CeriaTone 20W Lead & Bass Head

Features Tone. And Tone to the BONE, as stated previously... Two channels, each one Volume/Tone and nothing else (no master vol, no loop, no nothing). Just jumper the channels and dial in some more bass when playing alone, than when playing in a band. It isn't rocket science, folks. Simplicity is really the key here, but there's a great tonal variation, from pitbull-like lead (treble channel) to jazzy almost-clean (bass channel). Oh, and PTP build, very clean. One point extra for that!

The treble channel is incredibly aggressive, more so than in a Marshall 18W combo. Sounds like my Marshall 1986 Bass head, only less friggin' INSANELY loud. This can best be described as a "clean distortion", if there is such a beast...not high gain, but it swallows any pedal without choking. Now *that's* my Baby! No noise to speak of, with my Starfield Stratzilla (at any setting). It is plenty loud, but even when dimed my fillings don't rattle (they do when I play the 1986), and touch-responsive to boot. Dime it and play softly - clean tone. Dig in - old school lead Tone. Go figure.

We'll see. It's relatively new in the family.

Nik answers any mail within no time, and I live halfway across the world. There are authorised workshops in Europe, however; I think if anything went wrong the amp is PTP and could be easily serviced by a good tech in my town (there are plenty).

Cost me less than half of the Marshall 20W PTP reissue, and sounds just as incredible. What's not to like?

It ain't got many features, but there's even too much for my needs. Two indipendent (but linkable with the old jumpering jack trick)channels, the first named Lead open sounding and breaking up earlier and the second named Bass darker sounding with more clean headroom. Each channel has its own Volume and Tone controls (the potz are top notch, they work gradually and "feel" right when turned, with a sort of fluid resistance just like they were in an oil bath)and two input jacks for Hi and Low gain (the difference in signal is about 6 dB). On the back panel there's an Impedance Selector rotative switch and two output jacks, plus the DC chord socket and the main fuse holder.
It's a straight forward amp, that's what I like; it loves pedal (I don't use them much, though)and I don't feel I'm needing any Effect Send-Return (which could be added as an option).
As I stated before, it's even too much for my needs. Anyway, most people may need more, I suppose, so I would rate it at 10 for me, but to be objective I give it a 7.

Basically I use the Lead channel plugging my PRS SE Singlecut in the Low input or my Strat-like in the High input jack passing through my T-Rex Dr.Swamp (sometimes a Tech21 Boost DLA) and let my fingers do the rest of the job. It's quite versatile, but it gives its best in the Blues and Classic Rock territories (think of early ZZ Top, AC-DC, Rolling Stones, Roy Buchanan); it's not noisy at all, and the more you pump the volume the more it gets touch responsive.
I love its sound, because I grew up with that kind of music and I play that kinds of music. Said that, it can't be but perfect...

I always gig without a backup, so I always buy gear that I can reasonably trust about reliability and reading the reviews about CeriaTone's amps, I feel quite sure about it.
It seems very well built, neat wiring and soldering job, really classy cabinet, way better made than the original Marshall!

Got this head fully assembled by Nik 1 month ago; it took about 4 weeks to have it built and delivered to my house (on the other side of the Planet, regarding CeriaTone's location!).
Before buying, I had an intense mail exchange with Nik to understand which kind of amp was more responding to my taste (you can imagine what a difficult task it is!!!) and he always replied promptly as kindly and helpfully as you could expect from your best friend, even when in THAT part of the world it's the middle of the night (I talk about 3:00 AM) 8-D
He and Mrs.Lin wrote me a few days after the Head was delivered to be sure I was satisfied.
This is THE BEST customer care you can think of, I would rate it at 15!

Regularly gigging since 1982, I own(ed) to much stuff to mention, so I won't bother you with my gear list... What you wanna know is a final sentence about this baby.
It's a fantastic amp if you move your musical steps on the same roads I run on, and I believe it can nail many more sounds with the help of the right pedal(s), your imagination is the limit.
For the buck, an excellent value: it sounds as well as the original 2061x Marshall, but it's definitely better built and wired, and prices way under its British cousin... You can't go wrong, IMMO.
Hats off to Nik and everybody at CeriaTone!