trinityamps.com

Hello everybody!


Since a while I have been reading about 18 Watt clones and I finally decided to build one. The only thing which is hard now is to choose which version of Trinity's 18 Watt I should order?
A little information about my equipment so far and where I come from soundwise:
Most of the time I play a Gibson Les Paul Standard through a Mesa Stiletto Ace (a 50W EL34 based amp - british tones only and a really nice clean for a EL34 amp). I use here mostly the first channel and I am quite satisfied with the clean and crunch tones, BUT..
I have heard several recordings in the past where 18 Watt clones were used and the feeling of wanting one has been with me ever since. Then I found 18 Watt, Trinity and here I am.

Some sounds, which could perhaps give you kind of a direction I am looking for:
- Bad Company - Can't get enough (guitar intro)
- Free - Fire & Water
- Little Caeser - Down'n Dirty (the guitar intro - from their first album I think)
- ZZTop - Brown Sugar (the first album) (I like the bite in the tone - Pearly Gates classic for me, I read somewhere that Billy used Marshalls on this first recording, but am not sure (?))
- Great White - All over now (the intro - I know, it's one of the classic Marshall sounds - probably a 2203, but it doesn't seem to compressed(?))
- I like the sound of AC/DC's Let there be rock album, but looking at their recordings, they changed their sounds from recording to recording, for example "Powerage" has more presence in the sound..
- Deep Purple - Mistreated from the 1974 California Jam live recording (I simply love Blackmore's tone here!)

(I think I read somewhere that on some early recordings they had been using (probably Angus) some 18 Watt Marshalls (?), but I don't remember where I read this. I know that Angus uses mostly 45 Watt JTM's from the 60ies, with Malcolm using also some 100W from 67 or 68 (?), but this article mentioned that they also used some 18W Marshall's during the 70ies.)

I know that reading AC/DC might lead you to the conclusion that a Trinity 18 Watt Plexi might be the amp for me, but I am not sure, as those sounds I mentioned earlier (Free, Bad Company, Deep Purple) are the direction I am looking for.

Can it be done with the Trinity Plexi or would a TMB be better? I am not a high gain guy and Classic Rock and Blues Rock is where I want to go. But it seems to me, that the TMB does ZZTop quite well, so...

When I heard Unimind's (Les) Plexi, I was blown away from the sound quality, but still don't know which of the 3 models to choose from.
On the Trinity site, the most appealing clips were the TMB ones, I liked especially the clean sound of "Blue Billy" on the TMB 18 W. So the TMB seems to have quite a nice clean!
But after hearing Unimind's Plexi clips he posted in this forum, I have a hard time deciding. The clean and crunch/dirty sounds of his Plexi are awsome.
On the other hand the sIII clip "Normal Channel - tone 4, vol 10, Humbucker" seemed too compressed to me, but the clip sIII "TMB Channel - B 5, M 6, T 7, V 10, M 10" was very pleasing and I liked this sound! But I read in some posts that people were not satisfied with the gain amount of a sIII and wanted more gain, so they modded it into this direction.

I like the TMB's normal channel, which is practically the original 18 W non-tremolo channel, but can the Plexi, which for the normal channel has a plexi lead channel do similar stuff like the TMB in its normal channel? And how much are the TMB's and Plexi's TMB-channel voiced differently: are they similar or are they something completely different? That is, can I for example do with a TMB 18 W similar stuff like with a Plexi 18 W in the TMB channel?
I know that the sIII is the low gain version, the Plexi the mid gain version and the TMB the high gain version.

So, to keep it simple: I am quite confused and don't have a clue which one to choose.
Which one of this trio is the more versatile? Which one would be the match for my Les Paul?

Hopefully I didn't confuse everybody with my long question and thinking! Please help, if somebody has more of a clue than I do.
Every input is welcome!

Goran


P.S.
I plan to build a Combo with probably 2x12'' - a Celestion g12H30 and a Celestion Alnico Blue (?). I want a broad wall of sound, that's why I am tending towards a 2x12 Combo! I am intending to build the Combo box by myself. This will be my first amp-build, but I am quite confident that it should not be a problem.

