What a fantastic sounding amp. Kenny and I were very good phone friends back in the day, I learned so much from him about amplifier design and repair. Rest in peace my friend. You left one hell of a legacy.
No sorcerer's apprentice this... but the truly magical wielder of mojo tonology... ...and masterful modding, Lyle thanx for this (!) Your taste in tone sculpting is always musical... You are the Memphis Maniac
Good lord, that is one hell of a sleeper bassman. I can just imagine showing up at a blues gig with that, and the looks on peoples faces when you play your first rif, especially if they know what a bassman does. They would spend the rest of the night trying to find a non-existent pedal board!
I’m not gonna pretend I’ve ever had a chance to hear a Trainwreck in person but this amp sounds pretty responsive and fun. Wish I could hear it for reals-like.
Watching the first episode of this amp mod, I wanted to say, and will now, that this sounds like an amp Neil Young would have in his arsenal, and use. Especially the first channel.
This sent me on a little (internet) voyage of discovery. Re: your comments about being a bit creative in this job - I ran across an interview with Ken Fischer from 2005 (emphasis added).... *Do you think you’ll ever publish your own circuits?* Fischer: I don’t know. I’ve got a lot of things that might help a lot of guys out, but at the same time *I don’t like to reward amp builders who aren’t coming up with their own ideas, who just want to copy stuff.* Guys will call and ask for stuff, and I’ll help them if I know what they’re going to do with them and they’ll respect what I give them. Like [Michael Zaite]; I’ve told him some of my ideas and he built things from circuits I’ve given him. Like a little amp I designed called a Dirty Little Monster, a single-ended amp, and Joe Walsh wanted a couple of these for recording. But when [Zaite] came out with his own single-ended amp, it was different, a single EL84 at four watts, so I know I can trust the guy and give him something, and he’s not just going to call it his own. He does very original designs himself, and that’s why we get along so well. And the other thing is, he’s actually an engineer. He knows what he’s doing.
That sounds quite good! I'd dare say proper? As we all know tone is very subjective...but I beleive it to be "proper" imo. Thanks for this! Great work as always.
Lyle, do you, or anyone else here, know of a source that sells 2-section can capacitors where the grounds of the two caps aren't tied together internally? (For voltage doublers, or series wiring to double the voltage handling, without having to use two physically separate caps ?).
I wonder what a Presence control would sound like? I know that was a popular Bassman mod back in the day to brighten up the tone and put a little more sizzle in the distortion.
The vid series which first made the Ken Fischer amp model Trainwreck Express famous, to me at least, was these by Glen Kuykendall! th-cam.com/users/GlenKuykendall
You think this amp was a "wreck"? As bad as this one was was when it came to Lyle, I'm working on an old McIntosh hybrid integrated amp where some '"radio collector" replaced dozens of caps and resistors, working from a "kit". Virtually all the parts were installed with hook-and-loop technique to the leads of the original components that were clipped out; the main voltage-doubler filter node had mismatched, incorrect caps ---- one installed with reversed polarity, and now bulging ---- and no ground reference (thankfully); and the negative bias supply capacitor was installed backwards, as was the cap and diode for a 10 volt supply to the solid state preamp. It's a good thing it wouldn't power up fully due to the missing main power supply ground or it probably would have fried a quartet of clean-looking vintage Sylvania 7591's. Quite the "dog's breakfast" as Kyle's friend Brad in Oz would say. A little off topic perhaps, but I really needed to vent! Some people should not be permitted to hold a soldering iron.....
While that does indeed sound genuinely grotesque, the word wreck that Lyle is using refers to the late Ken Fischer's "Trainwreck" amplifiers and not to a travesty like the amp you described. Cheers, Alan Tomlinson
Can feel this amp from here...!!! Dynamics are...so damn responsive😃 Did you mention to your client that I can make monthly payments...? 😃😎👍 BITCHIN Lyle😎👍❤🖖
Im looking at one of these unmodified but (apparently) recently serviced. The speaker output says "total load 4ohms" is that safe to run an 8ohm cab? The Internet thinks so but I'd love to hear it from someone I trust.
