Ceriatone Chupacabra 50w Manual pdf
Contents
1. but please first consult Ceriatone Amplification or your local competent amplifier technician What settings do you recommend See Section 2 Page 3 Yeah read that already love 80s hair metal Can this amp do that Hell yeah Put the GAIN controls at 12 00 both BRIGHT switches to the left Select ERA in the right 80s position Turn the MASTER up to about 1 00 Turn MIDRANGE all the way up start with BASS around 11 00 TREBLE around 2 00 PRESENCE and RESONANCE around 10 00 Make sure you have your spandex handy Wait actually love metal Can this amp do that Hell yeah Put Gain 1 at 1 30 Gain 2 at 11 00 Both BRIGHT switches to the left Select ERA in the left modern position Turn the MASTER up to about 3 00 Start with BASS around 9 30 MIDRANGE around 11 00 TREBLE around 2 00 PRESENCE around 11 00 and RESONANCE around 1 00 Make sure your neck is properly stretched beforehand Sorry just want to rock Classic like Can this amp do that Hell yeah To get the sound of a classic Plexi try the following Set GAIN 2 around 9 30 Set BRIGHT 2 to middle position Turn RESONANCE all the way counter clockwise Set TREBLE MIDDLE BASS and PRESENCE to taste Turn BRIGHT 1 to far right position Turn up the MASTER all the way and use GAIN 1 as a traditional channel volume on a non master volume Plexi Make sure your school boy uniform is clean e Do I need to use a matched and balanced phase invert2. global gain control Depending on the BRIGHT 1 setting you can also use this to shape the high and low frequency response of your Chupacabra BRIGHT 1 is a high frequency boost that can be used to add sparkle and gain to your tone In the middle position BRIGHT 1 is defeated In the left position it boosts upper mid and high frequencies and adds noticeable gain With the toggle switch in the right position it boosts extreme high frequencies and adds less gain boost than the right position In conjunction with an active Bright 1 lower GAIN 1 settings will also trim the bottom end This high frequency boost low frequency cut is more prominent as GAIN 2 is turned down FOCUS control is a push pull switch located on GAIN 1 With the control pushed in it is defeated Pulling out the GAIN 1 control engages FOCUS FOCUS will reduce bottom end reduce saturation increase midrange and accentuate pick attack INPUT is a 4 jack for instrument cables Plug your guitar in here 4 REAR PANEL CONTROLS FXSEND FX RETURN SPEAKERS SELECTOR BIAS TEST MAINS FUSE HT FUSE MAINS s OUTPUT T2A T500mA 1 FX SEND instrument jack 2 FX RETURN instrument jack 3 SPEAKERS speaker jacks x2 4 OUTPUT SELECTOR three way rotary selector 5 BIAS TEST probe jacks x3 6 MAINS FUSE T2A slow blow fuse 7 HT FUSE T500mA fuse 8 MAINS IEC cable inlet FX SEND instrument jack can be used to directly interf
3. Ceriatone Chupacabra HRP Series aW amolitier I User s Manual Thank you for the purchase of your Ceriatone Chupacabra guitar amplifier Here we hope to explain how best to use your new amp Table of Contents Ji F 1 About the CUD ACAD IA 0ss6 2 80coononnannnnnstscnnexnexnercceneshantencantentans beoehseannnt aesueeuseweeeusausawawawavwerds page 2 2 Quick Setup crsa tuts tacAccncte Acces accede utente n nanao S22 sD DOAN Nha page 3 3 Front Panel controls sts scsi sie rd acerca sas cbaless seuss cddcddsdde desde E E E E page 4 Ay Rear Panel CONUOIS suzsenstesSeticat sali ses eenstese ys EEE OE aE page 8 5 Tube compliment and external bias jacks and adjustmMent cccccccccccseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees page 10 6 Frequently Asked QUCSONSz ca ascaccaseacseseadnndaddei dacedbasevoaniaeernradesensnsascddacanagananatesseddeddeddaddandedaad page 14 1 About the Chupacabra 50W amplifier Our British series of amplifiers has been overwhelmingly popular and is still the backbone of our amplifier line We have been pleased to provide many players access to our unique take on these legendary amplifiers With excitement we are branching out into another series the HRP series hot rodded Plexi Our first release in the HRP series is the Chupacabra 50W If you don t already know the chupacabra is a mythical creature known for its violent attacks on animals and penchant for drinking the blood of its vic
