Amp Build: Ceriatone Kraken 50

[EXPcustom]

I've built several amps with Heyboers and most were fine. I did have a couple where the PT vibrated audibly and the amp had more hum than I'd like. I replaced both with MM (a Marshall 50W and a Vox AC30 Haddon) and in both cases the vibration/hum went away. I've always gotten quick response from Patrick at MM. But I also got the same from Phil at Heyboer. But the MM prices are really high. I justified it using that "buy once, cry once" (or "it only hurts once") adage. That said, I do want to try the Classic Tones.

My Merrens were about the the same price as MM but my OT was a special order (UL OT for a 2xKT88 mini-Major with regular 100W PT).

FourTsix; that build is looking awesome! I hope you don't have to tweak it too much. I've built a couple where I was so meticulous, only to mod it to hell and back and make it look not so nice. Or the problem-child amp, my mini-Major (the Cursed Caiman lol). That amp has had more issues than every other combined.

There was also humming issues with a certain brand's amp and the solution was replace the humming Heyboers with MMs. No issues with the MMs. Don't really want to discuss which model they were but it was discussed here on the forum a number of years ago.

 

[FourT6and2]

A bit more today. Having routed a bunch of stuff now, I'm making some notes about how to do it better the next time around. And by better, I mean more OCD lol.

 

[IndyWS6]

I'm subscribed to the thread, but didn't get emails about the recent postings ( ), so I just saw this. As expected, it looks great. Your level of OCD and mine are very similar. The difference is that you have amp building skills.

 

[the4thlast1]

Coming along nicely !

 

[FourT6and2]

Preamp tubes all done. In the home stretch now.

 

[ericb]

I'm a guitar amp addict who plays in a bar band and have loved and accumulated amps for many years. With that said, I can only do minor repairs/mods and am so envious of your skills. . What a great looking job you're doing and can't wait to hear it! Eric

 

[FourT6and2]

I'm a guitar amp addict who plays in a bar band and have loved and accumulated amps for many years. With that said, I can only do minor repairs/mods and am so envious of your skills. . What a great looking job you're doing and can't wait to hear it! Eric

Thanks! I think anybody can do this stuff. I'm still learning as I go

 

[suhrimmetal]

More progress today. Finished up the power section and did the power tube sockets, bias test points, impedance switch, and a few other things here and there.

Man that is super clean and sexy. Hope it sounds as good as it looks... and can't wait to hear clips. Thanks for thread and inspiration mate! Cheers

 

[FourT6and2]

All done!

Just doing some testing now. I'm using a 47K 5W pot wired as a variable dropping resistor. This way, I just clip it to the filter cap and I can tune all the voltages in the amp. Typical value is 10K. I set it to 18K, which is what the Yeti uses (higher voltages). And my B+ is a whopping 515vdc! That's without power tubes though. Once I stick some in, it'll probably come down a bit. I don't really have a set goal in mind. But I'll play it with a few of the resistor values I have on hand and figure out which one to use.

I also got some new Tefzel hookup wire in some fancy colors for the next build. And I'm going to try to make the lead dress a little better next time around. I wanted to get this one done so I can start testing a few things first, tone wise.

Current voltages with no power tubes and 18K dropping resistor:

MAINS: 124.4VAC
AC FILAMENTS: 3.47VAC
DC FILAMENTS: 6.09VDC
BIAS/PI SPLITTERS: -50 to -36VDC
PT SECONDARY: 375VAC

V1:
1: 151VDC
2: SIGNAL
3: 1.47VDC
4: FILAMENT
5: FILAMENT
6: 274VDC
7: SIGNAL
8: 2.47VDC
9: FILAMENT

V2:
1: 226.1VDC
2: SIGNAL
3: 1.26VDC
4: FILAMENT
5: FILAMENT
6: 381.5VDC
7: 226.1
8: 228VDC
9: FILAMENT

V3:
1: 257.3VDC
2: 26.2VDC
3: 42.24VDC
4: FILAMENT
5: FILAMENT
6: 245.2VDC
7: 27.6VDC
8: 42.24VDC
9: FILAMENT

V4/V5:
1: 0
2: FILAMENT
3: 511VDC - 515VDC
4: 509VDC
5: -50VDC
6: 509VDC
7: FILAMENT
8: 0

B+: 515VDC
SECOND CAP AFTER DROPPER (18K 381VDC
BOARD CAP AFTER DROPPER: 366.8VDC
V1a: 151.7VDC
V1b: 274VDC

 

[Mr. Willy]

That is beautiful! Can't wait to hear it.

