What Trainwreck to build?

[austinb]

It seems from looking on Youtube that the Express is the most popular. I have built 4 marshall's , 7 fender's , 2 messa dual rectifiers , Ampeg reverberocket , Dumble ODS. Kind of like to have a Trainwreck that's different than those. What are the differences in tone between the different Trainwreck's ?

[Buschman]

I have a Liverpool and an Express that I have built. The problem now is deciding which ont to take to the gigs. I can get very similar tones from them. The Express is a bit thicker and maybe a bit more complex sounding. The Liverpool probably twangs a bit better. I also have a D-Lite clone I built that sounds great and never gets used because I like the Trainwrecks better. I have not played a rocket but have owned an ac30 before. It was fun but not special.

[rawnster]

Austinb, from your list it looks to be quite heavy with overdrive-type amps. It appears that the Rocket would be a nice compliment to your arsenal. It's lower gain, chimes, and eat pedals all day long.

[Kregg]

Which 7 Fender's did you build?

[austinb]

A Rocket is what I was thinking about.

The fenders I built are 2 tweed deluxe's, 2- bf deluxe's, 2 bf super reverbs, and a bf vibraverb. Their are 2 guitar players in my band so I build 2 of most everthing. I got the building bug bad lol.

[Zippy]

A Rocket is what I was thinking about.

The fenders I built are 2 tweed deluxe's, 2- bf deluxe's, 2 bf super reverbs, and a bf vibraverb. Their are 2 guitar players in my band so I build 2 of most everthing. I got the building bug bad lol.

Looks like you've got at least 6 more amps to build then!

Take also a look at the 66 Rocker - a Rocket built with KT66s.

Yes, it's not a Clone but you might like it.

[M Fowler]

I really like my Rocket, heck I like all of my Trainwrecks.

You can't go wrong with the Rocket.

Mark

[Blind Lemon]

I'm on my third Rocket, didn't have the first one in a cabinet yet and sold it. Building one for another musician and the third one is for me........and I bet it gets sold too before the speaker gets broke in . It is my favorite amp......for now. Read through some of the Rocket posts, a lot of good info. on tweaks and mods to the original circuit. It's very easy to make this circuit your own. And some damn fine parts are being sold by members here, some very nice transformers are available for reasonable prices for custom wound iron. Buy local.

BL

[dave g]

Agreed on the Rocket, it's currently all I play.

Even clean at low volume, using the neck pickup on a strat through a Rocket is just as satisfying to me as the overdrive on any amp I've ever played.

[Buschman]

Dang, Here we go. Should I convert my Liverpool into a Rocket since already have an Express. I am already using a tube rectifier. I do have an a0-35 hammond I could build a 15 watt one out of. Was kindof saving that for an 18 watt ef86 build. Sounds like ya'll really like the Rocket.

[Zippy]

Dang, Here we go. Should I convert my Liverpool into a Rocket since already have an Express.

Not that many differences.

It's really "just" moving the tone stack.

You've already got the right number of knobs - assuming you like a mid control and aren't afraid of the 'wreck police.

Yes, they are good sounding, great playing amps regardless of what output configuration you prefer.

2xel84 / 4xel84 / 2xel34 / 2xKT66

[LeeMo]

Dana (UR12) built a two-fer Rocketpool. See this thread:
https://tubeamparchive.com/viewtopic.ph ... sc&start=0
That's what I'm saving my beans for.

LeeMo

[M Fowler]

I wonder what dana/richie/barry did with the final layout and BOM for that amp very interesting.

Mark

[RJ Guitars]

I have focused mostly on the Rocket, but I'd have to say that building them all might be the best way to answer your question. Each seems to have it's own flavor and what to build really depends on what you want to accomplish sonically.

As mentioned the Rocket can be tweaked to deliver some great low volume overdrive or you can go the other way and dial it in to be super clean. It owes it's heritage to the AC-30 and both the Rocket and the AC-30 use a preamp circuit that is almost identical to the 59 Bassman (which also makes it pretty similar to the JTM 45)... not a bad line of amps to evolve from!

Then you can also play with the output tube configurations... lots of options for everything except maybe the Liverpool... which is really like an Express with a quad of EL84's on the output. Most of the history and cloning of the Express amps was done in an EL34 output version although a few 6V6 versions have been done. There are also a couple very low wattage iterations of the Express amp that have been developed by the amp gurus here at the AGF.

The Rocket is probably the most pedal friendly amp... IMHO the Rocket is the most all around friendly amp to build and to play.

rj

[Buschman]

Wow, that is the input I was after. I love my Express and Liverpool but I am also used to using a few pedals. These sound worse with pedals-they just loose some of the incredible warmth and texture. When you can play loud enough nothing compares although I think they sound sweetest around 11 oclock on the dial. I have often played Bassmans and thought the Rocket preamp looked a bit familiar. I dont have a grasp on where all the extra gain in the Express comes from but I enjoy having it there. It can be very expressive once you get a handle on it. It sounds worth doing I just hate to tear up a great sounding Liverpool to do it I mean, how many amps does a man need Guess I will have to scrounge some more parts.