trinityamps.com

OK lol I see way back on Aug 15 I said I finished wiring-up my Custom Plexi 6V6, my third Trinity build... well... this morning I finally got around to firing it up for the first time (don't judge me... lockdown has been hard for me... lol).

Initial checks good.
First fire-up with tubes good.
Sounds great!

Even after as many builds as I've done (more than a dozen) it still feels satisfyingly grand when a build fires-up with zero issues on the first try

So far, I've only played it for about 30 minutes with my Robert Cray Signature Strat and boy does it sound great with that guitar, especially the "cleaner" VOL-TONE channel. Breaks-up very nicely when pushed too.

I still haven't tried it with my Les Paul I bought myself for my birthday in May - I got this kit to go with it - but I can tell they will be a great match.

I did make one change to the design... I used a 1000uF cathode bypass cap in the power-amp section to make it behave more like a fixed-bias amp. Love the stiffness that provides, but I did not try it with the stock cap so I can't compare. I am more partial to stiffer fixed-bias sound so I just went with that from the get-go. Maybe someday when I am bored I will try the stock cap and maybe a value in between.

No pics yet... I built a head cabinet for it but I don't like how it turned out. Love the blue dyed finish but I had some tearout issues with my experiments with through-dowel construction (holes drilled all the way through so you can see the dowels' ends) - I think the pine I used was just way too soft so I will be rebuilding another cabinet maybe in poplar or maple this time or I will just get some tolex and cover it.

Hi,

I'm considering doing this kit as first time built. Is it complex for a total beginner?
I do know how to solder and aware of the potential shock hazards.

Also, How much gain does this head have? Can I get those ZZtop tones that cleans up well with a les paul at reasonnable volumes?

Let me know what you think!

If you have no experience with a soldering iron at all then I would say yeah you should probably start smaller. Like maybe a pedal kit or two from AION. Their Zen Drive clone kit would be a great place to get started. Then work your way up to a smaller Trinity kit.

As far as the gain and tone... yeah it's all there. You won't be doing super-high gain stuff, but ZZ Top, AC/DC, classic rock... it's there in spades. I bought it to pair with my new Les Paul and it does not disappoint! It's going to be loud... 18 watts is loud enough to get people mad at you for sure, but it is a lot more tame than the real deal! If that's a problem you can add the VVR option which works great.

Of course mating it with the right speaker(s) is critical too. Something from Scumback is perfect. I'm using a Scumback with it now (can't remember the model.)

Nice, thanks for the info.