Cameron type amps

[Racerxrated]

"I've built 4 of these amps now. All using different iron: Merren, Marstran (Heyboer, Classic Tone, and the stock Ceriatone iron. Guess what. Not a lot of difference either way. People like to scream and yell about transformers being the end all be all of guitar mojo. No. Sorry. It's all BS. And if you're really making the claim that Ceriatone's amps are built with sub-par, "absolute worst" components, then you're full of it too. So yeah... prove it. "

Couple things i disagree with. First off, I absolutely DO believe transformers make a difference. Maybe you are saying in new builds, or new vs vintage? IMO in vintage vs new or reissue amps, like a JCM 800 or Jubilee RI, when you get those to gig or beyond volume the vintage one ALWAYS sounds better, and obviously so TO ME. So I believe in the transformer difference. Now, maybe component value drift or the aging of the circuit has more to do with that? I don't know but what I do know is what I hear. YMMV.

Man, I'm talking about the magic mojo pixie dust people think exists. Of course iron makes a sonic difference. But it's not anything special or mythical. It's the same difference between pickups. Some sound good, some sound great, some sound ok. But I've not encountered a set of iron that made an amp sound bad.

The other item I have personal experience with is the one Ceriatone I owned the PT went out at a gig. It was the stock Ceriatone. The previous owner was a longtime RTer here and swore he never mismatched cabs, and the tubes were new. It was a Fortin Cali mod, and Mike was great in helping my local guy replace with a classictone. Didn't sound much different, but was a killer amp.
That experience is enough that if I were to order a Ceriatone, I'd order without the trannys.

I'd have to ask: who built the amp? Was it built by Ceriatone? You say it was a Fortin Cali mod? I don't understand. So... Ceriatone built the amp, then a third-party modified it? Then it changed hands? And then the PT went out on you? Ok... well it happens. Every single amp builder out there has had an amp break down. One bad PT out of the thousands and thousands of amps Ceriatone has sold over the years doesn't mean a lot. Sorry your amp broke. That's besides the point I'm making here. Ceriatone doesn't make the iron. They're made by Prometheus. Bogner had a bunch of bad PTs from Classic Tone in the Helios. It happens. I've heard of a Diezel or two that broke down due to bad iron. Mesa, Marshall, Bad Cat... they've all had issues over the years with various parts. Nothing is perfect. Heyboer has put out some bad iron at some point. PTs that hum and vibrate. I had a bad O'Netics PT in a build I did and had to replace it.

You're welcome to your opinion. I'm just taking issue with someone claiming they are built with "the absolute worst" of everything.

It was built by Ceriatone, then shipped directly to Mike Fortin for his Cali mod. At least that's what I was told. And again, who knows how it was treated before I got it.

But after this happened I looked up this issue on the web and found others who had issues with the stock Ceriatone transformers. Again, not trying to rip on them but after my experience I wouldn't get one with their transformers, simple enough to order one without and save some cash in the process by going with Classictone.
I think they sound good and wouldn't have a problem ordering one sans trannys.

What was the stock amp? A Chupacabra? Or a 2203/04 or JMP or something? That's kinda cool he was willing to work on it, not being a Marshall. How'd the amp turn out in the end?

It was a 2204 circuit. I've emailed Mike on his willingness to mod almost anything, back when he was taking mods and I threw some odd ducks at him to see if he would be interested in modding them..800 bass series, Traynors, Sovteks and others I forget. He was willing to give them all a shot.
Mike's good people.

 

[Racerxrated]

There are many decaffeinated brands on the market that claim to be as good as the real thing. They're not, though perhaps great in their own right, BUT Not the same.

-EXACTLY!!!- (or in this case,.. -exZACtly-)

-there isn't a -(CAMERON CLONE)- that's even in the same galaxy, to what its feebley trying to, but failing to "clone", and not just a little either, like FUCKIN-UGE!!!.. Epidemic proportions, yup!! CERITONE!! what joke, even worse than chibson, not only is the circuit completely wrong, its 100% wrong! so wrong, its as if they went out of there way to be wrong!!.. is it no wonder that it not only sounds nothing like a CAMERON, it just sounds bad.. -built with the absolute worst of everything, not just the components that effect tone,
-It's more than apparent to me, that the amps that are built by even good tech's, with the blueprints of the amp, the exact components, only difference being the builder, MARK CAMERON's amp will sound & feel much better!!!

