# Ceriatone Nailed It...



## FourT6and2 (May 16, 2016)

...with the Chupacabra and Yeti. Yeah they are based on a one-off Cameron design that came from a schematic someone posted with a bunch of mistakes. But damn, these amps sound great!

I had this Chupa a number of years ago, sold it, that guy sold it, then he bought it back, then he sold it back to me haha. It's been around I guess. And I grabbed a Yeti to compare, with the intention of selling the one I didn't like. But I wound up liking both for different reasons, so they're staying.

The Chupa is meaner, more aggressive, brighter, but looser and less saturated.
The Yeti is darker, smoother, tighter low-end, and more saturated.

Running the Yeti through V30s and the Chupa through G12-65s. When I first had the Chupa I was using Greenbacks though. And they did add some additional snarl the 65s lack. But the 65s are tighter and have a bigger low end.

Anyway, these rock. That is all


----------



## s_k_mullins (May 16, 2016)

Awesome amps! And that's a gorgeous setup there.


----------



## lewis (May 16, 2016)

are these amps rebranded from Friedman? They look Identical


----------



## Elric (May 16, 2016)

lewis said:


> are these amps rebranded from Friedman? They look Identical


Is that a joke? Friedman (and Ceriatone, here) are clearly following Marshall's lead in terms of the design aesthetic. Marshall was making amps that looked like that twenty plus years before Friedman amps existed.


----------



## FourT6and2 (May 16, 2016)

lewis said:


> are these amps rebranded from Friedman? They look Identical



lololololol


----------



## mikah912 (May 16, 2016)

Damn, y'all.....don't clown Lewis so much. If you're a relatively young dude, your knowledge of Marshall physical design language probably starts with the JCM800/80s look.


----------



## Zado (May 16, 2016)

Two damn nice babies you have there. I'm still trying to find some speakers to give my Yeti extra high end, suggesting?


----------



## lewis (May 16, 2016)

mikah912 said:


> Damn, y'all.....don't clown Lewis so much. If you're a relatively young dude, your knowledge of Marshall physical design language probably starts with the JCM800/80s look.



To add that I friggin hate Marshall amps therefore know next to nothing about the look of their amp models.

I know the look of the Friedman amp Misha Mansoor used to record The Bad Thing and it looks the same as this amp. Hence the question.

Next time I will leave you guys to your ....ty looking Marshall amps then


----------



## 7 Dying Trees (May 16, 2016)

Man, this is not helping my Ceriatone gas... been looking at their amp kits, as need something to fill the void after completing my slo!


----------



## FourT6and2 (May 16, 2016)

Zado said:


> Two damn nice babies you have there. I'm still trying to find some speakers to give my Yeti extra high end, suggesting?



I've only tried V30s with it. But if you want something brighter, maybe G12H-30?



lewis said:


> To add that I friggin hate Marshall amps therefore know next to nothing about the look of their amp models.
> 
> I know the look of the Friedman amp Misha Mansoor used to record The Bad Thing and it looks the same as this amp. Hence the question.
> 
> Next time I will leave you guys to your ....ty looking Marshall amps then



You don't need to like or know anything about Marshall amps to know that they've all looked like this for the last&#8212;almost&#8212;60 years. Friedman has been outwardly popular for what... less than 8 years? It's just funny somebody would assume a Marshall clone looks like a Friedman, when in reality Marshall started the trend in the '60s. That's all. Nobody's picking on you, it's just funny. 

Here's an original Marshall from like 40+ years ago. The look of Marshall amps is ubiquitous. It's the "Industry Standard" by this point 

The larger irony, if it was lost on you, is that somebody in the UK (the home of Marshall) thought an amp made in Malaysia borrowed the aesthetic design from an American company that borrows heavily from the original UK company.


----------



## Vostre Roy (May 16, 2016)

7 Dying Trees said:


> Man, this is not helping my Ceriatone gas... been looking at their amp kits, as need something to fill the void after completing my slo!



