Germino vs Metropoulos vs Bray vs Ceriatone

SavageRiffer

SavageRiffer

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Your opinions on Metroplex vs Germino vs Bray vs Ceriatone?

I absolutely love the Metroplex. I have enjoyed the Germinos I've played, but only played the 45 & 100w models which did not get good low volume tone. The Metroplex does. I've played a Bray 4550 before and must say that it was THE most amazing modded plexi I've heard next to the Metropoulos. In fact, I wish I had a 4550 and Metroplex side by side so I could figure out definitively which one I like best. Ceriatone, well they are probably on that level, but SOOOO much more cost-effective. I know there are other Marshall clones out there, but these are the ones I'm particularly interested in.
 
Haven't played a Metro (though I'd love to), Bray (that too) or a Germino. But I owned three Ceriatone plexi-based amps and they were great. Loved my Chupacabra, but I was on a 1-in-1-out policy and had just picked-up a Friedman Smallbox. The two channel better fit my needs at the time. But I do miss the Chup and wish that I still had it. Loop sucked though. It did some amazing EVH, Ratt, etc 80s tones.
 
Red_Label":165anf24 said:
Haven't played a Metro (though I'd love to), Bray (that too) or a Germino. But I owned three Ceriatone plexi-based amps and they were great. Loved my Chupacabra, but I was on a 1-in-1-out policy and had just picked-up a Friedman Smallbox. The two channel better fit my needs at the time. But I do miss the Chup and wish that I still had it. Loop sucked though. It did some amazing EVH, Ratt, etc 80s tones.
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The Smallbox is a special amp to those who understand it. Though it may seem like just a well-made modded Marshall, it has a distinct feel and up-front midrange. I absolutely love Friedman amps and glad the USA is home to guys like Friedman and Bogner. That being said, I'm becoming convinced that Ceriatone offers a similar quality at a better price point. One of the amps which I want more than others, the Friedman JJ, has eluded me all of these years. Ceriatone doesn't have a JJ clone, but they have some offerings which give it a run for the money. I'm going to consider getting a Ceriatone if my JJ dream doesn't materialize any time soon.

As for the FX loop, I've never tried the Ceriatone FX loop because I've always run FX through the front end. I'm thinking that your experience with the FX loop is the same thing with Splawn's FX loop. I had a Quick Rod that was amazing, but the FX loop sucked... so I thought. Turns out, it gets a lot better as the amp gets louder. I eventually traded it, but if I had realized back then how well FX work through the input most of the time, I would probably have kept it.
 
SavageRiffer":2mmiecf6 said:
Red_Label":2mmiecf6 said:
Haven't played a Metro (though I'd love to), Bray (that too) or a Germino. But I owned three Ceriatone plexi-based amps and they were great. Loved my Chupacabra, but I was on a 1-in-1-out policy and had just picked-up a Friedman Smallbox. The two channel better fit my needs at the time. But I do miss the Chup and wish that I still had it. Loop sucked though. It did some amazing EVH, Ratt, etc 80s tones.
Click to expand...

The Smallbox is a special amp to those who understand it. Though it may seem like just a well-made modded Marshall, it has a distinct feel and up-front midrange. I absolutely love Friedman amps and glad the USA is home to guys like Friedman and Bogner. That being said, I'm becoming convinced that Ceriatone offers a similar quality at a better price point. One of the amps which I want more than others, the Friedman JJ, has eluded me all of these years. Ceriatone doesn't have a JJ clone, but they have some offerings which give it a run for the money. I'm going to consider getting a Ceriatone if my JJ dream doesn't materialize any time soon.

As for the FX loop, I've never tried the Ceriatone FX loop because I've always run FX through the front end. I'm thinking that your experience with the FX loop is the same thing with Splawn's FX loop. I had a Quick Rod that was amazing, but the FX loop sucked... so I thought. Turns out, it gets a lot better as the amp gets louder. I eventually traded it, but if I had realized back then how well FX work through the input most of the time, I would probably have kept it.
Click to expand...


I have a Quickrod and use the loop. It doesn't bother me at all. The Chup's loop was crap. If I had kept it, I would have sent it to Nik to see if he could fix that. But he's in good company, as I wasn't in love with the loops in my Bogner XTC or Shiva. With certain FX units (my TC G-System and Nova System in particular) they just sucked and had these weird phasing issues.

