My solution to the six pack of capacitors was to use two multi-section canister capacitors from CE Distribution when I built my TW Express clone. Made things a bit tidier, safer, and more rugged.
Sure does look like it, the heater-wiring for the three 12AX7 preamp tubes should be more tightly twisted than what you see in the video, and I don't think a pro tube-amp builder would make such a basic mistake like forgetting to wire-up the bias circuit to the power tubes.
I work with Kenny when he first started Train Wreck. I built his first 3 or 4 boxes. Kenny Fischer and good friend Denny Kager from Sundown Amps we’re originally working together at Ampeg. Jesse Oliver use to come by Denny Kager’s shop all the time and school is. Kenny on the other hand had his own opinion and own beliefs about what a real amp was. Actually Kenny loved Traynor YBA-1 heads and one of his favorite cabinets were the old Ampeg V-4 cabs loaded with original 25 watt Greenbacks or the G12H-30’s 55Hz. He was a blunt, straight up dude for sure!
You did well redesigning the naff bias circuit and sorting the filter caps. This was probably not made by Ken Fischer as a lot of commenters pointed out but whatever it is, it's much improved now. I would have loved to hear a sound demo of the repaired amp. Good stuff!
I don't believe that amp was built by Ken Fischer. His wiring was always very meticulous. It was an important point to Ken to have his wiring routed in specific ways, and always neatly grouped. As mentioned in the other comments, Ken always gave his amps women's names. It was stamped into the chassis. Ken always experimented with his designs, that's why no two Trainwrecks sound the same.
Forgery. I thought I recognized the faceplate and turns out its a clone of a Trainwreck the Harrisons (Music Ground) was selling last year. That amp was also suspect IMO
Does the amp have a name stamped into the chassis? All legitimate Trainwrecks have an actual name assigned to them, in lieu of a serial number. The lead dress here looks to be not bad, but as someone else has said, Ken did not make mistakes. Thank you for uploading this video. Cheers!
That's a pretty serious omission to forget to wire-up the bias circuit to the power tubes, I bet the person who built it was wondering why the power tubes were glowing red-hot when the amp was powered-up, and eating power tubes.
There are a couple of people still making Trainwrecks after a long association with Ken Fisher. These probably don't have unique female names engraved into the chassis but they should be great versions of Ken's amps. A home build based on existing schematics should be fine too if heavy items like big filter caps are well positioned and secured down.
There's nothing to this amp. What a simple piece of circuitry this is! $50,000 and no one can build one like it? I cannot believe no one has cloned this and sold it for a reasonable price.
I just had an amp tech tell me the sprauge caps were garbage...i brought the hand wired amp in because it was too hard sounding,..fender deluxe hand wired clone...he is gonna change the sprauge caps with something else...the amp is basicslly new...am i doing the right thing by getting them changed, you are saying here that sprauge is a good cap?
Uhh, nice but I don,t think it,s an original! A high quality clone me thinks! Ken Fischer gave a ladies name to all his amps! I didn,t see a name. Also boutique amps always seem to be loaded with orange drops.
Definitely not a real one. However, Kens work was not nearly as " Neat " as many might think it was. He would wire everything PTP and not on a turret board. He used solid core wire and only ceramic tube sockets. He also had this belief about 3 dimensional space and would move wires and components to places that didn't make natural sense, but to him, created the nuance his circuit needed. Many of his " quirks " were hard to quantify... he was the embodiment of " audiophile " idealism, put into guitar amp building. Not sure if it was intentional to create interest and a story, or if he actually believed it? Some of his ideas were less than scientifically possible, or sensible...
@@Mark70609 But in reality, electrons really don't give a hoot about the colour of the insulation on a wire, all they give a hoot about if it is easy enough for them to get from point A to point B in an electronic circuit.
He definitely knew his circuits well and was constantly experimenting and trying things. He was an excellent designer and a big inspiration in how I build my amps.
@@madsenamplification no denying he made amps that are highly regarded. My only warning for people is getting caught up in all the mystique and mythology surrounding his building style. 90% of it has nothing to do with the result, but that 10% of reality, makes 99% of the sound be what it is.
I respectfully disagree. The filter caps floating around is a bad idea. Even hot gluing them to the chassis is a bad idea. The earth bar across the pots is a bad idea as it’s a pain in the backside to change pots. The Komet amps didn’t incorporate any of these traits.
@@Mark70609 Some peoples “mistakes” are other peoples intentions . If I want it to behave like a a vintage amp I should build it like a vintage amp . If I want to build a “perfect “amp I will not look inside a vintage amplifier . Grounding specifically comes to mind . Obviously perfect becomes arguable komets; as much as Ken had his hand in the design , they still ain’t a trainwreck .
@@Mark70609can you show us an amp Ken built with filter caps “flowing around?” I can’t. The ones I’ve seen couldn’t move. Ken did not build the amp in this video.
