Let's Build A Hiwatt - Ceriatone Hey What 504 Extravaganza

[@artspiritfineartstudiogall9672]

Tight as Truck with a leather fender. Bold as big old bells screamin straight from heaven.

[@shoetiquemusic]

Strong praise Art Spirt! I appreciate it!

[@willjoe]

When a shoetique video drops, my day is made

[@shoetiquemusic]

Heck ya Joseph! It brings me great joy to see you in the comments!

[@chicagoblow]

Good song , good gear... Good channel.

[@shoetiquemusic]

Thanks JJ - there's more to come! Let me know if there's any DIY gear you're interested in!

[@chicagoblow]

@@shoetiquemusic okay, perfect. Let's see. Maybe ah color unit that gives you depth and texture. Like a tape module. Or a summing 500 series. Thank you Sir

[@mikewolfe9458]

That’s a damn fine build! Sounds great, too. I’d love to see you build and demo the Muchle$$ lightning. Also, nice work on Chinese Eric. It kind of has an Yngwie Malmsteen meets Linda Ronstadt vibe, which I really dig.

[@shoetiquemusic]

Thanks Mike! Funny you say that - I've got a Dumble vid coming up but the next amp I plan on tackling was going to be a Matchless!

[@mikewolfe9458]

@@shoetiquemusic that is excellent. Looking forward to seeing and hearing both! Perhaps you can write a song about Hungarian Larry for one of those demos. That guy is a CHARACTER, I tell ya.

[@user-qm7nw7vd5s]

What a beautiful chassis, clean, elegant build.

[@shoetiquemusic]

Thanks M! I try to make each one better than the last! It always gets a little hairy near the end 😂

[@ceriatoneAmp]

Thanks so much Shoetique! What an awesome video! I really love it! Keep up the good work, and I hope you will enjoy the amp for a long time to come!

[@shoetiquemusic]

Thanks to you and your team - your kits and builds are top notch! Without you guys I wouldn't be able to get my hands on these classics!

[@chanoble3112]

I built one too. Used the Partridge iron from an old Impact, sounds absolutely delicious!!

[@shoetiquemusic]

That's fire Noble! I'd love to get my hands on a Partridge to compare to. Let me know if you ever come across another!! If you're willing to part with it that is!

[@lucyfuir6386]

Chinese Eric may be my new favorite song

[@shoetiquemusic]

Thanks Lucy! This makes me happy!

[@Corporations8MyBaby]

I spoke to Nik from Ceriatone and he pronounces it "Cherry-Tone" ... not kiddin. Took me a minute to realize what the hell he was talking about. He really cares about the circuits and the components. He's pretty weary of people calling transformers other than his "upgrades".. his team is exacting with their builds too. I hate to tell anyone this because the prices might continue to rise. I want a few more of his amps - right now I have a JTM-45 that my friend finished from his initial build. And two of his overdrives. I'm looking at his Steel String Singer next.

[@shoetiquemusic]

Hey Corporations8myBaby! I followed up with the Ceriatone team and was given this phonetic spelling: "Cheery-A-tone". I think that's pretty close (if not the same when spoken) to what you put above. The transformers in the kit are top notch. I think anyone who upgrades is getting into a very subjective space. It's possible that there's something 'better' out there, but I think that the improvement vs price increase wouldn't be worth it. It's tough to know when to buy things these days. Inflation has been brutal on a global scale. Personally I've been stocking up and I plan on picking up another in the not too distant future. That SSS looks pretty slick - thanks for putting it on my radar!

[@nicowiechart100]

I love all of your videos. What are the possibilities of being able to build your own attenuator?🧐

[@shoetiquemusic]

Hey Nico! Great to see you again! Before I bought the UA OX I was playing with the idea of building something using an L-Pad. This was the project I was looking into at the time: guitar.com/guides/diy-workshop/diy-workshop-build-your-own-attenuator/ Ultimately I went with the OX because I wanted to save a bit of time and I liked the ability to use cab sims and headphones when needed. If I get a chance I'll build one of these and make a video on it but it could be a bit!

[@GCKelloch]

"You've got the part!" 😁 Appreciate your sense of humor...and in your song. I'm curious about your opinion on the C3 47nF to 22nF change for better mid-bass? The HiWatt TS apparently has an unusual dip at 200~300Hz with the Middle at 4 to 10, and the Bass control only affects below 100Hz above 5. The 22nF change moves it up to 200Hz and reduces the dip.

[@shoetiquemusic]

I'm glad you like it GC! This is the first time I've heard of this mod! I'd be interested in learning more. Do you have any resources you can share on this one? I could try to put together a comparison video down the line!

