All Aboard! - Trainwreck Express Build Thread

shaunf · 2012-09-21T10:28:00+00:00

So, after 5 months of research, collecting parts, cold sweats and a few nightmares, my final parts order is waiting for me at the post office to collect this afternoon. I was too excited to wait till later to start this thread, so here it is. First pics to come this evening, and the build will start over the course of this weekend. Stay tuned! 8)

Nicholas-L

I might just have to fly up just to hear it ?

shaunf

Nicholas L wrote I might just have to fly up just to hear it ?

If some friendly Durbanite forumer with some means to make a decent recording is prepared to help me, I'll gladly get a clip made and save you the jet fuel! My only recording options at the moment are camera microphone or ipad onboard mic.

rikus

Man, this is really inspiring work!! I bet you're helluva proud!!

Norman86

shaunf wrote I just realised that I forgot to show you guys the tube chart that I made for the amp. This is now pasted on the inside of the cab:

very nice build! and a nice chart...but where will you stick the chart??

shaunf

Rikus wrote Man, this is really inspiring work!! I bet you're helluva proud!!

I'm not one to really feel proud over things like this that I have done. I normally feel more proud of things my friends or family do. So relief and a sense satisfaction yes, but proud no.

Thank you for the compliment. You can consider this thread proof that if I can do it, anyone can, provided you're prepared to learn, take things slow, and have patience! ?

Nicholas-L

Yes a sense of satisfaction.... and then that sigh of all is right with the world now ?

shaunf

Norman86 wrote
shaunf wrote I just realised that I forgot to show you guys the tube chart that I made for the amp. This is now pasted on the inside of the cab:

very nice build! and a nice chart...but where will you stick the chart??

Thank you! The chart is stuck inside the head cab, on the rightside wall that you can see in the photo taken from the back.

I wasn't going to do this, but a friend convinced me that one does not know where these things can end up years down the line, and in whose possession. I think I'm going to stick a copy of the schematic on the inside surface of the chassis shield too.

deefstes

shaunf wrote I wasn't going to do this, but a friend convinced me that one does not know where these things can end up years down the line, and in whose possession.

And your friend is absolutely on the money. You see, this amp really should be in my possession. ?

shaunf

deefstes wrote
shaunf wrote I wasn't going to do this, but a friend convinced me that one does not know where these things can end up years down the line, and in whose possession.
And your friend is absolutely on the money. You see, this amp really should be in my possession. ?

I don't think my wife would be too happy if I passed on her namessake! ?

In case you're wondering, naming the amp after her was my way of saying " Sorry for ignoring you for the last 5 months", while I soaked up every bit of literature about these amps that I could lay my internet on. ?

deefstes

shaunf wrote
deefstes wrote
shaunf wrote I wasn't going to do this, but a friend convinced me that one does not know where these things can end up years down the line, and in whose possession.
And your friend is absolutely on the money. You see, this amp really should be in my possession. ?
I don't think my wife would be too happy if I passed on her namessake! ?

In case you're wondering, naming the amp after her was my way of saying " Sorry for ignoring you for the last 5 months", while I soaked up every bit of literature about these amps that I could lay my internet on. ?

LOL. Of course I'm kidding. Much as I envy you, no-one deserves an awesome amp like this more than the guy who is willing to put in such effort. Have some more kudos.

shaunf

I spent a lot of time last weekend rolling tubes through this amp, and am pleased that I managed to find about 7 or 8 tubes in my stash that are not microphonic and have little to no noise issues, and I've spent a lot of time trying out various combinations. I'm running a NOS Mazda branded tube in V1 now, with an Amperex in V2 and an Ei in the phase invertor. Decided to wind her up earlier before most people in my 'hood had arrived home from work. VVR set to full, amp volume up to 3/4, running into half of my 4x12 cab and just tinkered around, starting with the guitar volume at around 2 playing some nice clean open chords, feeding in some more volume, a bit of lead work,and then finally dimed the guitar and hit some power chords.

Oh.My.God.

Face=Melted.

Please someone help me out to get a recording of it. You guys HAVE to hear this amp. It is insane. Yes, it's loud, that's a given, but that's not what I'm talking about. The dynamics, the tone. It is just ridiculous. Actually made my knees go weak. Sorry, I'm gushing like a schoolgirl here....

Sean

6x9base13

shaunf wrote
deefstes wrote
shaunf wrote I wasn't going to do this, but a friend convinced me that one does not know where these things can end up years down the line, and in whose possession.
And your friend is absolutely on the money. You see, this amp really should be in my possession. ?
I don't think my wife would be too happy if I passed on her namessake! ?

In case you're wondering, naming the amp after her was my way of saying " Sorry for ignoring you for the last 5 months", while I soaked up every bit of literature about these amps that I could lay my internet on. ?

? What a coincidence !! My wife's also called Trainwreck Express !!! Just kidding , couldn't resist ? Very nice build. I'm a sucker for any nicely finished wood !

shaunf

6x9base13 wrote
shaunf wrote
deefstes wrote
shaunf wrote I wasn't going to do this, but a friend convinced me that one does not know where these things can end up years down the line, and in whose possession.
And your friend is absolutely on the money. You see, this amp really should be in my possession. ?
I don't think my wife would be too happy if I passed on her namessake! ?

In case you're wondering, naming the amp after her was my way of saying " Sorry for ignoring you for the last 5 months", while I soaked up every bit of literature about these amps that I could lay my internet on. ?
? What a coincidence !! My wife's also called Trainwreck Express !!! Just kidding , couldn't resist ? Very nice build. I'm a sucker for any nicely finished wood !

