trinityamps.com

Took my Triwatt build on a 3 hour test run and this amp sounds great!! It seems to be able to sound kind of clean and dirty at the same time.

When I initially powered the amp up for the first time, I wasn't paying attention to the fact that at one point during the build, I'd set all of the controls to 10 and forgotten about it (I hadn't installed the knobs yet). When I hit that first G chord, it was glorious! It was the first time in a long time that I've gotten a little concerned about my hearing though...

During the test run, I kept checking the power transformer and it only got ever so slightly (just barely) warm to the touch - I'm presuming this is normal as mentioned in the Triwatt build manual. The output transformer remained cool.

My only minor concern is that even at just ~20-25 watts, it's just a tad overpowered for my needs (I'm running Tung Sol 6V6GT's in it currently). It'd be great to find a way to half the output to something between 10-15 watts and still be able to push the power tubes to take advantage of the nice, warm crunch they're capable of - I found myself missing the power tube breakup and bass thump when I turned the master volume down. Aside from building an attenuator, any ideas on if it's possible to push the power tubes but with lower volume overall via a mod of some type?

I could see the Triwatt easily ousting my JCA20H as my go to amp if I'm able to install a footswitch-able solo boost in the Triwatt at some point (my JCA20H has been modded with a foot switchable boost). I guess I could probably accomplish a solo boost of sorts by running the guitar into an A/B pedal with output A running into Normal channel for rhythm and output B running to the Link input for solos (set the Bright volume higher than the Normal volume for boost), or is there any concern with that?

I would bet that a straight up clean boost, like a ZVex SHO, EH LPB, or may other choices, would work great as a solo boost. Same vein, many overdrive pedals with the gain down and the volume up do the same thing - most famously Tube Screamer types, though they of course add some mid hump/subtract some bass. If you go to a MosFet type boost, they also add a little crunch that's very tasty, and they're *generally* pretty colourless in terms of adding or subtracting tone. I had an HBE Dos Mos (2-in-one box) that was great for this application, though it did add a ton of volume and so wasn't suitable for all applications.

Thanks keto.

I own an OCD pedal with which I have a like/"don't like" relationship with depending on my mood and the application - I generally really like the OCD for the first 15 minutes of playing through it until I realize it sounds just a little too muddy. I also have an EH LPB-1 which I don't use much although I'm not sure why I don't use it because I don't dislike it (there are a couple of double negatives in that statement I'm sure). In any case, I've never really had great luck with using boost pedals when the gain is turned up in the amp, which is generally the way I run it.

The LPB-1 worked great with a Fender DRRI I used to own as that amp was always run fairly clean, but the LPB-1 never had any effect with my JCA20H in terms of boosting the signal - I always run that amp hot and the boosted signal is squashed back to normal through the preamp so the only effect is that the tone gets a little thicker (but not louder). That said, I probably should try it with the Triwatt.

Yeah, I hear you about boosting higher gain amps. It can be challenging, if the boost isn't built into the circuit and footswitchable.