Which Trainwreck for Classic Rock

[rdamato]

I have ALWAYS been a Fender guy but lately, I have been enjoying my cleans a bit more chimey. I play in a Classic Rock band and am wondering which design would fit the bill. I have no need for any hi gain. The heaviest we get is AC/DC and Judas Priest.

Any thoughts/ suggestions would be appreciated.

Regards,
Ron

[DBEngineering]

If you use any overdrive or boost pedals, a Rocket style amp is probably the ticket. You could also utilize the knowledge base here to modify it for more gain if you found you may want it. IMHO the Liverpool is a big step up in gain. I don't have experience with the Express, I'm sure those who do will chime in.

[Bob S]

Guitar of choice - Radial Tone Bone Hot British - Rocket.
Should get you what you are looking for IMO.
Liverpools are much higher gain - great fun, but on the edge.
Someone else can give better advice on the Express.
Still dinking with mine, but it does the clean to mean thing with ease.
Good luck with your quest.

[Roe]

I'd say Z wreck or k60

[M Fowler]

If your a Fender fan and enjoy more chimey you said then the Rocket is the close to what your describing.

My first impression when you said Classic Rock was a Komet 60

The Express could also fill the spot but more finicky.

Mark

[ampmike]

Ill tell you what the Rocket has such organic clean tones.The signal from your pickups to the speaker is so fast and unmessed with.I think the true hidden mojo each guitar offers is there to be heard,even scratchy pots.
I just wished I put reverb in mine because I think it would give you those perfect cleans when need.Maybe cover the fender twang crisp sounds.
Now the express is a Bear,Still has that tight focosed balls.You can really get it to roar.There is not a lot of wire in the KF amps to cause signal loss or bleeding,They are right in you face ,Beuitiful amps.And when you need harmonic feedback the express loves to burn a note for minutes at a time.
The liverpool is almost done and I cant wait to hear if the 2 previous amps kinda melt together.Ill finish it and finish my thread in the next few days,Good Luck Bro,Mike I knew onced I did the express I would have to do the other 2.Ive compared my Wrecks to other production amps and there is quite a difference in the CLARITY and Punch,No mushy stuff!

[Gibsonman63]

I play classic rock and I built an Express and a Liverpool. I love the Express for the bluesy stuff. I did not do a VVR or master volume on mine, so it needs a fair amount of volume to hit the sweet spot, but once it does, it is hard to beat. Nice clean to mean with just the volume control on the guitar and infinite (controllable) sustain with the right amount of volume.

The Liverpool is a mean machine. For the Judas Priest and AC/DC it kills plugging directly in with no pedals. It will clean up a little when you back off of the volume, but not dramatically.

Both amps react much faster to your playing than a Fender or Marshall. I found that I had to clean up my technique a bit.

From what I understand, the Rocket would be in the middle of these two for gain. I haven't built one yet, but it is on the list. If you use pedals, it may be the ticket.

[M Fowler]

The Liverpool and Express have way more gain then the Rocket.

The Rocket is a all around tone machine and takes pedals very well for doing the Classic Rock sets but I always ran another 50-60w amp for my Hard Rock stuff and the rest of the set was through the Rocket 30w.

Mark

[Colossal]

The Rocket is a all around tone machine and takes pedals very well for doing the Classic Rock sets but I always ran another 50-60w amp for my Hard Rock stuff and the rest of the set was through the Rocket 30w.

Mark

I completely agree with this. The Rocket is comfortably loud through a 4x12 but its distortion characteristic is (IMO) no where near what I'd say is necessary for AC/DC and especially Judas Priest (if you are using power amp distortion). If you put a pedal in front (tube screamer, Plexitone, Suhr Riot), you'll be in the zone. I think the amp choice very much depends on your playing, what tones you like, how much volume you need...very subjective...never an easy choice!

[M Fowler]

I completely agree with this. The Rocket is comfortably loud through a 4x12 but its distortion characteristic is (IMO) no where near what I'd say is necessary for AC/DC and especially Judas Priest (if you are using power amp distortion). If you put a pedal in front (tube screamer, Plexitone, Suhr Riot), you'll be in the zone. I think the amp choice very much depends on your playing, what tones you like, how much volume you need...very subjective...never an easy choice!

I agree with this as well for AC/DC is used a pedal board with three different Boss distortion pedals, pick your flavor type of thing.

Mark

[Lublin]

My Rocket clone is an excellent template for any kind of tone, just add the pedals you want.

[RJ Guitars]

If you use any overdrive or boost pedals, a Rocket style amp is probably the ticket. You could also utilize the knowledge base here to modify it for more gain if you found you may want it. IMHO the Liverpool is a big step up in gain. I don't have experience with the Express, I'm sure those who do will chime in.

DB - tell us a little about yourself... that is your first post but obviously this is not your first rodeo.

As to the original post - Rockets are the answer to everything if using a pedal is agreeable to you... then it's a matter of getting the right pedal. If you are a straight into the amp kinda guy and you want to do metal, the Rocket is like taking a very well made knife to gun fight. Somehow got stuck on the metaphors today...

The Liverpool and the Express have one more gain stage than the Rocket so no mystery or personal perception required. The math, your oscilloscope, and your ears will confirm that the Express and Liverpool have more gain than the Rocket.

rj

[dorrisant]

If you have pedals that you already use/like... Go with a Rocket or Rockster... You will probably love it so much you will want to build an Express or Liverpool!

No kidding, you can't beat the cleans from a Rocket preamp... And like it was stated before... These amps will teach you to be a better player.

Tony

[rdamato]

Thanks for the great feedback. I've always used pedals and really am able to shape my tone with them. It looks like a Rocket is the choice. OK, who do you recommend I commission a build with??


Ron

[RJ Guitars]

Thanks for the great feedback. I've always used pedals and really am able to shape my tone with them. It looks like a Rocket is the choice. OK, who do you recommend I commission a build with??


Ron

If you want a finished build, a few of my favorites are: Mark Fowler, Ronster, Colossal, Dana Hall, Allyn Meyers, Richie Hall, Cliff Schect, Lowell Hunt, Bob Peck (Bind Lemon), Carl Popek, Dan Schepise, David Simpson, Pete Fischer, Jim Driver, Jim Jenkins, Jim Schindler, Kenn Mogul, Patrick Sullivan, Steve Liberty, Steve Kowalski, Tom Hanley, Tony Dorris, etc...

This is just the first of many pages on my electronic rolodex of amp builders. These are all guys that I have corresponded with or have made great contributions or implementations to the Rocket or Rockster builds featured here at TAG. The list could go on for a long time and I apologize to all the guys that are great builders and for sure are on the "A" list for this type of project... there are many many more awesome builders out there.

I am sure you'll get a few PM's. Master amp builders are artists and as you may know many artists generally tend to work cheap and at this point in economic history working cheap beats not working. However, don't be surprised if somebody sends you a note asking for upwards of $2500. In comparison with what you can potentially pay for a recognized hand made boutique amp, it's a great price.

rj