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So, I finally got back into my Tramp after a night off. I added the spacer bolts to both push/pull switches as I had somehow missed that step during the camp. I seem to have misplaced the 3 fiber washers for the power switch which makes the end of that shaft line up evenly with the other controls (no biggie there). Onto the more nitty gritty of my "fixes", I repositioned a 100K 1W resistor (hopefully far enough out of the way) and installed one of the ground wires that I had overlooked. Below are pictures of these last 2 more crucial "fixes". I have not tested beyond this, but Stephen seemed to think that these 2 fixes might be enough to get this Tramp singing. I'll have to update my progress later.


Here is the repositioned 100K 1W resistor (it had been sitting on the eyelet in between it's connections).
To the right of it is the green ground wire connected to the 1000uf 50V eyelet.


I guess I should mention (although it is probably apparent by looking at my workmanship) that this is my first amp build. Actually, this is the first real build of any kind beyond replacing a potentiometer or switching out a speaker. I do feel that a lot of hurdles have been overcome by this experience and I do think that my next build will be a neater, cleaner build.

If you notice anything from these pictures that looks "off" or suspect, please let me know.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the camp and for those who willingly offer their help and experience to those of us less experienced.

Cheers!

Johnny

Here are the last photos I took tonight after the "fixes" mentioned above.

Johnny,

A lot of people missed that ground connection from the 500 uf caps on the power supply side.
If you miss it, then when you measure voltages with tubes in, you get almost b+ on the cathode of the power tube (on the 750 ohm resistor).

You should be good to restart.

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

That looks good Johnny. I'm going to tackle my fixes this weekend.
I was wondering also about powering up the amp without using a Variac. I re-read the manual but I didn't see anything about powering it up without the Variac, I guess because there was one available for the course.

Thanks for the comment: Re- "Looks Good"
I think the Variac was there to power up at the beginning and run the initial test. I'm not sure though and I don't have a Variac either. Is it safe (once I have a speaker installed) to just power up? I have re-read the manual as well about powering up and testing the sound by tapping the cable before plugging in the guitar, but could really use some reassurance or extra info before powering up. I still have yet to rig up a speaker (I may have to "borrow" one from one of my other amps to test). I was hoping to get some info on the speaker wiring. Can anyone show me what a speaker wire to 1/4" jack input is supposed to look like? How is it connected? Are there any recommended shops in which to pick up the cable/jack/connectors needed? A1 I guess, but maybe something closer to Downtown Toronto. Also, I know one of the jacks on the TRAMP is for the main speaker and one for an extension cab, does it make a difference which one is used?

I'd really love to see what some of the others with combos have used for speakers and their connections if possible...


Anxiously (patiently) waiting...

If Stephen or myself used the variac already on your amp and you didn't get any smoke or craziness you should be fine. Personally I don't use a variac anymore for starting up amps. It's good on first builds though, you know cause you slowly bring the voltage up and if there is anything wrong you should be able to see it fairly quickly (before the voltages get high and things get nasty).

So yeah if you feel confident in your build and have checked it over numerous times plug in a load and start it up. It does not matter what speaker jack you use, just make sure you have the impedance switch set correctly.

As for getting a 1/4" jack source downtown. Check out Honson Electronics and Creatron both at College and Spadina. I like the 1/4" jacks at Honson myself. Both places are really great places, cheap with wide selections. I spend wayyy too much time and money at both. If you have doubts about about what your buying talk to Lawrence at Creatron, very helpful guy.


I use a Jensen Blackbird 10" AlNiCo. 100W speaker that just sounds amazing, that's me though.


Chris...

_________________
http://pdfelectronics.com

Chris,

Thanks a lot. Yeah I noticed your Jensen. I've been a big fan of Jensen's because a lot of my older amps (Fender, Gretsch/Valco, etc.) have used them. I think your speaker goes for $250 + though and that's a bit out of my range, but it sure looks nice and I'll bet it sounds great. I'll check those sources that you mentioned. College and Spadina isn't too far from me. I've used the Jensen MOD with some success and like the Vintage Ceramic series (I seem to buy the budget speakers...wish I could afford more). Thanks for your assistance. Rock!

Thanks Chris. My chassis actually did smoke when Stephen put the Variac on it and started to turn it up. You gave me some replacement parts for the ones that may have fried, so I'm replacing those. I think I'll pull the board right out and check everything again just to be sure though. I went through a couple of fuses on Sunday when I was trying to get the amp running.

Brian

Instead of a Variac, you can use a "Light Bulb Limiter" to first power-up your amp - see http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/SPO_Test.htm He calls it by some other name in this article, but they're most commonly known as Light Bulb Limiters. You can use different light bulb wattages for different series resistances. High wattage bulbs have the lowest resistance and vice versa.


That's the problem with most AlNiCo speakers. The Cobalt they use all comes from Congo (aka Zaire) and is in high demand in the nuclear industry. So the prices keep going up.

Personally, for ceramic speakers, I would recommend something more Celestion style for the Tramp, either from Celestion, Eminence, Webber or WGS. Eminence's hemp cone Li'l Buddy might also work nicely in the Tramp, and it's only around $75.

