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Hey everyone.

Firstly, this is my biggest electronic project by light years in addition to the amp cherry thing.

I got a TC-15 combo kit in December, and (I think another first) my wife and I finally got down to business the past couple of weeks. She built the board and I did the chassis in parallell. We finished the build yesterday morning before work but didn't have a chance to go any further.

Tonight I was determined to go through the startup process.

So, firstly on coco's advice, I checked the continuity between all points I could on the board and tubes.

I then powered the thing up as per the documentation, foot hovering over the switch on the power bar. Anyway, long story short, everything lit up successfully. And...believe it or not, nothing blew up and everything worked! First try! I had sound, all the pots worked and performed as advertised!

I have some pictures and based on some of the builds I have seen on this forum, I won't win any awards for neatness, but the proof is in the sonic assault.

I'd like to thank coco for his support, actually, little was needed, but he was there for me, as you all know, when I needed him.

It is a testament to the completeness/thourougness of the Trinity Amps documentation that a schmoe like me can build an amp using his kit and documents and get a working amp with zero issues or troubleshooting required. I didn't even need the chopstick I had on standby to probe for loose connections, etc.

Unfortunately, due to my kids being in bed, I didn't get a chance to crank it yet. I can't wait to try MY TC-15 at volume.

Thanks, coco!!!!

JP

Yeah, it's so nice to see another amp up & running first time by a newbie. We take great pleasure in your accomplishment. Plus, the TC-15 is not your average starter amp!! Congratulations!

I look forward to a good posting of your voltages and a sonic demonstration.

Next step, The Combo TC-15 Cab!!

Yoda Man!!

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

Okay, so here are the pictures I promised.

Here's my wife building the board. Don't tell her I put her pic up here - I'll be shot!



She taped all of the jumper wires to hold them in place until she got all the components

connected to each eyelet, then soldered each once.



The first thing I worked on while she was building the board was the contour switch. Here is a

shot of it in the chassis.



Then, I worked on the input Jacks. I mounted both to the outside of the chassis, marked "Hi" and

"Lo" so I wouldn't get mixed up and wired 'em up.



Then I did the suspension thing for the EF-86. Because the tube is reputed to be suceptable to

the vibrations when in a combo, this is recommended. I don't know how this will work, but I

thunk of it myself. I used one of those foam water pipe insulators, cut about an 2.5 cm piece,




then half way down, cut a groove to fit over the chassis to pad both sides and the screws.

Here it is in the chassis.




And from the inside:



Here's the completed chassis. As I mentioned, not the neatest build out there, but it worked first crank! I'll neaten everything up a bit now that she fires.



Here is the front with the layout I printed off the forum documentation page with the continuity test highlights.



And from the socket side.

You can see the "Crunch and Munch" switch, which I considered mounting on the front mounted the existing hole on the back, to preserve the look of the front.



Perhaps I'll post a pic of my expression when I get to crank it, voltages and some sound clips.

JP

I love a success story! I want a TC15. I ordered a Deluxe because it seems like a more manageable first build (and I have a pretty good feeling it'll sound amazing) You've given me confidance.

JP,

Congratulations!!! Thanks for the pictures; your new amp looks good. Having your wife help was a great idea. Sort of makes a "family project" out of your build. I'm looking forward to some clips.

dtonjes

Cups,

As I mentioned, the Trinity Amps docs are THAT good. This forum and Steve's excellent support made it pretty easy, even for a newbie.

Go for the 15, I have played a couple of them prior to deciding on this and it's the amp for me!

Already thinking about another build....

JP

Nice goin' JP, can't wait to hear it at the next jam!

-Bionic

_________________
Four strings is enough.

And guess what, JPs cab will be the prototype for yours so get ready!! It's been a long, long wait I know!

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

Sounds great! I'm ready!! That rough blonde cab is going to be sooo cool.

--Dan

Hey JP, I just got a sneak preview of your new cabinet. VERY cool looking!

--Dan

Hey Dan, glad you like it.

Everyone.

Finally got to finish my TC-15 combo. No fault of coco, though; I have two young kids, so everything takes a long time.

I was fortunate, since I know coco personally, to actually collaborate with him on this design. He told me the the type of cabinet he had in mind and I photoshopped up the design. We worked on the cabinet in two sessions. The first was to (to use the American Chopper terms) "mock it up". The second for completion

Once the first session was done, coco built up the grille cloth on the baffle and I took it home and made a stencil of an enlarged Trinity Amps logo and sprayed it on there with my airbrush.

Once I returned the adorned baffle to coco, we booked this past Thursday to finish the job, and I went to Trinity HQ to work on the tolexing and completion. We took over 200 pictures of the process, which I'll leave coco to post, so here she is:



and the back and control panel.



As you can see, this is not a traditional looking amp. I was looking to do something unique and with coco's help (Let's be honest, his leadership), it turned out just as I planned. So you see what it looks like.

Yesterday, I got to play it for the first time for any length of time in the final state.

I know of the reputation of the EF86 as detailed in my earlier post in this thread, so was anxious to see if my foam mounting rig would work as I had designed to dampen the vibrations. Additionally coco put a couple of O-Rings on tube to add to the damping.

Well, yesterday I got to find out how it would work. I turned the amp up to max volume and had my wife play and felt the EF86 and I am happy to report that the tube was completely isolated from the cabinet vibrations.

As I have attested before this amp has myriad sounds, from jangly clean to heavy distortion, depending on the pickups in your axe of choice. Nice. Once I have logged a few miles on this apparatus, I'll post some clips.

Anyway, coco, thanks for a great amp as well as letting me in on all those trade secrets

Coco....Cheers from another happy Trinity owner.

JP