Building Trainwreck Amp as first amp

[drewisawesome14]

Hey everyone!

New to this site and very happy to have a place where I can ask something like this!

I’m sure there’s been a bunch of posts like this before, but after reading through them there’s still some answers and advice I’m looking for regarding building my first amp.

I have experience with electronics mostly building pedal kits and doing some easy mods on amps like clipping some caps and running resistors parallel, I think I’m pretty good with building stuff and a soldering iron, but I’ve never built an amp or did anything like biasing before. I’ve read up on a lot of stuff especially on robrobinette.com but I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to a lot of the technical stuff on electronics. I’m just really good at following instructions.

I know that the Champ is the easiest first amp to build, but if I’m being honest I’m not really interested in having one and don’t really want to spend several hundred dollars that I don’t want.

I really want a Trainwreck Express because I love gritty amps and this one sounds phenomenal and seems to have a simply circuit, but then again I’m a noob and have no idea what’s simple, what’s not and if I could do it based on the nuances of my experience building and modding.

I wanted to ask what you guys think and what advice do you have for me?

If I were to choose the Express what sources should I study and what advice can you give me for the best results?? Any answers would help!!!

[pompeiisneaks]

Hey everyone!

New to this site and very happy to have a place where I can ask something like this!

I’m sure there’s been a bunch of posts like this before, but after reading through them there’s still some answers and advice I’m looking for regarding building my first amp.

I have experience with electronics mostly building pedal kits and doing some easy mods on amps like clipping some caps and running resistors parallel, I think I’m pretty good with building stuff and a soldering iron, but I’ve never built an amp or did anything like biasing before. I’ve read up on a lot of stuff especially on robrobinette.com but I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to a lot of the technical stuff on electronics. I’m just really good at following instructions.

I know that the Champ is the easiest first amp to build, but if I’m being honest I’m not really interested in having one and don’t really want to spend several hundred dollars that I don’t want.

I really want a Trainwreck Express because I love gritty amps and this one sounds phenomenal and seems to have a simply circuit, but then again I’m a noob and have no idea what’s simple, what’s not and if I could do it based on the nuances of my experience building and modding.

I wanted to ask what you guys think and what advice do you have for me?

If I were to choose the Express what sources should I study and what advice can you give me for the best results?? Any answers would help!!!

An express has a smaller component list, but due to the gain, and how they're designed to be at the edge of going completely out of control, it requires some work to tame them often. It doesn't mean you shouldn't try, but that it may become overwhelming to try and understand why it's somewhat hard to dial it in after building it, for a first amp.

I would say a more known design that's also easier to dial in is a better starting point.

a 50W Plexi kit gives moderate gain at max volumes and a Master Volume can be added as a next step to tame it down in volume but still get the grind out of it. There are also tons of mods that can be done to a plexi to make it growl more.

mostly, though, I'd suggest starting simple as possible, get that working and go from there.

Is there a specific sound you're looking for?

If you still wanted to go the express route, and are a very persistent person, people here could likley help you tame it, and there are several threads here that talk about the techniques to tame one if it's unruly.

~Phil

[drewisawesome14]

Hey Phil thanks for the response.

The sound I’m trying to go for is something fairly overdriven. A cranked plexus would be awesome and that’s a great idea.

I’d like something unique as well.

I just always liked the sound of Trainwreck and thought that since it was a simpler circuit I would have a better chance at building it. I am pretty persistent.

What are some recommendations on kits for either plexis or expresses?

Do you think Posting here for help on any issues would be wise?

Thank you so much again

[joeboo88]

When I started building , I think I built a lightning and didn’t like it.
So I went and built an Express from junk I had. The amp ended up sounding like junk.
I built a lot of amps since then, and a few months ago, I did an Express round 2.
I should post my build but I never got around to it.
But this one sounds like it should although I had to also build an attenuator because it is so loud. But an awesome loud

Anyways, we are here to help. My advice is look at lots of pictures of guys builds here. To see how everything lays out
An Express needs attention to laying out parts and wire and not straying from the tried and true method KF was famous for.

Read about what parts to buy and where, especially Iron.
This sub forum has so much information, lots of good stuff here
Good luck

[Roe]

my first amp was an express. I got help from an experienced tech though. and it took me a long time to tweak the amp. an earlier version of the amp can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6W16xJhRfM (12 minutes into the video)

[wpaulvogel]

Drewisawesome14, I sent you a PM about Express amps if the PM worked.

[drewisawesome14]

Thanks so much guys.

I’ll definitely take a look at the posts on here

[keithrick]

My first amp was an Express. Turned out great. Then I built a ODS with channel switching. You can do it.

[pdf64]

Build a light bulb limiter first

[DaveMon]

I agree that: building an amp you don't want to own......because it will be easy......is a bad idea.

You can do it........it will be overwhelming at first..........but then you'll have something that almost no one else has!!!

[jmrichardson01]

Hey everyone!

New to this site and very happy to have a place where I can ask something like this!

I’m sure there’s been a bunch of posts like this before, but after reading through them there’s still some answers and advice I’m looking for regarding building my first amp.

I have experience with electronics mostly building pedal kits and doing some easy mods on amps like clipping some caps and running resistors parallel, I think I’m pretty good with building stuff and a soldering iron, but I’ve never built an amp or did anything like biasing before. I’ve read up on a lot of stuff especially on robrobinette.com but I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to a lot of the technical stuff on electronics. I’m just really good at following instructions.

I know that the Champ is the easiest first amp to build, but if I’m being honest I’m not really interested in having one and don’t really want to spend several hundred dollars that I don’t want.

I really want a Trainwreck Express because I love gritty amps and this one sounds phenomenal and seems to have a simply circuit, but then again I’m a noob and have no idea what’s simple, what’s not and if I could do it based on the nuances of my experience building and modding.

I wanted to ask what you guys think and what advice do you have for me?

If I were to choose the Express what sources should I study and what advice can you give me for the best results?? Any answers would help!!!

If you'd like, you can now buy the iron directly from Pacific at www.pacificaudiomagnetics.com. The part numbers are PAM-OT-30-54R and PAM-PT-30-54R. Original manufacturer made in Anaheim, CA.

Hope this helps!

JR