-there's one very obvious example of this, and apparently, no one noticed, or connected the dots, or? who knows, he's a highly regarded, very sought after, a former modder, now amp builder/manufacturer.... that is the EPITOME of the abovementioned, seems over night his stuff went from good, to DAM!!!!!... anyways, if you think its " just as good". well,.. then rock that bitch! enjoy your amp!!..

The last part, I said this a couple years back when the certain former modder/current builder's products started sounding MUCH better IMO...that it has a TON to do with working with those Cameron circuits for that last Cameron run.
No disrespect intended, anyone would have sponged up tips/tricks that they learned from Cameron. But the timing/coincidence is just WAY too obvious.

When A/B testing the Atomic and the BE100, I was able to dial in the BE100 tone I liked on the Cameron, but not the other way around. Both great amps, but 'different'. To me, the BE100 sounds like a GREAT sounding Marshall, and the Cameron Atomica sounds like the best Marshall that Marshall never made, yet has a responsiveness like a MKIII Boogie.

Truth. Man, I had a 2203X that Mark had modded to be more 'modern'...selling that damn amp still haunts me to this day.
That one was very Mesa like, the dude that bought it hated it because he likes more of a regular Marshall thing...he sold it and I haven't seen it come up since.

 

[vultures]

I know modeling/digital is not everyone's cup of tea but the AX8 and AxeFx II both have CCV and Atomica models. They also just generally destroy that Jose modded tone all day long. I was dead set on owning a Cameron but went Fractal. Glad a I never preordered! Anyway it scratches that itch for me. YMMV. I'll bet someone has profiled some with the KPA too.

I've got a handful of Cameron profiles on my KPA, a few mods, CCV's etc.. As with most Kemper profiles you really have to sift through a lot of garbage to find gold. Or at least tweak the living daylights, swap cabs, EQ, etc.. I don't waste my time with that and try to find profiles that are 90% there or good to go. Most of the Cameron profiles I've come across aren't that great (Not saying the amps are bad, just that the person who profiled it didn't do a great job). I've got 5 profiles of a 74 50w JMP with Cameron's Ocean Mod and it's the best out of the bunch, I play that profile 50% of the time I play guitar. I'll keep scooping up Cameron profiles if they're free, but I don't really want to waste any more $$$ to be disappointed with some profiles that aren't even close... Wish the same guy who did the Ocean Mod profile could get his hands on some other more rare Camerons.

 

[Zachman]

There are many decaffeinated brands on the market that claim to be as good as the real thing. They're not, though perhaps great in their own right, BUT Not the same.

-EXACTLY!!!- (or in this case,.. -exZACtly-)

-there isn't a -(CAMERON CLONE)- that's even in the same galaxy, to what its feebley trying to, but failing to "clone", and not just a little either, like FUCKIN-UGE!!!.. Epidemic proportions, yup!! CERITONE!! what joke, even worse than chibson, not only is the circuit completely wrong, its 100% wrong! so wrong, its as if they went out of there way to be wrong!!.. is it no wonder that it not only sounds nothing like a CAMERON, it just sounds bad.. -built with the absolute worst of everything, not just the components that effect tone,
-It's more than apparent to me, that the amps that are built by even good tech's, with the blueprints of the amp, the exact components, only difference being the builder, MARK CAMERON's amp will sound & feel much better!!!

-there's one very obvious example of this, and apparently, no one noticed, or connected the dots, or? who knows, he's a highly regarded, very sought after, a former modder, now amp builder/manufacturer.... that is the EPITOME of the abovementioned, seems over night his stuff went from good, to DAM!!!!!... anyways, if you think its " just as good". well,.. then rock that bitch! enjoy your amp!!..

The last part, I said this a couple years back when the certain former modder/current builder's products started sounding MUCH better IMO...that it has a TON to do with working with those Cameron circuits for that last Cameron run.
No disrespect intended, anyone would have sponged up tips/tricks that they learned from Cameron. But the timing/coincidence is just WAY too obvious.

