Phil hodson
Well-known member
So….. a bit of a long story for this one.
I started building pedals a couple of years ago as a bit of a hobby like most of you I guess. I had started playing guitar again after some time off. And when the world fell apart in 2020 I had a lot more time to practice etc but my pedal building also got more active.
I didn't have an amp anymore as I had leant my old one to a family member and haven’t seen it since! Always a good excuse to buying a new one. As I needed one to test my pedals in right!?
This started me down a rabbit hole as bad, if not worse than pedal building!
Going from buying a small practice amp I soon decided I would like to build one! So after a lot of hunting around I found some really good reports about Trinity Amps. And being based In Canada that could save on some hefty import duty! Stephen at Trinity was amazing to talk to and very helpful and knowledgeable. I said I wasn’t quite ready to start one as I didn't think my skills were anywhere close enough to build an amp! I mean I had done some fuzz pedals but nothing like this.
He then told me at the beginning of this year that transformers were becoming harder and harder to get hold of. So next thing I knew I purchased one of his last kits he had left!
It was shipped and then I spent a lot of time sitting there staring at the parts! Eventually, quite some time ago I decided to start!
I instantly hit a problem as the supplied transformers were not the ones in the diagrams but Stephen provided expert over the phone/email and documents to help me through. Not the best start I thought.
I finally managed to get both the Power and Output transformers in place and wired to the various parts and then managed to get the heater wires and tube sockets in. Now was the first moment of truth. I plugged it in for the first time! And not only did I not blow myself up it actually worked and gave the correct voltages where required!
So then the next step was the turret board. I sat on this for a while too but decided no matter how long I look at it, it wont build itself. It went together with no issues. And im very happy with the way it turned out. I triple checked all the values and then set about the rest of the wiring.
Eventually I was all set and ready to power it up and run through all the start up checks. Ticking off each one as I went. Using a mixture of the manual and an excellent YouTube channel I found of a guy building the same amp, I got to a position where I could put the tubes in.
Being careful of the massive voltages and my huge gaps of my missing knowledge I moved forward step by step and eventually before I knew it I had my guitar plugged in and ready to rock!
Wow this this is loud! And it worked first time! I was complete bowled over. I never thought I would be able to build something like this and have it working. Especially first time. Although I did have an issue with the normal channel, but I think thats just the way I wired it, and once I had re-done it, it worked perfectly too! Only a 5 minute repair!
The clean Is so clean and crisp and the TMB crunch is fantastic! What a beast. With no pedals in it its sounds just like I wanted and more.
Now to keep me from getting divorced I have a VRM to install once I have played around with it a bit more and also have an effects loop I may put in too. But for now back to more playing and playing and playing.
I couldn’t me more happier. Stephen and more helped me through this build. The quality of parts and instruction are second to none.
I went with greenbacks for the speakers and JJ tubes throughout.
Feel free to ask any questions if you have any. And now for the glorious gut shots!
I started building pedals a couple of years ago as a bit of a hobby like most of you I guess. I had started playing guitar again after some time off. And when the world fell apart in 2020 I had a lot more time to practice etc but my pedal building also got more active.
I didn't have an amp anymore as I had leant my old one to a family member and haven’t seen it since! Always a good excuse to buying a new one. As I needed one to test my pedals in right!?
This started me down a rabbit hole as bad, if not worse than pedal building!
Going from buying a small practice amp I soon decided I would like to build one! So after a lot of hunting around I found some really good reports about Trinity Amps. And being based In Canada that could save on some hefty import duty! Stephen at Trinity was amazing to talk to and very helpful and knowledgeable. I said I wasn’t quite ready to start one as I didn't think my skills were anywhere close enough to build an amp! I mean I had done some fuzz pedals but nothing like this.
He then told me at the beginning of this year that transformers were becoming harder and harder to get hold of. So next thing I knew I purchased one of his last kits he had left!
It was shipped and then I spent a lot of time sitting there staring at the parts! Eventually, quite some time ago I decided to start!
I instantly hit a problem as the supplied transformers were not the ones in the diagrams but Stephen provided expert over the phone/email and documents to help me through. Not the best start I thought.
I finally managed to get both the Power and Output transformers in place and wired to the various parts and then managed to get the heater wires and tube sockets in. Now was the first moment of truth. I plugged it in for the first time! And not only did I not blow myself up it actually worked and gave the correct voltages where required!
So then the next step was the turret board. I sat on this for a while too but decided no matter how long I look at it, it wont build itself. It went together with no issues. And im very happy with the way it turned out. I triple checked all the values and then set about the rest of the wiring.
Eventually I was all set and ready to power it up and run through all the start up checks. Ticking off each one as I went. Using a mixture of the manual and an excellent YouTube channel I found of a guy building the same amp, I got to a position where I could put the tubes in.
Being careful of the massive voltages and my huge gaps of my missing knowledge I moved forward step by step and eventually before I knew it I had my guitar plugged in and ready to rock!
Wow this this is loud! And it worked first time! I was complete bowled over. I never thought I would be able to build something like this and have it working. Especially first time. Although I did have an issue with the normal channel, but I think thats just the way I wired it, and once I had re-done it, it worked perfectly too! Only a 5 minute repair!
The clean Is so clean and crisp and the TMB crunch is fantastic! What a beast. With no pedals in it its sounds just like I wanted and more.
Now to keep me from getting divorced I have a VRM to install once I have played around with it a bit more and also have an effects loop I may put in too. But for now back to more playing and playing and playing.
I couldn’t me more happier. Stephen and more helped me through this build. The quality of parts and instruction are second to none.
I went with greenbacks for the speakers and JJ tubes throughout.
Feel free to ask any questions if you have any. And now for the glorious gut shots!
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