trinityamps.com

just wanted to let you know that i built my first amp this week.
stephen was quick to answer my emails and even quicker to ship it.
ive taken 2 nights to build the thing with the help of the great documentation that stephen ships with the kits and this forum an 18w.com of course, some pics of builds from other tone heads helped me a lot too as im a little electricaly challenged

i just came back from a local tech that helped me verify all my voltages and performed a global checkout of the amp(bout 40$ just to make sur all is really safe, 2 heads are sometimes better than one !)
even the guys next door(musical instrument store) came by to see what was that wonderful crunch, and we got to disturb them even more when one of the staff member(a friend of mine) asked me to try it in the store on an orange cab, it got a lot of attention in part beacause its not in a box yet but mainly beacause of the tone wich is unbelievable.
i even got compliments from the tech for my clean work underneat the surface(did take my time, im use to the mesure twice, then mesure again then maybe cut....

for those not sure about building one of these, id say try yourself at a stompbox kit from b.y.o.c or GGG, if you can make that, you can make an amp for sure, just follow directives and layout slowly and make double sure your connections are nice and clean, read as much as you can in the (little) wait for the kit to get to your door and get in touch with a local tech
before startup to help you check out if everything is good to go(safety first) you'll learn a lot in the process and you'll be hooked for good

damn, i so love cloning things this good !

edit, ill take some pics when i get back my camera or buy another one, in the meantime, ill try to build the head cab and a 2x12" vertical(bout the size of a marshall avt 4x12") all pine board finger-joined(except for baffles...marine ply for that)
who knows where to get piping in canada ? steamco ? i dont see it on their site !?!

It's always nice to hear a success story! Looking forward to the pics.

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

had a friend of mine took pictures of the beast tonite, we got to put it thru its paces and found ou that its might be a little too bassy, some 4x12" had a hard time keeping up
but im affraid to change anything, would not want to loose that wonderful fullness to the sound. maybe someone could indicate me where i could tweak to reduce the boominess at high volumes ?

Which channel is bassy? Can it be corrcted with the bass control?

And check out the many notes in the manual.

To affect both channels, you can change the cathode bypass cap from 220 to 22 to 47 uf @ 50V

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

very nice lead dress. You did a great job.
Congrats!!

ok, just came back from jam space and seems that the plexi channel is bassier, if i want to crank i have to put the bass on 0 and even there, its still too loose, its a bit like the bass was out of phase at high volume. kind of cool on the bridge pickup but totaly out of control on the middle or neck.

great low guitar volumes semi cleans tho verry jazzy !

dunno where to start yet, im in the process of buying tools to finish my cabs, and i wonder how its going to sound in a vertical 2x12" entirely made from mahogany(3/4 thick) ....if they use it for guitars it cant be bad i guess...

A mahogany cab sounds great

Stephen made a matching head cab and 2x12 set for me, pictures are in the gallery.

I've compared the 2x12 to an Avatar Vintage 2x12. The Avatar is "oversize" compared to the Trinity and therefore had a tiny bit more bass definition and more "airiness", the Trinity more "warmth". But this is splitting hairs, the differences are VERY minor.

Both sound great, both had a G12H30 and V30 combination loaded and with my Gibby R8.

Did you try the cap mods above? Change the cathode bypass cap from 220 to 22 to 47 uf @ 50V on the power tubes.

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

sorry coco, havent yet, is it possible that after a few hours of riffing the bass peak have flattened a little ?!?
during a tone fest the other day, i had the impression that the bass was a little better, more in control.
i must say that i tried an old eico 7247(made by mullard)...i got a handfull of thoses and some siemens to try out, its curently in the PI (middle dual triode if i make no mistakes) i tried it in the first gain stage and it was a little darker sounding but i like it better where it is now
i also found a place where i can rent a wood workshop to avoid buying industrial equipment, gonna make a spare head box...you know what that means i guess
all my friends cant belive i built it and that it sound so AC-DC or schenker, they love it, but those that might be interrested(with the $$$ to back their interrest i must say) are waiting to see the final product.

beside that, i can't seem to find spare parts down here, quality caps are out of the window for the little tv shop here...
maybe when i order my next amp we could work something out ?