I know that feel man, waiting for my Egnater amp kit to arrive, then I'll build a Trainwreck clone, then probably an SLO or a Ceriatone HRM... Your SLO kinda triggered a huge GAS and those Ceriatone just awakened my sleeping HRM GAS...

Must build more amp!

That being said, I'm super jealous of your Ceriatones + Bogner setup man, would love to hear that IRL


----------



## FourT6and2 (May 16, 2016)

Vostre Roy said:


> I know that feel man, waiting for my Egnater amp kit to arrive, then I'll build a Trainwreck clone, then probably an SLO or a Ceriatone HRM... Your SLO kinda triggered a huge GAS and those Ceriatone just awakened my sleeping HRM GAS...
> 
> Must build more amp!
> 
> That being said, I'm super jealous of your Ceriatones + Bogner setup man, would love to hear that IRL



I built an SLO Clone too! It was so much fun, here it is. Also, to be honest, a Chupacabra/Yeti build seems more complicated than the SLO for some reasonl


----------



## Elric (May 16, 2016)

lewis said:


> To add that I friggin hate Marshall amps therefore know next to nothing about the look of their amp models.


Those Friedmans pay homage to the looks of Marshalls because they are basically modded versions of those Marshall designs (that you (think you) 'friggin hate' prolly because its not what Djent band dujour uses LOL ).

OP: Kick a** amps. I have had a hard time not buying one of those, in spite of having no need for one. Ceriatone is awesome.


----------



## HeHasTheJazzHands (May 16, 2016)

lewis said:


> are these amps rebranded from Friedman? They look Identical



They're not. They're an independant company that sells kits or builds pre-made amps in the not-Taiwan country of Malaysia. They're based on existing designs (Hiwatt, Fender, Marshall, Dumble, modded circuitsd, etc etc)

Awesome amps, though. Always wanted a Chupacabra, Yeti, or King Kong for my hot-rodded Marshall fix.


----------



## FourT6and2 (May 16, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> They're not. They're an independant company that sells kits or builds pre-made amps in Taiwan. They're based on existing designs (Hiwatt, Fender, Marshall, Dumble, modded circuitsd, etc etc)
> 
> Awesome amps, though. Always wanted a Chupacabra, Yeti, or King Kong for my hot-rodded Marshall fix.



Malaysia, not Taiwan. 

They are indeed hot-rodded Marshalls. But they have replaced my Diezel VH4, Cameron CCV, Dual Rectifier, Fortin Bones, Bogner Uberschall, Bad Cat Hot Cat, Framus Dragon, and I think I'm forgetting something else. The only other high-gain amps I've played that are staying put are Peters. I have a Hydra and GNL. But I'd love to try an FSM. I'd also like to try Rhodes/KSR.

I don't play Djent. And I don't really think these would be the best choice for that kind of thing, but maybe they'd work if you EQ them right. They are planted firmly in the realm of high-gain Marshall. Think more along the lines of modern hard rock, metal, prog rock, etc. With an EMG-loaded guitar they could do probably do KSE stuff no problem. But if your jam is something like Periphery or whatever, then I dunno. Maybe an Axe-FX or something that can stop on a dime. I play stuff more along the lines of Tool, Muse, Karnivool, APC, KSE, etc. Although I recently discovered Intronaut, Monuments, and Skyharbor... which maybe are more "Djenty."


----------



## Vostre Roy (May 16, 2016)

FourT6and2 said:


> I built an SLO Clone too! It was so much fun, here it is. Also, to be honest, a Chupacabra/Yeti build seems more complicated than the SLO for some reasonl



Well I'll be damn, when I was following 7DT's SLO build, I've done a quick search to find if anyone elevated the heaters on an SLO build, saw your thread and linked a picture of your build to his thread as an great example how to do it. Your stuff is clean beyond word man! 

