trinityamps.com

OK folks...I haw have my Triwatt cab & it's loaded up with BBQ Ceramic Thames.

Before I get going, let me say the 2x12 Triwatt cabinet is S-W-E-E-T! I wanna go on a Jac smiley binge here! Construction is top notch (practically industrial). I'm very proud to say I had a hand in designing this thing. Naturally, Stephen did all the hard stuff! I planted the seed & he came through big time.

One other nice touch that I wasn't anticipating...Stephen wired the cab to run in 2x12 mono or 1x12 stereo. That will be useful as I suspect my sIII will be finding a home on top of this cab also. A/B/Y with a Triwatt & sIIIV6? Sounds like a pretty sweet rig to me! I wonder how the two amps will sound running in stereo...

But I digress...

First, some eye candy. Full frontal...


Now, all buttoned up...


And finally, a hot backless number for those nights when you just HAVE to own the room...


Now, the real fun stuff - a tone review of the cab with the Fanes.

I'll use my V30 loaded cab as a reference point since most of us are familiar with the character of those speakers. First, the Thames is much more "hi-fi" overall than the V30. The top end is much more extended and detailed, especially when overdriving the amp. So much so that there is stuff going on up there that I couldn't even hear before. It doesn't sound brighter, just much more detailed. At extreme settings it also adds to the "Mesa-ish" quality that I mentioned before. Note that it doesn't have the "tearing" quality that I didn't like with the TTA clips.

The upper mid is much more relaxed than the Celestion. I just spent over an hour wailing through the thing sitting 4 feet away and my ears weren't even ringing (for long) when I was done. It's loud but not fatiguing. The other impact is the amp sounds much less intense - still very tight and very fast, but it's not like a demon breaking it's chains now even wound WAY out. I seriously digg it. And thanks to the more open top end it doesn't sound "dark". The mids also have a more vowely tone and it doesn't sound "honky" at all regardless of where the mid knob is positioned. The overall result is the mid knob now feels more subtle in it's response, and the clarity of the mids never disappears even on zero.

The bottom end is just plain fantastic. I was just playing with the bass at noon with my JS Moore SG with the channel vols & master all dimed. The bottom end stayed tight but it was so "there" that the head was actually moving on top of the cab! But it didn't sound overwhealming. That's a testament to how deceptively loud this amp really is. I can't imagine how huge it would be through a 4x12. Mind blowing perhaps...

Now, I dropped the master down to about 9:00 & engaged the OD on about 2:00. Freakin AWESOME! Heavily overdriven, that Mesa-ish burn happening, HUGE tone, and all at a volume you can talk over. Gotta love that!

I then plugged in my other SG (GFS Mean 90's) to see how it would fare on the clean side. Very nice. Surprisingly open & round. I guess the more relaxed mids & "hi-fi" feel of the Thames makes it more akin to the old Jensens used in early Fenders. It reminded me a lot of that tone in with some settings. Again, as I've noted before, the amp is far too tight to cop that entirely, but it makes for a wonderful clean tone that any rock guitarist would be happy with.

I pumped it up a little to get some bluesy grit happening. I do like it, but I prefer a more saggy sort of amp for blues. That syrupy OD. Something the old sIII does quite nicely, thank you! When I pushed the amp harder it got that P90 "bark" happening. Cool. With the channel vols rolled back a bit it sounds very reminiscent of PT on the "Killburn '77" Blu-ray (the show used for many of the clips in "The Kids are Alright". That, my friends, is a good thing!

Overall, the Triwatt cab with Thames drivers is more relaxed and "civilized" than my V30 loaded cab. It doesn't have the edginess and is less intense. It's also easier to listen to as high volumes, but it's still quite loud. The V30 certainly has it's place, and I do love them with some amps, but for this amp the more laid back speakers seem to shine.

And now...time to get something to eat. It's 9:30! How did the last 4 hours disappear like that...

Excellent. Excellent. Great review. And that was with brand new speakers.

They'll soften up overtime a bit I expect. Was it with closed or backless?

Looks a gorgeous rig!

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

Actually, I had Ted break them in for me, so they're not "green".

I did all this with the back closed...wanted a more direct comparison with my V30 cab. I may noodle with it open later tonight or tomorrow.

And yes - it's a looker for sure! I'll have to get covers too...gotta keep the freakin cat off these babies!

Just dont let your cat knock the triwatt off the cab... like my dog did to mine

AJC

Coco: How much for one of those 2X12 cabs? :}

I don't think the cat is quite as hefty as your dog! And if she ever gets to that point, running & jumping probably won't be possible...

She has knocked over my VJ a couple of times...a testament to how robust my re-build is I guess. No issues.

