trinityamps.com

Hey all. I've been MIA the last couple months so I'm catching up a bit at last. There's been quite a lot going on lately!

Anyway, I built a Trinity Deluxe a few months ago as a surprise birthday/wedding/christmas/housewarming gift for a friend of mine. I also had Stephen build a maple cab for it - very similar to lbet's cab, but with oxblood grill cloth. Looks VERY vintage. Don't have a pic handy, so you'll just have to imagine!

Anyway, I didn't have the coin to shell for a TT so I tried an Eminence Texas Heat in it. Love it! Keeps the roundness & chime clean but cooks nicely when the amp's pushed hard. It projects exceptionally well. The bottom end is especially sweet - very full but not flubby at all. We probably never got close to speaker breakup with the power handling of that speaker, but to be honest I'm not a big fan of it anyway.

When we presented him with the amp (brought along my Strat with Kinman AVN Woodstocks for a test drive) the amp lit up the eyes of every musician in the room (about 8 of them).

Another winner Stephen! Good job my friend.

Hey Emo, good to hear from you. I thought the power had gone out on da rock!

Glad your friend like the amp.

We havent tried all speakers with the Tweed, but I do prefer the Tone Tubby Alnico in it. Great, detail cleans. Speaker makes such a difference getting the sound you are after. bgroup & I went through a few this week for fun : TTAlnico, TTCeramic, TTSanRafael, Vintage Rola Alnico (P12H style), V30. bgroup also tried others including the Classic Lead 80 which he thinks would sound good in this as well.

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Stephen
Web: www.trinityamps.com. Facebook: facebook.com/trinityamps. Twitter: @trinityamps

Here's what I emailed to Stephen about the CL80:

WHOOOOAAAAAA! The mid-range honk of the CL80 sort of filled in what was missing from other speakers, tamed the top a bit, and made the bottom sound rounder and tighter. It sounded HUGE, smooth, and totally rock and roll. I was able to crank the tone knob with no pain, the jumpered tone was massive, and both the normal channel and bright channel were raw and crackin' with no holes in the tone whatsoever... I had always wondered if I would have preferred more EQ on your Deluxe, but not with this speaker - perfect. With that speaker, I wouldn’t change a thing about the amp... I'm anxious to hear other speakers, but damn that CL80 turned a tone I love into magic.

Then I did more testing with other cabs in my studio:

V30's are just voiced wrong for the amp - the highs are kind of representin' at a different place so the V30's either sound dull, or painfully bright - both the Mesa and the Orange cabs... Mesa better, but still not great. Oxfords were OK - sounded like old Fender, but they were maybe a bit loose sounding for the Deluxe - balance was right though - nice biting top and smooth bottom. Wasn't feeling my Marshall 4x10 G10's either - kind of the same problem as the V30's. The Greenbacks, Fanes, and G12T75's were all GREAT. If you wanted the Deluxe to be a rock amp, it's all about the 75's - perfect rock sound - Marshallesque but with the Fenderesque element a bit fresher. LOVED this combination. Greens were awesome too. Great balance top to bottom, nice breakup, very smooth - good all-rounder. My only reservation here was that a bit of the Fender quality was taken away by the speaker. Really good though. The perfect speaker today was Fane - kept it sounding Fender, made it sound old/vintage, gave it a rock edge, but cleaned up nicely. PERFECT. Match made in heaven.

Then I went to Stephen's and we played through all the TT's, the Jensen, and the new Trinity V30 cab... I was struggling a bit with how much clean headroom the Deluxe has and the TT's TOTALLY took care of it!! The TT Alnico is an INCREDIBLE speaker for the Deluxe - actually increases the amount of clean headroom and then gives you that gorgeous smooth breakup when you push it...

Bottom line for me for the Deluxe - best speaker of the ones I heard... TTA, CL80 second for more of a rock thing, an old Fane for more of a retro thing, or a Greenback for a kind of all-rounder...

Would love to hear that Eminence Texas Heat though...

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Brent Bodrug
Producer-Engineer/Songwriter

www.slyfichapel.com

pics added to Emo's post

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Stephen
Web: www.trinityamps.com. Facebook: facebook.com/trinityamps. Twitter: @trinityamps

Holy cr-p Stephen That's just stunning!!!
I'm sticking with wiring, thank you very much

Joe G

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Some assembly required,
Brain sold separately...

Thanks for posting the pics. I take it you've heard from Chuck then?

I tried the Deluxe through a few speakers also. I agree with the assessment regarding the V30's. It sounded a little too edgy through my 2x12 closed back cab. I also tried it through an Epi valve Jr cab with the stock Eminence "Lady Luck". Pretty dull sounding, but that speaker doesn't sound great with any of my amps. It's on the replace list.

I decided to try the Texas Heat for a number of reasons, budget not the least of them. However I also wanted something with a vintage american flavor with a bit more "spice". The Texas Heat was recommended and I think it delivered nicely. Still has that vintage open character but has just a bit of a compressed feel when you throw an overdriven signal at it. I think that'll work well for Chuck (the guy I built it for) as he has strong blues-rock influences.

But hey...speakers, like anything to do with tone, are a personal thing. I didn't hear any complaints about what I put together at least!

