Gigging with a wreck

[fierce_carrot]

I received my liverpool Friday morning just as Nik had promised and after mounting it in the cabinet I made, plugged it into my Avatar 4x12 pushing Greenbacks and Vintage 30's.

I instantly realized this was a far more complex amp than I had thought it might be and over the next hour or two of warmup I tried to learn as much about it's capabilities as possible.

The first set was a about learning. I had a PPIMV installed in it and I just wasn't used to that much gain being available no matter where the controls were set. I was afraid I was just too loud to be getting that much gain without it sounding "buzzy". After the set I was assured by the rest of the band and some friends in the audience I really needed to "turn up".

I turned it up and the amp came alive. The fat tone and incredible feedback sustained solos were what I've been looking for all my life as a player. It cleaned up fairly well, not a fender twin but I'm not a fender twin kinda guy. The other guitar player was using a Fender Vibro King, which is a PTP, high dollar, 60 watt Fender rig, and this thing covered it like a thick blanket.

These things are incredible and I really hope that people take these things out of their houses and GIG with them. I'm not knocking those who don't, but this amp is such a significant departure from whats been available to the working guitarist that I expect their popularity to explode. It's really too bad that KF isn't around to watch this because I predict it's going to be big.

[Rob Livesey]

I totally agree with you!

I said somewhere a while ago, that I could not believe that a major manufacturer had not picked up this design and put it out there to "the masses". I gig a Ceriatone Express and a Fuchs Train 45, gigging is a very satisfying experience. To me, it's the Marshall I was always looking for, thick fat harmonic tones, feedback when you want it and need it. The more you use the amp, the more you will understand it and the way it behaves. I think that I could have a long and serious relationship with the Express design and never get bored.

Cheers,
Rob.

[sst4270]

The guitarist in my band played out on Saturday with MaryBeth for the first time. Wow! She really shined. Several guitarists commented about the amazing sustain without any pedals or additional circuitry. It's plenty loud. Although we had the Power Scaling engaged early in the night (50%) it went up to about 85% by the end of the night. It so outshines the Marshall and MesaB that he normally uses.

These amps need (BEG) to be gigged with...

[fierce_carrot]

The guitarist in my band played out on Saturday with MaryBeth for the first time. Wow! She really shined. Several guitarists commented about the amazing sustain without any pedals or additional circuitry. It's plenty loud. Although we had the Power Scaling engaged early in the night (50%) it went up to about 85% by the end of the night. It so outshines the Marshall and MesaB that he normally uses.

These amps need (BEG) to be gigged with...

I don't want to knock those who have these things and don't gig with them but these are definately performance based amps. To grab that one note and then to hold it, letting the feedback induce the sustain while the rest of the band churns on is just too damned cool. It's truely a soloists dream amp, at least for me and the type of music I like to play.


Just got a call from a friend who owns a very nice music store in town, says he "heard about my amp and wants to hear it himself"..

hehe...

life is good...

[rfgordon]

It is amazing to see how guitar players respond to the Wrecks. I rebuilt my Express-inspired amp into more along the lines of the blues express (except with cathode bias 6V6s), and stuck it into a cab with a 12" Eminence Texas Heat speaker (marvelous speaker, BTW). I let a guy use it--he had been a die-hard Mesa fan for years--and he was blown away by the touch the thing had. It's his now, and he's having the time of his life re-learning guitar with an amp that responds like it's wired into your brain!

I run across lots of players who've never heard of KF or Trainwrecks--but once they try one they're hooked. My TNT (Two Nob Trainwreck) was for sale in a local store, but it beat out a bunch of Orange and Reverend amps--sold almost immediately.

I reckon I'm not the only one on this forum who will try to put many more TW amps into the hands of players! My Ken's spirit smile at all the feedback!

[mrusso]

The guitarist in my band played out on Saturday with MaryBeth for the first time. Wow! She really shined. Several guitarists commented about the amazing sustain without any pedals or additional circuitry. It's plenty loud. Although we had the Power Scaling engaged early in the night (50%) it went up to about 85% by the end of the night. It so outshines the Marshall and MesaB that he normally uses.

These amps need (BEG) to be gigged with...

