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Hey guys, I just finished the first Trinity 5E3 kit. Coco built the cabinet and I had the pleasure to test drive the first 5E3 kit.

My stepdad wanted a Deluxe so he had me build him one. The amp turned out better than my 18watt TMBv6 (also a trinity first). The deluxe sounds so good I don't wanna give it up. I'm gonna have to build myself one someday.

The circuit is a stock 5E3, with Mallory coupling caps, Heyboer Trannies, and a Jensen P12Q. This amp sings. Jumping the channels yeilds some really great ballsy rock n roll. Rolling down everything on the guitar and plugging into the normal channel can give you some really smooth jazzy tones. And that's (sadly) how this thing is gonna be used. But it still sounds great. I highly encourage everyone build one for themselves. Everyone could use a fender.

I've learned (at least) 2 things on this project:
1. Combo chassis are REALLY tight to work in.
2. Semihollow tele + 5e3 = great!

Thanks Stephen, for all your help and the great kit.

Really neat build bradovka. For your second ever build, it is excellent.
We learned from you. Thanks for the test drive. The manual is better for it!

Can you post your Voltages?

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

Paul picked it up today. The amp sounds good. We took some final voltages with all the right tubes. One looks a little low (pin 8 V2). I don't know what that means. Any ideas?

He's gonna take it to a few jams and see how it goes.

The handwritten numbers are from the kit I just did, and the printed numbers are a baseline coco provided.

Very clean build bradovka. And with the amp playing Jazz instead of Hey Hey My My it should last well into the next century!

LB

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Guitologist at Large
"How does that feel?"

Really clean build. I like the cloth covered wiring. Very good.

Thanks for the positive comments. Does anybody know about that low voltage reading on V2 pin 8? I found some voltages from a 5E3x2 and it's in the same ballpark so I'm not too worried.

Dont worry. I'll have to get my Dleuxe build back and measure it again. I'll post it when I do.

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

I'm the Paul for whom bradovka built the 5E3.

First impressions are strictly visual, as you have to look at it to find the power switch. The Cabinet and Tweed are impeccable. The grain on the tweed lines up at the seams and the back panels. I'm in favour of attention to detail, but this is almost over the top. This thing looks great!

As a basis of comparison, I've got a 135 W Twin Reverb, and a Victoria Victorilux with 6L6's and a 15" Emminence Legend. The Twin is all about clean headroom. The Victoria is lighter and easier to carry around. I went with the Victorilux over any other Victoria amp b'cause I wanted reverb and tremelo. As another comparison, Cambridge Ontario Jazz Guitarist Glenn Murch frequently uses a vintage Tweed Deluxe. I've heard him play many times, and I've got a good idea of how the Tweed Deluxe can and should sound with a jazz guitar.

This Trinity Deluxe is right. It's got the sound that makes sense for what and how I play. Bradovka uses a Tele on the bridge p'up with the Bright inputs and the tone cranked up. I use a Byrdland, on the neck p'up, the darker of the two "normal" inputs, and the tone rolled down on both the amp and the guitar. We both sound good, but I sound "right". Sadly, bradovka would use this amp for rock and/or roll music.

There are some noises to find. The speaker wire was buzzing against the speaker frame, and there is a rattle in the rectifier tube. This is stuff I hear in a quiet room with the furnace turned off. The speaker wire is a quick fix, and there is nothing I can do with this particular rectifier tube. Neither noise is audible at band practice. Band practice on Sunday morning was a 13 horn, 4 piece rhythm and 2 singers big band. The amp, all 12 to 15 watts of it, was just fine. I had the volume on the amp at about 4-ish, and I was at an appropriate volume the entire time. I never had the sense of playing with a distorted sound.

At home I was turning the amp up a bit more with a 335, and there are some cabinet noises to find and fix. I understand that this is not uncommon. Mark Baier of Victoria Amps told me that he keeps Fender Heavy picks on hand to jam between the back panel and the chassis to quiet some noises.

This 5E3 is very similar in tone to the Victorilux, save the lack of reverb and tremelo, (I miss the tremelo). The tone is clear, rich, and definitely tweed fender. I hope to A/B it with Glenn Murch's '57 Tweed Deluxe. I really like the 15" speaker in the Victorilux. I really like the easy one hand carry weight of the 5E3.

I've only had the amp for less than 50 hours at this point. I'll post again as I become more comfortable with the amp.

Thanks to both bradovka and Stephen for what I am sure will be another "lifetime" amp in the stable.

Questions:

1) I notice that the fuse is on the neutral leg of the incoming mains. Is this common practice? I thought the fuse would be on the "hot" side.

2) I use a matched Phase Inverter on my Twin Reverb. The improvement is dramatic on that amp. What are the thoughts on a MPI for a 5E3 amp?

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Peace,

Paul

Thanks for the review. bradovka did a great job on building your amp and it sounds like it's a winner.

Remember the Volume controls are interactive so one affects the other. You can use this to your advantage.

BTW, the fuse should always be on the line side.

You can change the PI design but then it wouldn't be a Tweed Delxue, but it might sound good. There are many mods that can be made to the 5E3, some of which are in the manual. I'm not sure bradovka wants to go back in to make that change! It's tight in there.

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

I bet the rattle on the rectifier is coming from the unused pins. I accidentally broke one off (pin 5, you can see it in the picture) you might wanna break the rest off or put some epoxy around the base of the solder tabs. If you do decide to break 'em off then be sure to catch the contacts that fall out the other side of the socket.

No, it's the tube itself. I can take the tube out of the amp, shake it and hear exactly the rattle I hear when playing. Good thought though.

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Peace,

Paul

Oh that's a bummer. At least it wasn't something I did! Gives you a good reason to get one of those fancy NOS rectifiers.

ditto. tubes shouldnt rattle.

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

I have had a few EH 5Y3 rectifiers that rattle is it one of those? I just went through my stock and 6 out of 10 have some mechanical sound when you flick the tube.
Nigel

The rectifier tube is a Sovtek. I don't think the rattle is a fatal flaw in the tube. At the low volumes I tend to play, I hear the rattle. Crank the amp and the rattle is magically gone!!!! I'm picky about extraneous noises.

The cabinet rattles are settling down too. I've done nothing. My guess is that the humidity level in my house is measurably higher than in bradovka's. I think that the baffle board has swelled up a bit and the noise has lessened because of that.

Question: Does anybody put humidifiers in their amps, the same way we humidify our guitars? It shouldn't matter with a plywood cabinet, but with solid pine, or any solid wood, I think that a constant humidty level, (35% to 45%) should be helpful. Thoughts???

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Peace,

Paul

I think a humidifier would dry out quite quickly unless you covered the amp. Playing it will get it hot & dry it out too.

Better to play it!

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

Could someone check my work please (pictures above). I'm looking at the pics, I'm double checking the newest layout and I think I got it right. White is the line side right?

No, you have everything right and looks great. Really nice layout work.

Thanks man. I thought it was right, but I wasn't sure.

Thanks for the kind words. You know, I've heard that underpaid mexican women used to lace those things up in 15 minutes back in the day. That Deluxe took me a month! Sure is humbling.

Your as bad as the rest of us. Why we're here. I'll spend 2 months, if that what it takes to make a straight and perfect connection.
I love doing it.
I'm writing an excel BOM for the Deluxe right now, nice.
Laater,
Jac

Wait and April Wine is on (no lie)