Ken was a little weird about liking to say he preferred straight PVC insulated solid copper wire, citing skin effect and other theory that, uhm, was typical of Ken Fischer. If you go to some charts you will see that skin effect for audio frequencies will penetrate through the entire wire until you get up to excessively large wire sizes for an amp. I really think Ken may have just been talking some smack just to see if anyone would call him on it or maybe just watch and see people go hunt down obsolete parts & kinda crummy wire, or why not use Litz wire and spaghetti? Skin effect penetration is 100% up to 21KHz at about 18 gauge. Who uses #18 AWG in a guitar amp? (aside from maybe the power cord, speaker wires or the heater wires)
I might have said I don’t use it as often as I use ears and a meter, but I have one and use it when necessary. Mostly for solid state stuff or weird troubleshooting (looking for oscillation above the range of hearing for example). I haven’t put it in a video because it’s pretty boring. There are times I run sine and square waves into amps - I don’t subject you to those either. When a scope shows something not audible or that a meter doesn’t show it will make an appearance in a video. But it’s not a quick way to work and doesn’t always show the source of a problem. Muting grids (for example) is faster.
Wow! That normal channel doesn't sound like a P A system!! Hey Lyle check out Mr. Solderfix channel. It's the type of channel I think you would appreciate. I find it amazing.
Aloha and Mahalo! I Was fortunate enough to have several mail correspondence and phone conversations with Ken. He was a kind and generous man.
What a fantastic sounding amp. Kenny and I were very good phone friends back in the day, I learned so much from him about amplifier design and repair. Rest in peace my friend. You left one hell of a legacy.
No sorcerer's apprentice this... but the truly magical wielder of mojo tonology...
...and masterful modding, Lyle thanx for this (!) Your taste in tone sculpting is always musical...
You are the Memphis Maniac
Good lord, that is one hell of a sleeper bassman. I can just imagine showing up at a blues gig with that, and the looks on peoples faces when you play your first rif, especially if they know what a bassman does. They would spend the rest of the night trying to find a non-existent pedal board!
Playing the Meters for good measure! Love it and love your channel. Greetings from Germany!
Imagine going in a club with that thing. What a "Sleeper" amp. Like your father's Buick but with a Hemi. Sounds awesome. Great job.
A beautiful sounding work of art!
"Honey, I wrecked the Bassman"
👍 indeed! What a responsive amp. Great work, and great demo. Thanks!
Amazing. I love it. Not sure what it sounds like in the room but recorded like this i can't say how I'd want it different in any way
Great sounding amp Sir. The customer should be pleased, I doubt the amp ever had that range before. It is a keeper.
Wow!!!...glorious feedback at will. Absolutely incredible job!
Great job on that amp. Love the tone.
very pretty, the electrons definitely sound happier in those tubes!
That meters stuff sounded awesome
OMG you didn't use solid core wire. I can hear the difference! Where are my corksniffer club members to attack Lyle! J/K!
Or orange drops!!!
That sounds fantastic!
Gosh that sounds fantastic!
Sounds great!
A Mitochondrial connection. Deep Psionic wisdom, y'all.
Wreak channel sounds killer my friend..
Sounds DAMN GOOD. I wasn’t sold in the first video, bus this one gives me strong GAS, damn!!
Watched a David Grissom interview last night and he seems to really like the TELOS pedal a lot. 🍻
I’m not gonna pretend I’ve ever had a chance to hear a Trainwreck in person but this amp sounds pretty responsive and fun. Wish I could hear it for reals-like.
I have found the variances in each component to be a factor in certain areas. I'm certain this would be true in amps as well.
Watching the first episode of this amp mod, I wanted to say, and will now, that this sounds like an amp Neil Young would have in his arsenal, and use. Especially the first channel.
This sent me on a little (internet) voyage of discovery. Re: your comments about being a bit creative in this job - I ran across an interview with Ken Fischer from 2005 (emphasis added)....
*Do you think you’ll ever publish your own circuits?*
Fischer: I don’t know. I’ve got a lot of things that might help a lot of guys out, but at the same time *I don’t like to reward amp builders who aren’t coming up with their own ideas, who just want to copy stuff.* Guys will call and ask for stuff, and I’ll help them if I know what they’re going to do with them and they’ll respect what I give them. Like [Michael Zaite]; I’ve told him some of my ideas and he built things from circuits I’ve given him. Like a little amp I designed called a Dirty Little Monster, a single-ended amp, and Joe Walsh wanted a couple of these for recording. But when [Zaite] came out with his own single-ended amp, it was different, a single EL84 at four watts, so I know I can trust the guy and give him something, and he’s not just going to call it his own. He does very original designs himself, and that’s why we get along so well. And the other thing is, he’s actually an engineer. He knows what he’s doing.
That sounds quite good! I'd dare say proper? As we all know tone is very subjective...but I beleive it to be "proper" imo. Thanks for this! Great work as always.
