The Wreck Style amps
The name Ken Fischer is well known in the amp world.
He started working for Ampeg building amps for them near his New Jersey home then migrated to opening his own shop. The Trainwreck amps he designed and built in his home shop are the stuff of legends. One amp that goes from clean to soaring overdrive and sustain with the use of your guitar's volume knob. Few builders have the cult following that Ken does. His untimely death was a sad day. He freely shared so much of his information and knowledge.
Prior to his death he began working with a company to produce an amp he designed. The Komet amp is that result and you can buy one today- for a very high price. That's not to say any of Ken's amps are inexpensive. If you can find one, they are well into 5 figures. Each amp he built was given a woman's name.
He built several models. The Liverpool was a version using 4 EL84 power tubes for about 36 watts of power. The Express is an EL34 tubed amp running close to 50 watts. The Rocket was closer to a Vox sound and it also used 4 el84 tubes. I have built the Express and the Liverpool and the Rocket. I have also built a variation from the AX84 website that mates a Trainwreck preamp section to a 2-3 watt power section. Unique and great if your ears or neighbors can't take the sonic fury the bigger wattage amps dish out.
The classic Trainwreck cabinet in Cherry. Finger joined and with a reproduction faceplate of cherry as well. This is a Liverpool. Its was not cheap as I had to pay for the cabinet that was custom made for me. Ken never used a master volume in his amps- frankly he did not have my neighbors or spousal unit yelling at him to turn it down either. But I installed a Master wattage circuit that lowers the voltage going to the power circuit and its very effective a getting a nice overdrive the amps are noted for at less than peace destroying volumes.
Turn it all the way up and its effectively out of the circuit and the amp is stock.
Below is a look at the insides of a Wreck style build. In this case, the Liverpool. There is no denying that the way the amp is laid out and the way the wiring is done is critical to this circuit. I have often seen it described as an amp running at the very edge of meltdown. So unique in its circuit and very particular about how its built. Once again, no scrimping on this.
This is a combo build I did of the Rocket circuit. I built it as an 18 watt version. Many folks feel this circuit is the closest to a Vox tone that the Wreck amps get. This one sounds great.
He started working for Ampeg building amps for them near his New Jersey home then migrated to opening his own shop. The Trainwreck amps he designed and built in his home shop are the stuff of legends. One amp that goes from clean to soaring overdrive and sustain with the use of your guitar's volume knob. Few builders have the cult following that Ken does. His untimely death was a sad day. He freely shared so much of his information and knowledge.
Prior to his death he began working with a company to produce an amp he designed. The Komet amp is that result and you can buy one today- for a very high price. That's not to say any of Ken's amps are inexpensive. If you can find one, they are well into 5 figures. Each amp he built was given a woman's name.
He built several models. The Liverpool was a version using 4 EL84 power tubes for about 36 watts of power. The Express is an EL34 tubed amp running close to 50 watts. The Rocket was closer to a Vox sound and it also used 4 el84 tubes. I have built the Express and the Liverpool and the Rocket. I have also built a variation from the AX84 website that mates a Trainwreck preamp section to a 2-3 watt power section. Unique and great if your ears or neighbors can't take the sonic fury the bigger wattage amps dish out.
The classic Trainwreck cabinet in Cherry. Finger joined and with a reproduction faceplate of cherry as well. This is a Liverpool. Its was not cheap as I had to pay for the cabinet that was custom made for me. Ken never used a master volume in his amps- frankly he did not have my neighbors or spousal unit yelling at him to turn it down either. But I installed a Master wattage circuit that lowers the voltage going to the power circuit and its very effective a getting a nice overdrive the amps are noted for at less than peace destroying volumes.
Turn it all the way up and its effectively out of the circuit and the amp is stock.
Below is a look at the insides of a Wreck style build. In this case, the Liverpool. There is no denying that the way the amp is laid out and the way the wiring is done is critical to this circuit. I have often seen it described as an amp running at the very edge of meltdown. So unique in its circuit and very particular about how its built. Once again, no scrimping on this.
This is a combo build I did of the Rocket circuit. I built it as an 18 watt version. Many folks feel this circuit is the closest to a Vox tone that the Wreck amps get. This one sounds great.