 

[idnotbe]

how amazing you are...

can you understand circuit? where did u learn it?
i hope i can do these things and tweak the tone of my amps.

 

[CrazyNutz]

Looking good. But, don't do any voltage tweaking until you have the power tubes in. You need to have the PT loaded before you'll have a stable voltage to work with.

 

[FourT6and2]

Looking good. But, don't do any voltage tweaking until you have the power tubes in. You need to have the PT loaded before you'll have a stable voltage to work with.

Yup, all good! With tubes in and biased up to 65% dissipation, the B+ has come down to about 490v. And I have a good read on everything else.

I'm working my way through different value dropping resistors. Started at 18K and working my way down to bring the preamp voltages up as I go. I'm recording clips so I can keep track. I might post a few. The changes are subtle, though. The feel of the amp is changing the most, not really the "tone." As I raise the preamp voltages, the amp's getting a bit tighter and less brown. Maybe a little more aggressive. But it's not night and day. I definitely prefer it with higher voltages. I've done 18K and 15K. Next up is 12K.

Overall, the amp is definitely tighter in the low-end than the stock Chupacabra. Has more raw gain on tap (but I personally don't use that much gain). And is a bit darker/smoother. I'm going to work on getting more punch and grind and see what I can do. I might need to remove one of the bypass caps in V1 and change the value of a few other things here and there.

 

[marcus262]

Overall, the amp is definitely tighter in the low-end than the stock Chupacabra. Has more raw gain on tap (but I personally don't use that much gain). And is a bit darker/smoother. I'm going to work on getting more punch and grind and see what I can do. I might need to remove one of the bypass caps in V1 and change the value of a few other things here and there.

Hi, glad to see that the amp is finished
Can't wait to hear how it sounds.

Something I don't quite understand, reading your posts I can see that you like mids, agressiveness,
then how come you didn't choose 33K slope resistor because higher values scoop more mids?
I can see that they used 39k on Son of Yeti instead of 47k on Chupa and regular Yeti.

 

[FourT6and2]

Overall, the amp is definitely tighter in the low-end than the stock Chupacabra. Has more raw gain on tap (but I personally don't use that much gain). And is a bit darker/smoother. I'm going to work on getting more punch and grind and see what I can do. I might need to remove one of the bypass caps in V1 and change the value of a few other things here and there.

Hi, glad to see that the amp is finished
Can't wait to hear how it sounds.

Something I don't quite understand, reading your posts I can see that you like mids, agressiveness,
then how come you didn't choose 33K slope resistor because higher values scoop more mids?
I can see that they used 39k on Son of Yeti instead of 47k on Chupa and regular Yeti.

I didn't want to change too many things at once. Because then you lose track of what has actually changed the sound and in what way.

Ceriatone probably used a lower value slope resistor on the SoY because the amp is low-wattage and low-voltage and maybe needed a mid boost somewhere. I can certainly try a lower value slope resistor. I can just parallel a 120K over the 47K. That should give me somewhere around 33K-34K.

 

[marcus262]

Nothing wrong in trying, maybe you will like the change.

I think it is actually preference, cause metal amps, like Fortin, Engl.. use higher value slope resistor,
Diezel uses 39k, Marshall usually 33k like superlead, 56k superbass.

Also, amp will become little louder in general.

 

[FourT6and2]

Here's a clip. This is with a 10K dropping resistor. Probably my favorite value so far. The volume is as loud as I can get it without clipping the mic on my laptop, sorry lol. I'm working to upload the other clips with different voltages too. But it takes a long time for YT to process 'em.

 

[FourT6and2]

Nothing wrong in trying, maybe you will like the change.

I think it is actually preference, cause metal amps, like Fortin, Engl.. use higher value slope resistor,
Diezel uses 39k, Marshall usually 33k like superlead, 56k superbass.

Also, amp will become little louder in general.

Yeah, I'll give it a try!

One thing though, I did use 470pF caps for the tone stack and treble circuit because I didn't have any 500pF or 560pF on hand. Upping those might be a good idea too.

 

[SavageRiffer]

That's totally badass man.

 

[SpiderWars]

Nothing wrong in trying, maybe you will like the change.

I think it is actually preference, cause metal amps, like Fortin, Engl.. use higher value slope resistor,
Diezel uses 39k, Marshall usually 33k like superlead, 56k superbass.

Also, amp will become little louder in general.

Yeah, I'll give it a try!

One thing though, I did use 470pF caps for the tone stack and treble circuit because I didn't have any 500pF or 560pF on hand. Upping those might be a good idea too.

Sounds great from what I could tell on that clip. I usually like the upper mids that 500 or 560pF add but it's all so dependant on everything else.