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Hi guys! First post here. I've been woodworking as a hobby (read obsession) for a number of years and started building guitars for fun. I decided to build my own amp and came across this forum while researching which amp I should build. Finally settled on the Tramp. It should be very rewarding to play a guitar I built through an amp I built. The plan is to assemble the kit (combo) and custom build a cabinet for it.

Usually I don't do any woodworking during the summer. But, anticipation got the better of me and while I await arrival of the Tramp kit, I decided to pull out my table saw and put together the cradle. First step was to find a tape measure that measures in millimetres (despite living in Canada, I have always built the 'old' way). Then I cut all the pieces:





Ran out of time tonight. Tomorrow will pull out the router to cut the adjustment slots, then assemble.

Really looking forward to this build! I've poured over nearly every post in this forum so far - will very likely need some help when it comes to the wiring part. Thanks in advance!
A

Looking Good! Keep up the posts!!

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

Night #2. Pulled out the router.



Most challenging part was cutting the arcs for the support arms, namely because my circle jig was too large and I couldn't cut the small radius. So had to improvise. First attempt my measuring was off slightly (measure twice cut once, right?). Got it a few minutes later on the second attempt.







And finished!







Ready for a chassis - which should arrive in just a few days.

Cheers!
A

Excellent. Well done!!

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

I stopped off at the post office on my way home today and waiting for me was a fairly heavy package that said Trinity Amps on it. My Tramp had arrived!!



I have to admit, I was a bit giddy.

Brought it home, opened it up:



It was just like Christmas morning. Then the panic set in:



Oh my....... That's a lot of bits. What have I gotten myself into?? Have been spending the better part of the past 2 hours reading the manual.

Take your time. read alot. have fun. Cocos docs are really good. it will be rewarding

Thanks man. I was sort of kidding earlier - it is a lot of parts, but it's starting to make sense to me.

Made my first mistake. First thing I did was sort all parts and check against the BOM. Then I started to skim over the manual, thinking I'd just jump right into the build. Came across a paragraph about grounding your body before touching the mosfet.... Oops.... New plan: nothing further will be touched until I have a thorough understanding of everything. So it is back to reading the manual.

I don't expect to start any soldering until at least after the long weekend.

Enough reading - time to start building. Switched to a better camera too - took me a bit of time to get it dialled in, but these are much better than phone pics.

The bench. Won't look this tidy again for a while:



Tube sockets in:



Heater wires:




LED in place (I should mention, when I originally put the LED assembly in, I forgot to put on the amp face plate. Thought to myself "that's odd - its loose". Had it all soldered up, then had to take it apart to put the face plate on. Now its tight, however I marked up the holder slightly on the inside taking it apart)



Transformers in, LED power wires installed:



Power cord attached (little bit blurry):



And another shot of the LED wired up for good measure:



That's where I am so far. Bit of a learning curve here, but slowly I think I'm starting to get it. Advice / critique welcome.

Lloks good. This is a good time to test the PT and AC wiring.

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

This is definitely slow going - but I feel I am gaining confidence.

Here is the power input wired up, along with the power/volume switch:



Man, that's a lot of stuff on this terminal strip.... hope the soldering is up to snuff. Everything feels tight and everything that should be separate is separate:



Now on the the impedance selector... Don't ask my why, but I decided I should take on the additional challenge of wiring it up for EL34 tubes. I really have no intention of using EL34's, I just couldn't stand the thought of an unused wire inside the amp.

Thanks to Kurtlives for posting the mod - I followed his post on this forum to put this part together.



Not sure if this is a better shot:



And wouldn't you know - when wiring up the 'jumpers' where the OT wires connect, I filled in the middle lug with solder. Which gave me the opportunity to use the desoldering wick I picked up earlier this afternoon.

Here it is in the chassis:



That's about it for one night! I'm beat, calling it quits a bit early and heading in to spend some time with the kiddos. Here is where I am at:



Still need to figure out how to test that PT and AC wiring......

you should be able to carefully turn it on and measure ac voltages.

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

Well, we have power! Voltage is 121.6V.

Nice and cleean.

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

Busy busy weekend! Took my son fishing yesterday, church this morning then went swimming with the kids. Still managed to find some time to build.

Now, I'm not exactly sure what happened or when - but something seemed to have 'clicked' this weekend and the amp really started to make a lot more sense to me. There were a few things I was very apprehensive about; one of those being the board. Started off slightly shaky, but soon I was throwing down those resistors and capacitors and was soldering like a champ.

Jumpers done from the back:


(as a side-note, I ended up putting the 220K resistors across the capacitors on the back as well. I intended to put them on the top but they didn't end up being long enough)

Here we go with components on the top of the board. Big sigh:



And boom - done!



Put the flying leads on:



MOSFET time:



I was really nervous about this part, and fretted about it for a while. On the one hand, I really wanted to do the cleanest build I could, on the other hand I was really afraid of messing this part up. I came really close to soldering leads onto the lugs and wrapping them around to the top of the board (like a head build) - but I really wanted to do it the way the book says. So I grabbed my pliers and bent the lugs..... what do you know, it fit first time:



To be honest, I really wasn't that hard. It was tight enough on the board that it stayed in place while I fit the board into position in the chassis, then fiddled with the MOSFET a bit until it aligned with the mounting hole. Soldered it up, then started attaching all the leads.



I'd have kept going, but my eyes were getting really heavy and I need to be at work in the morning. Just about there... one more good evening's worth of effort and I should be ready to test:



One more close-up of that MOSFET in place for good measure.... Oh yeah.

Looks very good. Still nice and neat too!!

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

(as a side-note, I ended up putting the 220K resistors across the capacitors on the back as well. I intended to put them on the top but they didn't end up being long enough)


That is a good idea to put the resistors on the back....
I just finished building my second Tramp and I had issues with the 220K resistors as well... the leads were barely long enough...

Yeah, I thought about a few options for those resistors for a while and decided it was easiest to put them on the back of the board. My only concern was if they should ever fail and needed to be replaced (?)...

Anyway, I realized the amp is just about done and doesn't yet have a home. So... taking a bit of a break from the soldering fumes to do something I'm a bit more familiar with. Still haven't decided what I want it to look like, but I pulled some maple and some walnut off my pile and started milling it up. This lumber is very rough - almost to the point of not being usable. It was actually cut just around the corner from where we live and it got it a bunch of years ago from the farmer for practically free. Works best to use it in small lengths, so perfect for the amp. It creates a lot of waste.



Not much to look at... and I still wasn't sure if I'd be able to end up with 3/4" when it was milled:



Worked out in the end! I have well in excess of what I need to build the box.



Next is to glue up some panels, then cut some finger joints and assemble.

Cool. maple walnut cabinet?

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

Yeah, sort of an experiment to see what it will look like. The pile of walnut I have has an amazingly dark colour and the maple will provide contrast. My wife helped out with the design - I generally ask for her input on woodworking projects to give me the best chance of things looking good. The slanted front is causing some challenges for what I had in mind; we'll see how it turns out.

I should mention as well that the hardwood will add about 4 pounds to the finished project over a pine box.

Nice Thickness Planer!!

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