Ceriatone Chupacabra

[ryu]

quick glance, every stages 820/.68 CC .0022, first stage CC followed by a .0022 to ground
.1 PI coupling
47k slope
first plate has a cap followed by a resistor to ground

edit : I'd expect "crazy" plate plates values like at least 220k or up to 330k for1a and maybe 150k for 1b

joey, does it look accurate so far? I know I won't like the V2a stage with 820/.68 (don't like it with more than 2 stages)
in fact I'd change second stage by 2.7k and third by 820 unbypassed in a heartbeat
I'm more interested in those switch, it looks like the first gain pot switch toggles between a 82k I guess to ground (which would make a serious bright) and a cap but I'm not sure if it's connected to the first or second gain potand
I also see the first pot is push pull I hardly see the resistor value ( I see blue and black for sure) I'd say a 10M for poping

[joey]

I think it sounds pretty damn good. And how do you know which circuit the Chupa uses and that it was a one-off?

Because I have had the scheme the chupa uses for nearly 3 years, before ceriatone got a hold of it. and mark claimed it as one of his when I asked him about it. However i had seen some of marks other work, not necessarily just jose mods, and know enough about what he typically uses. It was drawn by the owner of said amp.

I also have tried the circuit the chupa uses recently, and the standard Jose scheme sounds better. Most of the other 100 people doing this mod would agree, as would Cameron

And I don't think Mark Cameron was ripped off, either. But for different reasons. 1, the Chupa is based off of Jose Arredondo's work, not Mark Cameron's. 2, Mark Cameron no longer mods amps, nor builds them. Even if the Chupa was based off his designs, he ain't selling them any more. So it's not like he's losing any business. 3, Mark Cameron still has amps in his possession that people have been waiting to get back for years with no luck. So if anybody is ripping off Mark Cameron, it's Mark Cameron.

Like I and many others said above there's nothing to rip off, theirs like 100 different people making names for themselves off of a dead mans mod. The variations if their is any are very small. 750.00 is a steal though

[syscokid]

....especially at only $750!

That's crazy...in a good way.

Don't tell me this was for a brand new 100 watter, or even 50 watter!

[FourT6and2]

I think it sounds pretty damn good. And how do you know which circuit the Chupa uses and that it was a one-off?

Because I have had the scheme the chupa uses for nearly 3 years, before ceriatone got a hold of it. and mark claimed it as one of his when I asked him about it. However i had seen some of marks other work, not necessarily just jose mods, and know enough about what he typically uses. It was drawn by the owner of said amp.

I also have tried the circuit the chupa uses recently, and the standard Jose scheme sounds better. Most of the other 100 people doing this mod would agree, as would Cameron

And I don't think Mark Cameron was ripped off, either. But for different reasons. 1, the Chupa is based off of Jose Arredondo's work, not Mark Cameron's. 2, Mark Cameron no longer mods amps, nor builds them. Even if the Chupa was based off his designs, he ain't selling them any more. So it's not like he's losing any business. 3, Mark Cameron still has amps in his possession that people have been waiting to get back for years with no luck. So if anybody is ripping off Mark Cameron, it's Mark Cameron.

Like I and many others said above there's nothing to rip off, theirs like 100 different people making names for themselves off of a dead mans mod. The variations if their is any are very small. 750.00 is a steal though

Have you physically played a Chupacabra before? Or are you just basing your opinions of how it sounds on Youtube clips? Because a number of people I've talked to (who have played it) have said they think it sounds better than a lot of the real Jose mod'd Marshalls they've tried. I will admit, though, that most of the Youtube clips and all of the soundbytes up on Ceriatone's site do not do it justice.

However, one thing I would like to change is it's top-end response. I'd like to remove a little bit of the top-end sizzle the amp has. Because it can be too much at times, and place even more emphasis on the mids and upper-mids. It already has a lot (more so than my Super Lead), but I love lots of mids.

[joey]

Have you physically played a Chupacabra before? Or are you just basing your opinions of how it sounds on Youtube clips?