I've also build a JCM800 clone that is now stuck somewhere between an AFD #35 and an SLO100, here's the thread about it. I have to update it with the latest changes I've made but its really a mean amp. I do want to build an SLO too to compare both

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/gear-equipment/304989-roys-weber-8cm100-version-ii.html


----------



## FourT6and2 (May 16, 2016)

Vostre Roy said:


> Well I'll be damn, when I was following 7DT's SLO build, I've done a quick search to find if anyone elevated the heaters on an SLO build, saw your thread and linked a picture of your build to his thread as an great example how to do it. Your stuff is clean beyond word man!
> 
> I've also build a JCM800 clone that is now stuck somewhere between an AFD #35 and an SLO100, here's the thread about it. I have to update it with the latest changes I've made but its really a mean amp. I do want to build an SLO too to compare both
> 
> http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/gear-equipment/304989-roys-weber-8cm100-version-ii.html



Thanks for the kind words 

I'll check out those build threads!


----------



## Heavy (May 16, 2016)

Could you record comparison video while you still have both? Some downtuned chugga chugga? It's quite hard to get them used in Europe, argh, new one with value added tax and customs and shipping from Malaysia cost as much as handmade boutique amps from USA..


----------



## lewis (May 16, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> They're not. They're an independant company that sells kits or builds pre-made amps in Taiwan. They're based on existing designs (Hiwatt, Fender, Marshall, Dumble, modded circuitsd, etc etc)
> 
> Awesome amps, though. Always wanted a Chupacabra, Yeti, or King Kong for my hot-rodded Marshall fix.



thank you sir. Finally someone in here with some friggin class to just answer a simple question I asked.

Everyone else go screw yourself quite honestly. With your patronizing BS and "djent" jokes. what a sour bunch you lot are, god.


----------



## FourT6and2 (May 16, 2016)

lewis said:


> thank you sir. Finally someone in here with some friggin class to just answer a simple question I asked.
> 
> Everyone else go screw yourself quite honestly. With your patronizing BS and "djent" jokes. what a sour bunch you lot are, god.



 You're the only one in this thread acting sour. I guess you just don't see the humor in your original comment.

Hey, have you heard of this Les Paul thing? Looks awfully close to an ESP Singlecut. I think maybe they copied PRS.

It's just a joke, lighten up.


----------



## loganflynn294 (May 16, 2016)

The video clip you made of your Chupa a while back is what made me finally give in and order a kit from Nik. I'm almost done, and every time I see posts like these it makes me want to fire up the soldering iron and get this damn thing done! Awesome amps man!


----------



## FourT6and2 (May 16, 2016)

loganflynn294 said:


> The video clip you made of your Chupa a while back is what made me finally give in and order a kit from Nik. I'm almost done, and every time I see posts like these it makes me want to fire up the soldering iron and get this damn thing done! Awesome amps man!



You have a build thread somewhere? Hurry up! 

Some folks over on SLO Clone Forum suggested trying a slight voicing change for the Chupacabra: Replace 820 ohm V1a/b resistors with 2k7 and lower the first plate resistor from 470k to something like 270-390 (to taste). I might try that at some point. But the amp sounds pretty good as is  Sometimes I like to tinker though.


----------



## lewis (May 17, 2016)

FourT6and2 said:


> You're the only one in this thread acting sour. I guess you just don't see the humor in your original comment.
> 
> Hey, have you heard of this Les Paul thing? Looks awfully close to an ESP Singlecut. I think maybe they copied PRS.
> 
> It's just a joke, lighten up.



hey, this post looks awfully like the other posts you have made in this thread aimed at me, i think you maybe keep copying yourself.

its a joke.


----------



## Zado (May 17, 2016)

> I've only tried V30s with it. But if you want something brighter, maybe G12H-30?