Yes, he seems quite happy with the whole product. Good job!

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Stephen
Web: www.trinityamps.com. Facebook: facebook.com/trinityamps. Twitter: @trinityamps

Thanks! My only boo-boo was forgetting to release the clutch on my drill when re-assembling the cab...thus the missing screw on the lower back panel...twisted it off.

I'm hoping some of my friends will commission builds so I can maintain the habit without forking over retarded amounts of coin! I think I've developed an addiction to solder fumes...

I can send you a replacement if you can get it out of the cab.

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Stephen
Web: www.trinityamps.com. Facebook: facebook.com/trinityamps. Twitter: @trinityamps

Be interesting to hear more thoughts or test results of speakers used with trinity deluxe. Sounds like Tone Tubby's Alnico are defacto choice but they are expensive - especially in the UK! Anyone tried Cannibis Rex? Think they are licensed from TT?

Cheers!

IIRC Eminence's Cannabis Rex speakers use hemp cones from Tone Tubby. However, they are ceramics, while the TTs mentioned here are Alnicos. Still they might work OK in a Tweed Deluxe. Or you could use the Texas Heat, like Emohawk.

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Great tones come in small glass jars!

Anyone ever tried a BBQ sig 12 in this amp?

at $45 it's probably a cheap crappy speaker but who know maybe it's cheap cause there just isn't much too it... figure it might be worth a shot.

Also been looking at Celestion Blue alternative to TT Alnico. Still expensive, though cheaper here in the UK - at least it should be since its made here! BBQ do a homage to this speaker, called the Blue Dog. Anyone have experience of this speaker?

R

Heard them both. The BBQ does a decent job. The Blue does the real thing. TTA is awesome in this amp. Gold Standard IMO anyway FWIW.

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Stephen
Web: www.trinityamps.com. Facebook: facebook.com/trinityamps. Twitter: @trinityamps

sucks that the TTA's are so expensive.

I mean I only have a bomb because I couldn't afford two of them lol.

Looks like I'll have to get 2 more eventually, so I can fill out my cab with 2x12 TTA, then I can throw the 3rd into that trinity deluxe i'll build some day.

Wonder what amp i'll build for the ceramic muhaha! 12" TRAMP maybe?

A 2X12 can sometimes sound real good set up as what Kevin O Conner calls a "detuned" cab. Basically, you have a single speaker in one hole and you leave the other whole empty. With a 4X12 you would similarly leave two holes empty. I'm told by those who've tried this, that it sounds killer.

Here are some useful threads from 18watt.com:

www.18watt.com/modules.php?name=Forums& ... pic&t=3009
www.18watt.com/modules.php?name=Forums& ... ic&t=11735
www.18watt.com/modules.php?name=Forums& ... ic&t=14785
www.18watt.com/modules.php?name=Forums& ... ic&t=14934
www.18watt.com/modules.php?name=Forums& ... ic&t=18400

The Eminence Red Fang may also be a good choice for those wanting a less expensive alnico speaker to use in a Deluxe. Otherwise, an Alnico TT should be the one to go for.

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Great tones come in small glass jars!

Surprised nobody has mentioned Jensen's for the Deluxe? I think I read that Fender put the P12Q in their '57 Deluxe. Good for the money, but not up to Celestion Blue, or the hallowed TTAlnico, right!?

Eric might fancy a couple in his Cornell amp, but I just wonder whether I can coax out the extra vibe from those expensive fellows!

Mojo seem to do a pretty good deal with cabinets loaded with Celestion Blues though...damn this 'buy cheap, buy twice' mantra of mine!

R

Well Jensens are probably what would have been originally used by Fender for these amps. But I wonder whether the modern Italian made ones would have the same vibe.....

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Great tones come in small glass jars!

I have Trinity 5E3 Deluxe kit #1.....I posted on this quite a while ago:

I had an opportunity to A/B the 5E3 bradovka built me with a '57/'58 Tweed Deluxe. While not identical, the Trinity held up well. It took some tweaking with the tone controls on the amps and guitars, but we got the basic tone 99 44/10ths the same. I don't know the reason, but the original Tweed Deluxe had some intangible mojo that made it just a bit sweeter. Maybe it's the speaker, or the original tubes???? We didn't do any tube swapping to see if the mojo moved from amp to amp.

The owner of the original Deluxe has owned many over the years, and this was the only one that spoke to him. He still gigs with it on a regular basis, and is somewhat unwilling to change the power cable to a grounded one, or replace the filter caps, or even take out a tube. The amp is essentially untouched in the 25 years he's owned it, and that's only half the amp's life!!

For guitars we put a D'angelico, a D'Aquisto, an Unger, and some other sweet jazzbox guitars. Even 7 stringers with the low B dropped to A sounded rich, full and appropriate.

I use the amp on a regular basis playing with a full big band, (13 horns, 4 rhythm and a singer), and the sub 20 watts are more than enough to fit in, and sound appropriate.

I miss the onboard rev and trem that my Victoria Victorilux has, but I'm unwilling to start carrying stompboxes. It takes me fewer trips and less time to set up than the sax players in the big band. All I carry is a guitar, an amp, a tuner and two patch cables.

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Peace,

Paul