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I have been on the sidelines in this forum for a while now just reading/learning, etc. Finally pulled the trigger this week and ordered the TMB 18 watt kit from Stephen and can't wait for its arrival.

I have built and modified several pedals so hopefully I am more or less ready for an amp.

My kit hasn't arrived yet, but I thought I should get registered in this forum so I am all set to ask the inevitable questions

Cheers!

Welcome to the community. You'll have a blast with your first build for sure.

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

Welcome welcome.

remember patience and lead dress. Do it right the first time so you don't want to cry the first time you fire it up and don't hear any sound.

or just make sure you solder in ALL the ground wires...

I always seem to foget just one!

AJC

So what's up!!!!!

Are you building or what????

Trinity amps are the best.

Hi Bigfoot. Welcome to the forum that keeps me off the streets - and my bank account rather empty...

That first build is lots of fun. Nothing more satisfying as a player than plugging into something you built yourself...especially when it leaves people slack-jawed as Trinity's stuff generally does!

No money for crack when all the funds go to trinity amps.

Coco has become my connection. Trinity amps ARE my "crack"...

All parts are 'in the house', including tubes. My trouble is that I am a tax man by trade so I have been working a bazillion hours since my Trinity kit arrived a few weeks ago....that's all over now though. I have been reading the build guide off and on since the kit arrived and I must say that I am pretty comfortable with everything except maybe some of the wiring -- a bit confusing to read, but I am hoping that things will make more sense when I am actually working on it.

Thanks for all of the kind welcomes -- I can't wait to get started, but I will probably be slow and deliberate.

and you are absolutely right. Take it slow and easy. If your uncomfortable with something. Email.
And email again.
We'll all help alone the way.
Cheers

Ok, finally got started and think that building an amp is about as cool as sliced bread. Having a blast. I have the heaters wired, the transformers in (but not wired), and the board all populated. Seems like that is probably all of the easy stuff (hah!).

I have my first question: As I read the manaul about hooking up the power and standby switches, I am hoping someone can clarify what is meant by "make sure the switch is in the desired on position when the connection is 'made'? Does this mean that as I am soldering the wires in place on the switch, that the switch should be in the 'on' position? Does this mean that whatever position the switch is in when soldering the wires, then that becomes the 'on' position?

For some reason this confuses me and I appreciate any clarification.

Thanks!

Just ensure the switches are in the chassis and oriented correctly with the "On," "Off," and "Standby" labels of the faceplate.

It's a real bummer if you have to flip it 180 later on...

Just check it for continuity with a meter to confirm the "on" position for alignment.

Grab your ohm meter. Check the resistance across the terminals of the switch. If it's Zero, that's the "On" position. Orient the switch accordingly.

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

We all love to play

We all love to sing

Thanks -- I think I got it.

OK, I have everything built and I think I have reached a certain level of success (i.e. all 4 inputs produce guitar sounds through a speaker -- Yee Ha!!). Before turning it on, I did a pretty thorough check-through, including checking continuity all over the thing, double checking component values, etc. Not being familiar with these amps, however, I am uncertain if mine is working and sounding as it should. Unfortunately, I haven't been in much of a position to really crank the amp so I don't really have a great feel for the overdrive/distortion sounds, but at low volume the clean sounds are really quite nice. Do I need to crank this thing in order to get the gain that these things are famous for??

Most of my doubts come from my voltage readings which seem to be low in several cases (with a few exceptions which seem to be right on). I would appreciate any comments on my voltages. I could post a photo of my build too if that would help. Anyway, on with the voltages (all in DC unless noted otherwise). My method of taking voltages was to clip the black lead of my multimeter to the chassis, then meausred voltages on the tube pins, etc. (is that right?):

V1 P1: 128
P3: 1.04
P6: 134.1
P8: 1.01

V2 P1: 137
P3: 0.93
P6: 260
P8: 141.1

V3 P1: 195
P2: 37
P3: 77.5
P6: 192
P7: 35.9
P8: 77.8

V4 P3: 11.88
P7: 351
P9: 337

V5 P3: 11.87
P7: 349
P9: 337

V6 P1: 306 AC
P3: 358
P7: 307 AC

My AC mains is at 122 VAC
B+ with no tubes installed is 427 VDC
B+ with tubes is 359 VDC

As I look at these, it seems that my power tubes are pretty much right on, but the preamp tubes have several readings lower than the documents that came with the kit. The rectifier tube has variances, but don't seem to be too far off.

I have the TMB version.

Any help would be appreciated.

Hey Bigfoot, anyone chime in here, but to me , the voltages look pretty good. As to the sound, I'd say you'd have to definitely get some air moving to really get some good crunch out of a simple guitar/amp arrangement.

So, schedule some alone time, and spank it! Then, let us know, and send a couple of your favorite clips, too!

J

My thoughts FWIW. I will work, could be better.

B+ is good, Most voltages are good.

V2
P1: 137 bit low. check 100K resistor between pin 6 & 1 and the conn from 1 to 7.

V3
P2: 37 low check the 470K resistors. check the solder joint on tube socket
P7: 35.9 low. ditto

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

Thanks for the tips Stephen. I have checked the things you suggested and, gosh, all of the connections seem good to me. Before I installed the resistors, I know they checked out to be the right values -- I am not sure how to check them now since they are in the circuit.

I thought at this point I should post a few pictures for some seasoned eyes to see. I left several leads unclipped for now -- my plan was to clip all of those off once all was ok (I assume long tails on some components would not cause voltage problems but don't know for sure).

I would appreciate any comments and suggestions for what to do next. Also, with my voltages, what would you say about how my amp would sound differently than one with voltages in-line with the design (as Stephen said and as I experience, my amp works -- I would just like to know what would be different if I was succesful in fixing my problem(s)).

Thanks to all!

Just reheat the join on V3 pin 3, 8 and the board 820 ohm resistor and check continuity. If that doesnt solve V3 P2: 37 low and P7: 35.9 low
]you can measure the resistance right on the board so check the 470K resistors and the 56K .

Try another tube as well, or at least move V1 to V3 for example.

I would think it would not be a loud and also more distortion,

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