The G12H always sounded a lil scooped to me. I'd go V30 but I've to couple it with a Greenback, so the wattage might be a problem...mmm maybe it's time to post a topic and ask


----------



## loganflynn294 (May 17, 2016)

FourT6and2 said:


> You have a build thread somewhere? Hurry up!
> 
> Some folks over on SLO Clone Forum suggested trying a slight voicing change for the Chupacabra: Replace 820 ohm V1a/b resistors with 2k7 and lower the first plate resistor from 470k to something like 270-390 (to taste). I might try that at some point. But the amp sounds pretty good as is  Sometimes I like to tinker though.



No build thread yet, I'm going to wait to see how it turns out first (I'm not super sloppy, but it's also not super neat and tidy yet lol)

I'm going to wait to see how it sounds before tinkering with it. I was up in the air between the Chupa and the Yeti, I figured that my Bogner Shiva will cover the darker sort of "chewy low-mids" sound and the Chupa would compliment it nicely on the high end. Have you used the loop yet? I've read that it's not the greatest, but then again I'm not super effects crazy or anything. Just a little delay and chorus every now and then.


----------



## FourT6and2 (May 17, 2016)

loganflynn294 said:


> No build thread yet, I'm going to wait to see how it turns out first (I'm not super sloppy, but it's also not super neat and tidy yet lol)
> 
> I'm going to wait to see how it sounds before tinkering with it. I was up in the air between the Chupa and the Yeti, I figured that my Bogner Shiva will cover the darker sort of "chewy low-mids" sound and the Chupa would compliment it nicely on the high end. Have you used the loop yet? I've read that it's not the greatest, but then again I'm not super effects crazy or anything. Just a little delay and chorus every now and then.



Yeah the loop isn't the greatest. That's the only major drawback. They're just simple insert loops. I've thought about installing a Metro Zero-Loss loop or something similar, but I've heard good and bad things about them as well. The best method for really good delay is to install a Slave Out and run a wet/dry setup. But I don't like the idea of having to run multiple amps. Then you gotta deal with ground loops.


----------



## thrashcomics (May 20, 2016)

Can you make a clip of the Yeti and link me to the Chuppa clip you made?


----------



## FourT6and2 (May 20, 2016)

thrashcomics said:


> Can you make a clip of the Yeti and link me to the Chuppa clip you made?



I can make new clips eventually. Super swamped with work + life lately. But soon!

Here's a clip I made of the Chupacabra a number of years ago. Cab is a Bogner 4x12 with Chinese G12M-25s. Guitar is a '79 LP Custom with a Duncan JB (I think, I might have had another pickup in there, I can't remember).

I'm not the best player, but should give you an idea of how mean and feral the sound is. I've watched other vids on Youtube of these amps and they are always EQ'd really bright and fizzy for some reason. I think people go too far with the treble and the bright switches. I prefer a less bright, mid-heavy sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B24AsPXPv_c


----------



## sylcfh (May 23, 2016)

I would pay a dollar to see a Yeti/King Kong/Chupa shootout video. 


I have the Son of Yeti, and with a boost (Boss OD-1 clone) I can get Demanufacture tones with it.


----------



## thrashcomics (May 23, 2016)

sylcfh said:


> I would pay a dollar to see a Yeti/King Kong/Chupa shootout video.
> 
> 
> I have the Son of Yeti, and with a boost (Boss OD-1 clone) I can get Demanufacture tones with it.



I know Dino used a Jose modded Marshall back in those days, so this is all I needed to hear. Next time I get a bonus I am ordering a Yeti 50 and loading it with 6550s.


----------



## thrashcomics (May 23, 2016)

Do you remember if that chupa vid was on the 80s or modern setting?


----------



## HeHasTheJazzHands (May 23, 2016)

thrashcomics said:


> I know Dino used a Jose modded Marshall back in those days, so this is all I needed to hear. Next time I get a bonus I am ordering a Yeti 50 and loading it with 6550s.



It's not a Jose-modded. It's but a relatively unknown '90s company called Metalhead Mods. Apparently a very different sound.


