Ceriatone Son of Yeti build thread

[Tony]

Yes another one. But this one will be short and sweet.

Bog standard amp build that's a relatively simple amp.

After selling my triaxis because it didn't quite scratch the iic+ itch as it was way more compressed I got to thinking of when I had my previous iic+ clone and realised I also missed the Yeti that I had at the same time.

So I decided to grab the outrageously cheap ceriatone kit. After spending a couple of hours trucking away over the last couple of days this is my progress.



My wife and son are going away with her sister for a couple of days tomorrow so I expect to have it finished by tomorrow night minus the headshell. 2-3 solid hours work more I reckon.

Also props to Nik @ ceriatone for a nice component selection.

I might end up swapping all the carbon comp & carbon film resistors out for metal film depending on noise levels but I get why they're part of the kit.

[Budda]

Aw yeah.

Run 'em in stereo.

[Chris]

I love these threads.

[Adam]

You're on fire Tony! Did you get the iic+ and other preamp finished?

[Tony]

You're on fire Tony! Did you get the iic+ and other preamp finished?

Nah. Waiting on the front/rear panel designs to be finalised then printed on.

Unfortunately the guy who is helping me with it is working insane hours and often when hes awake im not so we keep missing one another.

Another reason why i got started with this. So I could actually finish something

[Tony]

I decided to torture myself and twist the heaters. Big mistake in such a small chassis.

Not as neat as I would like but it will do for now.

[Tony]

OK, this is taking way longer than expected.

Between everyone suddenly wanting to call me after my doing so for god knows how long and the small chassis being an absolute pain in the arse.

Got the power section mostly done. The bias test points were a nightmare being so cramped.


Time to order a pizza and take a break.

[Leon]

Looks really sharp though!

[Tony]

Gonna call it a day at that. Wake up at 7ish get the board and pots wired then test it out once the street is up.

[spilla]

Tidy as fuck! coming along nicely man

[Tony]

Nearly done now. Just the pots/toggles and standby switch to do.

Can't see that bit being fun with how cramped it is.

[JJ Rodriguez]

[Tony]

Finally got it done. Well that was two hours ago the last two were spent figuring out why a mouse fart was louder than the amp.

Super cramped wiring up the bright & clipping switches. Turned out gain 1s wiper was shorting to ground.

Nudged it half a mm and hey presto.

Now to clean the house so I don't have to do it first thing in the morning before my wife gets back.

Will return later with some reamped clips or something using the tonehound

[spilla]

That gives me claustrophobia! but again very neat work man. Looking forward to clips.

[Coop]

That looks clean!

Almost teamed up with JJ and ordered one of these kits but caved on another guitar. Kind of torn between that, a 50W version, or a Chupa. Look forward to hearing it in action as I do want to build one in the near future.

[Tony]

That gives me claustrophobia! but again very neat work man. Looking forward to clips.

It was a nightmare to be honest. I'm not happy with some bits of it but it's the best I could do in the space available.

The front panel toggles and pots literally have less than 1mm between them. And have jumpers and two caps on each of the bright switches going from the switches to the pots. If I did it again I'd use 16mm pots for the 2 gain controls and the master.

[Tony]

That looks clean!

Almost teamed up with JJ and ordered one of these kits but caved on another guitar. Kind of torn between that, a 50W version, or a Chupa. Look forward to hearing it in action as I do want to build one in the near future.

The 50w is a far easier build talking from experience purely because you have plenty of room to work in.

One bonus of this is that it's the same chassis & pcb as the 2202 so if you get one you can build the other with just changing a few parts and faceplates.

You could also change this into a 20w chupa as the only difference from memory is a few parts

[Tony]

For reference on the cramped spaces around the pots.

Definitely recommend using 16mm pots for those.

Could even incorporate the feel switch or a third bright cap with push pulls that way too.

[spilla]

Please tell that came with a drill template. There's no way i wouldn't fuck up at least one enclosure.

[Tony]

Please tell that came with a drill template. There's no way i wouldn't fuck up at least one enclosure.

The chassis comes pre drilled. So no risk of that.

[Alan]

I bought mine preassembled from Nik in a headshell. Love that amp - it rips and gets quite loud!

[Tony]

I bought mine preassembled from Nik in a headshell. Love that amp - it rips and gets quite loud!

For the price I would say this amp can't be beat for the range of sounds available.

Got a chance to have a play about with it on my lunch break.

Super tight and can go from your standard plexi/jcm800 right up to modern metal.

Mostly the same as I remember the Yeti 50 being maybe a touch darker.

Only thing it's missing from the bigger version is the pull tight control but all that did was make everything djenty so no loss there at all.

Don't like the bright switches at all in one position (750pf) makes everything super tinny and hollow. Might change those caps for a more standard 1nf or something.

[Alan]

For the price I would say this amp can't be beat for the range of sounds available.

Got a chance to have a play about with it on my lunch break.

Super tight and can go from your standard plexi/jcm800 right up to modern metal.

Mostly the same as I remember the Yeti 50 being maybe a touch darker.

Only thing it's missing from the bigger version is the pull tight control but all that did was make everything djenty so no loss there at all.

Don't like the bright switches at all in one position (750pf) makes everything super tinny and hollow. Might change those caps for a more standard 1nf or something.

I like 80s mode with both bright switches to the left, which is more gain and less highs than the switches to the right, at least based off how they come from Ceriatone itself. The modern side of the era switch is cool too with the different clippers, but it's a little over the top for me. When I had them build it I had the buffered fx loop installed as well. I wish I knew a long time ago I was a modded Marshall kind of guy - it would have saved me a lot of buying and selling.

My Yeti 50 has 6550s in it for a slightly different feel, but it is also a beast. They make a fantastic amp for the price - if I was more confident in my skills I'd buy a kit and build one, but I don't have the tech background to be able to troubleshoot when something goes sideways.

[Tony]

I like 80s mode with both bright switches to the left, which is more gain and less highs than the switches to the right, at least based off how they come from Ceriatone itself. The modern side of the era switch is cool too with the different clippers, but it's a little over the top for me. When I had them build it I had the buffered fx loop installed as well. I wish I knew a long time ago I was a modded Marshall kind of guy - it would have saved me a lot of buying and selling.

My Yeti 50 has 6550s in it for a slightly different feel, but it is also a beast. They make a fantastic amp for the price - if I was more confident in my skills I'd buy a kit and build one, but I don't have the tech background to be able to troubleshoot when something goes sideways.

The modern side is a bit silly. I'm tempted to change the for LED clipping instead to just have a different flavour that isn't so extreme.

Troubleshooting can be a nightmare. But to be honest with well documented amps you are unlikely to run into issues if you take your time.

[Alan]

The modern side is a bit silly. I'm tempted to change the for LED clipping instead to just have a different flavour that isn't so extreme.

Troubleshooting can be a nightmare. But to be honest with well documented amps you are unlikely to run into issues if you take your time.

I'm really curious about their Molecular... plus it only has a single gain pot so you don't have to futz around with it as much as you do the Yeti/Chupa.