Smokin Tone

A lot of good ones mentioned that I agree with. I'll add Alice Cooper.

That is cool! Give us a report when you get it. Nik's assembly and soldering is top notch from pics I have seen from some of his customers.

IMO Dr Z amps always lacked something. I have played 3 or 4 of them and they just seemed to be lacking any dimension in there tone and sounded rather sterile. The harmonic overtones were not great. By design the sweet spot on a Z is when it just starts to break up. After that it kinda looses it's mojo. Tone is very subjective and some may like them but I'm just tossing out my take on it.

Yes Nik uses good parts (Sprauge, Mallory etc). He does use his own transformers and though I've heard no complaints, some people opt to get their own trannies. Usually due to the fact that it reduces the shipping cost if buying a kit.

Build an 18 watt or a JTM-45. Even modding a 99.00 ephiphone valve junior can get you close if done right. Depends on what you need. Ceriatone will ship a chassis already built. Ceriatone