trinityamps.com

It's better than shovelling snow or some other crappy thing to do..

Officially got the wires redone...That was also kind of a pain in the ass due to already having the board done Oh well. Moving along.

It looks like now I just need to finish the leads from the board to pots/tubs/power and I might actually be almost there!

Will post pics in a few!

_________________
--Bryan

Wait til you crank it up for the first time! Woo Hoooo!

I'm just hoping and praying I don't have too many issues to work out once I plug my guitar into it!

Have some stuff to run off and do, but I will be soldering the leads onto the turret board this evening. I need to wait for my other grommet to come in before I mount the board and solder the leads to the pots/sockets though because it looks like the OT impedance leads won't have room to come through until then. So I'm almost at a stand still. They should be here tomorrow or Saturday though.

I need to look at the manual again, but I think I'm really close to being "there" and it's a pretty good feeling!

_________________
--Bryan

Is this your first build?

I really like your chassis jig, I change chassis sizes so much I am not sure that would work for me unless it's adjustable. But having secure access to all sides is definatly cool.

This is my first build, yes!

The chassis jig is actually from this site! And it is adjustable, I'm pretty sure it will accommodate any size chassis out there, minus maybe the tiny 1 watters out there right now. There are plans somewhere out there for the jig, but I bought mine as a kit when Coco had a sale for them.

_________________
--Bryan

Thanks, I'll look around for the plans.


EDIT: I found the plans in the "Resources" section, Thanks

We are honoured to be having a visit from Casey4s himself! I wonder how many hundred of builders from around the world have learnt how to do tolexing from Casey4s's tutorial.

_________________
Great tones come in small glass jars!

I run into people (on the internet) all the time that have used my tutorial.

I did the original tutorial in 1998/9 for a friends web site, and in two years I was getting emails from all over the Earth, it sort of freaked me out. The reason it took off so well was because until somewhere around 2007 there just wasn't any other tutorial that I am aware of.

I have a few other amp related photo essays that I have posted on other boards too.

Hands Up over Here! Hundreds of cabinets later, Thanks.

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

coco,

I want to send you a PM, I but can't figure out how. Is the PM service activated?

Thanks,

Casey4s
(AKA David)

Ok, so here are some picture updates!

Tonight I got the tube sockets wired up. I'm pretty happy with how the wiring turned out. Fairly neat. I think I could have done better on some of the wires, but at some point, for a first build, you've got to get over the OCD and just go LOL! Let me know if anyone sees any problems!!!

Yet to do:
1) Wire up bias switch
2) Wire up output/impedence jacks/switch
3) Finish control wiring...leads are in place and measured/dressed, just need to solder them to the pots.
4) Wire up power section
5) Test connections/voltages
6) ROCK OUT!

I SHOULD be able to get this thing done tomorrow! I'll shut up now...on with the pics.

This was right after I got the board completed. I just layed it on it's screws for a picture


Same thing...mmm, depth of field haha


Input jack wiring. This was a total pain in the arse. Even making a cardboard template to work on them out of the chassis. I hope I have these right...This is one of the few areas I'm actually concerned about at the moment.


Another shot after input jack wiring...


I got the tube sockets wired up tonight


Top shot of tube socket wiring.


I wanted to get a closeup of the wiring...V1 and V2


V3 and V4


V5 and V6

_________________
--Bryan

Fellas and Ladies...Wiring is DONE. I'm about to go over all of the connections with my continuity meter, then check the resistors and capacitors, and then it will be time to take some voltage measurements with tubes and whatnot.

The Primary voltage wires have not been wired up, as per the instructions.

Here are the final 3 pictures (of the initial build...may make changes later)

Got the impedance selector and output jacks wired up.


This is the bias switch wiring and some power wiring. This is a VERY tight space with lots of wires. I'm fairly happy with how the lead dress came out here, but as before, I could always do better.


And finally, the control wiring. Again, I could do better here as well. But I don't think it's too bad.


So that's that! Now onto initial testing. If all goes well I may even be able to have some clips today, but I'm not really counting on it. Being a first build, I'm sure I screwed something up without knowing it.

-Bryan

_________________
--Bryan

Nice work!

_________________
Great tones come in small glass jars!

Thanks man! I wouldn't say that just yet though...There's still the possibility of this thing going up in smoke once I turn it on

_________________
--Bryan

IT BREATHES! IT BREATHES!!!

