New Trainwrecks???

[Mark Wein]

As a Brad Paisley fan I've always been curious about these amps but really know very little. The original builder apparently passed away in recent years but there is someone taking up the task of building them....

The website: http://www.trainwreck.com/



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2_12Ler9B8




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc3Xi6aAG80


This guy actually made his own Trainwreck clone and apparently made a 2nd "Dumble" channel.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUZsEWXn6qA&feature=related





Introducing the Trainwreck Authorized Reissues. The new builder for Trainwreck Circuits is, like Ken, someone who prefers to remain out of the public spotlight. In respect for his privacy, he will be referred to as JM. It is true that Ken once wrote, "... I am the only one it seems that can build and voice my amps so they sound right. I've tried to teach family and friends to build these amps for me, but to no avail. They never sound right." The advent of new 'wrecks will be addressed here in a question/answer format:
How can there be new Trainwrecks? If Ken didn't build these amps, what makes these new amps any different than clones?



Ken respected, trusted, and was influenced by JM's ears. JM worked with Ken before Trainwreck Circuits existed. Ken consulted JM on issues of tone and JM helped Ken voice the original Trainwreck amps. JM worked on a number of 'wrecks over the years. Ken appreciated JM's ears and meticulous work; Ken would have hired JM but JM worked so slowly that paying him would have raised the price of the amps by 25% (This was when Ken sold them for $650 a head. Ken never imagined the monetary value his amps would achieve). When Ken spoke of nobody being able to build Trainwrecks, JM had never built a complete one. JM's is sure Ken would have affirmed that the new amps sound "right". That's coming from the man who helped Ken originally voice Trainwreck amps.
JM has access to information no one else has. He has access to Ken's parts list (Hint: Though you can build a good sounding amp with Heyboer transformers, Trainwreck amps were never built with them) and more importantly, Ken's notes.
JM works in Ken's shop and builds with Ken's equipment, helping him replicate Ken's exact methods. Working with Ken's equipment actually helps JM to understand the way Ken did things. He uses Ken's stash of tubes and parts, too.
JM compares his newly built Rockets with Ken's personal Rocket, the one Ken referred to as "Reality Check". JM's newly built amps hold their own and then some. They sound amazing and meet the tonal standard set by "Reality Check" even in blind listening tests.

http://trainwreck.com/wp-content/themes/trainwreck1/images/ntw.jpg So these are being built so the Fischers can make money, right?

If the Fischers were doing this for the money, they would have accepted one of a number of extremely lucrative offers. They could have handed over design information and received very large checks upfront even before the poor sounding "Trainwrecks" rolled off the assembly line. The Fischers actions regarding Trainwreck amps have always been in response to the sole question, "What would Ken have wanted?" The idea of having JM try to build a Trainwreck was originally an experiment. It is only because the amps meet Ken's tonal standards, according to ears that Ken trusted, that these amps are being produced and sold.
How much do new ones cost?

It depends on the specific amp, features, and accessories such as tubes. The models and features vary enough that if you are serious about getting one, contact JM at "jmptrainwreck at hotmail dot com" (you know, with the @ and the . ). This amp to the above-right was half built by Ken. It has sold already for a price well below the baseless rumors that are circulating the internet.
How do I get one?

Ken's original list still gets first priority. Contact JM (jmptrainwreck@hotmail.com) using this link or the email address listed above.
http://trainwreck.com/wp-content/themes/trainwreck1/images/ntw3.jpg http://trainwreck.com/wp-content/themes/trainwreck1/images/ntw2.jpg http://trainwreck.com/wp-content/themes/trainwreck1/images/ntw5.jpg http://trainwreck.com/wp-content/themes/trainwreck1/images/ntw4.jpg

[k4df4l]

Interesting...any clue on the approximate price they are selling these reissues at?

I've played a couple Komets (which are supposed to be somewhat similar and co-designed by Ken F) but never a genuine Trainwreck.

[Modern Saint]

I wanted one of these in the late 90's and spoke to Ken around 2000-02 but he was already ill and stopped building them because of his health (and me an unknown). If it improved I would maybe have had a chance but had to stand behind everyone else that wanted one. Too get one today - forget it. Way out of my price range. From my conversations with him, he tweaked them for the user which is key. His circuit was based on the EL34 in the output section and the circuitry similar to the Vox AC30.

I looked into clones as I believe Ceriatone makes a couple of them but something bothers me about it and I don't know why.

