Proving hard work pays off Neilsen has been honoured with a nomination for Best New Artist at The Maple Blues Awards in 2010, two Rising Star nominations from CBC, back to back Blues Album of the Year nominations from the East Coast Music Association, a win for Best Blues Recording for Redemption at the 2010 MusicNB awards, and a semi finalist in the solo/duo category at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN in 2012.

Most recently Five nominations from Music New Brunswick including Album of the year, best group and best rock recording for RESURRECTION as well as Best male solo Recording for THE SHACK UP SESSIONS and a win for best blues recording for THE SHACK UP SESSIONS. He is a real, old-school kind of artist.
Here is what Ross has to say.

I have been working with Stephen Cohrs and Trinity Amps for nearly five years. During that time I have tried many of the amp selections Trinity offers. The Tramp, Plexi head, Phoenix and most recently the OSD. While I have enjoyed all the amps I’ve tried, I kept searching and discussing different ideas with Stephen that helped make my end choice the OSD.

In the Ross Neilsen Band we play an extreme variety of concert venue sizes and styles. From Large clubs such as Blues on Whyte in Edmonton, to coffee houses and quiet house concerts, to world class festivals such as Harvest Jazz and Blues festival. It is because we play such a variety of venues that I wanted an amp with some real variety in it. I needed two channels and an amp that can sound great at a low volume but can also level a room from a big stage and melt faces when called on to do so. In 2014 I stopped by the tone lab to try a proto type Stephen had built. The birth of the OSD…

Plugging in I started to go through the tone options and was blown away. I knew right away that this was going to be my new amp. Sure enough the first version was ready in June 2014 and mine by the end of Summer 2014.

Crystal clear, clean tones, and some of the most full bodied, sustain-for-ever, overdrive ever to come out of an amp. The clean channel is just what I needed for the quiet house concert and straight up blues gigs. The trim knob on the overdrive channel allows for infinite sustain even at low volumes. At higher volumes (although I’ve not had it at more than 50%) the overdrive is glorious. Heavy, creamy tone that has caused people to come inquire about the amp at nearly every gig I’ve played on my 2014 Fall tour. Even the sound techs have come up at the end of the night raving about the incredible tone. I paired my OSD with the new Sidewinder 112 cabinet. Ported on the sides instead of the back gives the guitarist a feeling of being “in” the sound. Surrounded by your very own tone. My drummer has also commented on the projection from the side. It delivers better hearing of the actual tone this way. Folks, if a drummer notices…need I say more?

Esthetically the amp is exactly what one should expect from Trinity Amps. High attention to detail. Beautiful tolex job and sleek looking faces. Simply beautiful looking amps to match the tone coming out of it. Night after night this amp continues to surprise and delight my ears.

Recently I paired it with my semi hollow Yamaha SA1200 and I believe I am getting the best and most exciting tone I have ever gotten from an amp/guitar combo.

I look forward to many more years (and amps!) working with Stephen and the Trinity Amps team. “Made to be Played” indeed.

Check out Ross’ Album Notes about the Trinity Amps used to record “Elemental” and enjoy the music.
Ross Neilsen ‘Elemental’ CD Notes and Tracks.

Guitarist for 14 time Juno Award winning band, The Tragically Hip, Rob owns two Custom Trinity amps. In late 2005, Trinity Amps worked with Rob to create a special 30 watt amp.

I love my Trinity Amps. The switchable 15 watt/30 watt Vox style is a workhorse that gets extensive use in the studio and on the road, as well as in my home studio. I keep it close at hand at all times.

The 18 Watt v6 gets used in the studio for specific sounds.

After more than 10 years he reports “I’m Still loving them”. Trinity Amps received credit on the their “World Container” and “We Are the Same” CDs.

Barry has been playing for over 40 years and has yet to meet a six string he doesn’t like. Influenced by a wide variety of blues guitarists from Texas, Chicago, and the Mississippi Delta region, Barry has been performing for 10 years with Barry & The Blasters.

Always seeking tone from earlier eras, Barry settled on the the Trinity Tweed with the VRM feature.

After performing with the Tweed for nearly 2 years, Barry contacted us following a recent show in Ottawa and said:

From the get-go, the Tweed has delivered. The combination between the Tweed and Tone Tubby speaker is perfect – consistently delivering deep, rich tones with ample headroom. Yet when I dig in with my Strat, Tele or National, the Tweed breaks up beautifully. I can hear the natural sustain of each note played individually or within a chord.

Somehow, the Tweed has gotten even better over time. I am often asked after a show about the amp I am using and I am proud to acknowledge Trinity Amps.

No doubt about it, the Tweed is just what I've been searching for all these years. I've found my 'go to' amp.

 

Shawn Dore was a Solo contestant in the 2014 International Blues Competition in Memphis and the Shawn Dore Band a contestant in 2015.

I struggled with my tone for years, never being satisfied with what I heard, and always trying to use an effects pedal to hide what I felt sounded unpleasant. Until I was introduced to Trinity Amps!

