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I recently received an amp for service, that was built from a kit. The customer did his best but was never able to get the TMB channel to work -nothing but snap, crackle, pop and a waterfall sound. The porject was started in 2005. He loved the sound of the normal channel and just wanted the amp to be complete. I agreed to look it over and I thought a pictorial of what I did would be useful for others.

One missed solder joint at the 100K on the Volume Pot and a failing 500pf cap on the board were the culprits and the amp is working now. I found the 100K easily enough but the cap was more difficult. I had to deduce it might be a problem and replace it to see if it was.

So far, it seems to be working fine.

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

Dood, you forgot to check the oil.

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Guitologist at Large
"How does that feel?"

That's the same cap that was bad in my kit. That was sometime in 05 also.

Luckily I had a scope and was able to track it down. It would actually work for a couple of seconds, then start popping.

Funny, but I had some bad ones recently as well.

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

This is actually my amp and my first build. I spent countless hours chopsticking and reflowing joints to no avail. I was pretty discouraged and set the amp aside. A new job with very long hours also got in the way.

Stephen very graciously agreed to have a look at the amp. I don't think I ever would have found that bad cap.

Many, many thanks to Stephen for helping me out. He really is a good guy.

Joe

p.s. send me some pics of that head cab when you get chance. can't wait to get this amp back and let her rip.

The bundle of joy was here when I got home from work. Can't fire her up 'till tomorrow, but the cab is beautiful

I'll let everyone know how it sounds.

Thanks Stephen.

Put those tubes in the right slots neon. They're all numbered. Get ready to rock!

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

I finally had the chance to really put the amp through the paces and I'm really happy. When I got the amp back from Stephen the JJ 12AX7's I had in there were very, very microphonic so I swapped them out for a new set of Tung Sol's. Problem solved. The TS's are warm and creamy with a nice top end and very quiet. They are not as gainy as the JJ's and that suits me just fine.

The normal channel is very aggressive and just snarls. The TMB channel can dial in several different tones. I use it for semi-clean sounds that can get distorted with a roll of the guitar volume knob and harder pick attack. I will no doubt need an A/B/Y box.

Then I plugged my rangemaster clone into the normal channel and I was in sonic heaven. Can anybody say Beano?...dead on. Or how 'bout Duane Allman tones on steriods. This was with my es-333 that has a 490R and 498T pup setup. I hate these hot pups and will be putting in a pair of Seth Lover's shortly. Yet with the RM clone it still sounded pretty good...better than just guitar to amp. I wasn't as thrilled with the tone on the TMB side but I'll see what it sounds like with the Seths.

With my Tele the tone was present and very chimey, no icepicks here.
The tele also seemed to clean up better because of the single coils.

Both guitars are strung with Snake Oil brand .10 strings. If you haven't tried these strings yet you should. They are pure nickel roundwounds and have wonderful and equal sustain all the way across. They've got a very nice honk to them.

I did notice some hum on the master volume when cranked. I plugged the amp into two different outlets and it was still there. I'll have to try it on a different circuit in the house. Needless to say I am a happy camper. Much thanks to Stephen for getting the amp up and running. I never would have found that bad cap. I also had a head cab made and the quality is top notch. A beautiful piece of craftsmanship.

Thanks again Stephen.
Joe

neon,

So you finally got to play it after all this time. Sounds like the operation was a success.

Great review on the different gits and pick-ups. We'd love to hear some clips too if you ever get a chance.

There's a chance you'll get some hum on that channel when cranked. But I'll bet you cant hear it when your playing. Keep an eye on it though.

You're Welcome!

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