Re: Your best & worst boutique amps.....

PorkyPrimeCut · Post by **PorkyPrimeCut** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 1:55 pm

I'm not buying according to my living situation.

I did buy the Valve Junior because of the fact that I live in a flat.

I'm not gonna sell this amp. I'll still have it should I need to practice at "respectable" volumes.

I just want to buy an amp that will cover all my needs, regardless of where I live.

I don't want to aim low again & end up forking out more cash in 3 years time. More is more in this situation.

Kilgore Trout · Post by **Kilgore Trout** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:57 pm

idiotbear wrote:
Jaguar018 wrote: Didn't you say you live in a flat? A 4x12" half stack + head seems like overkill if that's the case. You'll just have the thing on one quarter power all the time.
Mark has a modded Valve Junior for home purposes.

Jaguar018 wrote: Ceriatone looks like it rhymes with "Marshall Clone," and that's not going to sound much like a Fender or Vox.
Have you seen Ceriatone's website? They do Fender clones up the wazoo, and are definitely not limited to Marshalls.

I think most of their fender clones are the simpler tweed circuits, no reverb, no tremolo.

Post by **Jay** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 3:11 pm

Ceriatone has Fender, Marshall, Matchless, Dumble, Trainwreck, and Hiwatt clones as well as some modded takes on some of those designs. The new Creme Brulee—a Matchless EF86 DC-30 front end mated to a half power back end— looks KILLER for example. And IMO having trem built into an amp is over-rated if its for gigging purposes and to some extent reverb is easier and better outboard as well.

Kilgore Trout · Post by **Kilgore Trout** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 3:24 pm

Jay wrote: Ceriatone has Fender, Marshall, Matchless, Dumble, Trainwreck, and Hiwatt clones as well as some modded takes on some of those designs. The new Creme Brulee—a Matchless EF86 DC-30 front end mated to a half power back end— looks KILLER for example. And IMO having trem built into an amp is over-rated if its for gigging purposes and to some extent reverb is easier and better outboard as well.

I'm not criticising them, I'm just pointing that out: Porky initially seemed to have his heart set on something vintage style with on-board effects.

Personally, I can live without reverb and trem in an amp (I have two amps without them), so I agree with you. It is, however, nice to have on-board spring reverb, as carrying a reverb tank is a bit of a drag.

PorkyPrimeCut · Post by **PorkyPrimeCut** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 3:32 pm

Jay wrote: Ceriatone has Fender, Marshall, Matchless, Dumble, Trainwreck, and Hiwatt clones as well as some modded takes on some of those designs. The new Creme Brulee—a Matchless EF86 DC-30 front end mated to a half power back end— looks KILLER for example. And IMO having trem built into an amp is over-rated if its for gigging purposes and to some extent reverb is easier and better outboard as well.

Interesting points.

I've heard a little about the Ceriatone stuff already. Definitely worth considering.

I've just spent another 3 hours browsing through boutique sites, trying to get some kind of list together. A kind of top 10. It ain't easy & I've kinda given up. It's hard work sizing up the price of 10 different US made amps, taking their settings, speakers & builds into account - then working out transport cost & duty. This is coming from someone with basic amp experience who just wants something he's gonna love.

I guess the added trem & verb is a bit of a luxury. I've got a great tremolo pedal, it's the reverb I'm keen on. My modded Spring King is cool but I've always wanted to try out a longer, sturdier reverb without shelling out for a tank.

This D.I.Y amp kit is a bit of an eye opener. Any idea if Ceriatone do a Vox style amp? I recognize the Marshall & Fender clones. Nothing else. I read about a DC30 somewhere. I think that might have been their take on the Vox AC30 but it's not on the site.

Kilgore Trout · Post by **Kilgore Trout** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 3:35 pm

PorkyPrimeCut wrote:
Jay wrote: Ceriatone has Fender, Marshall, Matchless, Dumble, Trainwreck, and Hiwatt clones as well as some modded takes on some of those designs. The new Creme Brulee—a Matchless EF86 DC-30 front end mated to a half power back end— looks KILLER for example. And IMO having trem built into an amp is over-rated if its for gigging purposes and to some extent reverb is easier and better outboard as well.
Interesting points.