Found this company a couple of years ago as well that had an agreement with him too but out of my price range.

http://www.kometamps.com/overview.html

http://www.kometamps.com/gifs/amp.gif

[ellengtrgrl]

In a nutshell, tranwrecking an amp is slang for doubling (or more) the gain of the pre-amp stage. Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls used to play a Marshall JCM800 in the 90s, that was trainwrecked by an amp tech he knew in his hometown of Buffalo, NY.

I guess I'm not surprised that trainwrecking an amp is a hassle to do. Add too much gain to it, and you end up with an amp that almost goes into runaway feedback, or worse yet, starts to act like a radio receiver. Too much gain also means that compression can become excessive, making your guitar sound muddy, or making it cough/crash if you play fast percussive notes. I wonder if that isn't why most trainwrecks run fewer stages of pre-amplification (you NEVER hear of an Engle, Mesa, or Diezel getting trainwrecked - they're high gain amps to begin with, and trainwrecking would probably be all but impossible to do, while avoiding the problems I mentioned above). It's a real balancing act getting a trainwreck to work properly (many builders on the amp builders forums have a hard time trying to avoid the problems mentioned above). BUT, if you do - their extra gain makes them uber responsive to picking technique, etc.

To answer the question mentioned in an earlier post, yes, Ken Fischer's amps were based upon the cathode biased Vox AC30. IMO, that's what gives it, it's warm tonality - not the fact that it's trainwrecked. Listen to "Naked" by the Goo Goo Dolls off of their 3rd album, and Johnny's trainwrecked Marshall has more grind and bite than Ken Fischer's trainwrecks.

[BoomBoomBigelow]

That's really interesting, Mark. Pretty bold concept. Wonder who's funding it. Anybody speculating as to whom "JM" is?

[Mark Wein]

That's really interesting, Mark. Pretty bold concept. Wonder who's funding it. Anybody speculating as to whom "JM" is?

I don't know, really. I only heard of these amps a few years ago when Brad Paisley started talking about them...

[BoomBoomBigelow]

Found this on TGP, in the middle of a real circle jerk of a thread on Trainwreck lust.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=683377&page=14

"John Mark, RCA employee, consult for Groove Tubes and Fischer's former assistant, who Fischer reputedly consulted many times concerning voicing of his amps and other stuff, but who also worked too slowly and was therefore never hired to be an employee of Trainwreck Circuits. "

[Mark Wein]

Found this on TGP, in the middle of a real circle jerk of a thread on Trainwreck lust.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=683377&page=14

"John Mark, RCA employee, consult for Groove Tubes and Fischer's former assistant, who Fischer reputedly consulted many times concerning voicing of his amps and other stuff, but who also worked too slowly and was therefore never hired to be an employee of Trainwreck Circuits. "

so its someone who actually was familiar with the amps during the time when the building was active...I'm supposing thats pretty good.

[BoomBoomBigelow]

Don't know what they're charging, but if you've got $$ to throw around, I'd bet it's close enough. I scratch my head at all this Holy Grail stuff. Trainwrecks and the like are works of art visually and sonically, and worth every dime if that's what you want and what you can afford, but if you can't make music with a string and a stick, GTFOH.:rolleyes:

[Mark Wein]

Don't know what they're charging, but if you've got $$ to throw around, I'd bet it's close enough. I scratch my head at all this Holy Grail stuff. Trainwrecks and the like are works of art visually and sonically, and worth every dime if that's what you want and what you can afford, but if you can't make music with a string and a stick, GTFOH.:rolleyes:


I've said it a few times here that ultimately all of that stuff is useless if you can't play the instrument to start with. And the difference in tone between my 1971 Deluxe Reverb and a Dumble (for instance) isn't $54,700 worth.

I've been curious about the Trainwreck amps because of the Brad Paisley connection more than anything else. I was on a huge BP kick a few years ago and thought I wanted a Dr Z so I tried a ton of their amps out and could never get a sound I liked. It would be neat to try a Trainwreck just to put the whole issue to bed :)

[k4df4l]

They announced these back in March or April....have any actually hit the streets? As of this month, I don't think I've seen anyone report they have received one.

[ellengtrgrl]

Nah, not as far as I know. They'll probably end up like the Mesa Palomino I wanted buy in the mid 90s (I even called, and wrote Mesa about it, after I saw it in their sales brochure) - vaporware. Some pics, and maybe a few prototypes, and that's it. I was ticked (at the time, other than the 22 Caliber, Mesa wasn't selling any amps without graphic EQs on them, and I wanted a Mesa without a graphic EQ, to replace my Mesa 50 Caliber), when Mesa told me that in spite of the Palomino being in their 1994 or '95 sales brochure, they were not going to market the amp! :mad: