trinityamps.com

Hello all!

This is my first post here..

Okay I have an 18 tmb watt and i want make the
Normal channel very voxy and chimey with the most headroom possible

Anyone done this?

I figured i could make the tone pot on the normal channel a global cut control

Seem possible?

Cheers! Take Care!

What you're asking isn't complete achievable. The distortion in a Marshall 18W style amp mostly comes from the power stage. For the Normal channel it almost entirely comes from the power stage. Anything you do to change the breakup of the Normal channel will therefore affect both channels. For example, you could try changing the two 470k resistors on the EL84 grids to 220k, so that the power stage breaks up a bit later on the dial, although it will still be the same in loudness terms. Personally, I find I can get great Voxy tones on the Normal channel with the Volume control set to around 2 on the dial and also rolling back the guitar volume a little. With a germanium Rangemaster pedal in front I can totally nail Brian May's tones. These pedals add a lot of extra chime and harmonic complexity to an amp's tone.

Regarding your other question, it is possible to disconnect the Normal channel's tone control circuit and then use the pot for a Cut control which affects both channels.

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Great tones come in small glass jars!

Well what if I wanted to revamp the amp completely and make a TC15 style "voxier" amp

Could I do this with the iron that I have, or is it a must that I get new trannys?

The transformers you have will work fine, although if you have the Trinity 18W OT, it has two different impedance options, in case you want to go for a more Matchless style tone. If you simply change the to 470k resistors on the EL84s to 220k the amp will develop a more Voxy vibe especially on the Normal channel. So no need to go too radical.

To make it even cooler dismantle the Normal preamp, and parallel up the now spare triode with the TMB channel's first triode. Now put in an EF86 in for your Normal channel, following the TC-15's EF86 channel design. You will then have an amp with one Vox channel and one Marshall channel.

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Great tones come in small glass jars!

You've just described the perfect 18 watt amp to me. While I lurked and debated between the sIII and Plexi, you've described one better than both ... IMO.

My favorite personal amp all time was a Trace Elliot Velocette. Great, Vox type tones, but I hated the lower rear controls. I've steered away from the TC-15 because, as much as I liked my Velocette, I never really thought much of Matchless Lightnings. Yeah, I must be weird. But to have a Vox type channel and a Marshall type channel would be outrageous.

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Go Buckeyes!

18W amps like this have actually been built by some folk. So the idea is perfectly practical. You would need to add one extra tube to the preamp - the EF86.

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Great tones come in small glass jars!