Paul Ruby 'T-wreck Express' review

[johnspeck]

Paul Ruby Amplifiers – Trainwreck Express clone review [I posted this here and on The Gear Page, because HC won't allow me to post for some reason, and I'd like to give my impressions of Mr. Ruby's fine work]


I was looking for an amp to replace my beloved JTM-45, my main amp. I was looking for something 'more', to address where I thought the '45 fell flat on my own personal tonequest.

After a lot of research, the Trainwreck design seemed to best describe what I wanted. An amp with full dynamic range, a natural overdrive not dependant solely on preamp tubes, lots of harmonic content, but no sagging out. Something I could use without a boost in front of it for thick rhythms and sustained leads, and yet get better, more vibrant cleans with the volume backed down at the guitar, than I had available in my old Marshall.

Real Trainwreck amps are very expensive and hard to come by. Recently, the homebrewers have been able to get very close to the real deal, with lots of good info available. My research showed Paul Ruby to be not only a fantastic amp builder, but well-regarded in the 'wreck world. He had already built one for another client, so I asked if he would be interested in making one to my specs.

The Express is intended to be on the edge of instability. It can magnify the shortcomings of many tubes. It has more gain available than the Marshall plexi design.
The amp features a single channel, with volume, treble, middle, bass, and presence controls, a bright switch, and speaker impedance and bias points/pot on the back panel.

The preamp topology has a gain stage, EQ, then two more gain stages, so the eq is very sensitive and affects the tone and gain greatly, as does the bright switch.

From Dave Funk's book, a description:
"The Trainwreck Express...Gain Structure is such that the Power Amp distorts before any stage of the preamp, including the inverter Driver. The result is pure Power Amp Distortion, closely followed by Preamp Distortion. This adds a smooth flow of distortion turnover and points out the hardest thing to make a distortion amp do; change smoothly from clean to dirty. That is the edge where a lot of players like to hang out. If you get a touch going, where the dynamics of the players touch changes the texture of the distortion, you'll get everyone excited about your amp. Ken Fischer has done just that with his Trainwrecks. His output transformers have this great mid-range frequency response. Another reason Ken's amps work so well is that they are all around 30 watts of power. This allows Trainwrecks to be used for Power Amp Distortion."

This amp features the ToneSlut Heyboer transformers, made to KF's original specs. Originally, the Express was designed to run EL-34's or 6V6's (with a bias change), but this amp can be biased to accept a range of many different output tubes. I currently have JJ E34L's in it, but have had great results from EH 6V6's, VA KT-66's. I had a faulty pair of JJ KT-77’s when I received the amp, so I can’t comment on them.
KF designed the amp for 34's, so that's what I'm using as my benchmark. Preamp tubes are JJ 12ax7's; after comparing them to my NOS BB's and Tele's, I didn't notice enough difference to merit needing them. The high grade JJ's are very good new production tubes.

The layout of the amp is simple, but since this amp is basically a loud, dynamic high-gain lead amp that magnifies what comes into it beautifully and accurately, if your playing and tone aren't spot on, you'll hear it! Guitars, electronics, strings, cables, fx, cab and speakers, etc., all come into play with regards to the amp's response and tone.


It has great sustain and lower gain tones with the bright down and the volume around 8:30 on the clock face. It is still very loud at this stage of the volume! Pushing any eq control increases gain. The amp is incredibly responsive to the guitar's volume and tone controls.

Some say the amp is very bright. It is designed to let as many high harmonics through as possible without being unplayable, so there's a lot of high freq information you aren't used to hearing. You can adjust this with guitar setup and action, pickups, pick and string choices, as well as technique in playing, tone and volume on the guitar, cables, cab, speakers...
It was intended to be played through a Marshall straight (not slant) 4-12 cabinet, with basketweave grillcloth (which attenuates some highs), and Celestion G12M 25-watt, 75 hz. 'lead' cone Greenbacks. With this amp, these speakers sound great clean, not too bright, and bark with good mids when pushed without an attenuator.

With my R7 Les Paul Goldtop, setting the bright switch on, volume around noon, treble around 10 o'clock, mid just past noon, bass around 9:45, and presence around 11, you get a great, thick overdrive with lots of high harmonics that can be adjusted with the guitar's tone and pick attack, that cleans up incredibly with the volume down around 3, tone the same. The amp's clean tones (with the volume/tone rolled down on the guitar) are comparable in volume to the higher gain settings when rolled up; someone once described it like an internal ‘Expander’.