When A/B testing the Atomic and the BE100, I was able to dial in the BE100 tone I liked on the Cameron, but not the other way around. Both great amps, but 'different'. To me, the BE100 sounds like a GREAT sounding Marshall, and the Cameron Atomica sounds like the best Marshall that Marshall never made, yet has a responsiveness like a MKIII Boogie.

Truth. Man, I had a 2203X that Mark had modded to be more 'modern'...selling that damn amp still haunts me to this day.
That one was very Mesa like, the dude that bought it hated it because he likes more of a regular Marshall thing...he sold it and I haven't seen it come up since.

OH... The one's that got away.

When I was a kid (late 70's) I had a 1962 Gibson Les Paul Standard (Shaped like an SG). I sold it, and years later found out from my uncle, who got the guitar for me; He got it from his friend who was buddies w/ Jimi Hendrix. Apparently Jimi got 2 and gave his friend/my uncle's friend one, which is where I got it. I WISH I had known, before I sold that guitar, but that's my sad should'a kept it story.

 

[Racerxrated]

"OH... The one's that got away.

When I was a kid (late 70's) I had a 1962 Gibson Les Paul Standard (Shaped like an SG). I sold it, and years later found out from my uncle, who got the guitar for me; He got it from his friend who was buddies w/ Jimi Hendrix. Apparently Jimi got 2 and gave his friend/my uncle's friend one, which is where I got it. I WISH I had known, before I sold that guitar, but that's my sad should'a kept it story."

WOW. Man I feel for ya.

When I was on my C+ hunt 2 yrs ago, I was in the Twin Cities looking at Pawn shops and mom n pop stores on the off chance that I might find one. I had about 12 stores to go look at, and didn't make it to 4 or so. Well, about 4 months later I read that someone up there found a 2C+ Coli...and one of Princes from the Purple Rain tour no less.

At one of the shops on my list I didn't make it to.

 

[JTyson]

-that company, or builder, or.... doesn't exist, there's a reason that real CAMERON amps don't come up for sale very often, and when they do,... No matter the price,.... its usually gone in hours, not days or weeks, with multiple bumps,

Truth.
Want a Cameron? Save up and pay up when they come up. With Cameron's it's not the circuit that's clone-able, like the Ceriatones. It's the time he puts in to TWEAKING the amp till he gets THAT sound he wants out of the amp. So, any number of guys can build a Cameron circuit but unless they have his ears and circuit tweaking ability you'll just have to hope to find a used one.

Friedman and many other builders voice their amps the same way. There is nothing exclusive about Cameron amps, just the shitty reputation of the builder.
Do some sound good yes but there are thousands of amps that sound good.

More spewing from the memechild...
Never even been near a Cameron amp, much less play one (if you could play) but you know all about them cause you watched a youtube vid
Blah blah blah
He just cant help himself

 

[Chester Nimitz]

Many manly men have groped each others loins to drink the Cameron koolaid ...

 

[cecilbag]

It's been quite awhile since I saw that ccv video. We need more blades in this thread though

 

[romanianreaper]

I've played thru that Cameron that Zachman is playing thru in person (hey Zach!!) and like others, it smokes!! Another friend of mine (Calhoun Tubbs here on the forum) let me play thru his Cameron Aldrich years ago when I was stationed in the D.C. area. Again, amp sounded unbelievable.

There is something the Cameron has that is hard to describe. To me it sounds like a huge low end and a bunch of stacked gain. I really love the Friedman tone as well but between the two, the Cameron has more saturation.

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

The funny thing is the current Friedman amps and Metro amps are nothing more than tweaked out kit amps. So any Friedman and/or Metro owners throwing stones at Ceriatone need a reality check. Stat.

 

[Racerxrated]

-that company, or builder, or.... doesn't exist, there's a reason that real CAMERON amps don't come up for sale very often, and when they do,... No matter the price,.... its usually gone in hours, not days or weeks, with multiple bumps,

Truth.
Want a Cameron? Save up and pay up when they come up. With Cameron's it's not the circuit that's clone-able, like the Ceriatones. It's the time he puts in to TWEAKING the amp till he gets THAT sound he wants out of the amp. So, any number of guys can build a Cameron circuit but unless they have his ears and circuit tweaking ability you'll just have to hope to find a used one.

