone and a noticeable improvement. 11 years ago though; I’m sure they have better transformers now. But I’d still order without and get a set from Merren/Marstran and call it a day. Mercury will cost you double from my experience.
Nice demo OP! Those amps are a serious bang for the buck.
 
Reducing the PI fizz cap value of 100pf would also open it up and add some bite and attack to the low strings. Easy swap.

What are the plate voltages, and consequently, the preamp voltage on these amps from the factory? The preamp voltage can be adjusted to change the feel and response.
 
I was thinking of ordering a ceriatone amp. I asked for it to be shipped without transformers so that i could put better transformers in. He seemed a little miffed. He said that he puts high quality transformers in the amps. Also, sounds great man. Congrats
 
Was that on reverb ? I tried to buy it and the dude was gonna get me a shipping quote, then next morning he said it was sold. They are killer bang for the buck amps without a doubt, congrats man !
 
RedPlated said:
Reducing the PI fizz cap value of 100pf would also open it up and add some bite and attack to the low strings. Easy swap.

What are the plate voltages, and consequently, the preamp voltage on these amps from the factory? The preamp voltage can be adjusted to change the feel and response.
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They run 350v PT secondaries with 13k B+ dropping resistor. My preference would be 10K to keep preamp voltages higher. The original, if the schematic is right, shows 18K. But don't know what the real amp runs for voltages. Cameron usually runs higher but who knows what Friedman did. For "hot rodded" amps like this, I usually shoot for nothing lower than 160v on V1a plate. With a 330K plate load there, B+ is usually around 480v.
 
FourT6and2 said:
They run 350v PT secondaries with 13k B+ dropping resistor. My preference would be 10K to keep preamp voltages higher. The original, if the schematic is right, shows 18K. But don't know what the real amp runs for voltages. Cameron usually runs higher but who knows what Friedman did. For "hot rodded" amps like this, I usually shoot for nothing lower than 160v on V1a plate. With a 330K plate load there, B+ is usually around 480v.
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Ok so 18k is probably going to be around 330v or so at the preamp with a 480 B+. I think that’s a good target for a 100w and even a little lower for 50’s. This is all personal preference, of course.

I do agree with preventing the voltage at v1 from getting too low. A 220k plate would be interesting to try while keeping the voltage lower at the PI. The 220k will reduce compression a bit and sharpen the attack some more. I like the feel of the lower preamp voltage.

This could be a really fun tweaker amp for someone who has knowledge of changing and testing different value components.
 
Smashedguitarist said:
I was thinking of ordering a ceriatone amp. I asked for it to be shipped without transformers so that i could put better transformers in. He seemed a little miffed. He said that he puts high quality transformers in the amps. Also, sounds great man. Congrats
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If you told him you wanted to "put better transformers in" I would probably be miffed if I was him too :)

Seriously though I've owned some damn nice amps and Ceriatone's quality is up there with amps twice the price.
 
Mikeyboyeee said:
How did the Molecular compare to the '74 and Skeleton key
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Way different amps. Definitely not as aggressive or has as much gain.

To me the Molecular sounds like a well balanced JCM800 with extra gain. Like if Peavey would have kept developing the VTM series this is would be a couple revisions later. It can do classic rock to 80's to speed metal. Anything heavier it would need a little help
 
RedPlated said:
Ok so 18k is probably going to be around 330v or so at the preamp with a 480 B+. I think that’s a good target for a 100w and even a little lower for 50’s. This is all personal preference, of course.

I do agree with preventing the voltage at v1 from getting too low. A 220k plate would be interesting to try while keeping the voltage lower at the PI. The 220k will reduce compression a bit and sharpen the attack some more. I like the feel of the lower preamp voltage.

This could be a really fun tweaker amp for someone who has knowledge of changing and testing different value components.
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Yeah all of Ceriatone's hot rod clones are good platforms for DIYers. They're all basically the same circuit and it's easy to poke around and change things.
 
This is all very interesting. If I wanted to get into modding for myself, which would be the better platform, a 59 SL clone or 2203 clone?
 
ClintN667 said:
If you told him you wanted to "put better transformers in" I would probably be miffed if I was him too :)

Seriously though I've owned some damn nice amps and Ceriatone's quality is up there with amps twice the price.
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LOL, yeah that’s a tough question for someone in his position!

Ceriatone is def great quality and the prices reasonable.
 
Bad.Seed said:
This is all very interesting. If I wanted to get into modding for myself, which would be the better platform, a 59 SL clone or 2203 clone?
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You should take one of Bruce Egnater's seminar classes in Metro Detroit at Eganater Amps Shop where in a class setting you build your own hot rodded Marshall style head as part of the class. Basically you learn enough to build the amp and to make tweaks down the road.
 
Bad.Seed said:
This is all very interesting. If I wanted to get into modding for myself, which would be the better platform, a 59 SL clone or 2203 clone?
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Im interested in this question too. From what Ive heard is that those two amps do not have a lot of differences. The 2203 obviously has a master volume and the SL doesn't. Im wondering if there is preference for the guys who do mods. Does the end result come out sounding the same if you were to do identical mods on both of them ?
 
the4thlast1 said:
Im interested in this question too. From what Ive heard is that those two amps do not have a lot of differences. The 2203 obviously has a master volume and the SL doesn't. Im wondering if there is preference for the guys who do mods. Does the end result come out sounding the same if you were to do identical mods on both of them ?
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I think most guys take the NMV amps and make them into a 2203 preamp with cascading gain stages and a master vol. So starting off with a 2203 circuit is going be less work to start with.
 
the4thlast1 said:
Im interested in this question too. From what Ive heard is that those two amps do not have a lot of differences. The 2203 obviously has a master volume and the SL doesn't. Im wondering if there is preference for the guys who do mods. Does the end result come out sounding the same if you were to do identical mods on both of them ?
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Bad.Seed said:
This is all very interesting. If I wanted to get into modding for myself, which would be the better platform, a 59 SL clone or 2203 clone?
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I'd suggest something like the Chupa or Yeti. Because they already have all the holes in the chassis/faceplate drilled and more room for additional controls/mods. And the base circuit is already hot-rodded. But if you want to start with a stock Marshall circuit first, that's another story. Just know if you wanted to eventually mod it with dual gains, master volume, etc. it will be more of a chore. That said, between those two amps... I'd go with a 4-hole 2203 clone so at least you have some more holes to work with lol
 
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