Lyle, do you, or anyone else here, know of a source that sells 2-section can capacitors where the grounds of the two caps aren't tied together internally? (For voltage doublers, or series wiring to double the voltage handling, without having to use two physically separate caps ?).
I wonder what a Presence control would sound like? I know that was a popular Bassman mod back in the day to brighten up the tone and put a little more sizzle in the distortion.
This amp is godly
Inuendos aside, that amp is a straight up homerun. You did its owner very proud Mr Lyle 👏👏👏👏👏
Did you use a Vishay .001 for the bright cap?
Okay I'm ready to send you my 1969 Bassman
The vid series which first made the Ken Fischer amp model Trainwreck Express famous, to me at least, was these by Glen Kuykendall! th-cam.com/users/GlenKuykendall
You think this amp was a "wreck"? As bad as this one was was when it came to Lyle, I'm working on an old McIntosh hybrid integrated amp where some '"radio collector" replaced dozens of caps and resistors, working from a "kit". Virtually all the parts were installed with hook-and-loop technique to the leads of the original components that were clipped out; the main voltage-doubler filter node had mismatched, incorrect caps ---- one installed with reversed polarity, and now bulging ---- and no ground reference (thankfully); and the negative bias supply capacitor was installed backwards, as was the cap and diode for a 10 volt supply to the solid state preamp. It's a good thing it wouldn't power up fully due to the missing main power supply ground or it probably would have fried a quartet of clean-looking vintage Sylvania 7591's. Quite the "dog's breakfast" as Kyle's friend Brad in Oz would say. A little off topic perhaps, but I really needed to vent! Some people should not be permitted to hold a soldering iron.....
While that does indeed sound genuinely grotesque, the word wreck that Lyle is using refers to the late Ken Fischer's "Trainwreck" amplifiers and not to a travesty like the amp you described.
Cheers,
Alan Tomlinson
@@diegorhoenisch62 yes, I'm aware of the Ken Fischer /Trainwreck connection, which is why I put quotation marks around "wreck".
The Starting amp of both Pete Townshend and Ted Nugent.
Can feel this amp from here...!!!
Dynamics are...so damn responsive😃
Did you mention to your client that I can make monthly payments...? 😃😎👍
BITCHIN Lyle😎👍❤🖖
Im looking at one of these unmodified but (apparently) recently serviced. The speaker output says "total load 4ohms" is that safe to run an 8ohm cab? The Internet thinks so but I'd love to hear it from someone I trust.
4 ohms is the largest load it can handle, but that was designed to be with two 8 ohm cabs. One 8 ohm load is perfectly fine.
@@PsionicAudio thank you.
Your hinting at songs, but skirting around TH-cam’s automated copyright algorithms always tickles me.
I wouldnt expect any less than perfection. Nailed it. Perhaps the owner agrees.
Ken was a little weird about liking to say he preferred straight PVC insulated solid copper wire, citing skin effect and other theory that, uhm, was typical of Ken Fischer. If you go to some charts you will see that skin effect for audio frequencies will penetrate through the entire wire until you get up to excessively large wire sizes for an amp. I really think Ken may have just been talking some smack just to see if anyone would call him on it or maybe just watch and see people go hunt down obsolete parts & kinda crummy wire, or why not use Litz wire and spaghetti? Skin effect penetration is 100% up to 21KHz at about 18 gauge. Who uses #18 AWG in a guitar amp? (aside from maybe the power cord, speaker wires or the heater wires)
Am I only one thinks pio coup caps sound smoother to the ear?
Many agree with you. My scope does not.
@@PsionicAudio You said in one of your vids you dont use a scope...never seen you use one on camera...
I might have said I don’t use it as often as I use ears and a meter, but I have one and use it when necessary. Mostly for solid state stuff or weird troubleshooting (looking for oscillation above the range of hearing for example). I haven’t put it in a video because it’s pretty boring. There are times I run sine and square waves into amps - I don’t subject you to those either.
When a scope shows something not audible or that a meter doesn’t show it will make an appearance in a video. But it’s not a quick way to work and doesn’t always show the source of a problem. Muting grids (for example) is faster.
Wow! That normal channel doesn't sound like a P A system!! Hey Lyle check out Mr. Solderfix channel. It's the type of channel I think you would appreciate. I find it amazing.
It's not an amp for most of the tunes you were playing. It's clean or bass that's it.
Wow.
STIFLE YOURSELF EDITH
Wtf
Thanks for sharing.