Friedman and many other builders voice their amps the same way. There is nothing exclusive about Cameron amps, just the shitty reputation of the builder.
Do some sound good yes but there are thousands of amps that sound good.

More spewing from the memechild...
Never even been near a Cameron amp, much less play one (if you could play) but you know all about them cause you watched a youtube vid
Blah blah blah
He just cant help himself

No he can't. Clueless Chester the Molester strikes again.

Danny boy never in his life plugged into an SLO....yet he rips the amp.

Danny boy never in his life plugged into a Cameron...yet says they sound like other modded Marshalls.

Poor clueless little Danny boy.

The reality is, MANY MEN HAVE AND ALWAYS WILL LAUGH AT YOUR EXPENSE ON THIS FORUM!!!

Always Danny boy, always.

Keep typing...we'll keep laughing. At you. Not with you.

 

[Chester Nimitz]

ahh ... but can a Scameron do this ... ?

MC nutthuggers are thick this year.



I got all the amps i want at the moment but thanks for the unsolicited advice.

Im sorry but this doesn't sound like anything i have to have that i dont have already.

 

[sg guy]

-FourT6and2- I've followed a couple of your build thread's, seem's obvious you know what your doing & what needs to be done to not only make it sound better than good, but the path to get there,... Me?.... Just a hack with a soldering iron from Radio Shack,..... But still infamous for the "SQUARE, BLACK, FAN-COOLING MOD" complete with a hole cut-(maybe just a little too big)-into the side of a 76 JMP,.... and The "CAR CIGARETTE LIGHTER MOD"-(76 JMP-faceplate for easy access)-and the sad part,.... Both are true!!!...
-how can I possibly "prove" the circuit's are different?.. "Out My source"?...
-CERITONE aren't copies- yeah well WGS says that too.
-surprised you don't believe trannies make a tone difference, I'm one of the crazy bastards that does,... maybe it's the way you like your amp's voiced?.. I remember a thread where you & I differed on the "bias setting's" subject, you like a modern voiced tone, where the gain is achieved in the pre-amp section with a moderate bias of the power section & tube's, where I like just the opposite, am I correct?
-I looked into buying a CERITONE, built by Nick, seemed like to good a deal to pass up!!!.. so i searched & found 2-(the newly released chupa & its high gain predecessor, sorry, can't remember the name)-both looked great, for a great price, both Nick built & both sucked-(thin, harsh & cold)-they seemed to magnify the very worst voicing ingredients a Marshall/Marshall platform style amp has-(even called 2 of the 4 modders I use, both refused, for the very reason's I mentioned, -is this PROOF of the "worst part's available statement"-??... maybe i should print the names of the ones I trust with my amps, value there opinions, that have become friend's with over years, and while speaking to me in confidence???? --is this the first time hearing this? isn't this a known "thing" with CERITONE?- I doubt anything i say would be enough,
-you & others seem more than happy with the tone & quality of your CERITONE amps.. as for Me & other's,.... Not so much.

 

[zz666]

Transformers make a MASSIVE difference IMO.

 

[sg guy]

There are many decaffeinated brands on the market that claim to be as good as the real thing. They're not, though perhaps great in their own right, BUT Not the same.

-EXACTLY!!!- (or in this case,.. -exZACtly-)

-there isn't a -(CAMERON CLONE)- that's even in the same galaxy, to what its feebley trying to, but failing to "clone", and not just a little either, like FUCKIN-UGE!!!.. Epidemic proportions, yup!! CERITONE!! what joke, even worse than chibson, not only is the circuit completely wrong, its 100% wrong! so wrong, its as if they went out of there way to be wrong!!.. is it no wonder that it not only sounds nothing like a CAMERON, it just sounds bad.. -built with the absolute worst of everything, not just the components that effect tone,
-It's more than apparent to me, that the amps that are built by even good tech's, with the blueprints of the amp, the exact components, only difference being the builder, MARK CAMERON's amp will sound & feel much better!!!

-there's one very obvious example of this, and apparently, no one noticed, or connected the dots, or? who knows, he's a highly regarded, very sought after, a former modder, now amp builder/manufacturer.... that is the EPITOME of the abovementioned, seems over night his stuff went from good, to DAM!!!!!... anyways, if you think its " just as good". well,.. then rock that bitch! enjoy your amp!!..

