NAD 50W Ceriatone Yeti

[Rackman]

Ooh, Cameron/Jose drama! There's nothing as exciting as drama about who's allowed to make a Jose mod

 

[BlueParfait]

I always liked this clip of someone's Yeti kit build. The guy who built it did make some changes to the circuit...

man, that's bitching

ykw if my elbow gets better today I'll record sth

 

[FourT6and2]

Ooh, Cameron/Jose drama! There's nothing as exciting as drama about who's allowed to make a Jose mod

I'm having a technical discussion. Nothing to do with CamCam.

 

[Shask]

I always liked this clip of someone's Yeti kit build. The guy who built it did make some changes to the circuit...

Yeah, that sounds great.

I have been a 5150/Recto guy for years, but have been gravitating more towards modded 800 type sounds lately.

 

[bubbastain]

I had a 50 watt Yeti. Sounded great. I just wish Nik would figure out how to add a good loop.

My Yeti had the buffered / active loop. I’m guessing a version of the Metro loop. Worked great with all my pedals.

 

[angelspade]

Yeah, that sounds great.

I have been a 5150/Recto guy for years, but have been gravitating more towards modded 800 type sounds lately.

this has happened to me over the last couple of years...Leaning more and more towards Marshall sounds

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

I have half a mind to change the trannies to something lighter, though. Holy shit this thing is heavier than it looks.

First congrats. Second, to paraphrase you, you're literally saying 'damn, my balls are too big, I have half a mind to swap them for a smaller pair.'

Don't do it man. Just open it up, and let them swing proudly like intended every chance you get.

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

What's wrong with heavy trannys

Yeah, what they said.

 

[BlueParfait]

First congrats. Second, to paraphrase you, you're literally saying 'damn, my balls are too big, I have half a mind to swap them for a smaller pair.'

Don't do it man. Just open it up, and let them swing proudly like intended every chance you get.

Hahaha understandable, man, but what I meant is that they deifinitely feel overengineered, or overbuilt compared to, say, the Dagnall/Drake 50W trannies and their clones

Probably won't do it tho. I like it as is

 

[Music&Chaos]

A while earlier, I sold off my JVM and stopped playing for a very short bit (I was still buying gear though lol)

Now that I'm a bit "back", I went on Marketplace for a new amp and lo and behold!
View attachment 458574

Well... it's an amp

and holy shit this thing sounds good rofl

The knobs and switches were giving me options paralysis, but I think I can make do with the settings i'm using now

I have half a mind to change the trannies to something lighter, though. Holy shit this thing is heavier than it looks.

Big/oversized trannies are part of the big tone - leave it if you like the way it sounds.

 

[Shask]

this has happened to me over the last couple of years...Leaning more and more towards Marshall sounds

Yeah, I got the DSL100HR, and a 2203 based clone I built that has more gain, depth, and a loop, and that amp sounds great. I am always looking at other options also though.

I still like the big chunk of a 5150 style amp, but getting kind of sick of the squishy, over saturated preamp gain. A boosted/modded JCM800 circuit seems to work well.

I also have the Synergy JCM800 and Killer Kali and generally use it with a Mesa 2:90. That is a great combo also.

 

[angelspade]

Yeah, I got the DSL100HR, and a 2203 based clone I built that has more gain, depth, and a loop, and that amp sounds great. I am always looking at other options also though.

Were you as surprised as I was at how good the Marshall DSL100 HR actually is?

 

[BlueParfait]

Yeah I think I'm liking this amp

 

[jasonP]

I still have been going back and forth on weather to get a used Marshall 1987X and have some variation of the Jose mod done, or just go with a Yeti or Chupacabra.

I would get a https://ceriatone.com/molecular100/ package 2 and put some Heybour or MM transformers on it and call it a day. You don't have to worry about modding it for the sake that it has a turret board, so good for a guy to learn on, already has the upgraded loop and I it doesn't really need the fixes like fourt6and2 talks about on the yeti and chupa. Circuit wise it's really close to what a pre tone stack master jose mod is all about and where I ended up with mine.

 

[Shask]

Were you as surprised as I was at how good the Marshall DSL100 HR actually is?

I still prefer it with a boost and an EQ in the loop, but it is a great amp overall! I use both Classic Red and Ultra Green.