_________________
Great tones come in small glass jars!

I've been checking out the WGS speakers. Never used them or even heard of them until just recently. I'm definitely looking for more of a "budget" speaker so any thoughts there in terms of recommendations? Also, the TRAMP can accommodate 4, 8 or 16 ohms. Any thoughts there on ohm values and what they will do for the TRAMP. I am a novice in this area too. Most amps that I've had to replace with speakers have a fixed ohm rating and therefore it was pretty easy to replace. Thanks for your advice and I look forward to hearing your replies.

WGS G10C is a bit of a Ragin Cajun sound 72cdn
WGS Vetran 10 is a lot british 55cdn

Although expensive in comparison the G10A is a phenominal speaker 239cdn
It is what I have in my Tramp combo.

I started to use WGS because of the price and now I use them because they sound that good.

_________________
Fantasy Noise is what my shop of dreams is called and was the only way to beat my addiction, like many here I suffer from G.A.S.


Tele's make the best noise

Thanks zaphod, this will help a lot.

Brian

Suggest you try Zaphods Light Bulb Limiter and also check that the 100R 5W power resistor in that power 'chain' is not touching or connected to ground. It was frying the diodes and that resistor (which managed to survive). The MOSFET is quite expensive.

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

Thanks. I'm going to check out those places today to get a jack and some speaker wire. What ohms rating is your Jensen Blackbird 10"?

Ok, so I went to Creatron Electronics and talked to Lawrence and bought a 1/4" plug and some speaker wire. I came home soldered wire to plug (red at center black at end). I powered up amp with a 10" 8 ohm speaker that I pulled from a 6x10" cabinet (I only twisted wires at end to test and have not soldered wire to speaker). The pilot light on amp is lit and tubes are glowing; no smoke or funny smells or anything suspect. I then plug in instrument cable and turn up volume on amp slightly and tap the end of cable and the amp is completely silent. I'm not sure what to do next. I'm thinking that perhaps the speaker may be suspect as I picked this 6x10" cab up a couple months ago and haven't really used it. I have heard it working, but not sure all of the speakers are working in it. So, I guess I can try another one. Any other suggestions?

Also, is anyone free to help me with the testing of this amp? I can come to you and buy you a 6-pack or lunch...
This is my first build and I'm reading the manual but feel like I'm flying blind.

Thanks Stephen, I'll do that. If you remember we unsoldered the diodes and checked the voltages on them and they seemed to be ok but we had blown the fuse. I reconnected everything and tried it again with Chris but we blew a fuse again. Nothing got hot or smoked that time though. I remember you saying that you were wondering about the MOSFET at the time. I'll try to be careful.
If the MOSFET is bad is there a way I can test it to see?

Brian

Looked over Tramp again tonight. I went over connections from layout to my build and found that I had left out the connection from the 1K 2W resistors shown here with the chopstick (red wire top left at 1K 2W resistor). I thought, "that's it!" it should work now. I used a 10" 8 ohm speaker (that I know to be working) and fired up the amp again...silence...again.


The thought then occurred to me that perhaps because my 1/4" speaker jacks are upside down and therefore the black wire from the OT is going to the sleeve. Could this be why I'm not getting any sound?

I will likely be in the same boat as you later today - no sound.

I have one more shielded wire to add in first - then I'll be chasing the no-sound issue.
I will let you know what I find.

Check your connections to the switch that toggles between 6L6 and 6V6. If they are good, then your problem lies in the signal circuit.

One thing that was encouraging is the fact that the signal circuit is pretty small.
If you look at the schematic, it's everything to the left of that switch.

Signal circuit is everything left of that switch while looking down and into the amp (as pictures show above)?
What do you think about the speaker jacks that I mentioned and showed pics of? Could that be an issue?
Also, I wonder about my shielded wires as when I was pulling back the braided shield I'm not sure if I have enough of the shield to make proper connections. They were able to be soldered, but are pretty thin.

Check your 6V6/6L6 switch, it looks like your missing a bridging connection.

For no signal...
- check your jumpers
- coax (shorting the inner core (signal) and shield (ground) is very common)
- check your wiring, mainly around pots and tube socket.


Chris...

_________________
http://pdfelectronics.com

The speaker jacks are correct...we found out at the the layout is backwards so your is actually wired correctly.
I have mine wired backwards still and according to Chris all that does is put the speakers 180 degrees out of phase which is only an issue running multiple amps.

I wouldnt think that the not having the sheild on the coax cables not grounded properly would cause a no output condition either.....if not grounded properly I would think that would only potentially cause some extra noise as the other end ot the sheild doesnt connect to anything anyways........now with that said if for some reason the core is shorting to ground, this could cause an issue......you can test for this by checking continuity between the core and ground......if you DO have continuity then you know you have a short to ground someplace in that wire.

If you want to take a few more pics from some different angles I will keep looking, but I cant see anything standing out to me in the pics you have currently.

2 last ideas:
1 are you getting good continuity on the jumpers under the board?
2 is your MOSFET connection good? I had a connection issue with the center pin originally and ended up extending it with some extra resistor lead.......you can check again with continuity testing between the leads off the MOSFET and the top of the board.

Hope this helps man, good luck!
-Dana