----------



## thrashcomics (May 23, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> It's not a Jose-modded. It's but a relatively unknown '90s company called Metalhead Mods. Apparently a very different sound.




Hmmmmmm was there anything in their design based off the jose? Maybe that's what I read about.


----------



## HeHasTheJazzHands (May 23, 2016)

thrashcomics said:


> Hmmmmmm was there anything in their design based off the jose? Maybe that's what I read about.



I think the only similarity is the extra gain stage. A lot of people just never knew who did his mod. I've seen people say Jose, Bradshaw, Cameron, etc.


----------



## FourT6and2 (May 24, 2016)

thrashcomics said:


> Do you remember if that chupa vid was on the 80s or modern setting?



'80s mode. Gain 2 @ 11:00, Bright 2 to the left. Gain 1 @ 2:00, Bright 1 off (middle position, and I think I had the Focus control pulled (engaged). Mids around 3:00 I think. Bass fairly low. Treble around 10:30, Presence around 11:30, Resonance... no idea.



HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> I think the only similarity is the extra gain stage. A lot of people just never knew who did his mod. I've seen people say Jose, Bradshaw, Cameron, etc.



Typical "Jose Mod" (Jose Master) has no extra gain stage, just the diode/zener clippers, regardless of who does it.


----------



## thrashcomics (May 24, 2016)

FourT6and2 said:


> '80s mode. Gain 2 @ 11:00, Bright 2 to the left. Gain 1 @ 2:00, Bright 1 off (middle position, and I think I had the Focus control pulled (engaged). Mids around 3:00 I think. Bass fairly low. Treble around 10:30, Presence around 11:30, Resonance... no idea.
> 
> 
> 
> Typical "Jose Mod" (Jose Master) has no extra gain stage, just the diode/zener clippers, regardless of who does it.



1. if that was the 80s setting, I cant even imagine how squirely the modern gets.

2. what is the focus control, its not in the manual as far as I know


----------



## FourT6and2 (May 24, 2016)

thrashcomics said:


> 1. if that was the 80s setting, I cant even imagine how squirely the modern gets.
> 
> 2. what is the focus control, its not in the manual as far as I know



It's in the manual. Read it again.  Gain 1 is a push/pull pot. Pull it out to engage the Focus control. It "focuses" the sound. It reduces the bass a little, and cuts saturation a bit, making the tone more raw and focused.


----------



## technomancer (May 24, 2016)

You have reignited my GAS for a Yeti or King Kong


----------



## sylcfh (May 26, 2016)

thrashcomics said:


> Hmmmmmm was there anything in their design based off the jose? Maybe that's what I read about.






HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> I think the only similarity is the extra gain stage. A lot of people just never knew who did his mod. I've seen people say Jose, Bradshaw, Cameron, etc.






Dino wanted his amp modded to sound like Van Halen. Early Jose mods had an extra preamp tube, the VH ones (which became the famous Jose mod) did not. That version of the Jose mod is the one every hot-rodded Marshall clone has. 

What Dino ended up with was closer to the Sykes mod, but with a noise gate and a bass boost.


----------



## TonyFlyingSquirrel (May 26, 2016)

I'll bet you could chug some sweet A.I.C. tones all day with those bad boys.
Nice score, congrats.


----------



## gujukal (Jun 17, 2016)

Damn, that setup would fit in a royal castle, looks clean!


----------



## Zado (Jun 17, 2016)

Apparently, one of these beasts is travelling towards Detroit, Ford Field, to crush some bones at a certain quite famous 80's band show


----------



## thrashcomics (Jun 17, 2016)

Zado said:


> Apparently, one of these beasts is travelling towards Detroit, Ford Field, to crush some bones at a certain quite famous 80's band show



Do tell


----------



## Zado (Jun 18, 2016)

Well I shouldn't cause Nik clearly said he doesn't want this kind of spam, but...wll the band guitarist is famous for his hat-sunglasses-cigarette combo


----------

