trinityamps.com

Very nice. I've used that exact same stuff (Minwax wipe-on satin) on almost a dozen guitar necks I've put together and on some "unfinished furniture" projects around the house. The only issue I've had with it has been bubbles, not brush strokes. With a bristle brush, foam brush or a rag, I sometimes see little bubbles appear on the long strokes (way more obvious on furniture - and potentially amps - than on guitar necks). It's a matter of watching and hoping the little bubbles burst before the poly hardens up.

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Go Buckeyes!

I noticed the bubbles also. Just gave it a quick second wipe & that got rid of them.

I hadn't thought about using it on guitar necks. Hmmm...

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SG + Brit tube head = Nirvana

I have used it on a guitar neck before as well. Used a clean cloth to wipe it on after applying a cleaner/sealer.

I had to put a coat of poly on after. The stain was water based.

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http://pdfelectronics.com

IMO, it's awesome on guitar necks. It provides the hard, sealed finish that maple necks require. It's as easy as can be to apply. It's more durable and less sticky than nitrocellulose lacqer. And in the satin variety, it's (IMO) perfect in terms of neck slickness. The little bit of satin just makes it as comfortable and slick as can be, particularly if you give it a light going over with 0000 steel wool. Plus, even though it's marketed as clear, the Minwax stuff has just the tiniest bit of yellow-amber tint to slightly warm up the crain. I love the stuff.

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Go Buckeyes!

Just fired the Tramp up for the first time. Close, but no cigar yet. VRM is working. Voltages generally look pretty good. A little higher than spec (420v), likely due to my line voltage being a touch high. The voltages to the pre tube look a little low - about 35-40v down from spec. Have to take a look at that.

I have no output at all at this point. Must have messed something up with either the OT wiring or the power tube wiring. Not even getting the characteristic low level hum through the speaker. I'll have a closer look when I get some time. Started vacation today so I don't know when I'll get back to it.

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SG + Brit tube head = Nirvana

Correction - Tramp is working perfectly! I'll not disclose what my dumb-ass error was.

I'll put it through it's paces tomorrow. I will say this though - it's a VERY quiet amp, even running at full song. Nice.

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SG + Brit tube head = Nirvana

You haven't noticed its addictive quality of tone

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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

Well, yes - there is certainly that.

I've just spent some time playing through the amp with several guitars, 6L6 vs 6V6, yadda, yadda. All tests were through the TT San Rafael in my Tramp cab.

I had a small issue with some hum this morning, but it turned out to be the pre-amp tube. I have very bad luck with pre-tubes & hum for some reason. It's happened to a number of new tubes I've had shipped to me. So, for now, it has a cheap Chinese 12AX7.

In all modes with the 6V6 I find it sounds a little too "boxy" for my taste. It sounds very good, make no mistake, but it does sound like a small amp. To be fair, it does sound very much like a Champ might (in tweed/thin mode) so that's not really a knock on the amp. It does just what I would expect. 'Tude mode does open it up quite a bit. Pretty cool

I dropped a Mesa-branded 6L6 in there and it sounds MUCH better.

More details to follow - have to step out for a bit!

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SG + Brit tube head = Nirvana

What cab is the TT in?

The Tramp sounds anything but "boxy" in my experience.

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http://pdfelectronics.com

When I have been using the Tramp, I never got that impression at all. If anything most of us think of it as a big sounding amp.
The thrashers pull the fat and tude switches and dime everything else, the players tweak constantly as they look for thier tone.
The Tramps are my most used amps, however my personal fav is the Triwatt, the Tramp can go places that the Triwatt won't. When the Tramp is plugged into the WGS Vetran 10 it is a screamer with lots of cone breakup, into the Alnico, smooth articulate with whatever you dial in, together they rock.
I find that the Tramp is very flexible and fun.

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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

It's in the 1x10 Tramp combo cab. With a low-powered amp, small cab & a 10" it's not something unexpected. It's nowhere near the same degree as the Vox combo I had for a while, nor the VJ before I modded it. It's just a natural side effect of all those features. If miked this would probably be irrelevant. With my Tele & Strat I do like it, not so much with my humbucker guitars.

To continue my review, with the 6L6 I really dig the amp. It's a thicker/fuller tone, more furry than hairy when overdriven, more open & round in the bottom end when clean. I thought in the clips that the 6L6 gave it a tweed Bassman feel, and that's certainly the case. In 'Tude mode it's a little more of a Blackface clean, a little more complex & bouncy, and gets more Marshally as you push it into overdrive. Very nice. The fat boost throws a little more crunch into the mix.