4. HT 1 and 2 to the far left positions 8 Set front panel POWER switch in the 1 position down position with adjacent STANDBY switch in the 0 up position for 30 seconds to allow tube filaments to warm up 9 Set front panel STANDBY switch to 1 mode down position FRONT PANEL CONTROLS a RESONANCE PRESENCE BASS MIDDLE TREBLE MASTER GAIN 2 GAIN 1 i i i 1 1 INPUT INDICATOR POWER STANDBY CERIATONE HRP SERIES ERA BRIGHT 2 BRIGHT 1 From left to right 1 INDICATOR LED 2 POWER 2 way toggle switch 3 STANDBY 2 way toggle switch 4 RESONANCE control 5 PRESENCE control 6 BASS control 7 MIDDLE control 8 TREBLE control 9 MASTER control 10 ERA 3 way toggle switch 11 GAIN 2 control 12 BRIGHT 2 3 way toggle switch bes 1 control 14 FOCUS push pull control located on GAIN 1 15 BRIGHT 1 3 way toggle switch 16 INPUT instrument jack INDICATOR will illuminate when the Chupacabra is powered by turning the front panel POWER toggle switch to the ON position If INDICATOR does not turn on check your power cable connections and then the fuse on the rear of the unit o POWER two way toggle switch powers the Chupacabra on and off With the toggle switch in the UP 0 position the Chupacabra is OFF In the DOWN 1 position the Chupacabra is ON STANDBY applies high voltage to the vacuum tube anodes and screen grids during use of the Chupacabra
5. To ensure long tube life first power the unit on with the toggle switch in UP 0 position for approximately 30 seconds Then switch to DOWN 1 to use the Chupa With the toggle switch in the UP position the Chupacabra is in STANDBY mode In the DOWN position the Chupacabra is in OPERATE mode RESONANCE adjusts the low frequency response of the power amplifier using negative feedback Use this control to add depth punch and thump to your tone PRESENCE adjusts the high frequency response of the power amplifier using negative feedback Use this control to add sparkle and clarity to your tone BASS adjusts low frequencies in your amplifier MIDRANGE adjusts the mid frequency response TREBLE adjusts the high frequency response MASTER sets the overall volume of your amplifier ERA provides 3 tonal options You can think of this covering 3 different decades of tone In the middle position the amplifier will be cleaner less compressed and very woody We consider this our late 60s mode as it very accurately captures the sound of original Plexis The right position is our 80s voicing This adds saturation and compression and is reminiscent of 80s modded Plexis coming out of LA This voicing is great for hard rock thrash metal etc The left position is our modern voicing This adds even more saturation and compression and also smoothes the top end response thus preventing any harsh overtones with this amount of gai
6. ace the preamp of the Chupacabra thereby bypassing the power amplifier Conversely this is usually used as the SEND of the effects loop Plug the input of your effects unit or interface device ex C lator Klein ulator into this jack using 4 instrument cable FX RETURN 1 instrument jack can be used to directly interface the power amp of the Chupacabra thereby bypassing the preamp and using the amplifier as a power amplifier Conversely this is usually used as the RETURN of the effects loop Plug the output of your effects unit or interface device ex C lator Klein ulator into this jack using 4 instrument cable SPEAKERS speaker cable jacks Use a 1 4 speaker cable to connect your speaker cabinet to the amplifier using these jacks If you use one speaker cabinet either jack is acceptable NOTE never turn your amplifier to OPERATE mode 1 DOWN position on STANDBY without connecting the amplifier to a speaker cabinet or suitable dummy load Failing to do so may damage your amplifier OUTPUT SELECTOR three way rotary selector Set to the position that matches the impedance of your speaker cabinet NOTE if you are using two speaker cabinets in parallel ex two 16 Ohm cabinets set the impedance selector to half that of a single cabinet in this case 8 Ohms BIAS TEST multimeter probe jacks use this for external bias current measurements see Section 5 Page 10 MAINS FUSE slow b
7. e tip into the black probe jack black arrow This is GROUND in the Chupacabra amplifier Insert the red probe tip into the V4 red probe jack green arrow on the far left This measures bias for V4 Adjust V4 bias adjustment yellow arrow SLOWLY until your DMM reads approximately 36mV see calculations following page 6 Remove the red DMM probe tip from the V4 red probe jack green arrow and insert into V5 red probe jack orange arrow This measures bias for V5 7 Adjust V5 bias adjustment blue arrow SLOWLY until your DMM reads approximately 36mV see calculations below 2 3 4 5 Jo rss N N To calculate bias there are two pieces of information you need to know your amplifier s power tube plate voltage and the published value for maximum plate dissipation for the power tubes used in your amplifier To save you some time and energy here are those two values 420 435VDC 25W Approximate V4 5 plate voltage for Chupacabra 50W series amplifiers Maximum plate dissipation for EL34s and now some math The formula for calculating bias is as follows maximum plate dissipation oo X percent of maximum dissipation X 1000 bias current mA amplifier plate voltage In most cases amplifiers are biased between 50 and 75 dissipation We bias the Chupacabra to approximately 35 37mV on a DMM which is 65 dissipation An example is as follows nn r 25W 430VDC x 65 X 1000 about 35 37mA You migh
