Trinity Amps TC-15

TC-15 head built in 2007 by Stephen @ Trinity Amps
See the last review for most of the features, except mine does not have the 2 mods that the other one has. The only thing I would add is you can jump the channels on the amp if you want. I had this one built w/ Fender Rough Blonde Tolex and cream knobs, so it looks sharp.

Even though the TC-15 does not have as many "features" as some may be used to, it is truly versatile because it can create so many beautiful and varied tones using the controls it does have. Basically everything you need from an amp, which is: fantastic sound, useful volume levels, and not too many knobs...

I use this amp with all sorts of guitars, humbuckers, p-90s, single coils, etc. The TC-15 really makes each guitar shine and sound unique, unlike a lot of amps which tend to make all guitars sound the same (i.e. like the amp). The responsiveness and touch-sensitiveness is outstanding and really makes your playing more expressive. Plus, the tone controls on channel 2 are very useful and interactive and really affect the sound, while sounding good in almost every position, also unlike many amps that tend to only have one or two tone positions that you want to use. Channel 1 (EF86 preamp) is vox AC-15 inspired and adds more midrange grind. Channel 2 (somewhat matchless inspired) is more for clean and slight to moderate crunch, with outstanding chime and sparkle. The top end is beautiful. I play mostly indie-rock and mod/powerpop type stuff, but you could play anything with this amp. Every sound it makes is great, in addition it is very quiet and would be excellent for recording. The only thing it does not really do are high-gain, mesa-type sounds, but you could use a pedal for that if you must. I have never felt the need to use any pedal in front of this amp whatsoever, but it will most likely bring out the best in any pedal you want to use if you choose. As a note, I have 2 different 1x12 cabs I use, 1 has a Weber blue dog (30-wat alnico) and one has an Eminence red fang (also a 30-watt alnico I believe). Both sound great (fairly similar as you might imagine): the Eminence is really a great value if you are looking for this type of speaker, and the Weber is sweet too, a bit fuller (note they really take a while to break in.)
I'm sure the TC-15 will also sound excellent through 2x12 or 4x12 cabs, but they are too big and heavy for me...

So far no problems at all. The build quality is excellent and extremely clean, so if any repair is ever required it should not be a problem. I have not gigged the amp, but the cab/chassis is super solid and would not have any problems. I was worried that the EF86 tube was a bit noisy and microphonic, supposedly a tendency with the EF86, but it turned out it was a rattle or something coming from an amp next to the TC-15 while I was playing loud. Of course no odd noises or anything from the Trinity.

Basically this is a semi-custom, built to order amp. You can buy it as a kit and build yourself if you are inclined and talented with a soldering iron. Myself, not so much, so I had Stephen at trinity build it. He was friendly and knowledgeable and you couldn't ask for anything more in terms of customer service. The amp was finished sooner than I expected and professionally packed and shipped. Everything top notch.

Obviously, my overall rating for the TC-15 is a 10. I was looking for a boutique amp with beautiful tone, was thinking of a used matchless lightning, but decided to go with the Trinity. Custom built, more features, less $$$, all the tone. This is probably the last amp I will ever buy. At least, I have not even thought about any other amp for a year since getting it, which is a nice change for any sufferer of G.A.S. (although, the TC-15 has made me want more guitars) So, super highly recommended.

Built by Stephen Cohrs of Trinity Amps in 2008.

2 channel, Class A, uses no negative feedback, pull-on master volume and a Cut control common to both channels.

Channel 1, EF-86 channel has Volume and a 6-position Contour control with two inputs ??? Low and High.

Channel 2 has Volume, Bass, Treble with two inputs ??? Low and High.

"Crunch" (dirtier) and "Munch" (cleaner) switch on back.

My amp was built with two mods to the original design - the Cut control has more range, and there's a Hi/Lo switch that adds/removes a bypass cap on Ch.2 (cleans up the tone a bit).

This amp is FANTASTIC - phenomenal cleans, unbelievable grind. I am a producer-engineer and use this amp in the studio exclusively for many different styles of music. It works for everything with the exception of perhaps the very very heaviest music. I have 20+ amps in my studio and the TC-15 is in my top 3!

I use the amp with a number of different guitars - single coils, humbuckers, P-90s.

The amp's design was inspired by Vox AC and Matchless circuits. I have an AC30 and this amp doesn't sound anything like it. Much more Matchless to my ears, but it definitely has it's own thing. The top end has that class A detail and clarity - the top end on this amp is VERY special. It's very bright, but has a softness/smoothness to it - unlike most amps I've encountered, the top end never gets painful. The lows and lower mids on this amp are unlike most class A amps I've heard - the TC-15 seems less detailed, but creamier and with a lot more girth... more like what I would expect a class AB amp to sound like in the lows and low mids.

The cleans on this amp are its bread and butter, but it excels at mid and high gain tones as well. The ch.1 EF86 channel is amazing when cranked up - it never gets Mesa Recto gainy, but it certainly lives in a cranked Marshall world! One thing I've noticed about cleans vs. dirty on this amp is that the cleans have almost as much presence and volume as the gainier tones - this is particularly cool.

I leave the master volume out of the circuit for the most part, but putting it in the path doesn't damage the tone - it's a very transparent control.

It's a very versatile amp - on a couple of my projects it was the only amp we needed. And at the very least, it finds it way onto a few songs on every project I do. I LOVE this amp. I would describe its tone as hi-fi with a vibey rock and roll edge.

So far so good - Stephen's builds are top notch so I don't anticipate any problems.

Stephen rocks! I can't imagine better customer service anywhere. Not only does he support the product, but loves feedback and suggestions on how he might make the amp work better for your application.