Anyways... yes, I think that Ceriatone makes great amps and would not hesitate to buy one if the need arose. I've been curious about the Yeti series since I had the Chup. The King Kong also interests me.
 
Red_Label":167fv3mu said:
SavageRiffer":167fv3mu said:
Red_Label":167fv3mu said:
Haven't played a Metro (though I'd love to), Bray (that too) or a Germino. But I owned three Ceriatone plexi-based amps and they were great. Loved my Chupacabra, but I was on a 1-in-1-out policy and had just picked-up a Friedman Smallbox. The two channel better fit my needs at the time. But I do miss the Chup and wish that I still had it. Loop sucked though. It did some amazing EVH, Ratt, etc 80s tones.
Click to expand...

The Smallbox is a special amp to those who understand it. Though it may seem like just a well-made modded Marshall, it has a distinct feel and up-front midrange. I absolutely love Friedman amps and glad the USA is home to guys like Friedman and Bogner. That being said, I'm becoming convinced that Ceriatone offers a similar quality at a better price point. One of the amps which I want more than others, the Friedman JJ, has eluded me all of these years. Ceriatone doesn't have a JJ clone, but they have some offerings which give it a run for the money. I'm going to consider getting a Ceriatone if my JJ dream doesn't materialize any time soon.

As for the FX loop, I've never tried the Ceriatone FX loop because I've always run FX through the front end. I'm thinking that your experience with the FX loop is the same thing with Splawn's FX loop. I had a Quick Rod that was amazing, but the FX loop sucked... so I thought. Turns out, it gets a lot better as the amp gets louder. I eventually traded it, but if I had realized back then how well FX work through the input most of the time, I would probably have kept it.
Click to expand...


I have a Quickrod and use the loop. It doesn't bother me at all. The Chup's loop was crap. If I had kept it, I would have sent it to Nik to see if he could fix that. But he's in good company, as I wasn't in love with the loops in my Bogner XTC or Shiva. With certain FX units (my TC G-System and Nova System in particular) they just sucked and had these weird phasing issues.

Anyways... yes, I think that Ceriatone makes great amps and would not hesitate to buy one if the need arose. I've been curious about the Yeti series since I had the Chup. The King Kong also interests me.
Click to expand...

The Yeti is amazing. I have not personally played it, but someone I know has one and I have heard him play it a few times. I really like his tone, and he uses cheap pickups too, so that says a bit about how good the amp sounds
 
SavageRiffer":2wcdewco said:
The Yeti is amazing. I have not personally played it, but someone I know has one and I have heard him play it a few times. I really like his tone, and he uses cheap pickups too, so that says a bit about how good the amp sounds
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Good to know! I'll keep that in mind if amp GAS strikes me again. I've been in the middle of a welcome break from guitar and amp GAS. My wife is certainly happy about that! :LOL: :LOL:
 
The Metroplex is incredible, and the loop is absolutely the best. It doesn't try to be a Swiss army knife, but it is more flexible than say a Helios or even an SLO. It is accurate in its negative feedback/filtering arrangement so for the guy who wants to chug - while it is clear and defined - it is not "tight" by modern standards. But it really does sound that good. The way it is set up it has an incredible transition from clean to distorted, which you give up the tighter an amp is set up.

I had a 12000 for several years and it was amazing, equalling my original '68 in every way, and the Metroplex is essentially a Cadillac 12000 with channel switching and boost.
 
Rdodson":224jx00i said:
The Metroplex is incredible, and the loop is absolutely the best. It doesn't try to be a Swiss army knife, but it is more flexible than say a Helios or even an SLO. It is accurate in its negative feedback/filtering arrangement so for the guy who wants to chug - while it is clear and defined - it is not "tight" by modern standards. But it really does sound that good. The way it is set up it has an incredible transition from clean to distorted, which you give up the tighter an amp is set up.

I had a 12000 for several years and it was amazing, equalling my original '68 in every way, and the Metroplex is essentially a Cadillac 12000 with channel switching and boost.
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More flexible than the Helios? I have a Helios and kept it over my Shiva 20th because of it's flexibility (second to tone of course). I haven't tried the newest Metroplex model, but I hear it has been improved for great low volume tone and some other gain modifications. How much clean headroom does it have? Is it footswitchable from high headroom to high gain?
 