And it's silent as hell. I cranked the Overdrive and had zero squeal problems the whole range. Unlike what I've read here! I'm thrilled. What an amazing first build!! So stoked!

I did notice a couple of things though...

1.) It seemed I had to keep the normal/bright volumes below about 7:00 to keep it clean. Any higher than that and I could hear distortion. It just didn't seem very loud/lacking headroom.
2.) The Treble AND Presence knobs aren't doing anything at all.

Here are my voltages across all tubes.

Back Capacitor Can B+ = 434VDC
Front Capacitor Can B+ = 399VDC (Figured these would be closer? Not sure if it matters, willing to hear an explanation either way)

I'm going to list these by tube and type. Then the voltages in parenthesis are what the data sheet called for. A couple of these are off by quite a bit. Worried about that.

V1 (Mullard 12ax7)
Pin 1: 138.6 (150)
Pin 3: 1.252 (1.2)
Pin 6: 114.7 (120)
Pin 8: 1.006 (1.0)

V2 (JJ 12ax7)
Pin 1: 174 (179)
Pin 3: 1.213 (1.2)
Pin 6: 104.5 (106)
Pin 8: .711 (.7)

V3 (Tung Sol 12ax7)
Pin 1: 262.4 (269)
Pin 2: 61.1 (67)
Pin 3: 65.2 (71)
Pin 6: 175.2 (188)
Pin 8: 1.694 (1.5)

V4 (JJ 12AT7)
Pin 1: 264.9 (274)
Pin 2: 64.9 (71)
Pin 3: 68.1 (74)
Pin 6: 272.1 (Sheet says 23664.4, I'm thinking that's a typo )
Pin 7: 59.2 (74)
Pin 8: 68.1 (340)

V5 (JJ 6v6)
Pin 3: 431 (441)
Pin 4: 404 (411)
Pin 5: -36.9 (-39)
Pin 6: -36.9 (-39)
Pin 8: .019 (.02)

V6 (JJ 6v6)
Pin 3: 432 (441)
Pin 4: 405 (411)
Pin 5: -36.9 (-39)
Pin 6: -36.9 (-39)
Pin 8: .018 (.02)

I have my bias set at 19mV.

Man I can't wait to get these small kinks worked out!

_________________
--Bryan

Check your PI section (V4).

Looks like you may have a wrong resistor, cap or missing connection there.

_________________
http://pdfelectronics.com

Thank you Kurt! I'll go check that out now.

I'm certain there is something wrong though. Maybe more than one thing. This thing should be much louder than it is. My 5w Blackstar HT5 seems louder...and the lack of clean headroom concerns me.

I'll start with V4. I appreciate you looking, and your response!

EDIT: You have a VERY good eye! wow. I had the lead that was supposed to go to the other end of the 1M resistor switched...Soldering iron is heating up right now

_________________
--Bryan

Holy F***!!!! I'm in love.

I mean..what the hell just happened?

After swapping that wire and firing it up, I FINALLY heard the volume and cleanliness I was expecting, but it is so so much more than I was expecting. I am actually at a loss for words. The tone coming from my not so great speaker cab was godlike. Seriously, some of the best tone I've ever heard. I'm pretty sure this is the tone I have been chasing. And that Overdrive circuit? A work of damn art. I have zero noise through the full sweep and once you get it cooking, it is downright mean! Not quite meeting my level of "metal" but it's easily attained through a boost I'm sure.

Seriously, Stephen, Zaphod and anyone else who has had a hand in designing this thing. BRAVO!

This is probably the best 700 bucks I've spent on gear...And it's not even fully functioning yet (I'm not convinced any of the tone controls are working properly...bass and middle are more prominent and i can tell they do something, but the treble and presence still do nothing...and if the treble does anything it's not until you get it to about 2 or 3:00 and it's not a great deal of change.)

BUT, the fact that I can still get the tone I just heard out of it with questionable tone controls says something about the design.

If anyone can see anything wrong with the tone controls through pictures I've posted, do let me know. Otherwise I'll get back at it tomorrow. I'm going to go blow my ear drums out some more

_________________
--Bryan

Ah glad you made some progress.

I was just looking at the voltages and could see something funky was going on there.

You may have another problem or two expose themselves after that fix, but it's a start.

_________________
http://pdfelectronics.com