CeriaTone JTM45 Head

I got mine with an effects loops mod. Presence, Mids, Treble, Loudness - what more do you need!

I have found the holy grail of tone. The high-treble channel sounds amazing. The best clean I have ever heard. Wind it up for pure classic rock tone. I'll never part with this amp.

Only had it a short while. Looks and feels solid. The handwiring is very neat and the chasis is rugged. Should outlive me.

Nik has always replied to my emails within 24 hours. Very nice guy and easy to work with.

If you're in 2 minds about getting this amp then just get it!

this is an all tube, tube rectifier tone monster. 2 channel master volume with a half power switch and an external bias.

first of all this is pure rock amp. all though it has great cleans, its distortion is what dreams and legends are made from. as long as you run this through good speakers your search for the holy grail for tone will come to an end. if you desire warrrm, creamy, balsy, electrifian, balls to the wall rock tone, then order one today. this will be the last amp i own. desire more over the edge put a tube screamer in front and holy sh*&^%$#t! I dont care what kind of guitar you use, ive tried them all through this amp and they all sound good. enought said........

this is a hand wired, hand soldered point to point tank of an amp.

the best! Nik at Ceriatone is fast with email responses. no matter if it pre puchase questions or post.

This is the best deal on the planet period. to all you young players looking at modeling and digital nonsense, stop. save up and buy this. ive spent years going through the gambit of amps and various wannabe amps. there is no substitute for tube tone, period.

It's a JTM45 a pretty basic amp but does exactly what I want (most of the time)

Sounds fantastic good clean/crunch

Problem begins with 2 x blown power transformers....

Excellent support when the first PT blew got a replacement sent straight away... This time I will use a Hammond.

Great sounding beautifully made amp just a concern regarding the transformers.

JTM45 Head, bought new built by Nik in 2007. Features like old school Plexi, 4 inputs of various voicings and brightness that you can jump together. The main feature is the tone. With outboard effects I can do jazz or heavy chugging. KT66 power tubes are pretty versitile. Again the main feature is tone and for me that's the only feature it needs.

I use a LP standard with '57classic+ and classic and a Ibanez RG570 with JB and Dimarzio PAF classic. This with outboard effects covers the whole spectrum pretty well except maybe Mesa type drop D which I don't do much of. Gary Moore to Scorpions no problem with effects. I'm in a home studio with a Randall Iso cab, 25watt greenback, SM57, into Mixer with Compression in insert channel and external effects in the bus. All this thru a power amp and large stereo speakers. Currently a Boss DS-1 up front for distortion and just add some chorus, delay, reverb and i'm set. This amp is a tone monster for clean or distortion. It's not noisy at all but then I don't really push it too hard either. The 25 watt greenback just handles the verge of tube breakup and it all just sings beautifully.

It's all point to point hand wired by a pro. It should last many, many years. So far no problems.

Nik is great with communications and no fears doing business overseas. It's a new world and it's ok to buy things from other countries. This was my first purchase from Ceriatone and I have to say I was a little worried at first about the money transaction but I rolled the dice and everything turned out way better than expected. I now have another amp on order.

Overall if this sort of Marshall sound is what you want, don't waste your money on a Marshall. You don't need to. This is a very solid product that dishes out all the Marshall magic. I'm getting a 2204 built as I type for more tube distortion and I can't sleep. I have been hacking at rock guitar for close to 40 years (old school). I chose this based on reviews here and can tell you it's all true. Ceriatone has everything you need to sound excellent.

Most of the features have been discussed. I had an external bias adjustment installed as well as a master volume (post phase inverter). An external ohm selector is standard. Point to point, hand made. I mainly play at home. This amp is the loudest 30 watts I have ever owned. I play blues and classic rock and do some progressive stuff too. I run it through an avatar 2X12 with celestions v30 and g12 h30. The amp is equipped with KT66 power tubes. Ratings are subjective but the features are just right for what I play.

