trinityamps.com

That makes sense because he says there is no reading on pin 8 either.

I don't know if I'm helping or hindering here but did you miss connectiing the Blue wire under the board to pin 8? (see pic)



Snowy

Yes, I know that you can't measure resistors/caps when they are in circuit; I understand that other components are in parallel and will polute the readings. What I did was that I removed the resistor to measure it. Here is a picture showing the board and you can click and enlarge on the preamp side; this is from previous post above. I will post more in a few minutes after I replace that resistor (since I just got back with a new one).

Please understand that I am not in a hurry, and will take my time to work through this carefully and methodically. It must be a process of trial, error, elimination. I am no upset. Thanks for giving me the help to eliminate and to narrow the possibilities that are causing the trouble.

New resistor seems to have helped. I now have good readings before and after that resistor. Here are my new readings:

Before the resistor I now read 320vdc. That is an increase from before.
pin #1 = 166 vdc
pin #6 = 157vdc [other side of the 220k resistor]
pin #3 1.75vdc
pin #8 1.68 vdc

The Hum has gone away; this is really quiet in a good way. .

Pictures are coming in next post.

However, I get NO SOUND from the input jack. No buzz when I touch the copper tip wire with my mutimeter probe. There is no buzz when I touch the input jack side of the .1uf capacitor that is in line from pin #7. However, there IS BUZZ when I touch the preamp pin#7 and both before and after the 330k resistor; there is also buzz when I touch the preamp tube side of that .1uf capacitor, but NONE on input jack side of that .1uf capacitor.

I will wait on your suggestions. But i am very happy that I (with your help) am making progress!



So, now it seems that I must do some signal tracing.

Thanks Snowy . We posted at the same time. The blue wire is there. And I am getting good readings now. However, now it seems that the issue is with the .1uf capacitor on the pin #7 line. See my post above.

When you have nothing plugged into the input jack the input jack tip (hot) shorts to ground to prevent noise. So with no cable plugged in when you touch the input jack side of the 0.1uF cap you will not get sound.

I suggest you plug in a guitar and give it a test strum.

_________________
http://pdfelectronics.com

Thanks for the quick reply. NOPE, no sound. I plugged in a guitar and I know the cable is good (I used it last night with a different amp), but no sound. I get buzz before that .1uf cap, but not after it. I will try resoldering that cap and if necessary replace it also.

Also, here are two pictures of the preamp side of the board with the new 220k cc 1/2w resistor.

I wonder now if the 2 shielded cables are OK?

Preparing them without shorting the conductor to the shield seems to catch a few builders.

Might be worth checking.


Snowy

The longer one going to post #2 on the volume pot seems okay; it has a buzz when I touch it. It is long enough that I could cut off a short section and redo the input jacks cable to the eyelet board (to that .1uf cap.). Good thinking. Thanks very much for helping me along this path. I will tell you that I am impressed with how quiet this amp is now. Looking forward to hearing it. But, I remain committed to slow and steady, meticulous process of trial, error, elimination and eventual success.

Well I will warn you mate that I am just a novice, I was just lucky that mine worked from start up and I didn't have to troubleshoot. So I am learning with you here.

Stephen did this "how to" for the shielded cable in case you haven't seen it.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1144

Snowy.

If you touch pin 6 or 1 with your DMM do you hear a pop through the speaker? (Make sure your vol's are up)

_________________
http://pdfelectronics.com

IT'S ALIVE!!!. It took 10 weeks and 2 days from order to finally having a working amp. But that strange gestation period, while sometimes bumpy with parts lost in the mail (which never arrived), was worth the wait for the "birth" of my little Tramp. It's working, and sounds great.

Back to the techincal issues. As I noted my intention in my last post, I cut a short piece off the longer shielded cable, and used it for the new short shielded cable from the eyelet board to the input jack. Then I made sure the solder was flowing and I resoldered the longer shielded cable (but not the shield) back onto pin #7's 330k resistor. Then soldered the new short shielded input cable to the .1uf cap (without the shield on the cap end [used heat shrink to cover the shield]), and then connected the new short cable to the input jack--connecting the outer shield to the ground side of the jack and the copper inner wiring to the hot/"tip" side.

Then I went to supper. Came back. Turned it on. Took more voltage measurements. Tapped the pins (as Kurtives noted above). Took a deep breath. Plugged a guitar cable in, and WOW. IT'S ALIVE!.

I immediately played one of my Canadian Godin's in homage to Canada [btw I have 4 Godin's] and my Tramp is indeed a very versatile tone gem. The "Fat" works, and the "tude" is better than I expected. I love the VRM, which adds tonal complexity when turned down a little. Like the overview said on the Tramp product page, it not only reduces the volume to "talkable" levels, but it adds tonal character.