:applause: LOL!

And as a final point, I just successfully fixed the final issue I was having. I had a bit of DC voltage on the amp pots. After my tube swapping and with the problem not going away, I suspected one of my coupling caps was leaky. Tested the 2 Orange Drops that I suspected and they were fine. Then I eyeballed the 500pf mica cap next to them, and wondered if this couldn't be the sneaky bastard making my pots scratch. Tested it and was getting a reading of 0.03v on the pot side. Solder tacked a replacement to the plate resistor side and tested the new one - 0v so I swapped it out. Problem solved. Does this mean I'm not building by numbers anymore? 8)

Nicholas-L

Nice dude :applause:

Seems these Mica caps are prone to DC leaking mmm.

bottledtone

Nicholas L wrote Nice dude :applause:

Seems these Mica caps are prone to DC leaking mmm.

Them can be bastards....... I had one leaking 70vdc

So...... How is the tonestack? The response of each....the sweep?

shaunf

bottledtone wrote
Nicholas L wrote Nice dude :applause:

Seems these Mica caps are prone to DC leaking mmm.
Them can be bastards....... I had one leaking 70vdc

So...... How is the tonestack? The response of each....the sweep?

Hey Benjamin,

I'm not sure I know the right terminology to describe how the tone stack works, or even whether I'm answering your question properly, but I'll give it a go.

Firstly, no amount of twisting any of the tone pots alters the character or base tone of the amp. It is what it is, and no amoubt of twiddling is going to make it something else.

The Bass control has a nice sweep. I can dial out a lot of the lows, and if I push it up above 12 o clock, it gets quite Bassy. Ideal setting with Les Paul on Bridge Pickup would be about 1 o clock, according to my ears, and 9 o clock on the neck pickup. I tend to leave it at between 11 and 12 o clock.

The Mid pot's sweep is not as pronounced. This amp pushes the mids by design. I wouldn't be able to scoop the tone by dialling back the mid pot, it's still there. Pushing the pot higher than 12 o clock makes it slightly more Middy, but not a lot.

Treble again has a nice sweep, although it gets quite harsh above 12 o clock. I tend to leave this at 12 o clock, and use the bright switch on the 100pf cap setting, which is just about perfect for my ears.

Presence - not a big fan. This amp doesn't need it. It's sparkly already. Lots of guys install what's called a Resonance or a combination Presonance mod in its place. Again, I tend to leave it at around 12 o clock.

All in all, as far as the tone pots go, for me it ends up being kind of "set and forget" on this amp. My most important control is now my guitar volume pot.

Does that answer your question?

bottledtone

Haha ?, yeah it does.... Sorry to come aross as technical only. The 1M treble pot seems abit big for me, and your statement on it confirms it. I know a lot of guys that don't dig presence, but on stage when you battle to hear yourself, that presence knobs helps stacks. Your amp can sound distant, and that just brings it closer.

Did you stick to one schem, or did you do a hybrid of the different versions floating around.... I know its believed that no one trainwreck was the same as the other. He tweaked all.
Oh and the vvr.... The whole amp?

shaunf

bottledtone wrote Haha ?, yeah it does.... Sorry to come aross as technical only. The 1M treble pot seems abit big for me, and your statement on it confirms it. I know a lot of guys that don't dig presence, but on stage when you battle to hear yourself, that presence knobs helps stacks. Your amp can sound distant, and that just brings it closer.

Did you stick to one schem, or did you do a hybrid of the different versions floating around.... I know its believed that no one trainwreck was the same as the other. He tweaked all.
Oh and the vvr.... The whole amp?

Yeah, I hear you on the Presence. I like using it on my JMP, but not my AFD or the Express. Both these amps are pretty bright in their own right, and neither one would have any problem in cutting through the mix in a band situation. With the 'wreck having its 2 bright switches, I prefer the shimmery effect these add, compared to dialing in more treble on the treble pot.

From a schematic point of view, my amp is probably 70% based on an Express called Franscesca, and 20% on another one called Orphan Annie. The other 10% I've reserved for some changes that don't conform to any of the originals. My power supply filtering is higher. 50uf instead of 40uf. I've also eliminated the anti flyback diode strings on the power tubes, since I read that some guys were getting some strange artifacts when under heavy drive, and the problem went away when they removed the diode strings. Also made a few minor changes in the bias circuit to bring my max negative bias voltage to within the required range.

Most of the differences I've picked up when examining photos of originals were around the use of grid resistors. Ken used lowish value ones to tame badly behaved amps. Also, lead dress varied, as did the type of wire used in certain positions.. Otherwise most of the photos i've seen, the essential circuits were very similar. I was fortunate in that my amp behaves itself without any grid resistors on the preamp tubes at all.

With the VVR, I'm scaling the whole amp and I'm really pleased with how it works. I get all the tone and most of the character at what I would describe as "loud bedroom" levels, which is ok for daytime playing. At levels below that, it does begin to rapidly lose its character, and at really low volumes, like what would be required to be playing it now, with the rest of the family sleeping, it sounds rather generic.

Kalcium

shaunf wrote Please someone help me out to get a recording of it. You guys HAVE to hear this amp. It is insane. Yes, it's loud, that's a given, but that's not what I'm talking about. The dynamics, the tone. It is just ridiculous. Actually made my knees go weak. Sorry, I'm gushing like a schoolgirl here....

Just realised I may be able to help out here. I got myself a Hughes and Kettner Red Box the other day, can put both the red box and the amp to the test. Not sure if it'll capture things as well as a mic, but its better than an iPad mic ?

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