This amp has the best cleans I have heard. Break up is very smooth. It sounds very good at low volume. It has a big bottom end like rolling thunder but is well defined. It also can have a good edge but no ice-pick effect. When cranked, pure tonal bliss. The wife commented on how nice this amp sounds - that's a first after 15 years.

I have had it for two months and play the crap out of it. No issues.

Nik is "The Man". He is very responsive to his customers and to anyone inquiring about his amps. Nik works with several people here in the states for servicing amps if needed and posts their contact info on his web site.

This amp was by far the cleanest piece of gear I have ever purchased in my 35 years of playing. If the amp were lost or stolen I would buy another one exactly the same. I have an Orange Tiny Terror, a Kustom 36 coupe, and a recently retired Mesa DC3. I was seriously looking into getting a Marshall and had tried several. I had narrowed things down to the JTM45 re-issue, plexi 50 re-issure, and a DSL 50. After researching the world of clones I learned that there are some excellent choices out there. After hearing what people had to say about Ceriatone I was willing to take the risk of purchasing a hand built without first playing it myself. I have never done this before. But when I got it and plugged in the old strat the tone that came out of the thing left all the other Marshalls severly wanting, sorry Mr. Marshall. Plus, if you get a marshall JTM45 re-issue and you want it to sound like the original you are going to have to do some mods.

hello, mine is the ceriatone JTM45 bluesbreaker "same just have an aded tremolo".

there is not much feature in the amp but well, this is not a kind of amp you whant for the feature, but for the tone!.
there is voltage selector, impedance selector, 2 channel of 2 impot per channel.
Both channel can be bridged, amp got, tremolo(spped, intensity), prescence, bass, middle, treble, loudnesss 1 (high treble), Loudnesss 2(Normal), on/off and standby switch as any tube amp need.

as for versatility, it don't need tons of control, this amp sound good whatever how you set it and you can play it without any effect (what i do most of time am playing it) and it sound more amazing thant most recent tube amp with tons of control but just sound crappy.

the only feature i dosent use too much is the tremolo, and it is because i whanted the bluesbreaker 2x12 version, and i still have the posibillity to set it in a head cab and plug into a 4x12 speaker cabinet so this is versatile for me.

feature i wish i had in the amp... when i ordered the amp i had the choose to add any feature i whanted, i made them set only a external bias mod since the bias tech are hard to find here and i used to do my tweaking/repairing myself. But if something where missing in the amp, i just had to tell them to set it when i ordered :).

I use the amp at home mostly, (yeah it's loud, but there some crazy people sometime :P) and well it have enough power for me and for everything i would need to do.

as for the features, i ordered mine all ordered with tubes, there where shuguangs kt-66 in it and jj 12ax7 and gz34, i also ordered the combo 2x12 cabinet from them and the celestion vintage 30 speaker wich saved me time and work.

component in the amp are of good quality and amp layout are as the original amp where build, (except if you ask them to change anything on it).

ok, first some info, as guitar am using a jackson js-30, (ok it's not the top quality but well) and i just play directly to the amp.

I usually play, jimi hendrix, deep purple, black sabbath, pink floyd, led zeppelin this kind of music.

the amp just sound amazing :).
at low vol the clean are very well defined, with good headroom, but i most thant likelly, like t play it at high volume.

i usually have the tremolo off, treble on 5, bass on 4, middle on 8, treble on 6, loudness 1 (high treble) on 8, loudness 2 (normal) on 7 with bridged channel.

i usually control if i whant more or less overdrive with my guitar volume.

the amp is exactly as i whanted, and even better thant i expected (and i expected alot from they amp). I like to play it with a good overdrive, the sound getting out of it sound soo loud and impressive each time i play it i easilly feel how much this is a powerfull beast and the tone is just incredible!

currently this is the only amp i own, i owned different cheap in the past and pod-like pre-amp.

i just don't use anything else that this amp anymore and i don't use ay effect as reverb that i where using all time in past for it sound good.

if i ever need to do a gig, i would take this amp without ANY backup without even care, only thing that can happen is a tube failure but with the bias mod i can retube and bias in not too long.

