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Summary of Contents for Ceriatone King Kong
- Page 1 KING KONG 50W / 100W GUITAR AMPLIFIER User’s Manual ...
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Page 2: Table Of Contents
British series with the HRP series of versatile, yet classically voiced amplifiers. We are now proud to release the flagship of the British and HRP series – the King Kong. This project has been about 5 years in the making and involved countless man-hours to achieve what we perceive as total sonic perfection. -
Page 3: Quick Setup
2) QUICK SETUP (for instant gratification) 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 KING’s rear panel MAINS cable inlet to your wall power receptacle 3) Plug the KING into your speaker cabinet using 1/4”... -
Page 4: Front Panel Controls
3) FRONT PANEL CONTROLS From left to right: 1) INDICATOR LED 2) POWER 2-way toggle switch 3) STANDBY 2-way toggle switch 4) DEEP control with CHARACTER 3-way toggle switch 5) PRESENCE control with BITE 3-way toggle switch 6) MASTER control (Channel 1) with ERA 3-way toggle switch 7) BASS control 8) MIDDLE control 9) TREBLE control... - Page 5 STANDBY toggle switch in DOWN position for approximately 30 seconds. You can then switch to UP (“ON”) to use the King Kong. With the toggle switch in the DOWN position, the King Kong is in STANDBY mode.
- Page 6 CHANNEL 1: As mentioned earlier, Channel 1’s preamp is essentially a slightly revoiced Bright Channel from a ’67 Super Lead. There are both beautiful cleans and amazing crunch tones in this channel – experiment! MASTER sets the overall volume of Channel 1. ERA provides 3 tonal options for Channel 1.
- Page 7 CHANNEL 2: As mentioned earlier, this channel is the soul of the King Kong (not that Channel 1 is any slouch!). We have spent more time than we care to admit getting this right. This channel represents the pinnacle of the high-gain Jose sound, and you will find a myriad of tones available.
- Page 8 TREBLE adjusts the high frequency response in Channel 1. 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.
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Page 9: Rear Panel Controls
PUSSY TRIMMER allows you to further fine tune the gain and saturation of Channel 2 in King Kong. Turning this control down can reduce the possible saturation and gain in Channel 2. We recommend turning this up to about 2:00 for the standard gain and response. - Page 10 Failing to do so may damage your amplifier! FULL / HALF switches the power output of the power amp. For the 100W King Kong, half mode is approximately 50W, and for the 50W King Kong, this is approximately 20W. HALF mode configures the power tubes to run in triode operation, and this negates any need to reconfigure the IMPEDANCE SELECTOR.
- Page 11 BIAS TEST multimeter probe jacks – use this for external bias current measurements (see Section 5, Page 10) MAINS IEC cable inlet – plug a suitable IEC power cable into this inlet to power your amplifier MAINS FUSE is used to protect your amplifier from voltage spikes or excessive current draw. Replace only when necessary, using only the rating indicated for your amplifier.
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Page 12: Tube Compliment And External Bias Jacks And Adjustment
5) TUBE COMPLIMENT AND EXTERNAL BIAS JACKS AND ADJUSTMENT King Kong 100W From left to right: V1 – 12AX7/ECC83 (Channel 2 input stage 1 and gain stage 2) V2 – 12AX7/ECC83 (Channel 2 gain stage 3 and tonestack driver) V3 – 12AX7/ECC83 (Channel 1 input stage 1) V4 –... - Page 13 In this diagram, we have color coded five features for simplicity 1) Green arrows = red bias probe jack, V6, V7, V8, V9 (from left to right, respectively) 2) Yellow arrow =black bias probe jack, ground (“COM”) 3) Blue arrow = bias adjustment potentiometer shaft, 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!): 1) Turn on a digital multimeter (DMM), and set it to read millivolts (mV) in the 100mV range (this will vary from DMM to...
- Page 14 2) Plug a black probe into the color-coded jack on your DMM, and do the same for a red probe 3) Insert the black probe tip into the black probe jack (yellow arrow). This is GROUND in the King Kong amplifier.
- Page 15 That way, a bias current of 35mA measures as 35mV on your DMM. NOTE – Only set your DMM to mV for measuring bias on the King Kong amplifiers. Not doing so may damage your DMM. A FEW COMMENTS ON BIASING Due to the nature of vacuum tube amplification, there are inherent risks when biasing your amplifier.
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Page 16: Frequently Asked Questions
- For best results, an effects loop interface like the C-lator or Klein-ulator should be used with the King Kong 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. - Page 17 - 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, 6L6GCs, modern 6V6s like Electro-Harmonix, JJ) may be possible, but please first consult Ceriatone Amplification or your local competent amplifier technician.
- Page 18 Plexi. Make sure your school boy uniform is clean. Do I need to use a matched and balanced phase inverter? - It is not necessary. Feel free to experiment with different tubes (of the same type) in your King Kong, though! ...
- Page 19 I’ve read that the components used in this type of amplifier are really important. What is inside my King Kong? - 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...