I have had the scheme the chupa uses for three years, before Ceriatone even got a hold of it, and I'm basing my opinion on it because I recently just built THAT circuit, and played around with it. It sounded a bit nasally and harsh compared to the jose Rockstah referenced above. They are basing the Chupa mod on a schematic the owner of one of Marks many Jose variations drew of his own amp. apparently the scheme got passed around more than I thought, as I was told I was only one of three people who had it by the person that gave it to me. apparently I was mistaken

Because a number of people I've talked to (who have played it) have said they think it sounds better than a lot of the real Jose mod'd Marshalls they've tried. I will admit, though, that most of the Youtube clips and all of the soundbytes up on Ceriatone's site do not do it justice.

Jose like most people i'm sure had a number of mods, some of which were good, and some bad. some with diode clipping, some with no clipping circuits at all. I'm not confident he standardized anything.

However, one thing I would like to change is it's top-end response. I'd like to remove a little bit of the top-end sizzle the amp has. Because it can be too much at times, and place even more emphasis on the mids and upper-mids. It already has a lot (more so than my Super Lead), but I love lots of mids.

Raise the value of those first two 820r's, and lower the value of the first plate resistor, 270K sounds good to me in that circuit(it's most likely 430K in that amp). you don't need all that voltage gain in this type of amp anyway, The ss clipper circuit will take care of the saturation levels.

[FourT6and2]

I have had the scheme the chupa uses for three years, before Ceriatone even got a hold of it, and I'm basing my opinion on it because I recently just built THAT circuit, and played around with it. It sounded a bit nasally and harsh compared to the jose Rockstah referenced above. They are basing the Chupa mod on a schematic the owner of one of Marks many Jose variations drew of his own amp. apparently the scheme got passed around more than I thought, as I was told I was only one of three people who had it by the person that gave it to me. apparently I was mistaken

lol that schematic is ALL over the net. Hundreds, if not thousands of people have access to it. In fact, just do a search on google images for "jose marshall schematic." Guess what comes up!?

Your build had the era, three position bright switches and focus control as well?

And a lot of people like that snarly, aggressive nasally tone! Hell, my setup is a Les Paul with a Duncan JB through this thing with the mids maxed out, era all the way to the right (more mids and gain) and bright switch 1 to the left (even more mids!) through a Bogner 4x12 with Greenbacks (more mids!). And I don't even think I have enough mids, yet.

Raise the value of those first two 820r's, and lower the value of the first plate resistor, 270K sounds good to me in that circuit(it's most likely 430K in that amp). you don't need all that voltage gain in this type of amp anyway, The ss clipper circuit will take care of the saturation levels.

Thanks for that. Just want to reduce a bit of presence/treble in the top-end, without reducing the mids/upper-mids. Maybe I should swap the .1 presence cap for a .68 as well?

[ryu]

I guess he meant, "that circuit dead on" not the one rockstah posted in the previous page
joey is a very knowledgeable guy (kind of larry if you want) you should listen to and believe him
but that's just a piece of advice

[joey]

lol that schematic is ALL over the net. Hundreds, if not thousands of people have access to it. In fact, just do a search on google images for "jose marshall schematic." Guess what comes up!?

What comes up is just the common Jose Scheme, Not what I'm talking about! I'm not talking about the common Jose scheme you find everywhere thats been floating around like Rockstah posted, I had the Scheme CERIATONE used to construct the Chupa, 3 years before Ceriatone had the scheme, it is a variation Mark Cameron Contrived for one of his customers, which is NOT the common Jose scheme floating around, and is NOT what Mark even used regularly, it was a one off build he did for some dude over at rig tone-whatever it's called. The owner of said amp traced the circuit after he got it back, and sent the scheme around in small circles. small circles became larger circles naturally, and then ended up in Malaysia.

Your build had the era, three position bright switches and focus control as well?

The era switch is just a SPDT center off switch. center off is no diode clipping. 80's is higher Threshold Zener Clipping, and Moderen is lower Threshold Clipping. The Focus switch is just an 82K resistor mounted on top of a 1M resistor to the wiper of the gain 1. When you pull it for a "tighter Focus" the 1M is shunted, putting the 82K to ground. this thins the tone a bit.

