[keithb7]

Hey everyone. I began my first amp build a few days ago. A Trinity Tweed Deluxe kit. I started a thread over at TDPRI and have been posting photos over there. Here is a link to the thread at TDPRI:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/shock-brothers-diy-amps/274205-trinity-amps-tweed-deluxe-kit.html

I plan to post my updates and progress there if you want to follow along. - Keith

 

[Emohawk]

It's a great little amp. I've built all of their kits and this one was the most surprising. No 1x12 6V6 combo has any business sounding that good. I couldn't find a speaker it didn't like...even Vintage 30's sounded great with it.

Too bad I built it for a friend and it's now with him in Ontario. Building one for myself is on my (long) to-do list.

 

[Sneaky]

Cool. I don't think I'd trust my soldering skills to build an amp.

I've got a walnut combo cab for that if you are looking for one (apologies for the Spam, but I figure you are going to have to put it in something).

Pete

 

[blam]

are the instructions on these things easy to follow?

 

[keithb7]

Cool. I don't think I'd trust my soldering skills to build an amp.

I've got a walnut combo cab for that if you are looking for one (apologies for the Spam, but I figure you are going to have to put it in something).

Pete

Sneaky I'd like to see a photo of that Walnut cab. I am interested, a price too! Thanks.

 

[keithb7]

The instructions are OK. Probably great for someone with more experience. The amp is set up as being a good project for beginners, but in my limited experience the instructions are not idiot proof. They are not step by step. It does take some thought to put it together. I was surprised a little at first, but as I dug in, and did my research to some of my questions, it's all coming together nicely right now. I like the idea of actually having to use your brain a bit and figure out how to put this kit together. It will be extremely rewarding when I can play through it. My soldering skills are not not great either, but my wife does it full time at her job, so she's coaching me. I don't want her to do any soldering, but she is giving me good tips.

 

[Emohawk]

The instructions from Trinity are about as good as you'll find in any kit anywhere. There's no such thing as an idiot-proof electronics kit. If you get stuck or have a question, they monitor their forums regularly. I've contacted Stephen directly many times and he's always willing to help you along. Customer support second to none. Lots of great knowledgable folks on their boards too.

I think the Deluxe is a great beginner kit. IMO it's even easier to build than the Tramp - just a simple straight-up design with no fancy options. When I built it (it was my 8th or 9th build) I had it up & running in just a few hours (started on a Saturday morning & it was rockin by supper time). Just take your time, read the instructions, triple check everything, and you'll most likely have success. If not, the Trinity gang will help you out.

 

[blam]

i might have to pick me up one of these down the road...

my soldering is decent... so i dont think that will be an issue.

 

[ajcoholic]

All the information is there in the booklet. You just have to find it. No, it is not an "amp by numbers" kit, ie they dont tell you piece by piece or wire by wire, but then what fun would that be?

I think after your first build, you see it wasnt that difficult after all.

Ajc

 

[keithb7]

Circuit board completely populated and soldered now. All flying leads in place. Ready now
to drop board into chassis however 2 mounting holes were missed in when the board
was manufactured. A small delay, I'll drill them tomorrow. Coming along slowly. I triple
check everything, and sneak in about an hour a night. I am getting a little pickier with my
solder joints and touch them up so they look good.

 

[blam]

an hour a night? that doesn't seem like too much time to put in... i was thinking people were spending 2-3 a day for a month with overtime on the weekends....

I could see myself rushing home after work and putting in 3 hours a night easy....

 

[keithb7]

It's not a huge project. Won't take you long.
I just mounted the board minutes ago before hitting the sack.

 

[keithb7]

Some progress yesterday, not as much time as I wanted but got the input jacks and pots installed.

 

[keithb7]

Soldering and assembly of the chassis completed. I plugged it in tonight for testing and no smoke of fireworks, just a nice bright red jewel lamp. I need to pick up a new multimeter tomorrow to test the voltages before I install any tubes.

 

[keithb7]

Fired the amp up last night and it was quiet...No noise unless I poked around with the DMM, and I could hear some crackling form the speaker.
Thought about any areas where I was not 100% clear on understanding what I was doing. The only thig I was unsure of, and the instrucions were not thorough, was the installation of a coax, shielded wire from V2 to a volume pot. The shielding is sent to point 1 on the pot, the center of the wire is sent to point 3. The other end goes to V2. I had just cut the end of coax straight off and soldered it to the tube pin. The tube end was the problem. I had to remove the coax wire and strip back the shielding so only the center wire was touching the tube pin. It turns out the shielding was contacting the tube pin 2 also. Flip the switch and success! We have rock'n roll. The amp works fine. No idea on how it sound yet, just working with a speaker on the bench. The circuit is a little noisy or buzzy at idle. I will have to double check all my ground points I guess, re-solder some maybe. I want it quieter. I am happy it works though, and looking forward to putting it in the cab.

 

[blam]

glad you got it working quickly

what was your total build time?

 

[keithb7]

glad you got it working quickly

what was your total build time?

I work full time and I have an active family. Between those things I was able have it running in 1week. The next one would go faster as I spent a fair amount of time wrapping my head around what Was going on as I assembled it.

 

[blam]

wow. thats not bad at all.

 

[Emohawk]

Glad to hear you got it up & running! It really is a very nice amp.

It shouldn't be noisy. The Trinity Deluxe I built was very quiet. Chances are it's just a ground somewhere. Is it a buzz or a low pitched hum? If it's a buzz it's probably either the input jack grounds or the volume pot grounds (or the shielded cable on the volume pot). If it's a hum it could be one of the other grounds, likely with the filter caps.

Of course, there's plenty of other things it could be (like lead dress), but I find these are common ones.

Keep in mind too that sitting open on a bench it's more open to interference from external sources. If you shield the open side of the chassis when you mount it in the cab (I use shielding tape in the cab or on the back panel to close in the open side of the chassis) it will get rid of even more noise. However, I didn't do that with the Deluxe I built and noise wasn't an issue.

 

[keithb7]

I'll double check my wiring and grounds. I have heard a few comments about lead dress. What is this? How do I ensure I have good lead dress? Thanks, Keith.