I don't know if it is allowed to post clips here from other sources, but this is the direction I am looking for

http://www.youtube.com/user/skaboosh#p/u/27/of_xEvs6bKM

Cheers,

Goran

Hi Goran,

Like you I like to play a variety of styles from rock to blues to heavy metal that is why I built my amp the way I did. I chose the Pexi version because it was the middle of the road and was already voiced close to what I was looking for. Then I just modded it to my taste. I really think you would like the stock Plexi. Good sounds from clean to crunch. And if you want more you can then change a few components and you can have the sIII voiced TMB channel while keeping the Plexi normal channel for example. No matter which one you choose you will love your Trinity amp.

Hope this helps.

_________________
Les

http://www.soundclick.com/unimind

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2026

Might be some answers there.

_________________
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

Hello Les,

thanks for your reply! So changes are not a problem, I assume I could also turn a Plexi into a TMB for instance?
The best would of course be to have all 3 I think

Thanks Taz.. I have looked into this thread, and it seems that the sIII seems also to cover a lot of ground, thanks to the boost. But, can a Plexi for instance also do - at least to an extent - some of the tones of a sIII? As the Plexi has more gain, it seems to me that a Plexi could do some of the sounds a sIII does and beyond? Or am I concluding wrong?

I think the Plexi, as Les mentioned, is in the middle and depending on which way to go, you can clean it up or grind it out. A few small changes and you may get exactly what you want on the other channel. For example, you could make the Plexi notmal channel the 18 watt Trem channel and get that tone; or make it the 18 watt normal channel. All these are possbilities.

I think the stock Plexi will do it for you.

BTW, Billy has the TMB version.

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

Hello Stephen,
thanks for your input!

Just to make one thing clear, regarding the TMB channel on the Plexi and the TMB: are both TMB channels similar, with the only difference in the fact that the TMB channel on the TMB has simply more gain, or are the TMB channels voiced differently, so that not only the gain factor is different?

The TMB and Plexi are voiced pretty much the same.

Edit: It looks like the TMB channels on all 3 amps are voiced about the same just an increase in gain from the sIII to the Plexi to the TMB. It is the normal channels that seem to be voiced differently.

_________________
Les

http://www.soundclick.com/unimind

Unimind's brown-modded Trinity Plexi is voiced somewhat differently and also has more gain when you switch on the boost, compared to a regular Trinity Plexi. In cascade mode you're really into high gain. So this is a really flexible and sick sounding amp.

_________________
Great tones come in small glass jars!

Hey Les,

can you tell me how the boost alters the sound in the TMB channel (I assume the boost switch only works for the TMB channel?)?

As the TMB channels on all 3 are similar, but differ in the amount of gain, this means that a Plexi could also cover some sounds the sIII produces in the TMB channel, but in addition has more gain available?

I still have one question. Wasn't the first TMB modified to capture some of the Plexi vibe in the first place? Or have I misunderstood something? I thought the original 18 watt circuit was modified and became then the TMB, to make it a bit (to an extent at least) plexi like ?
But the Plexi 18 Watt does the plexi thing better now ? So, the TMB 18 Watt has simply a little more gain than the Plexi 18 Watt , but still has also some plexi like character?

Sorry, for so much questions, but I appreciate everybody's help!

Thanks for your input zaphod! I really like his modded Plexi, It really has character!

The boost will increase the gain and reduce the bass response in the second stage (when you increase gain you also want to decrease bass so it does not get too flubby). My design is like a cross between the sIII and the TMB. When the boost if off it is like the sIII and when the boost is on it is like the TMB but with slightly more gain. Normaly the boost would only apply to the TMB channel but in my amp I mix my channels at the input to the second stage so the boost works with the normal channel as well.
That is correct.

_________________
Les

http://www.soundclick.com/unimind

Just to inform you all, I ordered the Plexi Combo kit and it is on its way!
Thanks to all for your help and advice!

Great. Keep us informed on how your build goes.

_________________
Les

http://www.soundclick.com/unimind