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Hi folks. Here's the start of my build thread. Received everything yesterday.

Not much to report yet. I have some of the hardware mounted but I won't be able to really get into it until tonight.

But, as a teaser, here's how I did the ground buss. This is using 20-gauge tinned buss wire that I had kicking around from a previous project. The long bus is one solid piece wrapped snugly around each turret.

two wires down.... how many left to go? Whew!

It didnt look like too many after I was done, untill I opened up my 18 watter to have a look and then realised how much more complex the Triwatt is.

Have fun! I wish I could do another

AJC

I guess you'll have to wait for Stephen & Phil to complete their next design Andrew! You do have quite the Trinity collection!

And here's my latest update - completed board!




I did miss one jumper (that I know of) in the top of the board. Caught it when I double-checked. Not to say I didn't miss another. There's a lot of them!

The schem & layout show a 2uf cap between those two 1k resistors on the left end of the board. I received a 1uf. I'm gonna assume that's OK?

I must say, even though the component count is higher than the other Trinity kits, this one went MUCH smoother. If I could make a recommendation to our Trinity friends, do all future designs this way!

And now, think I'll get something to eat. A man can't live on solder fumes alone...

Good eye. Yes, 1uf shipped. We used both in the prototype . No real noticable difference. Theoritcal perhaps



Glad you like it. That kind of design uses about 20% more turrets and is longer board. The board doesnt really matter but those turrets are very expensive!! Still, I like it too!

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

I thought as much. I won't worry about that cap then.

I guess it's not so much the cost of the turrets themselves, but the time & effort to install them? Without too much probing I can see where you could remove 15 + turrets if you wanted to without sacrificing the integrity of the layout too much (but there would be an ergonomic impact for builders & maintenance). Probably several more if you wanted to get adventurous.

I'm not recommending you do that mind you...I really love this approach! And if maintenance ever becomes necessary this will be cake to work on.

The turrets themselves work out somewhat pricey too, especially as each board takes quite a lot of them. But we wanted to evoke something of the original Hiwatt construction style under the chassis too.

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Great tones come in small glass jars!

Two days and no report! Hmm, Must be the solder fumes!

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

getting excited
hey those solder fumes smell great!!

You want a report? You got a report!

OK - I didn't check in last night because I was busy soldering & pre-assembling. I haven't checked in today because I was doing same. Now, however, I have things to say!

I have the amp assembled & it fires up fine. I'm getting sound. Voltages are close or dead on except for pin 6 on the PI which is reading 275. Maybe because I have a 12ax7 in there at the moment?

I think I may have messed something up when wiring the bias test points. Either that or something is messed up in my bias supply wiring. Have to re-check that. I'm getting very low readings on my meter regardless of where the pot is positioned.

I am getting more hum than I expected. Might be a bad ground somewhere. Have to check that too. Seems to be wrose on the bright channel, but that may just be because it's brighter...

I did miss one jumper on the bass pot between pins 1 & 2. Simple fix.

The overdrive squeals like crazy. Not sure what's up there. It does boost the gain substantially, but not crazily. It's definitely not a guitar issue...it does it even when there's nothing plugged in. I'll have to do some chopsticking I guess.

Overall, looking promising. Just have to work the bugs out - & correct any errors I might have made!

The PI voltages will certainly come out different with a 12AX7, since 12AX7s bias a lot colder than 12AT7s.

_________________
Great tones come in small glass jars!

Is the ground for the bias caps connected? ajc missed his and had hum & bias problems.

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

And the jumper between the 620 / 180K resistors to the diode?

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

yes that missing ground from the + side of the two electrolytics to ground was my problem. But my bias was reading high, not low.

My OD was also squealing but not untill I turned it up to 3 oclock. However some wiring moves fixed that. I cant take a photo because I am in Timmins for the weekend and the amp is in Kirkland Lake.

My amp is very very quiet, even at high volume and with the OD up all the way. Got to be something missing or?

AJC

You mean the amp's not real loud??

_________________
Great tones come in small glass jars!

OK...calm down y'all!

I have the biasing issue fixed. It was the bias cap ground. It was there & had continuity. Guess it was a bad solder job on my part. Biasing perfectly now.

