Which Trainwreck for Classic Rock

[redshark]

I think with the rocket dimed (3 oclock to full) and P-90's you can get to ac/dc crunch without pedals. For judas priest maybe a RAT distortion pedal could be the ticket.
Good trick to get bigger crunch with the rocket is to use a single alnico gold rated @ 50 watts so with a dimed amp you can get also some speaker distortion. The gold is very dynamic so it can give good cleans too.

[steeve_a]

When I built all of my Crate V18 conversions 3 years ago, I really think that I got the best range of sounds from the Rocket conversion, from a very clear clean tone to a distortion that was very rich harmonically. And you could go from distorted to clean using the volume control on your guitar. Why would I want to sound like AC/DC when I have all of that?

So when it came time for me to reconfigure the really crappy JCA/THD PicoValve my first choice was the TW Rocket. Following many tips from here and borrowing from the Torn Sun Dark Star MKII schematic I now have one of the best amps I have ever played. A big thanks to RJ Guitars and some of the other contributors here whose every word I studied.

As for AC/DC, I added two switches that bring my SE PicoRocket into Marshall territory. I reconfigured the Bright switch to add a 500pF ceramic cap in parallel with my treble cap, which has a 50pF ceramic cap in parallel with a 50pF mica cap. I used a 56k slope resistor because the amp was too bright with the 100k resistor (I had to turn the treble control down to 1 or 2). And I reconfigured the useless 5W/2W pentode/triode switch to add a 1.0uF poly cap in parallel with the 1k5 cathode resistor bypass cap for the gain stage of the DC-coupled pair w/cathode follower which gives a nice boost to the signal.

I haven't tried this with pedals yet but the Crate V18 Rocket conversion handled them well. BTW I did not reconfigure the V18 tone stack like the drawings on this site but it still worked well. However the actual Rocket tone stack (with the mods from RJ Guitars including his wiring for the Mid control) really lets you shape the sound much better than the Marshall style T-M-B tone stack.

IMO the TW Rocket was Ken Fischer's take on the Vox AC-30; the basic architecture of the preamp is the same. However when he finished the design it still had that Trainwreck sound of the Liverpool and Express... go figure! And I believe that he came up with his very distinctive preamp in the Liverpool and Express messing around with a Princeton Reverb amp:

http://www.blueguitar.org/new/schem/tra ... rek_pr.pdf

Because of the lower gain in the Rocket I think it is easier to build than the Liverpool or Express (the more gain the more potential problems). Just my 2 cents...

Steve Ahola

[rsalinger]

Hi there Steve,

Nice to see you around.

My Peavey "Classic 30 Mods" Delta Blues is still my 'grab and go' combo, for most indoor gigs and casino shows!
Thanks for putting in the time and effort... and getting it "right".

Cheers,
Rob

[overtone]

I think with the rocket dimed (3 oclock to full) and P-90's you can get to ac/dc crunch without pedals. For judas priest maybe a RAT distortion pedal could be the ticket.
Good trick to get bigger crunch with the rocket is to use a single alnico gold rated @ 50 watts so with a dimed amp you can get also some speaker distortion. The gold is very dynamic so it can give good cleans too.

+1
The old 50's and 60's P90s going straight into the Rocket at 7+ and out through a Celestion Gold. Yup, excellent. Nuff said.
It's certainly not heavy metal... but it is a combination that should be available to everyone free of charge on the National Health Service!
Best, tony

[steeve_a]

My Peavey "Classic 30 Mods" Delta Blues is still my 'grab and go' combo, for most indoor gigs and casino shows!

So which mods did you do? Inquiring mimes want to know!

Steve Ahola

[rsalinger]

My Peavey "Classic 30 Mods" Delta Blues is still my 'grab and go' combo, for most indoor gigs and casino shows!

So which mods did you do? Inquiring mimes want to know!

Steve Ahola

Hi Steve.

I did the "Adjustable Bias Mod" and "Foot switchable Shift", as per your values.

I did the "presence mod"... then undid it. I replaced the tone-stack caps with Orange Drops and Silver Mica... but, kept the stock values as I already liked how it sounded with my gear... Orange Drops in the power section.

Again, thanks for your hard work, putting in the time and effort... and getting it "right", Mr. Ahola.

Cheers,
Rob

[My-Co]

An EXPRESS, or a Rocket with a good Pedal. FOR rock.