8. ectrical shock all precautions must be taken while biasing f i J Again bias at your own risk Ceriatone Amplification is not responsible for any damages or injuries resulting from user biasing 8 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS How do I hook up this thing See Section 2 beginning on page 3 Is the FX loop series or parallel Active or passive The FX loop is series and is currently passive However we have plans to release an option for a tonally transparent solid state FX loop Stay tuned When plug effects into the effects loop my tone noticeably changes Sometimes the effects don t sound quite right What s the deal Generally what you re hearing is a significant mismatching of impedances and or an overloading of the effect unit itself Most rack mount units have different input impedance than pedals and thus can sometimes function fine without a buffer before them In addition some of these rack mounted effects can pad the volume they receive preventing it from overloading Pedals do not have proper input impedance or padding ability and therefore do not play nicely lt ____ _ amp _ For best results an effects loop interface like the C lator or Klein ulator should be used with the Chupa amplifiers These units prevent impedance mismatching as well as provide the ability to pad down the volume sent to the effects units hence preventing any overloading Sometimes w
9. er tis not necessary Feel free to experiment with different tubes of the same type in your Chupacabra though lve read that the components used in this type of amplifier are really important What is inside my Chupacabra We use a combination of parts custom made for us to our specifications power transformer output transformer choke high temperature low ESR electrolytic capacitors and those used in our British series 1 2W carbon composition resistors 1W carbon film resistors Mallory 150M polyester film capacitors high voltage silver mica capacitors Belton tube sockets and Alpha potentiometers Cliff jacks Finally we occasionally use NOS components from our vast surplus parts collection in locations they work well and complement the voicing or enhance the performance of the amplifier l like to use rack mounted multieffects units What is the output level straight from the EFFECTS LOOP SEND jack 10dB or 4qB While not exact 10dB is a better approximation than 4dB The actual output level will depend on your settings particularly the volume controls 4dB is usually reserved for recording P A equipment with balanced connections
10. hen play with both BRIGHT switches engaged the amp wants to feedback squeal Is this normal Foran amp with this much gain and lack of treble roll off yes We ve carefully tuned the resonant frequency of the amp to exemplify the sound of the hot rodded Plexis of yore A byproduct of this voicing is the tendency to feedback if both BRIGHT controls are engaged which dramatically boosts the upper mid and high frequency content If this is an issue you can simply turn off BRIGHT 2 or decrease gain settings or turn down your guitar volume during breaks If you need all of that gain and then some we recommend a noise gate standard procedure on any modern high gain amplifier However if you are a straight to amp player we have installed a trimmer aptly named PUSSY TRIMMER The amp is sent from our test bench with it at its maximum setting out of circuit If this background gain wash and tendency to feedback bothers you you can turn down this control to reign in the amplifier s gainiac nature The PUSSY TRIMMER is currently offered inside the amp The 1M trim pot near V2 tube Can substitute different tube types for the 12AX7 ECC83s or 6L6GCs Although you can try 12AT7s 12AU7s 5751s without any harm the design is optimized for 12AX7s and are therefore the only recommended tube in the preamp positions Usage of other power tubes ex 6550s s 6L6GCs modern 6V6s like Electro Harmonix JJ may be possible
11. low fuse used to protect your amplifier from voltage spikes or excessive current draw Replace only when necessary 3A is used for amplifiers used with a 120VAC country supply and 2A is used with 240VAC HT FUSE T500mA fuse used to protect your amplifier from voltage spikes or excessive current draw Replace only when necessary MAINS IEC cable inlet plug a suitable IEC power cable into this inlet to power your amplifier 5 TUBE COMPLIMENT AND EXTERNAL BIAS JACKS AND ADJUSTMENT Chupacabra 50W From left to right V1 JJ 12AX7 ECC83S input stage 1 and gain stage 2 V2 JJ 12AX7 ECC83S gain stage 3 and tonestack driver V3 JJ 12AX7 ECC83S phase inverter for power amplifier V4 JJ E34L V5 JJ E34L In this diagram we have color coded five features for simplicity 1 Green arrow red probe jack V4 2 Yellow arrow bias adjustment potentiometer shaft V4 3 Black arrow black probe jack ground COM 4 Orange arrow red probe jack V5 5 Blue arrow bias adjustment potentiometer shaft V5 To measure your power tube bias carefully follow these steps with the amplifier in OPERATE and connected to a speaker load not doing so may damage your amplifier ft 1 Turn on a digital multimeter DMM and set it to read millivolts mV in the 100mV range this will vary from DMM to DMM Plug a black probe into the color coded jack on your DMM and do the same for a red probe Insert the black prob
