ceriatone

[crow55]

hey guys,

  im getting a clone from Ceriatone soon, but im having trouble choosing.
ill either get a 36W or 50w plexi.
i love having the gain control on the 36 and its not as loud but i love the sound of the plexi.
problem is you have to really krank up the plexi to get distortion. i want that loud but my gigs do not call for that much volume.
how much gain is on each amp?

 

[jackthehack]

Your question doesn't really make much sense.

In reality, there will be no real discernable difference in output between the two amp heads; the 50 watter will theoretically out 1-1.5 more dB than the 36 watter, which at max volume output you would not be able to discern.

You are looking at two very different amplifier designs; the output stage on the 36 watt is 4xEL84, the plexi 2xEL34. You should check with the folks at Ceriatone, many 4X(tube) output stage amps allow you to pull two of the tubes and essentially halve the max volume output, they would know if you can do that on the 36 watter and let you know which of the tubes to pull if feasible; in that case your sound is going to be more akin to a Marshall 18 watt head.

 

[crow55]

so which one has more gain? :-\

 

[jackthehack]

The one with the higher wattage output rating. "Gain" = increase of signal voltage level from input to output stage.

 

[GoDrex]

If you're getting it built new, you can ask for a master volume to be added.

 

[Ted]

uh-oh you're getting an amp built but you don't really seem to grasp amp basics. Thats a recipe for dissapointment.  :sad1:

 

[jimh]

I've got a Ceriatone '1987 Lead' 50W plexi. It sounds fantastic, but you're right you do have to crank hell out of it to get that crunchy drivey sound.  And it's loud as hell through my Orange 2x12 cab.

No matter how hard you crank it you wont get the really saturated 'metal' sounds from it unless you use a dist pedal.  However, I put a clean boost pedal in front of mine, and then it'll scream classic/southern rock drive at you all day long.  Turn the guitars volume down and it cleans up beautifully.

One option you could try is what I've just done (thanks to our very own Ildar), is go for the 50W and then get some tube converters  I bought Ildars Ruby Tubes ones off him, and Jack has used them in several amps).  They allow you to simply swap out the EL34s for EL84s, and effectively drop the amp from Class A/B operation down to Class A at around 15Watts or so, whilst still retatining the character of the 'plexi' sound.  
There is also a similar product from The Tube Amp doctor which will drop it down to 8 Watts.  I wont go into the details of them here as they've been discussed elsewhere on the forum.

The Ceriatone 50W plexi is highly recommended, but then I've never played with or heard the 36Watter.  (I was originally gonna go for the 18W, but I changed my mind last minute for the plexi).

if you want any more info drop me a PM.
Good Luck
Jim

 

[jimh]

incidentally, if you want 'more gain'  Ceriatone also do a '2204' model which is basically a plexi modded for increased front end overdrive.

 

[Ted]

^^^ Listen to the man.