This is a very special amp. Has a very unique voice. This has become essential kit for my work. I LOVE this amp!

I don't hate anything about it, but it does like certain speakers more than others. While it is certainly usable with any speaker cab, after extensive testing I found that this head LOVES V30s - I have both an Orange 2x12 and Mesa Recto 4x12 with V30s and it sounds incredible through either (but give the edge to the Mesa!). It's also really nice in a hi-fi way through Tone Tubby Alnicos.

In my studio I have many of the classic amps - Fender, Marshall, Vox, Hiwatt, Mesa Boogie, Orange, Soldano, Peavey, Gibson, Ampeg. The Trinity TC-15 not only belongs in that company, but in many applications outperforms the classics. I believe the TC-15 is a "desert island" amp. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Just wanted to post a correction to my previous review (below). I said that "Channel 2 has 2x12AX7/ECC83 tubes (wired Marshall-ish) with Treble and Bass controls". It turns out that the tone controls are designed like a "Vox AC-30 Top Boost" tone stack, not like a Marshall tone control.

Stephen at Trinity Amps emailed this info to me after reading my review. Thanks for letting me know about the mistake, Stephen. I'm getting a good education about guitar amp designs as well as a great amp from you!

Cathode-biased, no negative feedback, 2xEL-84 all tube power section (15 or 18 watt). My amp has the optional "Crunch/Munch" switch. Two (all tube) input channels: Channel 1 uses an EF86 tube (circa old Vox amp) with a "Tone Contour" switch that actually changes tone by changing the size of the coupling capacitor connecting the tube to the power section. Channel 2 has 2x12AX7/ECC83 tubes (wired Marshall-ish) with Treble and Bass controls. Master Volume and Cut (rolls off high frequencies) controls. My amp has an optional switch to bypass the Master controls. I ordered this amp in kit form. The kit included everything except tubes and cab.

This amp does the best crunch/overdrive sounds I have ever heard. The word I use to describe it is "articulate". The nuances of my picking hand are very distinct and expressive, even when the amp is cranked all the way up and overdriven. Extremely touch sensitive. The "sweet spot" where the amp can be overdriven by picking harder comes very low on the amp's volume control. The Crunch/Munch switch changes the cranked tone from "bright bite" to "fat punch" with one flip of a switch. The "cascaded preamp" (i.e. Mesa Boogie) distortion sound is too muddy and mushy for my style of playing - classic rock, blues rock, etc. This amp nails the tone I'm after perfectly. I have removed all the OD/Distortion stomp boxes from my pedal board, the TC-15 out does them all, only better!

The tone controls on Channel 2 work very well. They seem to affect the tone a lot more than the standard Fender/Marshall tone stack.

The down side? A low wattage amp like this one does not have very much clean headroom before it starts to break up. IMHO, the clean sound can not keep up with a drummer and bass player in larger (50+) sized rooms. I have to mic the amp when gigging. No big deal for me, but this might bother some folks. The positive side to this is that the power tubes can be overdriven at comfortable volume levels. Also, plugging into the "Lo" input and/or backing off on the guitar's volume control yields more clean headroom.

Here's an area where the Trinity amp shines!

I started playing guitar semi-professionally in 1970 (38 years ago? yipes!!) and played regularly throughout the 70s and 80's. I used a variety of amps, mostly Fender and Marshall. Then I got married, got kids and got a "real" job. I soon figured out that I could not be a good guitarist and a good husband/father at the same time. I sold off my guitars and amps one at a time to pay for family expenses (a bad move, in retrospect). I'm writing all this to say that I never worried about an amp breaking down back them. They were all build using turret (Marshall) or eyelet (Fender) board construction and held up very well. Change tubes every year, no problems. (Now I sound like an old foggie, right?) ("Remember the good ol' days...) (anyway...)

I got back into playing again a few years ago. I naturally reverted to the new "all tube" Fender and Marshall amps available now. They still sounded good to me and had all kinds of cool features (i.e. channel switching). My new Marshall started cutting in and out intermittently the first week I had it. Since I'm an electronics technician at my day job, I opened the amp up myself to have a look. What I found was "consumer grade" construction. Flimsy chassis, fragile looking circuit board. Reminded me of a $49 VCR. I found a bad solder connection after spending nearly an hour taking everything apart to get at the bottom of the board. A month later, the amp was dead when I turned it on an hour before a gig. Bad solid state rectifier on the tube heaters, this time. I took the amp back to my dealer. They were very cool about it and gave me a brand new one in a box. This one was dead the first time I plugged it in, right out of the box! Next I traded it for a different brand. Similar story. Argh!!!!!!

This is getting long, please bear with me... I started looking for a dependable amp that I could afford, thinking this might be an oxymoron. An internet search lead me to 18watt.com, who in turn lead me to Trinity Amps. I liked the DIY idea, having an electronics background, so I gave it a try.

I have not been disappointed at all. The 1/8" eyelet board that came with my TC-15 looked like it could survive a bomb blast. The chassis was solid as a brick. Everything was good quality. This amp has not let me down once. It has allowed me to enjoy playing guitar, rather than worrying "Oh no, is it starting to cut out again?"

Yup, I'm back to gigging without a backup!

Stephen at Trinity is awesome. He answered all my pre-sale questions patiently and promptly. When I messed up a tube socket during my build (totally my fault), He had two new ones on the way to me within an hour.

This amp is very easy to work on. Components can be removed from the top of the eyelet board without taking it out of the amp. A tech would appreciate this amp a lot.

I love the tone of this amp. I love the construction quality. It is a perfect fit for me. If building an amp is not for you, buy one from Trinity already constructed (BTW - they do sell them ready to go). I went with the kit so that I could afford a "boutique" style amp at a consumer amp price. Check it out!