12. n We love this mode for all things metal NOTE Just like the original Jose mods these different modes will impact the taper response of the MASTER control In other words some settings might seem louder than others In reality equal volumes are happening sooner or later on the control The 60s mod hits stage volume soonest and the Modern voicing hits stage volumes latest Don t be afraid to turn up the MASTER control in the 80s and Modern modes GAIN 2 adjusts the signal strength coming out of the second gain stage and going into the third tube stage Think of this as a saturation control that will impact pick attack compression and feel Depending on the BRIGHT 2 setting you can also use this to shape the high and low frequency response of your Chupacabra BRIGHT 2 is a high frequency boost that can be used to add sparkle and gain to your tone In the middle position BRIGHT 2 is defeated In the left position it boosts upper mid and high frequencies and adds noticeable gain With the toggle switch in the right position it boosts extreme high frequencies and adds less gain boost than the right position In conjunction with an active Bright 2 lower GAIN 2 settings will also trim the bottom end This high frequency boost low frequency cut is more prominent as GAIN 2 is turned down GAIN 1 adjusts the signal strength coming out of the first gain stage and going into the second tube stage Think of this as a
13. t wonder why your DMM is set to millivolts and not milliamps simply we have a 1 Ohm resistor placed between your probe jacks and ground to convert a current reading to a voltage reading That way a bias current of 36mA measures as 36mV on your DMM NOTE Only set your DMM to mV for measuring bias on the Chupacabra amplifiers Not doing so may damage your DMM One of our favorite features of the Chupacabra 50W is our use of a dual bias adjustment While it might seem like twice the work to bias your amp what it does allow is use of unmatched power tubes In fact you can use different brands of EL34s Moreover with the exponentially increasing price of NOS matched power tubes this is an effective way at saving some money just purchase individual tubes and match them to your amplifier yourself A FEW COMMENTS ON BIASING Due to the nature of vacuum tube amplification there are inherent risks when biasing your amplifier Extremely high voltages are present and vacuum tubes reach high temperatures during use The risk of electrical shock and or skin burns should ALWAYS be kept in mind Therefore bias at your own risk and only while paying attention and taking all precautionary measures Biasing should only be done on a clean workbench with no distractions Do not wear loose clothing or any jewelry Take your time and think carefully before each step Even though the bias test points and adjustment is external to reduce risk of el
14. tims Sounds evil right Well so does the amplifier at hand Don t let the name fool you though because it is capable of much more This amplifier particularly draws upon the lineage of famous 1980s amp technician Jose Arredondo but with modern twists and refinements We ve voiced the power section to be larger and more dynamic and the preamp to be more versatile We ve added unique features like a passive FX loop in between the preamp and power amp individual power tube bias control and DC regulated preamp tube filaments for lowest noise floor possible While our work could not have been possible without the gracious information shared over the last decade in the public domain we hope you appreciate our modifications component selection and construction techniques Most of all we hope the Chupa becomes an integral part of your tone equation to exhilarate your playing and music Rock on NikS Azam 2 QUICK SETUP for instant gratification er 3 1 Plug your guitar using a 1 4 instrument cable into the INPUT on the right of the front panel 2 Plug a suitable power cable from the Chupa s rear panel MAINS cable inlet to your wall power receptacle 3 Plug the Chupa into your speaker cabinet using 1 4 speaker cable 4 Set the OUTPUT SELECTOR to the match the impedance of your speaker cabinet 5 Set all rotary controls on the front panel to 12 00 clock face 6 Set ERA control to the far right position 7 Set BRIG
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