Ceriatone JTM45 Bluesbreaker Kit

[Trouble]

Im guilty of using all the wrong colors in all the wrong places......... I try and get the obvious colors right, but I don't lose sleep over it if I don't.

 

[Chris-in-LA]

Well, I finally finished wiring the back panel so it’s time to drop the board in and make all of the final connections.

 

[Trouble]

You're getting close........Let's get this thing going already, time to order that Soldano kit

 

[Chris-in-LA]

Did some more work after that last pic. Got all the filter caps, bias and power tubes done. Only have the preamp tubes and the knobs and jacks left.

 

[Big Mike]

Looks good. Never done a ceriatone. I did order a JTM black flag panel from Nik...never used it. :facepalm

I've pondered a spitfire or lightning many times.

 

[Chris-in-LA]

Looks good. Never done a ceriatone. I did order a JTM black flag panel from Nik...never used it. :facepalm

I've pondered a spitfire or lightning many times.

This is my first Ceriatone kit, we’ll see how it turns out. It’s a little more challenging than my Valvestorm kit but it is coming along.

 

[jchrisf]

I love the sound of a Cranked Bluesbreaker.. can't wait to hear yours.

 

[Big Mike]

This is my first Ceriatone kit, we’ll see how it turns out. It’s a little more challenging than my Valvestorm kit but it is coming along.

Yeah mine are all based on the metroamp instructions. (2) came from metro as kits and the other I did from valvestorm and sourced some stuff, etc.
Those are a ball.

I'm fighting the urge to do a 100 watt head. cuz..WTF am I going to do with a 100 watt?
And 3 50's are redundant as it is.

 

[Chris-in-LA]

Yeah mine are all based on the metroamp instructions. (2) came from metro as kits and the other I did from valvestorm and sourced some stuff, etc.
Those are a ball.

I'm fighting the urge to do a 100 watt head. cuz..WTF am I going to do with a 100 watt?
And 3 50's are redundant as it is.

The 100 watt 2203 definitely sounds different than the 50 watt 2204 and it’s not that much louder. There, now go build one.

 

[Chris-in-LA]

So I was able to complete the wiring for the preamp tubes.



The jacks and pots are all done too.



I was able to check the voltages and run some initial tests. I was not getting any sound and tried two different tubes in V1. I did notice that the plate resistors were not connected to a load, voltage was about 300vdc on either side, no drop across the resistors. Tried a new TAD 12ax7 and the amp did work as advertised through my little bench speaker. Sounded good, bias was working, tremolo was working, amp was very quiet. I need to make some final adjustments and drop it into its cabinet so I can hook it up to some proper speakers and turn it up. Then we’ll see how the half-power switch works.

 

[Trouble]

It looks hard to get to the pots with that chassis, You seemed to do a good job though

 

[Chris-in-LA]

It looks hard to get to the pots with that chassis, You seemed to do a good job though

It was a little harder than with a 2204 style chassis. But it was easier than I thought it was going to be.

 

[jchrisf]

This looks like it is going to sound great!

 

[Chris-in-LA]

I was able to get the problem with V1 worked out. Turns out that one of the heater wires on v2 was loose causing v1 to work intermittently. Cranked the amp in my garage through an open-back 2X12 with V30’s. It was punchy and chimey. It was not unbearably loud and the half power switch was even usable. It was possible to get a fair amount of grind at high volume, kind of like a Tweed amp but smoother. It might excel as a pedal platform as it has a lot of overhead. Tone controls were very effective. The bottom end was tighter than a typical tweed. There was plenty of leeway on the bias adjustment. The plate to cathode was 430v, set the bias at 39Ma.

 

[Chris-in-LA]

All done. Looks and sounds great.

 

[jchrisf]

Looks great!

 

[South Park]

Good job

 

[Big Mike]

The 100 watt 2203 definitely sounds different than the 50 watt 2204 and it’s not that much louder. There, now go build one.

Heh...I think I'm good.

If anthing I'll build a 1992 or a JTM100

 

[Big Mike]

Nice work!

 

[Chris-in-LA]

Looks good to me.
That wire between pi and treble is normal on 4-holers without MV or loop.
Consider 470k mixers where the two channel volume wipers merge (vs 270k). It gives more grit and grind.

Just re-read this. Would the 470k mixers cause the amp to start breaking up earlier? I’m thinking that might allow me to turn the volume down a bit.