The last part, I said this a couple years back when the certain former modder/current builder's products started sounding MUCH better IMO...that it has a TON to do with working with those Cameron circuits for that last Cameron run.
No disrespect intended, anyone would have sponged up tips/tricks that they learned from Cameron. But the timing/coincidence is just WAY too obvious.

-ya know, when you get BITCH SLAPPED WITH THE-TRUTH- there is no come back, and if you try to do anything other than admitting it, and gracefully, with tail between your legs, admitting defeat, you & the entire world know your AN ASS THAT JUST GOT BITCH SLAPPED WITH THE TRUTH...

 

[FourT6and2]

-FourT6and2- I've followed a couple of your build thread's, seem's obvious you know what your doing & what needs to be done to not only make it sound better than good, but the path to get there,... Me?.... Just a hack with a soldering iron from Radio Shack,..... But still infamous for the "SQUARE, BLACK, FAN-COOLING MOD" complete with a hole cut-(maybe just a little too big)-into the side of a 76 JMP,.... and The "CAR CIGARETTE LIGHTER MOD"-(76 JMP-faceplate for easy access)-and the sad part,.... Both are true!!!...
-how can I possibly "prove" the circuit's are different?.. "Out My source"?...
-CERITONE aren't copies- yeah well WGS says that too.
-surprised you don't believe trannies make a tone difference, I'm one of the crazy bastards that does,... maybe it's the way you like your amp's voiced?.. I remember a thread where you & I differed on the "bias setting's" subject, you like a modern voiced tone, where the gain is achieved in the pre-amp section with a moderate bias of the power section & tube's, where I like just the opposite, am I correct?
-I looked into buying a CERITONE, built by Nick, seemed like to good a deal to pass up!!!.. so i searched & found 2-(the newly released chupa & its high gain predecessor, sorry, can't remember the name)-both looked great, for a great price, both Nick built & both sucked-(thin, harsh & cold)-they seemed to magnify the very worst voicing ingredients a Marshall/Marshall platform style amp has-(even called 2 of the 4 modders I use, both refused, for the very reason's I mentioned, -is this PROOF of the "worst part's available statement"-??... maybe i should print the names of the ones I trust with my amps, value there opinions, that have become friend's with over years, and while speaking to me in confidence???? --is this the first time hearing this? isn't this a known "thing" with CERITONE?- I doubt anything i say would be enough,
-you & others seem more than happy with the tone & quality of your CERITONE amps.. as for Me & other's,.... Not so much.

I'm asking you to prove they are built with "the absolute worst components." Not that the circuits are different. Of course they're different. That's the very first thing I said in my response to you. Ceriatone's circuits are different on purpose. It's not an accident or a mistake. That's besides the point. You are flat out claiming Ceriatone uses bad parts. Prove it.

How is a Vishay UF4007 diode used by Bogner better than the same part used by Ceriatone?
How is a Dale RN65D resistor used by Mark Cameron better than the same part used by Ceriatone?
How is a Belton tube socket used by Marshall better than the same part used by Ceriatone?
How is an ERO MKT 1813 capacitor used by Fortin better than the same part used by Ceriatone?

Seems to be, you have no real proof other than what your "friends" told you? And you're just going around repeating gossip? If some hot shot amp builders told you Ceriatone's parts are crap, then I'm happy to break the news to you that those people are BS'ing you. You are making a very specific, explicit claim here. You should be able to back that up with some facts. Otherwise WTF are you doing exactly? You're bad mouthing a business with absolutely no evidence to support what you're saying. And it's in bad taste.

A lot of people are mad at Ceriatone because they are offering the same products at remarkably lower cost. So when one of those angry people tell you something negative about Ceriatone, you gotta wonder if they have ulterior motives, a bias, or a hidden agenda. Trust... but verify. So yeah, again: prove it. It's not about how the amp sounds to you. That's your own subjective opinion. And you're certainly entitled to it. But that's not the same thing as claiming the parts they use are the absolute worst.

 

[Zachman]

"OH... The one's that got away.

