New video you guys will probably appreciate by GK

[doctord02]

Really cool Glen. Thanks for taking the time to record and post stuff like this. Your CD is constantly in my 5 disc carousel player.

[drhulsey]

Very cool addition what you've already shared with us about TW's

[angelodp]

Thanks Glen, can you just go over the wiring on your LP a bit.

Great sounds

best ange

[geetarpicker]

In the 50s gibson wired the cap to the center lug (output not pickup) side of the volume pot. The tone pot is also wired differently but I don't think that is where the difference comes from but I could be wrong. Here is my guitar with 100% stock wiring though the pickup leads have been resoldered.

[img:673:537]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-10/ ... iring1.jpg[/img]

[Chris G]

Hi Glen,
Great Video!!!
Thanks
Chris

[M Fowler]

For those that enjoy reading PremierGuitar the current issue has information from Seymour Duncan on the Gibson 50's wiring that can be done for strat guitars not just the LP if your interested.

Mark

[C Moore]

I have always heard that Ken Fischer built his amps around the needs of his customer. Was that true in your case? Did he make component changes based on input he got from asking you questions about your gear, style of playing, etc ? Or did you order a TrainWreck, it got built, and that was all there was to it?
Thank You

[NowFender]

Thanks for the closeup. Have you measured your bb caps to see how far they've drifted in value?

[geetarpicker]

I have always heard that Ken Fischer built his amps around the needs of his customer. Was that true in your case? Did he make component changes based on input he got from asking you questions about your gear, style of playing, etc ? Or did you order a TrainWreck, it got built, and that was all there was to it?
Thank You

Ha! Long story... All I got special was a discount but that was way cool. This amp was probably originally going to go to someone else as I was on the list but I heard about this amp at a discount only about 2-3 months after I got on "the list". It had a noise issue (was eventually figured out as bad solder connections on the filament leads inside the PT) and was thought to be fixed at the time. However Ken had resoldered a few parts here and there lifting wires to trace the issue. It basically seem to have cleared up noise wise but he didn't want to sell it at standard price as the solder connections on the board weren't quite as clean as originally. A few months later the noise came back, and by that point Ken was onto the issue for sure which was traced down to a new batch of defective PTs. Apparently after my amp he found others PTs with the same issue an eventually realized the real problem. I got a 2nd PT and put it in myself instead of shipping the amp back and that one immediately shorted out with smoke and all! Turned out in the transformer redo Ken went ahead and had them "upgrade the" leads wire guage but that didn't work out initially as apparently the end bell fit was so tight that it crimped and shorted a filament wire on mine. SO, I sent that one back to Ken and he got some bigger end bells and sent me another PT, that would be PT #3. That went in and has worked perfectly from that day forward. I'm sure Ken would have done all this for me, but I didn't want the hassle of shipping the amp back and I'm good with soldering and such anyway. I got the amp for $850, down from the usual $1200 at the time. So, my amp is from what I know a typical stock model albiet with the initial PT isssues. That is why it is stamped "2nd", and name "Orphan Annie" as she started out life not wanted and with issues... GK

[geetarpicker]

Thanks for the closeup. Have you measured your bb caps to see how far they've drifted in value?

.024uf neck tone, .028uf bridge tone

Seems they have drifted up or started out high who knows.

The pots are also all over the map.

Neck volume: 499.6k
Neck tone: 643k
Bridge volume: 589k
Bridge tone: 888k

In some ways I bet it would sound better with the bridge and neck pots swapped, putting the higher ones on the neck pickup. However they have never been removed and will stay that way. It is worth mentioning how slow and smooth these old pots come on which helps get a clean tone with a Trainwreck. My pots only read about 30k when they are on 3 and only up to about 60k on 5. Most modern pots (even "reissue" types) come on faster. This is pretty typical with these old pots as I've measured others even those in guitars that weren't used much and had less "hours" on the pots wear wise. Even with a 4 input style Marshall these old pots are easier to work with. It's interesting that these days they can make pretty smooth and slow audio taper 250k pots, but 500ks seem much trickier to get as smooth.

[DustyBadlands]

Glen, I was wondering what the 2nd stamp on the chassis was for. Now I know. Thanks for the great info. It was nice meeting you at the Detroit amp show. victor

[M Fowler]

Glen, I also asked some one why do you think there is 2nd stamped into Glen's amp, I thought it was your clone

Thanks for the information it was interesting.

Mark

[C Moore]

I have always heard that Ken Fischer built his amps around the needs of his customer. Was that true in your case? Did he make component changes based on input he got from asking you questions about your gear, style of playing, etc ? Or did you order a TrainWreck, it got built, and that was all there was to it?
Thank You

Ha! Long story... All I got special was a discount but that was way cool. This amp was probably originally going to go to someone else as I was on the list but I heard about this amp at a discount only about 2-3 months after I got on "the list". It had a noise issue (was eventually figured out as bad solder connections on the filament leads inside the PT) and was thought to be fixed at the time. However Ken had resoldered a few parts here and there lifting wires to trace the issue. It basically seem to have cleared up noise wise but he didn't want to sell it at standard price as the solder connections on the board weren't quite as clean as originally. A few months later the noise came back, and by that point Ken was onto the issue for sure which was traced down to a new batch of defective PTs. Apparently after my amp he found others PTs with the same issue an eventually realized the real problem. I got a 2nd PT and put it in myself instead of shipping the amp back and that one immediately shorted out with smoke and all! Turned out in the transformer redo Ken went ahead and had them "upgrade the" leads wire guage but that didn't work out initially as apparently the end bell fit was so tight that it crimped and shorted a filament wire on mine. SO, I sent that one back to Ken and he got some bigger end bells and sent me another PT, that would be PT #3. That went in and has worked perfectly from that day forward. I'm sure Ken would have done all this for me, but I didn't want the hassle of shipping the amp back and I'm good with soldering and such anyway. I got the amp for $850, down from the usual $1200 at the time. So, my amp is from what I know a typical stock model albiet with the initial PT isssues. That is why it is stamped "2nd", and name "Orphan Annie" as she started out life not wanted and with issues... GK

That's a great/interesting story. Just goes to show that guys like KF were only human beings like the rest of us. Their amps did not just magically fall out of the sky. A lot of tinkering, frustrations, failure, and hard work before things fell into place. What's the old quote about genius? "3% inspiration and 97% perspiration"
Thanks again for relating the history of your amp. A unique birth for sure.

[camden_guitarist]

Hi Glen,

Is there a '50s' Fender wiring as well??? I have a 'new' Baja Tele that I'd like to mod to standard wiring since I don't use the push button 4th position and I was wondering if there was a 'vintage' wiring method.

Great work on the video, I've enjoyed it a lot and it puts my mind at ease about the hiss issues I have...an amp turned up just makes a lot of noise which seems to be the nature of the beast...

Cheers and keep it up.

Paul.

[geetarpicker]

The video does make the noise worse than it really is specifically when I'm talking. I didn't have a lapel mic close up, SO the same mic that captures the room (about 4 feet away from me up above the sight of the camera) had to be cranked when I talked to hear me speak. You can imagine a mic set to handle 116db therefore has to be brought up alot to hear someone talk at normal conversation level let alone at a distance. However when I play the room mic is brought down and then you can barely hear any noise in relation to the guitar's actual signal. Basically I edit the audio after the fact to bring the room mic up during the narrative, and down (but not totally off) during the demos. Next time I'll put the amp on standby during the narative and/or get a lapel mic so that the narrative can be brought up much better. You can really hear how loud the standby switch is when I click it, when the room mic is up to capture the narrative that is.

Thanks all!
GK