Tomorrow, I will post pictures of the Tramp in it's custom cab (which has been shellaced and "aged" to a vintage appearance).

Thanks so much Snowy. You led and still lead the way for us. Your thread with the pictures was my constant guide.

Thanks so much Kurtives. Your tech knowledge helped guide me down the right signal path.

Tomorrow pics of the little beast.

That's Awesome! Congrats.

Snowy

"Vintage" Tramp pictures. The cabinet is a modified 5e3 with the chassis cut out for the Tramp's dimension. I shellaced it with a clear spray first, then four coats of a mixture 1/4 clear, 1/4 amber and 1/2 denatured alcohol. Then I sanded it down to give it a vintage but not tortured look. I think it looks like it is from the "60's" or "70's" and has some wear, but no tears. One of the pictures also shows it with a KT88

The last picture shows a couple of labels for the bias switch and the rotary impedance switch.

Here are three more pictures of my "vintage Tweed" Tramp Combo.

The first is looking down at the control panel.

The second is looking at the back with the KT88. You can see that there is plenty of room for a Celestion Blue, or a Alinco Blue Dog, or a Eminence Red Fang. By moving the speaker opening to the preamp side this allowed for more space in the cabinent.

Finally, one picture of her front.

I really do like the look of the "distressed" Tweed, the wear does look quite authentic.

How's she sounding?

Snowy

Thanks Snowy . I tried not to overdo the distressed look, but did not like the pristine shinny look of all that shellac. So, I sanded it down gradually to take the shine away, and then focused more on the edges and corners where amps usually get more wear. For me it looks used, but not abused, worn but not tattered nor torn.

Last night I played around with it and really like the tonal versatility. I know you prefer to "tweed" more than the "tude", but with my BBQ Ceramic Blue Dog (15W) it sounds pretty good, not muddy, nicely overdriven, still expressive and very nice at moderate volume. As you know, it has a wide tonal pallet. It will take some time to find what all it can do, but I am already impressed. And it is the quietest amp I have ever had. Down the road, I might get a Texas Heat to try down the road, or maybe even a Red Fang. I also want to try your trick of putting a clean boost up front to push the Tweed mode a little.

HOWEVER, TROUBLE came today when I tried out the KT88 [Gold Lion] and took it for a test drive [pictures early with the KT88 were just to see how much room there was with that larger tube]. I flipped the bias switch for the KT88, and changed the rotary impedance to position #5. Turned it on, but as soon as it started warming up, probably within 20 seconds of getting sound, I heard a pop and then no more sound. The fuse is okay, the pilot light is on, so it is just some component, not a catastrophic short. I gather the KT88 probably pulls more voltage and something "burnt" or shorted.

Later tonight I will open it up and look for any signs of damaged components. Then I will put the 6V6 back into it, and start the troubleshooting process. At least it gives me something to do.

I am not too worried as I know it works and I played it for a hour last night with the 6V6. I probably should have stepped up in stages from 6V6 to 6L6 to EL34 to KT88. But I just wanted to hear what that particular tube sounded like. It should be easy to diagnose sense it was working well with the 6V6. It should not be too much of a set back.

GOOD NEWS. It still is working. I thoroughly inspected the components for burns and could see none. So I took the tubes out. Started with a fresh dim bulb limiter test. It passed. Plugged the Tramp straight into the wall. Took VDC voltage measurements at first capcitor and second capacitor, then took VAC measurements across the two red rectifier lines; then the heater wires feeding the tubes. All was good. So, then I reinserted the 6V6 and the ECC83s, switched the bias back to 6V6 and the rotary impedance back to #2, plugged in the speaker, and took voltage readings. All was good. Tapped a few places with the VDC leads on my multimeter and heard sound. So then I plugged in a guitar cable. There was sound.

I guess it blew the KT88 ; that was one expensive pop if the tube is gone. I am hesitant to try another one yet. I may dig up an old 6L6 and start with it to see if the bias switch is working. Then perhaps try one of my new EL34 tubes. However, I really don't want to blow a tube.

Is there a way of measuring the impedance for the EL34 setting without the tube? Is there a way of checking to make sure that the 2.5k resistance is working and that the output transformer is working on that side before risking a EL34 or a KT88?

{EDIT: I think I will leave the amp on for a while to have it warm up and make sure it works after heating up.}

Well it's good that the amp is OK, to be honest I'd rather kill a tube than my Tramp.

Yes I do still prefer the Tweed mode, with a good kick of clean boost (I have been running a Dr Scientist Reverberator at max boost) in front I run the Tramp Volume at about 6 and the Master and Power both maxed. Through the CRex speaker I get a big round clean tone like that and it sounds great, I can also mix in a touch of reverb. We did a Robert Cray song last week (Smoking Gun) which required that big clean sound and the singer (also a guitarist) commented that he was constantly amazed at the ability of the Tramp to sound like that with just one 6L6.