only problem i ever had with the amp is the tremolo i didnt had it working yet, i didnt test alot for make it work since i am busy with other stuff and am not a fan of the tremolo effect at all.

i think it may be a tube who isnt allright or me who just don't know how to make it work lol. i will investigate on this later, but am sure this is nothing wrong.

well, customer support, this is just impeccable as they build are.
i asked ALOT of question before decide to buy, and before and after i did the buy, i still in contact with them when i need info with tubeamp and they don'T care of answering me.

i abused of they customer service and each time they answered to me quickly and with alot of respect and keeping a good atmosphear at all.

as for the warantee, this is a kind of tank amp, this rarly broken, and they build them with quality part and they much ebtter thant the crappy reissues marshall trying to make wich i could say is garbage.

but well i have a life warantee for the amp itself, "except tubes" and i don'T even care for the warantee since as i said these are not knd of amp who broke alot and they are made of quality part and well made, by peeps who know what they are doing and who are doing it dam well.

i have the amp now for 2 month, (but i play it usually each afternoon or 1 afternoon on 2.

if it where stolen i would certainly buy another of same model, i am totally pleasured of it and i plan on keeping this amp as much as it will last. and i also plan on buying another of they amp in the futur.

My Ceriatone JTM-45 clone (pre-assembled) was made in early 2007. This amp is simple, but let me tell you its tone makes up for that. It's a single channel non-master volume amp, two channels (bright and normal which are bridge-able). No effects loops, channel switching etc. Exactly like the original JTM-45, but I got a custom option, which is the impedance selector. (definitely get this, it's only $15 more). Mine has white plexi panels, rather than gold. It came with Shuguang KT-66 power tubes, a JJ GZ34 rectifier tube, and JJ 12AX7 pre amp tubes. This amp is extremely loud for 30 watts.

This amp sounds great! I currently run it through an Avatar 2x12 with dual vintage 30's. The EQ is very responsive, so you can get lots of different tones out of it. I usually bridge the two channels with a patch cable, and it not only is louder, but sounds a lot better..more balanced. It breaks up a lot sooner with the channels bridged, but I usually have the amp cranked up all the way. I use various guitars such as strats, SG's with P-90's, and a Les Paul standard. The amp sounds great with all of them, but I like the tone it has with strats the most, due to the later break up and more clarity. I usually play alternative and classic rock - it does classic rock very well, but it will need a boost (I use a MI audio crunch box) for heavier stuff. This is one of the quietest amps I've owned.

I would definitely depend on it AND bring it to a gig without a backup. this amp has worked perfectly since I got it. The wiring and overall construction is the neatest I've seen. All components seem high quality, especially the transformers. The only flaw I noticed is when I unpacked it, the output transformer had bent the chassis a little during shipping..This didn't affect anything besides being a bit crooked though. But the amp came all the way from Malaysia (by DHL...) in one piece.

I would rate this category an 11 if I could. Nik is probably the best person I've dealt with, he has replied to my emails extremely fast even though I had several (mostly silly) questions about the amps. He's very helpful and friendly. If I had to get it repaired, I would have to take it to a local tech, as I'm not going to send an amp to Malaysia! I hear there ARE repair centers setup over here, though... I did ask Nik about the warranty, and he said it's a lifetime warranty (!) besides the tubes, which obviously aren't going to be covered.

I've been playing for over four years, and I own lots of other gear. I would DEFINITELY buy it again if it was stolen or lost. While this amp isn't that versatile, it does what I expected, so I'm not complaining. I compared it to a Ceriatone 1986 Bass amp, and decided to go with this because...well, not sure as I'm still going to get the 1986. This is my second Ceriatone amp, the first one was a 5E3 Tweed Deluxe clone (great amp btw). Now I just have to find some good cabinets for these amps!!

