Trainwreck.....variations???

[redshark]

So check this out, so far we all know and had talk about the traditional trainwreck amps, Liverpool, express and rocket.
We know also about the dirty little monster and the songwriter but what about the variations (tweaks to the owner) of the 3 conventional models?

In this link...

http://web.archive.org/web/200503091838 ... wrecks.htm

there's a couple of tweaked amps, "octal plus liverpool", "liverpool special edition", "special voice express", "trem rocket". Some of the names are self explanatory but what do we know about this originals? what makes them unique? if anybody has experience this amps it would be so cool to know about the performance points?

Please share about this amps....

[funkmeblue]

genevieve has more gain http://www.thegearpage.net/board/archiv ... 87861.html

[2tone]

i think 2 trem rockets were made..I heard one on the phone.. I played Genevieve, super lead amp, with more gain and a wider frequency spectrum..I had a chance to trade for her, but ended up prefering my regular liverpool, which seemed a little sweeter and more focused, and had the right stuff in the gain dept. hard to beat..and it's more versatile in my opinion. I know one or two octal amps were made..Ken liked octal tubes but there was always noise/microphonic issues and was harder to select a good one. Some Express was converted to tube rectifier also. I have a special voicing Express, which was done in 92 and voiced for modern EL 34's. Itr had some pre amp mods, voltage divider type. I changed it back close to regular Express circuit, which I preferred because the gain seemed cleaner around the edges.Put back old output tubes in her and currently run a pair of metal base 34's. Sound is huge, very wide spectrum. These tubes take about 40 minutes to reach best sounding operation...

[Reeltarded]

How much do the tubes change in temperature over the last 20 minutes of that? Any possiblility it's the caps and resistors?

Ken must have modified more Bassman heads than he built amps. The ones I have heard have a Marshallish face, and some with a Vox nose. He seemed to do what a customer would ask for.. imagine what all that could be.

[2tone]

never measure the temp accurately. But it's the tubes, because siemens and other regular 34's(NOS british and Amperes etc) don't do this..They seem to sweeten up in under 20 min....most tube amps exhibit this character i think..

[redshark]

Very interesting 2tone!! thanks!!

Do you remember how the express with a rectifier sounded? I assume the recto tube was a mullard GZ34.
What other el34 tubes did Ken used beside the Siemens to build his express amps?

[funkmeblue]

so does an octal liverpool still have el84's? I thought maybe 6v6's instead. I wonder if an express with a tube rectifier would use a similiar power supply to the k-60. And maybe genvieve has a cathode follower like the k-50.......sorry, just thinking out loud.

[2tone]

[
I never heard that one.. It may have been a Liverpoolk, but was a GZ34. To me, the Express and Liverpookl need the quicker higher volts of the SS rectifier. Callaham made some w/ rectifier tube then went back to ss i believe.All Expresses were shipped w/ Siemens, unless speciakl requested tubes(usually xf2) I like xf2's, and telefunkens are the most harmonic EL 34 in an Express; also love the metak based 34's.





quote="redshark"]Very interesting 2tone!! thanks!!

Do you remember how the express with a rectifier sounded? I assume the recto tube was a mullard GZ34.
What other el34 tubes did Ken used beside the Siemens to build his express amps?[/quote]

[2tone]

[

still had 84's. no Liverpool had 6v6's..It was octal preaMP, not power tube. An Express w/ GZ34 would be similar to the Komet, both having 80 uf filtering, but the circ uits are different. No cathode follower in Genivieve tho...the circuit was still the same architecture as regular pools and xpresses..





quote="funkmeblue"]so does an octal liverpool still have el84's? I thought maybe 6v6's instead. I wonder if an express with a tube rectifier would use a similiar power supply to the k-60. And maybe genvieve has a cathode follower like the k-50.......sorry, just thinking out loud.[/quote]

[funkmeblue]

hey, thanks for the info, built an octal express, now I guess I'll have to build an octal liverpool.

[jon]

Wonder what tremolo circuit he used?

[redshark]

Wonder what tremolo circuit he used?

That would be great to know for sure.....