This has been a dream of mine for a LONG time. I am a technical geek (math & robotics teacher, computer programmer, electronics, etc.) and have fantasized about building my own tube amp for quite a while. I knew I would never be able to afford my "holy grail of tone" which for me is the Matchless DC30 and so in the back of my mind I always wanted to take a go at building one myself.
That dream was put on hold a little over two years ago when I was struck with menengio-encephalitis, which is a double-whammy of meningitis and encephalitis. Long story short, I wound up in a coma and the doctors were telling my wife I may have to be institutionalized for the rest of my life... if I survived that is. Well here I am today, walking and talking and living at home. I still can't work full-time but I do the best I can. It's a long road to recovery but I do better all the time. Building this amp was part of my unofficial therapy.
I finally came to the point where I decided I could concentrate and focus enough to do this and so I started looking for options for a build and learning everything I could about tube amp construction theory. I think I first heard about Trinity after I did a lot of research into just building a DC30 from scratch from the schematics on the Internet. Then I discovered this guy in Singapore that makes a DC30 kit and from that I heard about the Trinity TC-15 I think form the Telecaster forums. I liked that it was 15 watts instead of 30 and the people there had nothing but glowing reviews of the product, documentation and the service. So, I decided this was the best course, I took the plunge and I am glad I did because as it turns out, all those glowing reviews were pretty spot-on in my experience as well.
This thing sounds amazing and I think the cabinet turned out nice as well. So worth the headaches I had to endure to get it finished (headaches from the residuals of my sickness that is, not because of the actual build process itself.) So, here are some pictures...
Standard disclaimer applies: It looks better in person...
I'll try and get some better pictures tomorrow when the lighting is a little better and I don't have to use my lousy on-camera flash. I still have to do a little touch-up paint and finish the back panel. The big cream space on the front desperately needs some sort of logo as well.... working on ideas for that.
So anyways, thanks Stephen for an awesome experience that I will be proud to play and display for the rest of my life and don't be surprised if I order a Triwatt kit somewhere down the road. After all, Pete Townsend is one of my all-time "guitar heroes."
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