Bought the amp a few months ago and have been experimenting with tubes and speakers to dial it in. Has bright and normal channels with no effects, but who needs them when the amp makes your guitars sound this good? It's basically a handwired reproduction of the 1965 Marshall JTM 45. I play the local blues clubs and some festivals and this amp does just what I need. I can't leave anything alone so I stuffed a Mercury Magnetics output tranny and choke in it and Sozo filter caps. I got the idea from an article in ToneQuest.The original output tranny was wax potted and I made the mistake of turning the head upside down when it was hot. It made a nice puddle of melted wax on my carpet. I think the original RadioSpares trannies were potted with tar or something. If by versatile you mean it has a bunch of controls and features I don't need in it, it's not versatile at all. If you mean you can coax the sounds you want out of it, it's totally versatile. Came with Shanguang KT66's, JJ/Tesla rectifier and preamp tubes. Good choices. I tried other tubes to see what they would sound like and came back to the original tubes it shipped with.

My hardtail Robert Cray Strat with Fat 50's sounds very woody, like Clapton's old black Strat used to sound. My 58 VOS Les Paul sounds a lot like Duane Allman's. The Tele sounds pure Tele and the ES-175 sounds jazzy and clean at lower volumes. I wasn't looking for a British crunch, but more of an American Rock and Roll and Blues sound, so I yanked all the Celestions out of my old 1960A 4x12 cabinet and stuffed it with Jensen C12N's. Those cheap Jensens made all the difference in the world. Very gutsy and punchy with great sustain. I figured since the JTM45 was a knock off of the old Fender Bassman, why not see what Jensens sound like with it? The JTM45 is still Jim Marshall's favorite amp, and now I know why. I just needed to mate it with the right speakers to get the voice I wanted. Very complex tones that sound like there's a lot going on. Some people say these amps are too loud. I think they're too old. I play mine between 4-6 depending on the room and it cuts through the mix really well without killing anyone. No tone-sucking attenuators.

It's built like a tank. Mojo built the small box head for it and it's all handwired. It's got the plexi front and rear panels, so they're not as sturdy as metal panels, (I cracked the front panel monkeying around with the head) but that's what the original heads had and I like the look. I figure it's good for another forty years or so which means it'll probably outlast me. Maybe it'll be a family heirloom.

Nik at CeriaTone is a wizard. He always answered emails almost immediately, even when it had to be in the middle of the night for him. The wiring looks like it was done by a brain surgeon. Totally clean and flawless. Perfect solder joints and neatly arranged wiring.
The layout is identical to the 1965 Marshall layout and I had a local amp guru go through it and he said all the voltage readings were spot on everywhere compared to what the Marshall schematics call out. Nik has repair facilities in the states and the amp has a great warranty.

I've been playing since about 1963. I've skinnied down my collection to the Strat, a nice Les Paul, a Frankenstein Tele and an ES-175. I sold all of my other amps except a Fender Pro Junior that I stuffed into a tweed deluxe cabinet (thanks Mojo) with a 12" Jensen C12K. That's another great recipe for an amp. I've had HiWatts, Marshalls, Mesa Boogies, Fenders, Victorias (which I love) and who knows what else. I like the simple setup with this amp. I plug my guitar straight into it and crank it up. Very raw, gutsy and sensitive amp. Responds to your pick attack and playing style really well. I had a good idea of what I was looking for when I started researching this project, and am really satisfied with the way it turned out. If it were ever stolen, I would track the thief down and beat him over the head with his own guitar. If I couldn't find him, I'd order another one. I looked at a lot of JTM45 heads from the Marshall reissue to a lot of the kits out there. I decided I'd rather pay and extra $65 or so and have someone build it that knows what the hell they're doing. Ceriatone sells kits but their fully assembled units aren't that much more money. I knew I didn't want the Marshall reissue with the printed circuit board in it, especially since it cost several hundred dollars more. I could have done that and replaced the board, but it seemed like too much work.

Bought ready built two months ago. I have the white front and rear panel option and it looks great in my black tolex small head cabinet with white piping and string. I have black on white Ceriatone block logo on mine, they are available from Nik in black on white and gold on black and look very good, a nice finishing touch.