When I was a kid (late 70's) I had a 1962 Gibson Les Paul Standard (Shaped like an SG). I sold it, and years later found out from my uncle, who got the guitar for me; He got it from his friend who was buddies w/ Jimi Hendrix. Apparently Jimi got 2 and gave his friend/my uncle's friend one, which is where I got it. I WISH I had known, before I sold that guitar, but that's my sad should'a kept it story."

WOW. Man I feel for ya.

When I was on my C+ hunt 2 yrs ago, I was in the Twin Cities looking at Pawn shops and mom n pop stores on the off chance that I might find one. I had about 12 stores to go look at, and didn't make it to 4 or so. Well, about 4 months later I read that someone up there found a 2C+ Coli...and one of Princes from the Purple Rain tour no less.

At one of the shops on my list I didn't make it to.

I feel ya brother.... BUT, I really can't complain. I mean, I could, but I REALLY wish I still had my old comic books. I could easily retire a couple times over. Ugh!! Hind sight being 20:20, and all.

 

[Zachman]

ahh ... but can a Scameron do this ... ?

MC nutthuggers are thick this year.



I got all the amps i want at the moment but thanks for the unsolicited advice.

Im sorry but this doesn't sound like anything i have to have that i dont have already.

Don't recall hearing any of your clips. Ah, probably just as well.

Well my rig does light up though:


But that-- along with your whole room worth of gear can't do what mine can so... Take a hike Sally, and while you're at it-- have a douche-- Douche. It appears your vagina is a bit full of sand or some other irritant.

 

[sg guy]

-after personally giving every component a intensive investigation, with quality the objective, metallurgy the judge, in the HEAVY METAL BATTLE Royal!!!

--------CERITONE vs CAMERON-------

-before the bell of the first round, the pretender goes down, for the count, forever! Let the autopsy begin!!

-well, things like transformer's make no difference to you or CERITONE, you defend & deny that a CERITONE CLONE/S of a single CAMERON AMP exist/s, Then you use other amp companies, random cap & resistor manufacturers, attempting to show the quality of components used in CERITONE amp's,

-Lets see the quality of components & workmanship in the average, assembled, CERITONE, gut shots-(not a kit, or special order, or pic's off there web site, just gut shots of the average Joe's amp.
-OK, who here among us has first hand knowledge on the subject?.. -(owned, played, looked inside, worked on)-
-RATE CERITONE-(1-through-10. with 1 lowest & 10 highest in)-quality & sound-
-YOU JUST WON A FREE 100w AMP-(CERITONE or CAMERON)-LIMIT 1 per customer-whats it gonna be?
-I remember now why or last conversation-(TGP-bias adjustment thread that I referred to)-ended with a prophesy,.... And Like a PROPHET FROM the PAST!! "this!!!.... will be my last!!! Post!!!". well, on that thread
-a wiseman once said,... "you get what you pay for"
-

 

[sg guy]

"OH... The one's that got away.

When I was a kid (late 70's) I had a 1962 Gibson Les Paul Standard (Shaped like an SG). I sold it, and years later found out from my uncle, who got the guitar for me; He got it from his friend who was buddies w/ Jimi Hendrix. Apparently Jimi got 2 and gave his friend/my uncle's friend one, which is where I got it. I WISH I had known, before I sold that guitar, but that's my sad should'a kept it story."

WOW. Man I feel for ya.

When I was on my C+ hunt 2 yrs ago, I was in the Twin Cities looking at Pawn shops and mom n pop stores on the off chance that I might find one. I had about 12 stores to go look at, and didn't make it to 4 or so. Well, about 4 months later I read that someone up there found a 2C+ Coli...and one of Princes from the Purple Rain tour no less.

At one of the shops on my list I didn't make it to.

I feel ya brother.... BUT, I really can't complain. I mean, I could, but I REALLY wish I still had my old comic books. I could easily retire a couple times over. Ugh!! Hind sight being 20:20, and all.

-OK, I'll play, In an even swap, i traded a 68-69 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top with P-90's for a brand new Fender Lead 1-HaHaaa!!! Got that sucka!!!

-the URBAN LEGEND, baseball cards in the spokes!!, me & Mad Matt-(aka the kid your mother hated)-in the EVEL KNIEVEL EVENT!!