alfonso Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 One of my beloved amps is a Ceriatone 5e3. It's a one channel little beast which needs to be cranked or to receive a quite boosted signal to go in full saturation. in any case it becomes quite loud...LOUD! I love that tone....anyway, I have two boosters in my pedalboard, a Java Boost and and a RC Booster. Usually the Java Boost is great to feed preamp stages or overdrive pedals. I tried to use it into the RC booster which is set with maximum gain and a quite low volume. The Java Boost is set to full boost and both controls around 1-2 o'clock. The 5e3 is at 2, a quite clean setting...well man! what a sound! the Java output saturates the RC gain stage in a beautiful way, feeding all the cranked-tube-like harmonics and the result in the amp is incredibly close to the sound it has when cranked, except that it has a real bedroom volume...well not while a mate is sleeping, obviously... With this setting it's also very usable my Eventide Time Factor, considering there is no fx loop. I connected it in a cool way that leaves always the pure analog unbuffered guitar sound on. I grab the guitar sound from the lower bright input (like when you want to cross the inputs) and send it to the timefactor which is in direct kill mode (only effect), the output from it goes in the dark input of the Ceriatone and you can deal manually an independent volume for the effect. If you want you can also put a volume pedal in between to feed the effect in that way, if between the amp and the Eventide you keep the delay tails... I'm happy! Guess the Amp .... now it's finished... Here it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 Niiiiiice rig! Cool settings and configurations, too. Ever use any Octavia type octave-fuzz pedals, like a J. Everman 'Octave-X' or Foxrox 'Octron'? They rock! Especially if fed into some already overdriven tubes... I often use either of those two in front of a Radial Tonebone 'Plexitube' (both on), or the Octron into the Octave-X (both on). A noise-gate type gizmo is kinda useful for this later octave-fuzzed octave-fuzz! Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strategery Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 Now that's different. I have a Tungsten Cortez, which is a 5E3 clone but I never thought of putting pedals in between the "jump" so to speak. I'll have to give that a try. Rock on my brotha'!! Randy "Just play!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miroslav Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 I grab the guitar sound from the lower bright input (like when you want to cross the inputs) and send it to the timefactor which is in direct kill mode (only effect), the output from it goes in the dark input of the Ceriatone and you can deal manually an independent volume for the effect. Interesting chain...but when you turn to Volume of the Bright channel to control the Volume of the FX...you are also altering the input Volume going to the Dark channel. I mean...the important thing is that you like the tone...but I'm just pointing out that in the common "dry" channel jump on a 5E3 amp...the two Volumes work together and affect each other. IOW...as you adjust the Bright channel Volume to control the FX Volume...you are also changing the tone of your amp. But I'll have to try your approach on my Tungsten Cortez 5E3 amp. If you need an FX loop type deal...check these out (I have two of the Loop Master switch boxes): http://www.loop-master.com/ Then you also have this brand which offers Blend controls: http://www.bargeconcepts.com/vfb1.html miroslav - miroslavmusic.com "Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfonso Posted June 18, 2009 Author Share Posted June 18, 2009 Interesting chain...but when you turn to Volume of the Bright channel to control the Volume of the FX...you are also altering the input Volume going to the Dark channel. I mean...the important thing is that you like the tone...but I'm just pointing out that in the common "dry" channel jump on a 5E3 amp...the two Volumes work together and affect each other. IOW...as you adjust the Bright channel Volume to control the FX Volume...you are also changing the tone of your amp. That's true...in fact I experimented to check what could happen. I find the result quite good at the setting that I found. I can tailor the settings programming the proper timefactor output volume....the good thing is that using the killdry function in it I get rid completely of the "dry" portion through the converters, which is not that bad really but not the original sound and tweaking the pure "wet" outputand the second input (for the timefactor) volume knob on the 5e3 I can find the perfect proportion. Basically I found that keeping both the volumes in the same position I pretty like the result, I like to remain a tad below a crunch setting and then push the tubes with the booster(s). And the way the delay accepts the clean and the boosted sound and produces the effect in the second input is very very good, the Eventide inputs are very capable to accept quite beefy signals. Guess the Amp .... now it's finished... Here it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 A very good friend of mine has one of those Eventide Time Factors, and it sounds phenomenal! Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfonso Posted June 19, 2009 Author Share Posted June 19, 2009 A very good friend of mine has one of those Eventide Time Factors, and it sounds phenomenal! Yes, it is very good. But I really like very much the possibility to have always the dry portion routed outside of it. it has very very good converters but the sound is changed a little anyway. Fortunately it has a "killdry" switch setting that allows it. When I use it in a serial fx loop like in my modded HRD, where I'm forced to have the dry signal through it, I have selected a setting which has true bypass when it is bypassed, but when it is engaged the dry portion is the digitized one in any case.... A bit off topic....that's a big limit of the serial fx loops, but I find that the parallel/serial ones like in my TSL 100 suck even more...I never understood what the hell can you do with the 50-60% of the dry signal when you switch a delay in....that's really stupid, a drop in volume that makes it useless. Fx Loops should be implemented like in mixers...maybe two independent knobs, one for the dry signal and one for the wet. If you want it serial you set them 0 and max, but if you have a delay to kick in, you need the 100% of your dry signal. Guess the Amp .... now it's finished... Here it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Oh, yeah, the way you're using that, mixing the true "dry" and "wet" signals in parallel like that, would be nice. As for the effects-loop on the HRD, you're also introducing the rather limited and lacking circuitry of that amps SS serial effects-loop, with its compromising fixed in and out levels, into the signal path. That effects-loop is certain to suck a little in the tone and feel department! (I know, I used to have a Hot Rod DeVille!) But, better circuits with independent I/O level-controls and/or parallel options can really increase the cost of an amp, and not enough players care that much about the loop or even use them to justify that cost to most manufacturers. Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfonso Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 As for the effects-loop on the HRD, you're also introducing the rather limited and lacking circuitry of that amps SS serial effects-loop, with its compromising fixed in and out levels, into the signal path. That effects-loop is certain to suck a little in the tone and feel department! (I know, I used to have a Hot Rod DeVille!) But, better circuits with independent I/O level-controls and/or parallel options can really increase the cost of an amp, and not enough players care that much about the loop or even use them to justify that cost to most manufacturers. You're so right....anyway this HRD was an amp I wanted to sell...but one day I saw a very good offer for a Vintage 30 speaker and i decided to buy it, then asked a dear friend of mine with supernatural soldering skills and a deep knowledge of tube circuits (he is a professional guitar player in his sixties who, while at the music conservatory in Paris, his mother forced him also to go to evening courses of electronics that at that time was mainly tube electronics) and he helped me to perform several mods, like making the tone controls old style (if all of them are at 0 no sound), adding some additional low range control to compensate the new tone settings in the drive channel with a pot in the lower part of the chassis, some sparkle in the clean channel adding a treble bypass in the first volume control, extending the bright switch to the drive but not to the more drive channel with an added jfet, a very useful tone control under the chassis to cut some treble after the master pot to make the drive sound smoother, removal of a treble bypass in the reverb circuit that made it unusable at low levels, a pcb derived female jack to switch reverb on/off, a point to point piece of cable to reinforce a part of the circuit that in his opinion has too weak traces for the currents it has to handle....well after all this lot that made of this amp a real tone king, I might consider a mod in the loop circuit...who knows... Guess the Amp .... now it's finished... Here it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Wow, what a makeover for that HRD! Sounds like you've practically got a prototype for a whole new amp model on your hands... Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfonso Posted June 21, 2009 Author Share Posted June 21, 2009 Wow, what a makeover for that HRD! Sounds like you've practically got a prototype for a whole new amp model on your hands... It took an afternoon. You know, the HRD design is very clever, it's the quality details and some build choices that really suck. I spent no more than 10 bucks of spare parts for it, the work was for free... Guess the Amp .... now it's finished... Here it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar55 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Alfonso, Do you have documentation on the HRD mods? I'd like to see if they are applicable to the Blues Deluxe Resissue. Thanks, Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfonso Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Alfonso, Do you have documentation on the HRD mods? I'd like to see if they are applicable to the Blues Deluxe Resissue. Thanks, Dennis I think there are some differences...anyway I got them from The Unofficial Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Owners Guide. Guess the Amp .... now it's finished... Here it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.