Features? Well, there's no channel switching, no fx loops, no headphone jack, no impedance selector but who cares.........this thing has SOUL, it lives and breathes TONE and that is what matters to me. I give it 10 because it has all of the features of an original JTM45 :-)

Well, it sounds exactly like a JTM45, so that earns it a 10. I use it with a 4 x 12 loaded with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers. Ready built amp ships with JJ preamp tubes and a very nice pair of unbranded matched KT66's. I changed 12ax7's from JJ to NOS Mullard and it made it even smoother and creamier. It has a clean sound to die for, best I have ever heard. Great for pub gigs as you get a great clean and just add a tube screamer or Pod XT live for distorted and lead sounds, or if you want to get thrown out crank it and deafen everyone! I use it with a Hot Plate Attenuator when I dime it, otherwise it really is too loud unless you're playing large hall or arena gigs.

Heavy, solid and extremely well built. The transformers are massive and would probably withstand a direct hit from a rocket launcher (Not a common occurrence here on the Isle of Man, but should there be a revolution it's reassuring to know that my amp will still work :-)

Lots of original JTM45's are still in service, this is better built so should last at least 30 years, hopefully I'l still be around to enjoy it then.....

Excellent, Nik really cares about his products and his customers.

I've been playing for 20+ years and have Gibson Les paul 59 reissue with Bare Knuckle Mule humbuckers, an LP '56 reissue with P90's and a custom shop Strat with Bare Knuckle "Irish Tour" pups and all sound great through this amp.

Original JTM45's were 16 ohm only and Ceriatone JTM45 is hardwired to 16 ohm as per the original, however (unlike the original) the Ceriatone JTM45 does have transformer taps for 4 and 8 ohms too. I have fitted a selector switch to the rear of mine as I find this useful, alternatively the 8 or 4 ohm tap could be wired to the output jack instead of 16 ohm if prefered.

This is the best of the current crop of JTM45 clones and easily beats the Marshall JTM45 reissue both in build quality and sound, available as a kit or ready built it really is tone Nirvana :)

Ceriatone amps are superb value, I'd go for ready built rather than kit as there is only a small premium (about $60)for assembly and you are sure it has been tested and calibrated. Only problem is you may find you buy more than one, I already own four Ceriatone amps and I'm currently trying to decide on my fifth (probably a 5F6 bassman)

I bought this as an assembled head in 2006. This was my second amp from nik at ceriatone. The first one I bought was an assembled 18 watt tmb which I had planned on modding but when I got the amp it was just right as far as I'm concerned and I didn't make a single change. I have had several players I know offer me cash for that amp. It's that good.

With the JTM45 I just recently purchased, I put in nos mustard caps, a nos mullard Gz34 and the tung sol reproduction 12ax7's, along with a set of nos russian K^66's and all I can say is this thing is a M**F*** beast. It's the best amp I've ever played through hands down. The bottom end is huge and not flabby. The top end is glassy and not ice picky. I play a LP59 historic through it with no effects...just guitar, cord and amp and this thing has infinite glassy sustain on tap. It has controllable feedback and it has the kick of a mule. If you wallop a power chord anyone standing nearby is going to spaz.
I use a marshall 2x12 cab at 16 ohms.

Anyway, to my ears this amp is probably indistinguishable from the real thing. I haven't a/b'ed it but I have played the real thing in the past and this is as good...probably better because it's built like a tank.

Ceriatone has started wax potting their output transformers (the original ones from the 60's used Tar). Anyway, there are no problems with his trensformers. I had planned on swapping in a RS repro output tranny but I'm not changing a thing. It sounds too awesome just the way it is.

The best thing I like about this amp is the way it breaks up...it has an ultra smooth transition between glassy clean and a lot of distortion and it all happens perfectly. If you put both inputs on 6 and jumper the inputs, you can use the guitar volume and picking technique to achieve basically whatever amount of distortion you want. You can easly get the glassy allman brothers sort of infinite sustain and it has plenty of crunch.