Rdodson":8m8w500e said:
The Metroplex is incredible, and the loop is absolutely the best. It doesn't try to be a Swiss army knife, but it is more flexible than say a Helios or even an SLO. It is accurate in its negative feedback/filtering arrangement so for the guy who wants to chug - while it is clear and defined - it is not "tight" by modern standards. But it really does sound that good. The way it is set up it has an incredible transition from clean to distorted, which you give up the tighter an amp is set up.

I had a 12000 for several years and it was amazing, equalling my original '68 in every way, and the Metroplex is essentially a Cadillac 12000 with channel switching and boost.
Click to expand...

Good info. The Metro 12000 is the one that I've been most curious about for the past couple of years. But we rarely get those things up here in the sticks of MT. And they don't come cheap. Not that the Bogner, Friedman, etc stuff that I've had over the past several years came cheap either. Anyways... it sounds like the Metros are the ultimate plexis from what I've read. Definitely in my wheelhouse.
 
I think the clean tone in '66 mode is gorgeous. Running it 66/Mod gives you flexibility but it is a channel twister rather than a complete switcher - so I should adjust my comments. I think it is more flexible in a studio setting (and the mid control has MUCH more power than a standard Marshall one). Live, it depends how much you want to ride the volume knob.

I'm more of a session guy than live now days.
 
Had a Bray modded 87x and it was killer rolling down the volume was magic and the wife knob was awesome I ran this as a wet-dry for effects .
 
Deanmachine":3d8ycpua said:
Had a Bray modded 87x and it was killer rolling down the volume was magic and the wife knob was awesome I ran this as a wet-dry for effects .
Click to expand...

Arrrgh! Bray GAS coming on strong!!!!
 
The MP didnt do it for me - it was stuck in between...meaning i felt like for 'true' vintage plexi tones (and most importantly, feel) i liked straight up plexi circuits better germino and metropoulos (45/100, 12000, 10000..take your pic)...

For slightly more modern "modded' tones i vastly prefered the helios, ss100, etc...

I will say, the 'voicing' on the MP was very unique and rivaled the straight up plexis for that very vocal, stanky sort of midrange focused thing...but it never quite got the feel of 'plexi on 10'...it was always a little more controlled than that...just depends on what one places a premium as these are all awesome amps and their slight differences mean getting or giving something up relative to the others.
 
SavageRiffer":vgafneau said:
Deanmachine":vgafneau said:
Arrrgh! Bray GAS coming on strong!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

I remember when his amps/mods and the Mojave Peacemaker seemed like the only games in town when seeking authentic early brown sound. I spoke with Dave via email and he seemed like a nice guy and class act. Still would like one of his amps.
 
Red_Label":28ony1nk said:
SavageRiffer":28ony1nk said:
Deanmachine":28ony1nk said:
Arrrgh! Bray GAS coming on strong!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

I remember when his amps/mods and the Mojave Peacemaker seemed like the only games in town when seeking authentic early brown sound. I spoke with Dave via email and he seemed like a nice guy and class act. Still would like one of his amps.
Click to expand...

Yep, that dude is pretty cool. I once called him with the money in-hand to buy a 4550. He didn't negotiate the price with me so I ended up buying a Landry G3. However, in retrospect, I wish I would have gotten the 4550. I'd probably still have it now if I did.
 
I have a Bray 4550 and it is freaking sweet. I have a BE-100 and it is freaking sweet. I have a Ceriatone Chupacabra and it is freaking sweet. They are all different, but all freaking sweet, you know? I have never had the pleasure of trying a Metropoulos or Germino, but you know what? I bet they are freakins sweet! A couple of people have mentioned gas for Bray amps and I will say this: It is an awesome take on the plexi architecture type of thing and Bray stands behind his amps 100% just as some of the other great builders do. Here is a clip of my 4550 Deluxe that Bray built for me He recorded this for me as a sound sample before sending it to me to see if I approved of the tone without any changes, which I did. Also, I apologize if my post seems off in any way, I didn't contribute anything meaningful, or what have you. I had a hard day and I've been drinking hard liquor.

 
Dude that sounds badass. I don't know if I could give up my Helios for one. The Helios is warmer and a bit thicker, but not sure if I could get close to that sound.
 
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