I think I figured out the noise issue too. After I went back in to fix the couple of problem I had & fired it back up, no sound. Buh? It was pumping to the output tubes (that faint hum was there that's always in tube amps), but not a peep other than that. I messed around for a bit, did some chopsticking, etc...nothing.

then I wound out the master & one of the channel volumes - BINGO! Well, not exactly. I got noise, but that's all it could be called. I was getting kinda frustrated at this point I sat back in my chair feeling pretty bummed.

Then I notice the PI tube was rather bright. Odd. I opened the volumes back up & played a little & when I'd get sound, the PI got dimmer. Could I have a bad PI tube maybe? I swapped it and BAM! We're in business! Less hum too. I expect some as I have the thing in the den in front of my computer, but substantially quiter than before. I played through it for a bit with no issues, and it sounds fine.

I'll have better feedback when I take it to the living room & lean on it for a bit. Also have to put better tubes in there - just have cheap-ass Sovteks in it now (OK tubes, but I find them really sterile). I wasn't gonna ause my sweet bottles for the initial fire-up!

Probably no more tonight though...I haven't eaten yet today!!! I'll post some pics tomorrow also. Hopefully the innards aren't too embarrassing!

Oh - by the way, I still have the squealing issue with the OD up there. Similar problem to Andrew...fine up to a point & then just goes batshit somewhere around 2:00 or so. Looking forward to seeing his solution!

We're gonna have to see pictures and get Andrew to comment on which lead dress made the difference on the OD.

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

OK - I'm pumped, so I had to post a couple of pics!

Gutshot...what you all want to see I'm sure! A couple of spots where the wiring could be tidier, but not bad.



And front view of completed chassis...

Guessing the OD is still squealing, so can you zoom in a little on the OD / V2 area some time?

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

Yeah - it is. Gonna do some experimenting tomorrow. If it's still a problem I'll let you know. I'm betting it's a lead dress issue. It sounds exactly like what Andrew was talking about. The OD does work & sounds great until it hits that point where it loses control.

Well I didn't get much time for experimenting with teh Triwatt today (Saturday) as planned. I did just plug in for an bit while watching the late hockey game. I only played for a half hour or so total so this won't be too detailed. Just first impressions really.

The tube complement (for the moment) is a Mullard re-issue in V1, Tung-Sols in V2 & V3, and a Sovtek 12AX7 in the PI. The power tubes are Tung-Sol 6V6's. I was playing through my closed-back 2x12 with V30's.

First, I will say that I don't like the Triwatt with Vintage 30's. I said that for the V30 clips Brent recorded also. Having played through them myself I hold to that statement. I don't like them with other Brit amps either. They're just too top-end edgy for my tastes. However, the Triwatt will rip through any mix imaginable with V30's I think.

I tried three guitars tonight - my SG Special with GFS Mean 90's, my SG Standard with JS Moore humbuckers (Black Widow bridge & custom wound neck) and my Ibanez RG with EMGs (81/85).

The P90 SG really cut hard. Very gritty & biting when overdriven. More open & jangly clean.

The SG Standard was rockin big time! Huge tone. Felt like I was playing through a 4x12. And this was without the overdrive. Just massive.

The Ibanez was a pleasant surprise. If you thought the Triwatt wouldn't handle over-the-top high gain metal, think again! I had the channel volumes well up there with the normal channel dimed & the bright channel at about 1 o'clock, the tone stack at around noon across the board, and the master up around 2 o'clock. Kicked in the overdrive at around 11 o'clock. Wow! Molten metal tone. I rolled the mids back to about 9 o'clock & got a scooped modern feel happening. Just for kicks I pushed the overdrive up as far as I could get it before my squealing issue kicked in and it was completely nuts.

Overall I actually liked the amp better through my 1x12 open-backed cab better (Epi VJ cab with the stock Eminence Lady Luck). It's a bit more laid back & warm and that works (to my ears) for Brit voiced heads. I had the same experience with Fortis's Orange Tiny Terror. Didn't like it at all through the V30's, but loved it in the darker cab.

I suspect I'm going to prefer a 12AT7 in the PI too. It's very in-your-face with the 12AX7. Have to try it with different speakers first though. Can't wait for my Triwatt 2x12 from Stephen so I can load up my Fane clones!

I'll try to do some more experimenting tomorrow. I have to see if I can get rid of that squealing in the OD too, but I can't imagine ever needing to run it up that high!