I covered a lot of that above. This amp sounds like a JTM45. The JTM45/bassman isn't regarded as one of the greatest amps ever for no reason.

The ceritaone implementation uses the real layout, and top quality parts. It is a very high quality amp built as well as any amp I've ever seen. There are no compromises in quality and that comes through in the sound.

It's built well. Hand wired main board built to the trational JTM specs.
Quality xformers, alpha pots, the jacks look authentic as well as the front and back panel.

This amp should last a long long time.

Although Nik is halfway around the world, dealing with him is easier than dealing with someone a couple of blocks away. For both amps i've bought, I got exactly what I asked for, it was packed well and shipped quickly and all of my questions were thoroughly answered. You really can't ask for more than that.

I don't remember exactly what I paid but it was six something including shipping and it arrived in about a week.

Overall, considering not just the price, but what you get for the price, you have to consider this amp if you're in the market for a JTM45. The assembly work is top notch. I've been building amps for years and I couldn't do it that well. Wires are neatly routed and solder joints are all shiny and perfect.

I'm a perfectionist so a glowing review like this is unusual for me. The bottom line is that this is one excellent JTM45 clone.

I bought this as an assembled head in 2006. This was my second amp from nik at ceriatone. The first one I bought was an assembled 18 watt tmb which I had planned on modding but when I got the amp it was just right as far as I'm concerned and I didn't make a single change. I have had several players I know offer me cash for that amp. It's that good.

With the JTM45 I just recently purchased, I put in nos mustard caps, a nos mullard Gz34 and the tung sol reproduction 12ax7's, along with a set of nos russian K^66's and all I can say is this thing is a M**F*** beast. It's the best amp I've ever played through hands down. The bottom end is huge and not flabby. The top end is glassy and not ice picky. I play a LP59 historic through it with no effects...just guitar, cord and amp and this thing has infinite glassy sustain on tap. It has controllable feedback and it has the kick of a mule. If you wallop a power chord anyone standing nearby is going to spaz.
I use a marshall 2x12 cab at 16 ohms.

Anyway, to my ears this amp is probably indistinguishable from the real thing. I haven't a/b'ed it but I have played the real thing in the past and this is as good...probably better because it's built like a tank.

Ceriatone has started wax potting their output transformers (the original ones from the 60's used Tar). Anyway, there are no problems with his trensformers. I had planned on swapping in a RS repro output tranny but I'm not changing a thing. It sounds too awesome just the way it is.

The best thing I like about this amp is the way it breaks up...it has an ultra smooth transition between glassy clean and a lot of distortion and it all happens perfectly. If you put both inputs on 6 and jumper the inputs, you can use the guitar volume and picking technique to achieve basically whatever amount of distortion you want. You can easly get the glassy allman brothers sort of infinite sustain and it has plenty of crunch.

I covered a lot of that above. This amp sounds like a JTM45. The JTM45/bassman isn't regarded as one of the greatest amps ever for no reason.

The ceritaone implementation uses the real layout, and top quality parts. It is a very high quality amp built as well as any amp I've ever seen. There are no compromises in quality and that comes through in the sound.

It's built well. Hand wired main board built to the trational JTM specs.
Quality xformers, alpha pots, the jacks look authentic as well as the front and back panel.

This amp should last a long long time.

Although Nik is halfway around the world, dealing with him is easier than dealing with someone a couple of blocks away. For both amps i've bought, I got exactly what I asked for, it was packed well and shipped quickly and all of my questions were thoroughly answered. You really can't ask for more than that.

I don't remember exactly what I paid but it was six something including shipping and it arrived in about a week.

Overall, considering not just the price, but what you get for the price, you have to consider this amp if you're in the market for a JTM45. The assembly work is top notch. I've been building amps for years and I couldn't do it that well. Wires are neatly routed and solder joints are all shiny and perfect.

I'm a perfectionist so a glowing review like this is unusual for me. The bottom line is that this is one excellent JTM45 clone.