Snowy

Yeah, it does Fender clean very well; it does Fender Tweed very well! I know I said I like the "tude", but I do admit that the tweed is really nice. I own two Fenders. An original 1966 Blackface Super Reverb and a Hot Rod Deville 2x12. This little Tramp sounds very similar to their clean and their bluesy saturation. And all I am using right now is just the 6v6 which is pretty loud, plenty loud enough for the home, and perfect for the studio.

What is also intriguing is that VRM level. It is not really a volume attenuator like a brake. Keep it at 11 and the amp can be bluesy clean, tweedy, but back it down to 5 or 6 and you get more grit. I don't like it too much lower as it gets too dirty, too gritty. too buzzy.


I like the seting you gave, Master and VRM at max and then dial back the volume to 6. Nice tube tone. I was experimenting earlier and had the VRM back in the 6 to 8 range, Master at 11, and then used the volume to adjust the loudness and you get more distortion from the VRM. What is neat is that you can adjust this to taste and get great tone, tube tone and some saturation at volumes that don't deafen you. I think I have been using the vol to adjust to loudness and having the VRM and Master to get the saturation. Well, perhaps I have it wrong, but what I am trying to say is that the vol, master vol and the vrm seem to almost interact in ways that other amps don't. The VRM is not just a volume level--backing it down adds more and more distortion. What is so great about this little gem is that it is a tone monster. Extremely versatile. Further with the master down to 5 and VRM at 6-8, you can use the "tude" to get that marshally overdrive, and dial the tude/vol back to 4 and you get a nice saturated tone that still has some transparency. So versatile!

I have only had it working for two days. So I really don't know what I am talking about. But I already know that this is the most versitale amp I have ever played. I am rambling on about a great amp. So glad I got it. Tweaked it can come close to a 5e3. Turn off the Bass and Treble and you get a Champ.....etc....etc...

I also love the weight. You can carry it around, take it to play with others, put it in the back seat of the car, and it does not ruin your back.

If there is one feature that I wish it had, it would be a built in spring Reverb. I don't play with much reverb, but just a touch would be nice complement. I think I will grab a Fender "63 Reverb pedal and put it in the chain. That and a clean volume boost and this is a real tone beast. It absolutely loves my Godin SD (strat) more than my LGXSA. I have not yet tried my 335 or 175, but I bet it can handle thoes vintage Classic 57' humbuckers, but that will be another story for another day. [EDIT: I just tried my 335 and it loves the "tude" at 6 and the Master at 11 and VRM at 11. It growls with great saturation, bluesy overdriven distortion, singing tone. Roll back the vol on the 335 and it cleans up to just a cool bluesy tone. And I have still only used it with the 6V6--great for home use, plenty loud enough for practice, even too loud at times--well no not too loud, not if you turn it the tude down to 5. This thing is so full of tone and at low volume.]

I still have not tried the EL34. What I might do is go buy a cheap tube to try it out so if it does blow it it won't cost much. Then if the El34 works I will try the nice ones i bought for it. Still not sure about spending the money on a KT88 again, not until I hear from others who have them working and see if there is something I am missing.

Finally--Snowy--Thanks for the info you provide about Tweed settings. Thanks for your reply. Sorry for the rambling. Love this amp!

No need to apologise for rambling, it's good to exchange ideas and experiences on using our amps. Going back over the Tramp forum there seems to be less discussion now about the experiences people have "playing" their Tramp, in the past there seemed to be more. It's all part of the fun of building, owning and playing the amp to me anyway.

Yeah I agree with you about the VRM, to me it's like a "Brown Out" control where I can set a desired clean volume with the Vol/Master controls and then if I want to add some spice to that clean tone I can bring down the VRM a bit from Max to add some breakup to the tone. As you say it's kind of different from how you'd first imagine it to be, but that is how I've come to think of it in my mind, like a "Spice" control, that can be dialed into the volume and tone I already have set.

If you are researching any Reverb pedals, check out the Dr. Scientist Reverberator, it has an awesome sounding set of reverb selections and a very nice ability to add up to about 20dB pure clean boost, and you can dial any amount of reverb into that using the "Mix" control, so for me it fits the Tramp like a glove I reckon. It's beautifully built and finished and also hails from Canada just like the Tramp, kind of fitting.

As you point out, the versatility is also killer, my poor 5E3 has been used like once since the Tramp turned up, sad, but true.

Wow, a 1966 Super Reverb, that's quite a benchmark!


Snowy