Express(ion) Build

[milkyBK370]

Hi. Just finished off my first Express-a-like in the form of a Ceriatone kit. Nice sounding amp but I was totally taken aback by the sheer volume of this beast. Running a pair of NOS EL34's and some new Tung-Sols in the preamp. I'm happy with how it sounds but need to do something about the volume. I have a set of JJ 6v6's that I could you but kind of wanted to retain the character of the EL34's... but at more reasonable levels.

I have searched on here and have seen quite a few posts relating to various master volume solutions. What are you experiences with adding a MV control to the Express?

Also, I would like to experiment with a 12AY7 in V1 as I believe this should lower the overall gain somewhat. Again, any advise on this would be more than welcome. I'll post some gutshots when I get home from work.

[Gibsonman63]

If you haven't played one of these before, it is a really different animal from your Marshalls and Fenders (Boogies, Peaveys, Crates, etc...). Work the hell out of the volume on your guitar for a while before you do anything drastic and get a feel for the clean to mean capabilities of this beast. Once you find the sweet spot you can play clean and push it into overdrive with just your playing dynamics. From what I have read, you will lose that with a master volume. I am using an airbrake with mine. It is not as good as running full bore, but works well from -12dB to bypassed. 6V6's have a nice sound, but you lose some of the cleans. It is well worth experimenting with.

[sliberty]

If you like the tone as is, a MV may not be the way to go (it will impact tone), and 6V6's will too. I have had good results from using a VVR. I never pull the volume down very low - just enough to tone it down for the room.

As for gain, I like the results off using a 12aT7 in one or both of V1 and V3, but my favorite approach is the split plate load resistor. Do a search here at TAG if you need guidance on that one.

[milkyBK370]

Thanks lads. I was aware of the nature of the Express with regards to dynamics and sensitivity to how the guitar volume is set... but wow, it took me by surprise just how powerful it is.

I'll mess around with it some more and see. I'm pretty sure I have a couple of 12AT7's kicking around. I'll experiment with those too.

Thanks.

[cap217]

Loud amp for sure. Look into halls VVR.

[Cantplay]

For me I've found a single 12 cab to be enough.

John

[geetarpicker]

You might also try a different output transformer. The Ceriatone Express I played a while back had the Ceriatone transformers. It sounded good, but I also noticed it was quite a bit louder and brighter than my original '89 (Pacific Transformer) Express. The Ceriatone had 6V6s in it, and even with those "smaller" tubes it was still louder than my original Express which has EL34s!

[KellyBass]

Cantplay is right. the right speaker(s) can make a huge difference. I've installed VVRs into two of my express's and can't recommend them highly enough. Great units! I ended up scaling the whole amp on both of them.

Also, on the VVR there are two resistors that you can switch out to adjust the amount of attenuation. Stock, the VVR knocks down the volume quite a lot, but I found that just a bit of attenuation is all that my customer's needed....and the change in tone was minimized.

[KellyBass]

You might also try a different output transformer. The Ceriatone Express I played a while back had the Ceriatone transformers. It sounded good, but I also noticed it was quite a bit louder and brighter than my original '89 (Pacific Transformer) Express. The Ceriatone had 6V6s in it, and even with those "smaller" tubes it was still louder than my original Express which has EL34s!

Wow! THAT really makes me want to try a Pacific for my next express build! Just a bit of natural attenuation would be great...without having to use the VVR. Well, that and the INCREDIBLE tone you get from your Trainwreck, Glen!

[eazilyled]

You also might look into using some sort of line out rig. When playing at home, my chain goes like this:

Express speaker out -> THD Hotplate attenuator set to load -> line out from Hotplate into separate power amp with volume set low -> speaker.

I have found that I can get pretty decent bedroom level tones with a setup like this, and the clean to mean control via the guitar volume knob doesn't seem to suffer.

You can use any power amp, e.g. I have used the effects loop return on a Mesa amp, and also the tiny pedal-like EHX Magnum 44. The Magnum is a bit hissy but it gets the job done.

You could also add a line out to your amp, but you would still need the dummy speaker load to protect your output transformer etc.

[stephenl]

BadCat Unleash - I highly recommend it.

[milkyBK370]

Quick update. I gigged the amp at a biker festival on Saturday night past, playing outdoors to around 700 people in various states of inebriation/undress. Alas, my worries were ill-founded. The amp rocks big time. I absolutely love it. I stuck with the EL34's and used a 12AY7 in V1 and a 12AT7 in the PI. The overall levels of gain are much lower and I had the amp up to around 6 on the volume at the last gig. Tis a shame I can't keep it.

[KellyBass]

Sometimes it just takes an outdoor festival to hear how good an amp really sounds!

Especially an xpress!

[mumford]

The Ceriatone had 6V6s in it, and even with those "smaller" tubes it was still louder than my original Express which has EL34s!

My express started as a ceriatone kit. The voltages coming out of the PT are way higher than the docs here say. I ended up using zeners to pull the voltages down.