With either the 6V6 or 6L6 the VRM is a tad unstable at the lower end of the range, but it's so quiet at those levels it wouldn't really be useful anyway. At usable volume levels it works great.

For my part I can't imagine I'd want to run it with a 6V6 very often. As I noted in my comments of the clips, the 6L6 is more in the ballpark of what I was expecting from the amp. With the VRM the difference it volume is not an issue, and there's more clean headroom to boot. I still would like to try a KT-66. Swappable between 60's Brit & 60's American voices would be much more useful to me.

Guitar wise, here's my thoughts:

Tele (stock) & Strat (Kinman AVN Woodstocks):
Nice with 6V6, killer with 6L6. Does everything I'd want a Fender into a Fender to do, plus more over-the-top capability with the 'Tude & Fat modes. Will do american blues to Deep Purple, and I'm sure country if I was into that.

SG Special (P90 clones):
OK with 6V6, kick-ass with 6L6. Edgy/spanky cleans to growling OD to barking mad. Exactly what I want P90's to do.

SG Standard (Duncan JB/Jon Moore custom):
Meh with 6V6, love it with 6L6. Warm & jazzy cleans, creamy dirty blues, AC/DC-esque crunch when wound out in 'Tude mode.

Overall, a nice & versatile little amp. The only thing missing is a high gain mode, and maybe I'll try adding a second pre-tube at some point to see where that goes. Maybe later in the year. Next step - try it with my other cabs.

DISCLAIMER: Per my post below, please note that these observations we made using the 10" Tone Tubby San Rafael speaker in the Tramp combo cab. YMMV, as I have already discovered by trying other cabs.

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SG + Brit tube head = Nirvana

Well, I just plugged the Tramp into my 1x12 Red Fang cab and it's a COMPLETELY different amp! It sounds shockingly huge. I switched back to the San Rafael and there was the "small amp" feel again. Perhaps I'll have to revise my comments a little. Maybe the 10" San Rafael isn't the best match for the Tramp (for my taste), at least not with the 6V6.

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SG + Brit tube head = Nirvana

Hmmmm....well, I do have a NIB 10" Red Fang at the house

Keith

FWIW, I found the (12") San Rafael to be a very small sounding speaker lacking headroom when I had the chance to hear it... TOTALLY different beast from the other TT's...

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Brent Bodrug
Producer-Engineer/Songwriter

www.slyfichapel.com

I'd love to hear your comments with the Red Fang in there. That was an option we considered but we did like the Jensesn BB Alnico in this application.

Zaphod liked the TT SR.

Any way you slice it, I hope we're able to stick with a 10" in the sprit of the amp!!

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

I'm in Calgary for a few days, but when I get back to the Rock I'll have a chat with Keith about his 10" Fang. I got the 12" from him also.

I've never heard the Blackbird in person so I can't make a comparison. I will try it with my BBQ P12Q clone also for a bit of perspective.

Brent - the 10" San Rafael has that same quality. It really works well with my VJ though, but the Red Fang really doesn't (for my taste).

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SG + Brit tube head = Nirvana

Yes, it sounded OK to me, in a kind of small ampish way. At the time I hadn't finished tweaking the voicing of the amp, and I was hearing some spalttery break-up with the Jensen that I wasn't so much with the San Rafael. Then we switched the prototype amp to the Jensen BlackBird, and I didn't get to listen to the TT SR 10 after that, with the circuit all nicely tweaked. I have sneaking suspicion that an Eminence Ramrod 10" would also sound pretty impressive with a Tramp.

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Great tones come in small glass jars!

I expect you're right there Phil. The Ramrod has some similar characteristics to the Fang.

As I said, with the TTSR the amp did sound a little small & boxy to me, much like a stock Champ. That's not necessarily a bad thing. If you're looking for a small-box tweed vibe it'll nail it. Also, it's not overly loud even when wound out which is cool for some applications. The down side is it doesn't sound as big & is not as dynamic as it could be.

After trying the Fang I gave it a go with my Triwatt cab. Also very nice but I think it sounds better with the Fang.

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SG + Brit tube head = Nirvana

After this post I picked up a cheap Blackheart 110 cab and popped the Red Fang in there to use with my Mesa Transatlantic/Vox Nighttrain/OrangeTiny Terror lunchbox heads and it is to die for

This speaker is not for sale any longer. I suspect it would sound superb in the Tramp, though!

Keith

Hmm, now my interest is up enough to contact the wholesaler here in Canada. The Eminence site still is showing 10" Fed Fangs. I'll keep you posted.

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