I've heard a little about the Ceriatone stuff already. Definitely worth considering.

I've just spent another 3 hours browsing through boutique sites, trying to get some kind of list together. A kind of top 10. It ain't easy & I've kinda given up. It's hard work sizing up the price of 10 different US made amps, taking their settings, speakers & builds into account - then working out transport cost & duty. This is coming from someone with basic amp experience who just wants something he's gonna love.

I guess the added trem & verb is a bit of a luxury. I've got a great tremolo pedal, it's the reverb I'm keen on. My modded Spring King is cool but I've always wanted to try out a longer, sturdier reverb without shelling out for a tank.

This D.I.Y amp kit is a bit of an eye opener. Any idea if Ceriatone do a Vox style amp? I recognize the Marshall & Fender clones. Nothing else. I read about a DC30 somewhere. I think that might have been their take on the Vox AC30 but it's not on the site.

The ceriatone DC30 is a Matchless clone, and the DC30 is Matchless's take on the AC30.

PorkyPrimeCut · Post by **PorkyPrimeCut** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 3:42 pm

Kilgore Trout wrote: ...The ceriatone DC30 is a Matchless clone, and the DC30 is Matchless's take on the AC30.

Hehee. That's where I heard the name.

I wish they hadn't name-checked Maroon 5 on their homepage. It's put me right off!!

Looking at their prices Ii think I'll look elsewhere!!

A D.I.Y AC-30 sound more likely to be in my price range. £800 tops. (that's including postage costs).

idiotbear · Post by **idiotbear** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 4:18 pm

Mark, I think their Dizzy 30 might be the new version of the DC30 (although I have no idea, actually). At any rate it looks awesome. $980 US for this (clicky piccy):

It ships without speakers which will cut costs down - you can put the ones of your choice in the back, which is kind of sweet actually...

PorkyPrimeCut · Post by **PorkyPrimeCut** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 4:28 pm

Looks great. Unfortunately, looking at the shipping costs it'll weigh in at around £900 all in, then there's duty on top.

A little bit rich for me.

Slow-Pop · Post by **Slow-Pop** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:48 pm

Consider looking into getting a head/cab also, heavy combos suck to lift. Or for the sake of your back and knees, invest in some casters/flight case with casters to make transport easier

Post by **Jay** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 8:22 pm

Unfortunately, outside of Ceriatone there isn't much else in the boutique realm that's going to be less expensive even in the UK. The duty is probably what kills it though and is something I hadn't considered.

The DC-30 is like a vintage AC30 with a master volume, and where the Top Boost boost channel some added tone shaping capabilities. It also has no trem. It looks like the creme brulee is the top boost channel only and at half power. That seems like a killer killer amp to me... highly tempted to get that kit myself.

Kilgore Trout · Post by **Kilgore Trout** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 8:38 pm

Jay wrote: Unfortunately, outside of Ceriatone there isn't much else in the boutique realm that's going to be less expensive even in the UK. The duty is probably what kills it though and is something I hadn't considered.

The DC-30 is like a vintage AC30 with a master volume, and where the Top Boost boost channel some added tone shaping capabilities. It also has no trem. It looks like the creme brulee is the top boost channel only and at half power. That seems like a killer killer amp to me... highly tempted to get that kit myself.

The Matchless DC-30s has a really cool feature: you can remove the master volume of the circuit, I think all you need to do is to pull on the master volume knob. Do you know if the ceriatone does the same?

Post by **Jay** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 9:04 pm

Well, I know for sure that Nick would build it that way because the post I found regarding the Creme Brulee mentioned that as a feature. That said, I not sure that its all that important. I can't tell one lick of difference between my Top Hat AC30 type amp with the master all the way up vs. pulling the defeat. Of course YMMV.

Finefish · Post by **Finefish** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 2:06 am

Maybe not considered "boutique" either, but anyway:

http://www.thomann.de/gb/epiphone_valve ... _combo.htm

http://www.thomann.de/gb/epiphone_valve ... d.htm 

Jets · Post by **Jets** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 4:27 am

Why not go with a vintage british amp? There are plenty that seem ideal for what you want and they are often not as expensive as you think. If you look for something other than a Vox or a Marshall there are plenty of great amps that are reasonably priced and comparable quality.