I use these guitars with the amp:
* Gibson '57 Les Paul Goldtop (Historic R7), with TonePros bridge/tailpiece, stock Burstbucker pickups, RS premium electronics.
* Gibson '59 Les Paul TV Junior, w/ Duncan vintage P-90, RS elec.'s
* Fender 50's Esquire, Barden pu/bridge, RS Esquire elec.'s
I play through a RI Marshall 1960 checkerboard straight w/ replaced basketweave 'cloth, Celestion G12M 25 watt Greens, 16 ohms. Sounds great with a THD Hotplate attenuator (when necessary).


Can cause tubes to go microphonic, snap, crackle or pop, if they aren't good quality, well tested. I use Mike at KCA NOS tubes for all my needs.

Other than that, it's great. I've gigged with it both locally and nationally, with no problems. I try to take good care of it, as it’s a bit unstable of a design to begin with, and moving wiring internally could possibly cause unwanted noise, etc.

It looks amazing! I was able to design it to my liking. Paul’s fit and woodwork are comparable to all the boutique makers I’ve seen.


Paul does 3-4 amps a year as a hobby, but he's very professional and makes incredible stuff. He's been a pleasure to deal with, great communication. I was kept updated during the build, sent pics, etc. Great shipping, good followup from Paul, good info regarding other tubes, biasing, etc.

I liked his service so much, I immediately ordered another amp (a Trainwreck Rocket clone!)


I've been playing for over 25 years, professionally since 1987. I've recorded and released records on both major and independent labels, toured the US, Canada, and Europe. I've owned or played at length, numerous vintage and modern/boutique amps and gear, including Marshall/Park, Vox, Gibson, Mesa, ADA, Splawn, Kasha, Soldano, Egnater, Carvin, Peavey, Line 6, Music Man, Traynor, THD, Fender, Matchless, Naylor, Supro, Ampeg, etc…

I really love the amp, but perhaps the best compliment came from another highly regarded player locally. He thought the amp sounded as good as his cherished plexi Super Lead, but at lower volume, and "more 3-dimensional", in his own words. Cool!

Thanks to Paul Ruby for a great piece of art and tone!

[IMG:426:568]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b115/ ... 002575.jpg[/img]

[MarkB]

Thanks for the review. Paul has done a lot for us beginner DIYers with his posts and his site. Great guy.

Now I have to build my Wreck.

[sobersuds]

I have to second John's comments regarding Paul Ruby. He is exceptionally smart with electronics as well as being a super nice guy to deal with.

After I decided that I wanted to try to build a guitar amp last year, I decided a trainwreck clone was what I wanted to build after hearing all of the great reviews of this amp. When I searched the web, I came across Paul's site, and after contacting him, he agreed to put a kit together for me, which I could build at home over the winter months. I finished the amp in March of this year, and still cannot believe how good it sounds. I had Paul design it with external bias jacks on the back of the chassis with a locking 10 turn bias dial, so I could experiment with various tube types and brands. The amp takes every octal tube I have tried, from KT88's to 6v6s (to my ears, the best sounding tube so far in this amp are the grey plate RCA 6v6s from the late 1950s). Like John's amp, mine goes from whisper quiet to LOUD, with not much in between. I play blues most of the time, and the volume at 9:30 is perfect for some really ripping blues leads. 10:00 to 12:00 o'clock on the volume is perfect for most hard rock, while past 2:00 o'clock is JTM 800 on steroids territory. I also use mostly gibson Les Pauls, with my main guitar being a 1958 Les Paul Special, with the amp through a marshall 1960TV cabinet. It has proven to be a very versatile amp depending on the setting you use and your pick attack.

When I initially contacted Paul, I told him that I was a novice, and he provided me with lots of help when I was putting the amp together. I enjoyed the experience so much, that I am having him put a Rocket kit together for me now so I have something to do this winter.

I highly recommend anyone considering buying a new amp to give Paul Ruby a call.

Peter

[doctord02]

I'll also jump in on the praising Paul bandwagon; the maple wreck featured on his website is mine. Since my review is posted on Paul's site, there's no point in repeating it here. Paul is just super to work with and has been very helpful on various other projects, either hands-on troubleshooting for me or just offering advice and knowlege.

I'm sure at some point I'll ask him to build me something else...

[Bennet929]

I’m curious how his builds compare to a Ceriatone, leaning towards having Paul build mine…any and all advise much appreciated!