[@GCKelloch]

@@shoetiquemusic Just a suggestion from an amp tech, but you can see what it does by making the change on the Duncan Amps TSC app. You could also wrap a 1nF cap over C1 to reduce the mid-bass dip. Change that to 2nF to see what I mean. Amp caps may have to be wired with the correct polarity or it can cause serious problems. I don't know if that's true in the tone stack, but you could look into it.

[@reneherbst9562]

Hi mate, is the Starfinder speaker punchy and bright ? Thanks man,cool build.

[@shoetiquemusic]

I’d say it’s punchy but not too bright. Overall it’s a well rounded speaker with a ton of oomph!

[@jamesjohanson5675]

the song at 6min sounds liek flight of the conchords :D

[@shoetiquemusic]

I appreciate that James! I'd put a wig on you and watch you sleep any day!

[@jamesjohanson5675]

@@shoetiquemusic yeah i got it going on :D ♥

[@what1864]

my grandma has a crush on you ....

[@shoetiquemusic]

Thanks What1984! My grandma is dead.

[@wickedalaska]

A well designed board with properly sized thermal reliefs would solve the solder issue. Alternatively, I could easily design a board with the same circuit that comes fully assembled for a competitive price. It's great that you are twisting your wires for common mode noise. Are these interfaces fully differential or single ended? I almost exclusively design in fully differential in audio applications for signal quality purposes.

[@shoetiquemusic]

Thanks for stopping by Wicked! Thermal reliefs would only be available on a PCB, correct? I'm not aware of a thermal relief solution for turret boards. Let me know if I'm not understanding this correctly. When building classic amps, adhering to the construction and components of the originals is what gives it 'mojo'. The variation in component composition and part tolerance all come together to make each build something slightly unique. There's countless forum posts debating the sonic qualities of different component materials - some are more likely to be true than others. In this space we're not looking for the cleanest, most HiFi options. When you say fully assembled I believe you're referring to surface mount components on a PCB. There could certainly be interest in this but you'll lose the primary target audience of vintage gear. These folks are seeking a replica that has all the glory and warts of the originals. Regarding fully differential vs single ended; Tube guitar amps in general are typically single ended or push pull. The DR504 is a Class AB push pull amp. Here we get to the edges of my understanding but I'll take a shot at it. I believe that this design is differential but not fully differential. The signal is single ended up to the phase splitter where it then becomes differential. That is to say the output stage of a push pull amp is differential. Wicked or anyone else reading this - please correct me if I'm wrong.

[@wickedalaska]

@@shoetiquemusic I don't have first hand experience with turret boards, but my understanding is that they are the pre-PCB option. In that sense, they are large/bulky and therefore there's a lot of thermal mass and high thermal conduction to the rest of the board from the terminal that you are soldering to. Not knowing the layout design of the board I would not know if thermal reliefs were used and or sized appropriately for this application. Essentially a thermal relief is a reduction in thermal continuity between the terminal and the rest of the board's copper. Kinda looks like a bicycle wheel, the hub being your terminal and the spokes connecting the terminal to the remainder of the circuit. Most of the signal conditioning circuitry here is likely low current and therefore would not need much for "spokes" to carry current, but would be way easier to solder to because your soldering iron heat wouldn't be conducted away from the terminals.

[@wickedalaska]

As a qualifier, I don't have experience designing amp circuits like the one you are presenting here, but I do have circuits that are used in audiology tools that are FDA compliant and currently fielded. I might be missing something, but I wouldn't be scared of PCBs in this application. I think the point of the turret board and use of thru-hole components are to attempt at making things as cheap as possible. That being said, there are dirt cheap ways of building boards nowadays with low stackup count. Typically you'll see these turret boards or thru-hole build boards in large electronics like flat screens or amps because there's an infinite amount of space. Some poor country builds them and the US buys them for dirt cheap and makes money.

[@shoetiquemusic]

@@wickedalaska I agree that would likely be easier, but I love looking at that Turret Board 😁

[@wickedalaska]

@@shoetiquemusic it definitely gives it a different vibe for sure.

[@sunwomb7428]

can you do a bias video on this please. thanks

[@shoetiquemusic]

I'm putting the finishing touches on a new video at the moment, but let me see what I can do after that! Anything in particular about the biasing giving you a hard time? I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.

[@sunwomb7428]

@@shoetiquemusic I understand the concept... just need to understand better how to modify the circuit to add the ability to adjust it....

[@shoetiquemusic]

@@sunwomb7428Are you looking to adjust the bias outside of the pots provided for adjustment? Are you trying to use different tubes instead of the EL34s?

[@claytonhiggins9115]

Pronounced Cherry-uh-tone. I had a DR103 and sold it. I'm a Dumbass sometimes.

[@shoetiquemusic]

Hey Clayton! You're right on the pronunciation. About that 103 - You can always build or buy a new one! Do you think you'd get another 103 or would you go with a 504 this time around?