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My TC15 kit was the first tube amp I built going on just about three years ago now. I was so proud of that build because the amp sounded just amazing to me and it worked right off the bat. I was (still am) recovering from a serious illness that almost killed me at that time too, so it was a very rewarding experience all around.
Well that build got me hooked. Not only did I want to build more amps, I wanted to know HOW they worked and WHY certain values were chosen for each component. I even got into designing my own circuits with some pretty good successes along the way and my builds have become more and more complicated as I go.
So, because of all the other building and because I didn't really like what happened to the tone after I installed a VVR in it (not the VVR's fault - I screwed it up), my TC15 kind of took a back-seat for a while.
I decided to pull it out last week and take it for a spin. I found some tubes for it and played with it for a little while and said to myself "I have GOT to fix this issue I am having because this does NOT sound good!" So today I finally did. Turns out when I installed the VVR I neglected to move the grid leak resistors when I installed the DC blocking caps at the input grids. The result was that I had a really nasty swirl going on that was not good at all. Well I just decided to completely remove the VVR altogether and set it aside for another project down the road and I proceeded to put the amp back into its original condition. I was surprised I still had the original power switch - usually I re-purpose those types of things for other builds if they are just lying around unused. Only took me about 30 minutes to restore the amp to original condition and it was time well spent!
WOW this amp sounds SO good! I had forgotten what this thing is capable of. I recently got a G&L ASAT Classic Tribute Series (Tele-style) guitar that I am really liking a lot and these two pieces go together like chocolate and peanut butter! Just a really, really nice clean tone. And BOY can this thing ROCK in the EF86 channel! It's no slouch on the other channel when pushed hard either. It really responds well to the volume and tone knobs of the ASAT. I find I really like the Matchless mode more of the two. After all, it was my GASsing for a Matchless DC30 (which I could never afford) that led me to this kit in the first place.
I am running it into an oversized open-backed pine cabinet with a WGS ET65 and it just sounds huge with that setup. My band is going into the studio for our fifth album this June and I plan on taking this setup with me for sure!
So if you are on the fence about buying one built or in kit form, just do it! You won't regret it!
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