It’s hard to explain with little to no electronics theory knowledge… I had found a few guitar amps and I had fallen in love with their sound, but they were blackface Fenders and vintage Marshalls and way out of my price range. Thinking that I could get the same sounds out of re-issued designs, I could not figure out why two “same” amps could sound so different. To my ear, the newer tube amps sound very brittle and thin compared to the ones from the 50’s and 60’s, but I figured it was due to being “worked in”.

When I first tried a Trinity amp I was amazed that it could have those same full and warm tones, without having 60 years of use.

The Trinity Amplifiers are very well built, and are very powerful amps for being such low wattage. You can crank them up to get the tone that you want without piercing any eardrums, and they still have plenty of volume. They are all I need for any show big or small, having volume to spare in the bars and clubs, and on the bigger stages the amps are always mic’d anyways. I no longer have a row of effects pedals in front of me to make my amp sound better, I let the amp do the screaming.

Being a blues player, tone is huge and I found my tone with Trinity Amps!

Every single person I play your amps for agrees hands down that they are the best sounding amps they have ever heard. I really believe in what your doing man. You’ve nailed it.

Head & shoulders above anything else I've heard to date.

I was in Ottawa last night with them at a big jam for the grand opening of Ottawa Bluesfest’s School of Music & the Arts, they we’re a hit once again with a lot of people! You are not going to believe your ears when you hear the recordings we’ve done with them! I love them so much I decided to re-track ALL of my guitar tracks with them! So glad I did too. The sound is just unreal!

Oh, & I thought you might like to hear what your little babies are doing here in the studio. This is a quick mix/master of one of our new songs from our 3rd CD called “Gotta Believe” (Song & Album are named that) Still needs a few small adjustments, but it’s almost done. I’ve retraced all 3 records with your amps, the result are jaw-dropping across the board!

So many companies have an Overdrive style amp these days. Trinity Amps has a great reputation so I decided to order a Custom 112 OSD Combo, sight unseen. I already had their 15 watter which was great and I had used it on 2 CDs.

I wanted it shipped without a speaker and at first I put a Celestion Gold in it and took it to a gig. The amp sounded great but broke up a little too early. I took it home and replaced the speaker with an EV 12S – that’s the ticket!

James should know tone. He has performed with over 150 music legends including “Sam and Dave” and the” Mamas and Papas” spanning a 40 year career.

I played at the 2016 Burlington, Ontario Ribfest in front of 30,000 on Labour Day Monday and it was Tone Heaven. The clean was perfect. Overdrive was exactly what I wanted and the boost switch killed on the Hendrix medley.

I have a few players buzzing all over about my OSD combo and my buddy Jacks in Buffalo. He loves his too.
Also the price is right! 

You can't get anything close to this anywhere else..Handmade ? Are you kiddin' me? Unreal!

Nuff said. Go out and get one!

Lynne Hanson and The Good Intentions (Canada) are known for their hard-living style of music, mixing gritty ballads with driving roots-tinged guitar. Lynne Hanson’s deep bluesy croon is pure and full of fortitude, and she’s drawn comparisons to Lucinda Williams, with a touch of Gillian Welch thrown in.

In 2016 Lynne commissioned a Trinity Amps Triton build and had this to say:

“Thank you for opening my ears to the difference a great amp can make! I had Stephen build me an amp on the recommendation of a friend and I could not be happier with the result. The tone is clean and warm and seems to be getting better with time. And such a big sound for such a little package! I can’t imagine ever using anything else again … just fantastic!!!!”

Thank you for letting me put the Trinity 15 through it’s paces. I’m sure I haven’t touched on all the tone possibilities your fine amp can create. It was fun and I finally found my ‘magic’ settings by the end of the night. 

Thanks for creating such a wonderful product and trusting me to play it.

Canadian Country Music Associations’ Guitar Player of the Year 1995-’96-’97-’98-’99, 2000-’01

 

Four-time Maples Blues Award winner Harpdog Brown commissioned a custom Triton called T-Dog and helped design the vintage aesthetics. To quote the Dog:

Let me say I truly love the T-Dog, and am proud to play it at every show I do. That’s right, ever since we first met and I asked for a loan of the prototype, I have not used any of my vintage gear for stage use, or recording for that matter.
This little 5 watt bundle of muscle and tone is something I wish I had an option to own many years ago, but sadly, that was not an option. Now, having a Canadian built, point-to-point, made-to-last, quality amp just the right size for any job, (we reinforce with PA) this puppy does the job beyond the call of duty.
I had Stephen install a tone control for us harp players, but with a bypass knob, so if you want it unaffected and full throttle, you have that option. He tells me that if I ever want more power, I have the option of changing the power tube to kick it up to around 13 watts, which in my opinion, is more than a harp player should ever need. It ain’t the size of the dog in the fight….it’s the size of the fight in the dog!
I’m proud to turn other harp players on to this gem; it’s really all you’ll ever need!