trinityamps.com

But I don't have any subliminal messages or spam. What I do have is a couple of Trinity transformers on the way so I'm going to ask the broad question what combination of preamps would people suggest I put in front of the power amp? I've got two amps to build and I'm not real keen on a tremolo, I've got one VVR as well and I'm wondering what people find they use a lot of. Normal channel and PA distortion sounds good to me but I don't know much about the tmb or plexi. I've got about 6 amps under my belt and I'm not a fan of hi-gain.

sIII

Nice lower gain. (JTM-45 voiced)

I vote for a Trinity Plexi. It's got balls. But this is good old vintage Marshall type gain, not Messy Booger type gain.

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Great tones come in small glass jars!

I would definitely say that Zaphod's recommendation carries about 1000 times more weight than mine. I just love my sIII voiced amp and I am also not a high gain junkie. No Messy Booger's here!

Actually I disagree. My opinion is just one opinion, and tastes are subjective. So your vote for the sIII carries every bit as much weight as mine for the Trinity Plexi. And there's only a few component values' difference between the two anyway. So it's real easy to convert one into the other. Actually I like the sIII too, but let's pretend I never said that because I just voted for the Plexi.

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Great tones come in small glass jars!

OK I'm still getting a handle on all the variations of 18 schematics so stop me if I make a mistake. The normal channel is based on one triode and is based on the original 18-trem and plexi's? The difference between the two seems to be the cathode RC?
The sIII and Plexi are both 3 triodes and one is cath follower, based on the tmb?, with slight variations so the plexi has a bit more gain?
Without looking at other variations of EF86 and tremolo those are the main preamp voicings?

I would imagine you are looking for a zircon encrusted tone.
Would you all like some more-a /

Sorry ... brought back some funny memories for me.

The Normal channel is based on the single-stage preamp of the classic tremolo Marshall 18W amp. The TMB channel of the TMB family amps (TMB, sIII and Trinity Plexi) is based on the Marshall Plexi preamp design. Marshall themselves never made a TMB 18W. These three amps are slightly differently voiced versions of the same design.

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Great tones come in small glass jars!

My vote would be Plexi also... more balls, more teeth... more of everything really... especially inspiration!!!!

But then again, what do I know since I love my Messy Boogers! Y'all really need to check out the clean ch on a Stage 1 Stiletto or an F50 or a Mark 2... Hell, I even love my 2 ch Dual Recto!!!

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Brent Bodrug
Producer-Engineer/Songwriter

www.slyfichapel.com

OK I'm going to do a sIII and a Trinity Plexi to compare the two and see what both sound like next to each other.

No point in building two, when they're almost exactly the same amp. Just a few resistor and cap values are what separates them. Order a kit with the few additional caps and resistors that are different. Build one version and then mod it into the other. Now aren't you glad I saved you all that money.


BTW I never said Messy Boogers were bad, just that we're not anywhere in that kind of gain ballpark with these amps.

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Great tones come in small glass jars!

Should explain I'm building two amps as it's one for a friend and one for me which will give me the luxury? of being able to compare the two designs side by side. I'm doing most of my own chassis' stuff so I've got a supply of gpo board and turrets, 16 by 8 by 2 aluminium (not aluminum will that make a difference ) and a router to build some pine cabs for the heads. I've got to ask the prickly question of resistors, and I usually get confused about the name, but carbon comp do they affect the tone in certain positions? Also Is there a dimension on the turret board that someone would suggest for a 16 by 8 chassis? I'm laying out the parts on my standard but it does look a bit squashed at the moment.

OK looks like I was ambitous to try and fit this into a 16 by 8 chassis. I wanted to have one amp built for a demo this week so I'll keep squeezing everything in and see if it's free of quirks. Can't get a bigger chassis done this week Really can see how a 20 inch chassis would make life easier. But I'll redo the build later.

People have different resistor preferences. I generally go for carbon film, for some nice warmth without a lot of hiss. Those are mainly what Marshall used in the original 18W amps. Carbon comps just for the 100k PI load resistors (you actually only need one of them to be CC) to add a little more asymmetric sweetness. But like I said folks have different preferences, and there's no hard and fast rule about it.

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Great tones come in small glass jars!

OK amp seems to be running quite well. Have made some errors though, got the PT on the wrong axis to the layout but small hum from the core fields seems insignificant. Could this cause any other issues with induction between the transformers?. sIII channel sounds great and LOUD but the Normal channel seems to be about 2 or 3 watts at max with no hint of distortion. Is this to be expected or did I miss something? Thanks in advance

Doh found out what the lack of volume was, I had a bunch of resistors incorrectly labeled 470K instead they were 470ohm and I had left one in the voltage divider hence the lack of gain. Nice and loud now!