Trainwreck Liverpool clone clip

[Twisteramps]

Bought this Trainwreck Liverpool clone off a guy on the Gear Page, was built by Nik at Ceriatone. First off, the workmanship was awesome... very clean and well built. I really dig this amp. A few things you should know before you listen to the clips - I had to attenuate the hell out of the amp - ran a Weber MASS on 2. Master on the amp was at about 7 or so. Gobs of gain, but I also pulled 2 EL84 power tubes to cut the volume a bit also. I have no doubt the amp sounds much better with all 4 EL84s, and unattenuated. I also had my SM57 packed up with my gig gear downstairs, so I used a single E609 silver. Guitar used was an Eric Johnson sig strat, with a Duncan Hot Rails in the bridge, other pickups were stock. Cab was a JCM800 w/older than dirt Celestion 75s. What I was playing was one take, cut up into the clips below, and amp settings were untouched - all the different tones were from changing the guitar's volume control and pickups.
http://members.cox.net/musicfiles/CeriaPoolWreck.mp3
http://members.cox.net/musicfiles/CeriaPoolWreck2.mp3

[danastas]

Excellent. Great playing, and that is one helluva rockn'roll machine.

I'd be curious to know more. How does the amp play? Quick response? I had a Fuchs Wreck clone and I simply could not get it under control. The thing picked up all the little nuances and fuckups my fingers did. Even my old SLO was easier to play.

[Twisteramps]

Thanks! Yeah, it's like a microscope for your playing. If you're not on top of it, it gets on top of you... my big problem now is working out a lead boost somehow, since it doesn't have an fx loop.

Amp's response is really quick, I'm looking forward to getting to blast it a little at practice tomorrow and see how it does. Reminds me of driving a car without power anything... it's more fun to drive, but miss a shift and you're screwed.

Pete

[danastas]

I used a Greer boost/fuzz pedal in front of my Train 45, but I could only use it when I rolled back the guitar volume control. Fuchs advertises that his clone's volume does not diminish at all when your roll back the control on the guitar, it only cleans up. I found this to be very true, and it was the only way I could use pedals in front of it.

[Twisteramps]

I used a Greer boost/fuzz pedal in front of my Train 45, but I could only use it when I rolled back the guitar volume control. Fuchs advertises that his clone's volume does not diminish at all when your roll back the control on the guitar, it only cleans up. I found this to be very true, and it was the only way I could use pedals in front of it.

The thing that bugs me a bit about the Fuchs stuff is that he's built them on PCBs... which should bring costs DOWN, imho. I'll post some gut shots of this thing in a day or two, you'll be amazed. I think I build a pretty clean amp, the Ceriatone is built much better than anything I've done. Sounds like the Train 45 and the Ceriatones are pretty close.

Pete

[danastas]

Yep, but Fuchs makes no apologies about that because his stuff is so much cheaper than the other cloners. compare his TDS with PCBs to Two Rock. Compare his Train 45 (I bought new in the $1500 range) to Komet. Now he's at work on a non-PCB version of the Dumble.

Until Ceriatone came along, he was undercutting that mythical amp cloner's market, largely because of the fact he uses PCBs. Coming from an audiophile stereo background, he has made the argument that using PCBs is actually better.

[Twisteramps]

Yep, but Fuchs makes no apologies about that because his stuff is so much cheaper than the other cloners. compare his TDS with PCBs to Two Rock. Compare his Train 45 (I bought new in the $1500 range) to Komet. Now he's at work on a non-PCB version of the Dumble.

Until Ceriatone came along, he was undercutting that mythical amp cloner's market, largely because of the fact he uses PCBs. Coming from an audiophile stereo background, he has made the argument that using PCBs is actually better.

Well, having worked on PCB and non PCB amps, I'll take the non ones every time, but he does have some points. Trains are 1999 list for the head, which for a one channel amp is kinda pricey imho. I'm glad Ceriatone got into this market, it makes amps like this more available for the average player.

Pete

[danastas]

Well, having worked on PCB and non PCB amps, I'll take the non ones every time, but he does have some points. Trains are 1999 list for the head, which for a one channel amp is kinda pricey imho. I'm glad Ceriatone got into this market, it makes amps like this more available for the average player.

Pete

In totally agree with you that it's pricey. Look at his Lucky 7 and Blackjack, both retail under $1k, and they have the same base as the Train, just with 6V6s. I absolutely wanted an EL34 amp, so I paid up but even still that was 500 off the list price.

Fuchs has made some comments about the simple designs of the one channel Komet being so astronomical, and they are. But now Ceriatone is undercutting Fuchs, which is ironic.

[khabibissell]

Wow Pete, that thing sounds great!

Looks like you can pick up a number of cool amps (kits or complete amps) at a pretty decent price. Here's the JCM800 clone:

http://www.ceriatone.com/productSubP...04Complete.htm

[Twisteramps]

Used the 'wreck at practice, it killed. Guys in the band were freaking out about how good it sounded... all I need to do is work out a volume boost for leads - I ordered parts to convert my weber MASS to a footswitchable unit, so I can dial in two different levels of attenuation. No other way to really get a volume boost with this setup.

Pete

[adrenaline junkie]

That sounds really good!

[LexLuthier]

I haven't tried the clones, but I have been fortunate enough to play a few real Trainwrecks. Very cool amps for the player who likes to control things with the guitars volume knob.

[Shawn Lutz]

the amp sounds pretty damn sweet Pete. The blusey style of playing isnt my bag tho...was this clip for the cork sniffers?

[Twisteramps]

the amp sounds pretty damn sweet Pete. The blusey style of playing isnt my bag tho...was this clip for the cork sniffers?

Well, the amp isn't much of a metal/shredding device, but I do dig the tones. For classic 70s rock, it kills!

[speed monkey]

the amp sounds pretty damn sweet Pete. The blusey style of playing isnt my bag tho...was this clip for the cork sniffers?

Well, if the time has come where you can sniff corks for under $750 delivered for a new rig, times is good

I'm hoping my Express is done in the next few days....

Steve E