 

[FourT6and2]

I would get a https://ceriatone.com/molecular100/ package 2 and put some Heybour or MM transformers on it and call it a day. You don't have to worry about modding it for the sake that it has a turret board, so good for a guy to learn on, already has the upgraded loop and I it doesn't really need the fixes like fourt6and2 talks about on the yeti and chupa. Circuit wise it's really close to what a pre tone stack master jose mod is all about and where I ended up with mine.

Yeah, pretty much this.

I would also replace the screen caps with 100uF+100uF / 500V, replace the 5K1 and 8K2 droppers with a single 10K, raise the 33K slope to 39K or 47K (or keep it 33K if you like honkier mids), experiment with larger bright caps in place of the 1nF or 2.2nF (like 4.7nF), lower the PI output grid leak resistors to 200K or 180K because the power tube grids are 10K and you need to watch the combined total grid resistance for EL34, or just replace the 10K grids with 5K6.

Ceriatone used the Atomica schematic from SLO Clone drawn by Equinox for this amp. It's mostly correct, but a few little things here or there that don't hold true to the original. It's all personal preference at this point, but I'd want higher voltages and filtering than what Ceriatone's using... Then again, I don't play cock rock

 

[BlueParfait]

I would get a https://ceriatone.com/molecular100/ package 2 and put some Heybour or MM transformers on it and call it a day. You don't have to worry about modding it for the sake that it has a turret board, so good for a guy to learn on, already has the upgraded loop and I it doesn't really need the fixes like fourt6and2 talks about on the yeti and chupa. Circuit wise it's really close to what a pre tone stack master jose mod is all about and where I ended up with mine.

Oh yeah I like how this thing sounds, too

 

[Nigel]

For sure. But most people have never played the real thing. I was one of those people. I bought one of the very first Chupacabras for $600 when they first came out. I thought it sounded great. Then I learned what I learned. And I played the real thing. And I built the real thing myself. When you put them side by side, the differences are apparent.

My girlfriend thought she knew how to cook a steak. Had been doing it the same way for years. Loved the results. Then I showed her to actually cook a steak. She didn't want to admit it at first, but turns out... she didn't actually know how to cook a steak.

What is this steak mastery of which you speak?

We must know your method. I just acquired a whole ribeye in the bag and I'm ALWAYS into new steak cooking methods. I love a reverse sear as well as cooking ultra high heat in the flames.

 

[fusedbrain]

Yeah, pretty much this.

I would also replace the screen caps with 100uF+100uF / 500V, replace the 5K1 and 8K2 droppers with a single 10K, raise the 33K slope to 39K or 47K (or keep it 33K if you like honkier mids), experiment with larger bright caps in place of the 1nF or 2.2nF (like 4.7nF), lower the PI output grid leak resistors to 200K or 180K because the power tube grids are 10K and you need to watch the combined total grid resistance for EL34, or just replace the 10K grids with 5K6.

Ceriatone used the Atomica schematic from SLO Clone drawn by Equinox for this amp. It's mostly correct, but a few little things here or there that don't hold true to the original. It's all personal preference at this point, but I'd want higher voltages and filtering than what Ceriatone's using... Then again, I don't play cock rock

I would get a https://ceriatone.com/molecular100/ package 2 and put some Heybour or MM transformers on it and call it a day. You don't have to worry about modding it for the sake that it has a turret board, so good for a guy to learn on, already has the upgraded loop and I it doesn't really need the fixes like fourt6and2 talks about on the yeti and chupa. Circuit wise it's really close to what a pre tone stack master jose mod is all about and where I ended up with mine.

+1
This is the way.
I would also just like to add that an amps power supply (voltages, droppers, and filtering) is THE most important area of the circuit, because it affects so many aspects of how the amp sounds and feels.
At the base level, every gain stage is just using the input signal to modulate the power supply, with tone shaping from cathode bypass caps and peaking circuits etc.
Get your power supply rail right, and your amp will kick serious ass.

 

[BlueParfait]

What is this steak mastery of which you speak?

We must know your method. I just acquired a whole ribeye in the bag and I'm ALWAYS into new steak cooking methods. I love a reverse sear as well as cooking ultra high heat in the flames.

Same. Always looking for something new lol

I'm a pan sear guy. I use lower heat and flip every 30s or so