Just a quick FYI for y'all. I tried it with the back opened on the cab late last night. A little less focused in the bottom end (as expected). Mids were a bit more "airy". Was a little more 3D overall. Sounded really sweet running clean with my P90 SG.

BTW, I've replaced the Mullard in V1 with a JJ. I was getting some hum and I suspected it might be a tube. I was right. Tonally it's a little less detailed & a bit darker. It doesn't have the same sweetness in the top end. Not quite as nice for clean stuff but probably a little better for heavy overdrive. I think I'll dig through my box-o-tubes & see if I have another Mullard or a TS available.

I don't know what it is about tubes shipping to NL. I've had that hum problem with 3 TS's & now a Mullard. Two of the TS's were bad when they arrived, and the other TS & the Mullard were fine at first & developed the hum later on. Odd. It hasn't happened with any other tubes.

This is a lot like how the amp sounded through Brent's Hiwatt/Fane 4X12. Those who know me from the past will know that I'd always been a died in the wool Marshall+Celestion guy. This whole Hiwatt/Triwatt + Fane journey has been an amazing eye-opener for me. I've now found a whole different way of getting a big rock sound.

It sure is!

Also don't let any of the cats try to leak over your Triwatt stack, like ajc's dog. That would make it smell real bad. Train them to use a Fender for that.

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Great tones come in small glass jars!

GREAT looking rig Emo! And it obviously sounds FANTASTIC!!

_________________
Brent Bodrug
Producer-Engineer/Songwriter

www.slyfichapel.com

Just wait 'til you discover the whole Mesa/V30 thing!!!! Just kidding, I can't imagine that would be your tone...

Yeah, it's amazing how different but equally satisfying and ADDICTIVE those two different camps can be...

_________________
Brent Bodrug
Producer-Engineer/Songwriter

www.slyfichapel.com

Yeah me too. It sounds big all right. Must be absolutely massive through a 4x12. It's a very different feel from my Marshall/Celestion setup, which just blows your head clean off.

I should have taken a pic with the two SG's in there too. Maybe I'll do that tonight. BTW, my JS Moore SG just LOVES this setup. Rock & Roll baby!

Yeah man, the Triwatt through the Hiwatt/Fane 4x12 is MASSIVE... but at least it's manageably massive... the DR103 through the 4x12 is bordering on UN-manageable!!! LOL!

_________________
Brent Bodrug
Producer-Engineer/Songwriter

www.slyfichapel.com

In fact I totally love the roaring grind of a Meza DR!!! And a whole bunch of my favourite bands use that tone as the basis of their sound. But a closer look under the hood of a DR reveals a circuit that's basically a hot-rodded Marshall. Same with the SLO 100, but for some reason the way Meza does it, the tone has more balls - possibly it's just due to higher voltages inside. So I was kind of including Meza+Celestion in my mind under the general umbrella of Marshall + Celestion. To me the Hiwatt+Fane approach is the one that's really different.

_________________
Great tones come in small glass jars!

I didn't think that would be your tone, but since it is - cool!! I was aware of the fact that Mesa and Soldano were brethren, but as the owner of a 2ch Dual Recto, and a Soldano Avenger (the dirty channel from the SLO), man they couldn't sound more different really!! Yeah, Mesa is balls and a lot looser and less detailed... the Avenger is all about TIGHT grind - SO detailed, it's incredible that totally gained up you can hear every note in a chord!!! Actually, my Mesa Stiletto sounds more similar to the Soldano than the Recto IMO...

Yeah, nothing else even comes close to Hiwatt/Triwatt!!!

_________________
Brent Bodrug
Producer-Engineer/Songwriter

www.slyfichapel.com

Emo, practice your chops. We want to hear some licks!

It will be really interesting to evaluate the Tayden F Series speakers coming from the UK now. Brent, get your 412 HIWATT cab ready. Same cab as Emo's exactly. Trusting Matamps knows what their talking about as the manufacturer said Matamps felt they were a perfect tonal replacement for the old Fanes - new Fanes notwithstanding.

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

Are you getting some Stephen?? Would love to hear them...

_________________
Brent Bodrug
Producer-Engineer/Songwriter

www.slyfichapel.com

Yea, for sure. They have been shipped. And you must hear them!

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

(hehe) If I get around to setting something up. All I have right now is my Zoom H4 recorder. I will warn you that from what Brent tells me our combined guitar skills would probably make some frightening sonic cacophony!

With that said, we'd probably make millions judging by a lot of the "talent" in current pop...did I say that???

BTW - as promised, a pic of the Triwatt with my 2 favorite honeys...