greetings + Komet-itis

[captain pukeburst]

Newbie here.
The handle refers to my love of the Fender antigua finish, which I refer to as `pukeburst' because it's so ugly. Picture a sunburst that goes from Avocado Green to Harvest Gold and there you have it. Instant Hideous<tm>.

I was fortunate to make it to the recent NY amp show (in NJ, of course). Three amps stood out for me - the Fuchs for its incredible preamp gain that didn't sound like preamp distortion usually sounds; the Cameron(?) because it's one of the BEST hyper-Marshalls I've ever heard; and something labeled Komet, costing about $2900.

I believe it was the Konstellation... it had four EL84's, two or three 12AX7's, and an octal tube. I have never heard a 30w amp sound like *that*. It had two volume controls to mix preamps and what I remember as a high cut control. The thing took my head off with it's in-your-faceness. Great gain without being over the top.

Like most guitarists, I can't afford this amp. I can, however, build things. After figuring out which end of the iron to hold, things started looking up for me.

I saw the YouTube clip of a guy in his house playing a LP into a TW/Marshall (the guy looked a little like Gary Moore) and I liked that too.

I'm sure there's no schematic but what is this amp close to? My understanding of what I'm hearing is an amp that's designed as close to out of control as possible, then rolled back a bit.

I have the TW pdf with the multiple schematics, as well as a few others.

1. which design is closest to the Komet I heard?

2. if the preamp is correct, what effect will using one or two EL84's for the output have? Four is too many for me.

3. when I finish this, what kind of really weird enclosure can I put it in? The best suggestions so far have been mailbox, toolbox, and old canister vacuum.
(a dear friend gave me the vacuum for xmas without asking too many questions)


Thanks for reading and any suggestions,

captain pukeburst
aka lefty

[jimipage]

This topic has come up a few times here. The Constellation -- I've been enamored by that amp since I first heard clips of it a couple of years ago. I'm pretty sure no one here has a schem, or if they do it won't be posted. (and believe me, I'd love to have a copy) I almost bought one when we sold our house, but I figured it would be wiser to fill in some of the gaps on what I was lacking in recording equipment and such. Ironically, I hardly ever record and I've got just enough gear to do many of the things I've always wanted. Sometimes I wish I would've just forked over the frogskins and been done with it, studio be damned!

[wsaraceni]

the connstellation is an amazing amp. i played that same one you were talking about at the amp show. equally as amazing through a heritage or a gold. i own a komet 60 currently...but when i get some bills paid off, ill pick up another komet, im sure.

[captain pukeburst]

[quote="wsaraceni"]the connstellation is an amazing amp. i played that same one you were talking about at the amp show. [/quote]

It did nasty things to me :)
IIRC, the amp ran through a pair of 1x12 cabs. It was partial tonal nirvana.


[quote="wsaraceni"]equally as amazing through a heritage or a gold. i own a komet 60 currently...but when i get some bills paid off, ill pick up another komet, im sure.[/quote]

Why do it so traditionally - build your own :)


I heard that it's a TW variation. Just don't know which one it's variating from.
Oh well - guess it's back to the perfboard for me for a while..... maybe I'll try one of the TW schems.


Thanks.

[wsaraceni]

i dont think any of the komets are similar to the 3 normal trainwreck designs (express, rocket, liverpool). I could be wrong though.

[paulster]

I saw the YouTube clip of a guy in his house playing a LP into a TW/Marshall (the guy looked a little like Gary Moore) and I liked that too.

I'm sure there's no schematic but what is this amp close to? My understanding of what I'm hearing is an amp that's designed as close to out of control as possible, then rolled back a bit.

If you're referring to this video (and I think you probably are):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKSH_KUoJPc
then that's a Trainwreck Express owned by geetarpicker here.

Go and build one; they're great!

[captain pukeburst]

Thanks for the info, Gents.

I'm gonna continue researching and tinkering. The Express sounds like a good idea.

Nice playing and tone, Geetar!


It's a shame that you guys in the videos all play backwards :)


-captain pukeburst
that left-handed fellow