2004 - 2005 model. Four input type: bright, normal, hi & lo gain.
No frills. Volume control for each channel. Treble, middle, bass and presence controls affect both channels. Positively the most responsive tone controls I have ever heard on any amp; incredible range of control, very dynamic.
45 - 50 watts from two KT-66 output tubes. Unbelievably loud - with tone from the lowest setting all the way to the loudest.

I have two Tele's (one single coils the other humbuckers), a vintage Strat, a vintage ES-335, two Hamers ( humbuckers ). This amp doesn't care. If you have good pickups ( I like Fralins and Rio Grandes )you will get every bit of tone they can muster and then some. Clean to edgey.
All tube - all tone! My wife is a vocalist and has an incredible ear for harmony. She heard me playing this amp in our studio and said it was the finest tube amp she has ever heard. I have three vintage Fenders and she and I both agree none have the tone of this amp.

I also re-build and repair amps. I could not believe the build quality of this amp. Very neat, clean construction. Nik knows how to do proper layout of wire and components. Absolutely no hum, no buzz. Excellant quality of components. Excellant quality control. Built just like the old Marshalls only better!

When I have a question I just email Nik and he answers right back. Always very helpful and informative. A nice guy selling a great amp at an incredible price - what more could you ask for?

Been playing 40+ years. I've always had tube amps. Now I've got one of the finest I've ever heard.
Nik makes a JMP 50 - that's my next one to buy. So long Fender!Marshall's are getting too pricey along with Top Hat, Matchless, Bogner, etc.

My JTM45 clone was made in December '05. But it features the same electrical design as Marshall did way back in 1962. So it offers 2 input channels (high treble/normal) w/ 2 input jacks (high/low) each. Each channel has individual volume control, the tone & presence control affects both channels, no master volume. It utilises 2 x KT66 for the power stage, 3 x ECC83 in the preamp section and the GZ34 for rectification.
This design of course limits the styles you can play w/ this amp without using effect pedals etc. On the other hand, I originally bought it for playing guitar only, but now I use it additionally for bass playing - it really rocks!
The head comes from the factory w/o cabinet to save transportation costs. You can find very well suitable cabinets at mojomusicalsupply-com or TubeAmpDoctor-com in Germany.
As the JTM45 design does not intend heavy distortion, I rate it 8.

This head offers an unbeleavable clean sound. Very clear, very high dynamic. I use it w/ strats and they sound just brilliant. For playing hard & heavy I use a H&K Tube Factor and get great distortion. It's not noisy at all!
I also run my Ricky 4003 through the amp. What can I say? I will never change that setup anymore.

The amp is new, never had any sign of malfunction, no probs at all.
Great workmanship, aluminium chassis, all handwired, no PCB, check details at ceriatone-com.

These masterpieces are built-to-order, there are no stocks. I had lots of questions and ideas about how to modify the amp prior to its production. I guess I was even a bit of a pain in the ass. But every single e-mail was instantly answered in a very comeptent and friendly way, sometimes even at 2am local time Malaysia. Where else do you get that? Nik won't let you down. Allow 2 weeks to built it + shipping time (air freight).

Never needed any repair.

Troublefree payment through Paypal.

If you need an amp with a great clean sound, buy this one. It's excellent value for money.

- handwired clone of Marshall JTM-45
- top notch caps, resisters, pots and tubes
- transformer is a CeriaTone design (its huge)
- fit & finish is *excellent*

- amp used with PAF equipped Les Paul, straight in, no effects to mess with the signal
- cleans are the best i have heard, clear with great definition, does not sound thin or weak
- absolutely roars at full throttle, no mud in the bass frequencies

- this is a new amp, no issues expected given the superb workmanship

- excellent. although CeriaTone is half a world away, all inquiries were responded to immediately

- this amp has completely exceeded my expectations: sound, fit and finish, customer service...its all there and more
- can't say enought good things about Nik and CeriaTone, this amp is *very* highly recommended