Things can change after some playtime. But it sounds like it's doing a good job for you! Caps & transformers settle in. But tubes make a huge difference as you've noted. We'll get you a spare part or two!

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

ey, just a little Q, where can i find dogbone handles with the mounting hardware gold ???
im finishing up my mahogany head cab and im missing the handle and rubber feets...next week im building my 2x12" oversize(all mahogany, even the baffle, i could not find voidless plys thicker than 1/2 so im making the baffle out of mahogany...., bout the size of a marshall mg or avt 4x12")

i made my piping by hand(sewed 1/8 string in some 1" wide gold stuff)...ill never do that again...took me bout 3 hours to make the piping for the head alone....real pita.

so, where do i get those handles ?

I've never seen those.



Wow. Congrats Dude. That is vey commendable.

Send Pics.

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

Nice job on the piping, can't believe someone could do that.
Here's a link that will get you the gold ends on the handle.

http://www.mojomusicalsupply.com/item.a ... id=ss00002

good luck and nice job.
Later

thankx jac, the first one on the handles page is the one i need...but are there no sources in canada for diy stuff, i really hate ordering from the us, it usualy takes long, there are almost no communications(when there is) and we always get tha damn customs surprise...im used to order parts from the other side and for like 100$ in parts i get a call from customs saying they need like 40$

Well, I'll look on the web for Canada for you. But at least you have a reference to show business what you want, eh.
I'm surprised about communications though. On my landline, Canada is included, as well, free (local), I thought pretty much everyone was doing the U.S./Canada thing now.
Understand completely about cost, it does suck and money's tight for all now (wonderful oil).
When I see something in the U.K., I'd like it, but I can't have it.
Later
edit:

Just in case, I can always order them for you from Mojo, might be easier. Just a thought. Don't really know.

I have chrome/silver if you can live with that.

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

ok, i taked some pics of my head, but they are all out of focus...damn digital things....




i still have to redo the varnish, some glue spots still visible that are annoying me, gotta make another box if that fails...wont be long since making the molds took the longest time....and that damn piping isnt straight, next time ill buy it already made....no more sewing...lol
started on the speaker cabs but havet been able to finalize yet, had to make thoses;
and finish those for a fellow forum buddy;


edit, coco, sure, those silver handles would do me good, dont wanna order just one from the states and pay 6 time the price in customs...
ill get back to you soon, gotta need handles, caps, amp feet if you got them(cant fint small ones...those i find are like 1 inch thick)
maybe ordering a deluxe...still waiting to see how well cabs are going to be in mahogany versus pine..

Cab looks nice. Quite the rig there. Lots of made pedals too!
Drop me an email on your hardware needs.

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

received the parts coco,finished my head(feets/handle) and finished my 1x12" cab too(vertical 2x12" still on the bench....damn composed angles...shoulda made it straight rather than slant...lol)....pics to come.

but tonite had a strange thing happen....the pilot light started to flicker from time to time, the it died then came back...then died again......havent had time to check it out, is this okay to keep playin the beast like that or should i be very carefull...or is it already too late....amp sounded like usual tho

havent installed the VVR yet too....missing a 1 meg pot....regarding that, is it important to get exactly 1 meg....and lin or log, wich is better ?
could i just use one of 16mm pot im using in my pedals ? or itll burn right away ?

damn that amp like my strats...im morphing in a mini hendrix when crankin that amp and my fav strat.

Some people like 1M Log, some like 1M linear. 1/2 watt should be fine. I know two people who used a mini pot and there were no problems so far.

As for the flickering, hopefully it's just connections that need to be resoldered. If it's the pilot light let me know.

Be careful when soldering the terminals of the pilot light so they dont melt.

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