The bright switches are just like the XTC again Center is neutral, bright one is 470pf, bright two .001uf-.0047uf on both volumes. The larger valued caps are the ones spray painted in black

[mensur]

lol that schematic is ALL over the net. Hundreds, if not thousands of people have access to it. In fact, just do a search on google images for "jose marshall schematic." Guess what comes up!?

What comes up is just the common Jose Scheme, Not what I'm talking about! I'm not talking about the common Jose scheme you find everywhere thats been floating around like Rockstah posted, I had the Scheme CERIATONE used to construct the Chupa, 3 years before Ceriatone had the scheme, it is a variation Mark Cameron Contrived for one of his customers, which is NOT the common Jose scheme floating around, and is NOT what Mark even used regularly, it was a one off build he did for some dude over at rig tone-whatever it's called. The owner of said amp traced the circuit after he got it back, and sent the scheme around in small circles. small circles became larger circles naturally, and then ended up in Malaysia.

Your build had the era, three position bright switches and focus control as well?

The era switch is just a SPDT center off switch. center off is no diode clipping. 80's is higher Threshold Zener Clipping, and Moderen is lower Threshold Clipping. The Focus switch is just an 82K resistor mounted on top of a 1M resistor to the wiper of the gain 1. When you pull it for a "tighter Focus" the 1M is shunted, putting the 82K to ground. this thins the tone a bit.

The bright switches are just like the XTC again Center is neutral, bright one is 470pf, bright two .001uf-.0047uf on both volumes. The larger valued caps are the ones spray painted in black

It's something like this:
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/449/chuppacabra.png

[THChrist]

lol that schematic is ALL over the net. Hundreds, if not thousands of people have access to it. In fact, just do a search on google images for "jose marshall schematic." Guess what comes up!?

What comes up is just the common Jose Scheme, Not what I'm talking about! I'm not talking about the common Jose scheme you find everywhere thats been floating around like Rockstah posted, I had the Scheme CERIATONE used to construct the Chupa, 3 years before Ceriatone had the scheme, it is a variation Mark Cameron Contrived for one of his customers, which is NOT the common Jose scheme floating around, and is NOT what Mark even used regularly, it was a one off build he did for some dude over at rig tone-whatever it's called. The owner of said amp traced the circuit after he got it back, and sent the scheme around in small circles. small circles became larger circles naturally, and then ended up in Malaysia.

Your build had the era, three position bright switches and focus control as well?

The era switch is just a SPDT center off switch. center off is no diode clipping. 80's is higher Threshold Zener Clipping, and Moderen is lower Threshold Clipping. The Focus switch is just an 82K resistor mounted on top of a 1M resistor to the wiper of the gain 1. When you pull it for a "tighter Focus" the 1M is shunted, putting the 82K to ground. this thins the tone a bit.

The bright switches are just like the XTC again Center is neutral, bright one is 470pf, bright two .001uf-.0047uf on both volumes. The larger valued caps are the ones spray painted in black

It's something like this:
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/449/chuppacabra.png

Mensur, for some reason i can't see the image :S

[mensur]

Mensur, for some reason i can't see the image :S

Here's reupload:
http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/12/25 ... acabra.png

[john_p_wi]

Mensur,

I believe you are missing the 1 meg resistor with the 82 k in the "focus" on your scheme. I believe it should either be 82k + the 1 meg to ground or just the 82k to ground when the 1 meg r is shunted to ground.

[Capi]

Yes, something regarding the focus switch is missing in the scheme

[mensur]

Mensur,

I believe you are missing the 1 meg resistor with the 82 k in the "focus" on your scheme. I believe it should either be 82k + the 1 meg to ground or just the 82k to ground when the 1 meg r is shunted to ground.

Corrected, i think that 2nd CC is 4.7nF, it,s a bit larger than two 2.2nF, also second anode resistor should be 220K, correct me if I'm wrong, maybe joey can share some info?
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/449/chuppacabra.png

[nico21]

the 2nd CC looks like more 22n, its size is the same as the TS caps

What about the 'thing' between the fist and second tube?

Also the input of the fisrt gain stage seems to have a cap to ground, and something that is gooped

are you sure of the depth pot cap