I was the guitarist using Mary Beth. Holy Cow! To be fair, I was at 85% but there was a lot more headroom (this has Power Scaling). Also, I was playing out of a 4x12 Marshall Greenback cab which is very quiet compared to the Mesa Recto 4x12 cabs I have. I actually much prefer the Recto cab sound (wiht Vintage 30's) but my wife (the real Mary Beth) struggles helping me lift the cab from my basement. Side by side, the recto cab is 40% louder (V30's compared to greenbacks) and a much, much better tone for this express (I know hard to believe). And the sustain and controleld feedback is like crack methinks. . . .

[doctord02]

>>And the sustain and controleld feedback is like crack methinks. . . .

heh heh heh. bingo.

[fierce_carrot]

This thing sounds great with both my tele and strat...

but I should be arrested for assault when I plug in the Flying V or Les Paul...

I'd love to hear Gary Moore with one of these....people would get hurt...hospitals filled with those with broken eardrums...children would be orphaned...

oh the humanity!

[Paul86]

So fierce carrot and Mr Livesey,
When can we see pix / hear clips of your amps?
It's funny, but when I read carrot's description it was deja vu all over again, as they say. You described exactly what I felt when I played my first gig with an Alessandro Bloodhound, which supposedly is also Trainwreck inspired.
I even posted a few questions in this forum about the similarities between a Wreck and a Bloodhound.
Nowadays I play it at home, and I have to tame (neuter?) it with a PB and a 1X12 cab, but I'll be getting another 4X12 soon. My old chums are talking of putting the band back to work.
By the way mrusso, how well does p scaling work in a band context?

[fierce_carrot]

Our digital camera failed the "bounce" test that the wife subjected it to. I really need to get off my butt and go out and buy one.


It was a review of the Allesandro amps I read a long time ago that took me down the road to where I am now. I think it was a Vintage Guitar article over a decade ago that considered them to be incredible amps.

[Paul86]

I first read about Trainwrecks in Guitar Player. Then they did a shootout with boutique amps, and the one that caught my attention was the Alessandro, because of its smiliarities (at least in paper) to the Wreck. I've never heard a Trainwreck in person, but the Bloodhound delivers! And even though it's head case is made in a beautiful grade of maple, I've never been afraid of knocking it around. And knock it around I did - what a glorious sound!

[fierce_carrot]

I'd be very curious to know the differences between the wrecks and the allesandros......

a side by side comparison test would be very cool...

problem is I'd want the allesandro too

[philmanatee]

I think I'm just about a month away from a solid year of gigging with my express. I've since added my trem-rocket to the mix for cleaner tones. I run them through a jdesigns 2 12 with a celestion blue and an altec 417. My 335 seems to be my most responsive guitar with this setup, a lot of my rhythm work is done with the guitar volume on 1 1/2! I usually run the express right around 1 o'clock on the volume and control it from the guitar. Phil

[mrusso]

By the way mrusso, how well does p scaling work in a band context?

P scaling works great down to aboout 35% or so. Below that it is a bit buzzy on the low strings.

I have gigged twice with it, both using a Marshall 4x12 TV (tall) w/greenbacks. The first gig I had the cab on the floor w/me standing right in front of it : ran the amp at 85%. At last nights gig, I had the cab elevated (ear level) and had it at about 45%.

Both times the amp sounded incredible and cut through the mix great. For both gigs, we had a sound guy mike it up (yes our band plays on the loud side). My next gig I will try my Mesa 4x12 w/V30's in it (the cab is much louder than the marshall and believe it or not a much fuller tone).

The P scaling really does keep the tone as best as I can tell all the way down to 35%. I really have no way of knowing what the amp sounds like without the P scaling circuit. However Steve (the builder) tells me with the scaling knob up at 100%, it is out of the circuit, and the PPMV will act like a regular MV (which for this amp muddies the sound when below 100% and the scaling is kept at 100%). So I have two knobs to blend (the PPMV is kept just below the scaling knob). I LOVE this amp . . you cannot believe the freedom you have when playing with it.

At the gigs, I had several guitar players comment with their jaws dropped at my tone, and even the air-guitar drunks commented on my sound. And our sound guy we used last night (the first time he heard the Wreck) said "Gee, with just a Les Paul and cable and amp . . no effects no nothing, your tone was unbelievable . . most other players have so many effects and guitars to get the sound" . . he did notice the sustain and controlled feedback . . . and I was much quieter than using my 100 watt Marsahll or 150 watt Mesa (which he has heard many times in the past).

[sst4270]

Trainwreck Amplifier: $600 in materials
Electric Guitar: $1,200
Guitar Cable: $20
4 x 12 Cabinet: $1,000

Being able to hold that note indefinitely: Priceless...