Meet Derek Ferwerda

[RJ Guitars]

From Derek:

Hello Gang,

One of many thoughts to all you who are lucky enough to be amp builders is the following;

I have heard years and I mean YEARS! Of conversations between Kenny and amp builders as I was in his basement for generally 10-14 hour shifts over the course of several years. Kenny would listen, more than talk first off. Kenny ALWAYS listened, it is dynamically how Trainwreck came about. He wouldn’t think………He would listen..his ears would resolve math and tech issues that he would hear first. And hear only by listening. The kind of listening that doesn’t have your arms folded with an idea already in you r head. It is the patient, non judgmental, willing and open hearted listening that he did which gave Trainwreck the very template of this tone that we all love and want to know. This kind of listening takes constant humility and relentless patience.

Kenny looked at Trainwreck and tone in the way that a farmer looks at the earth or a loving parent looks at their children. When you love something, you truly know that you don’t own it, conquer it, control it, put it in a trophy case, brag about it or want it for your own. You interact with it with love knowing that it is something that you are grateful to be with, to experience and to know. You love it as much as yourself and sometimes more. Kenny had this sentiment towards his amps and their tone. I have never heard him say “My amps” he called them Trainwrecks or as in my case……Amanda.

If you want to build a Trainwreck. Please don’t. Please build your own amp. You have a right to your own amp and a responsibility to love it and nurture it in the manner that Ken did. Yours might even be better!!! Ken would have told you that himself. I heard him say that over and over again. The difference is, I was on his end of the phone after these calls, when he said; “why don’t they believe me”. It made him sad. His only wish was to grow the amp community by serving it as a community. He respected everybody up front and he was always willing to help people who knew far less than him which just about covered the planet. If he were alive today, I swear on my life that he would have helped you. I have both witnessed and heard him help everyone who asked. Even those that carved his heart out. He was that surrendered to tone and pure sound. The reason that Kenny had no competition is because he was not competitive. He loved tone and it ended their. If any of you feel the same way, this will ring in your hearts.

Start building amps right where you are in your development. Help each other, ask each other, serve each other, honor each other. Let’s keep this community alive with interaction and love of tone beyond ourselves. This is what Kenny did he encouraged everyone to do the same. Don’t worry so much about the arrogant and unkind thieves. People and self proclaimed friends of Kenny’s have been ripping him off for years. AND there is still no Trainwreck other than the ones he has made.

If you want to be the best amp maker, please remember that you have to be like the best amp maker. You will only end up making better amps. These are Kenny’s words.

Derek

[funkmeblue]

right on! the fact that he gave each and everyone of them there own name......you can not duplicate art, you can be inspired by it, admire it, be moved by it.......it might just be a bunch of resistors and caps, but at the end of the day, it's just really what you had to say....loudly

[RJ Guitars]

AGF - Here is a personal note that Derek sent to me a while back. I asked him and he agreed I could post for you... rj


From Derek:

I was actually pretty heavily involved with Martial Arts and Baseball. I studied martial arts through three different countries, having grown up in Puerto Rico and Holland before I moved to the states at 12. When I was a young teenager, I competed in the Junior-Nationals for 2 years in a row and also I was able to play minor league baseball as a pitcher right out of high school since my college years were short lived.

Passaic Ponies was the ball club. They were a minor league team for the New York-Penn League……….The Mets. I had a bad knee injury which ended all my physical careers abruptly and I turned my weekend job-hobby, into a career. 1982-83 was the time frame for this incident.

I had four paying jobs at the time of the injury. I was teaching martial arts classes, I had a series of self defense classes for women, I was teaching guitar lessons and was a dance club (disco-pop) dancer three nights a week. Session work on the weekends and pitching 5 innings once every 10-12 days was for free. After the injury I remember hobbling down to Kenny’s basement and having him ask me if I was going to try and go full time as a player. I remember thinking that the idea was nuts and laughing at him. Oh well, It seemed that my limited natural talent coupled with an insatiable work ethic, proved to be the surviving formula in the face of the super talented artists that slept all day. You see I was used to getting up at the crack of dawn and training for hours. I just applied it to guitar and it paid off.

A life changing injury, fear and hard work turned me into a guitarist. Life’s trials and Ken Fischer turned me into a musician.

Blessings friend.

Derek

[RJ Guitars]

From Derek:

Hello Gang,

I hope that these correspondences are serving all of you. As Kenny did, I want offer myself, my experience, my playing, some insights that I have gained through the years spent in front of Kenny’s amps as well as offer any Q and A that you would like. I want to be careful how I word things in the future because I want to make good and sure that all of you understand that I do fully credit and know that Ken Fischer EXCLUSIVELY and SOLELY invented, created, designed and brought about Trainwreck. He did NOT need my help, what so ever. He was just loving and caring enough to let me be his hands on his prototypes and production models. He could have chosen anybody. Their were far better players, I thought, yet he chose me and I still feel unworthy. It is truly because of him and only him that I was able to hear music and was, never again, able to separate the relationship between tone, guitar and amps. This relationship is one continual, perfectly unstable-stable, congruent and symbiotic relationship. Ken believed that and we have the proof. Anyone who owns or has heard a ‘Wreck, especially a rocket, knows this to be true.

As I write this I find it very hard to separate certain dynamics and interactive processes that are very easy for most people to separate, such as the relation ship between math and language. In Ken’s mind, and now consciously in my mind, there were no separations here. I am talking both about math/language separations as well as music/electronic-circuit relationships. Ken NEVER………… Separated these. If anyone of you think differently, sell your tools. If you want to make an amp that is in a constant state of movement as well as offer a perfect order of harmonic resonance, be willing and only willing to have this conviction as un yielding one in your heart. I know that this is a very strong statement. As I was sitting in Ken’s basement playing for hours, things that I always thought were separate, just came together because they were together already. Ken already knew all of this this, I found this out while in his presence. He said; “Hey karate kid, did you separate your mind, body and heart with all that kung-fu crap?” Of course he would sneer and laugh as though I was total idiot. I hated when Kenny was right………All the time

Here is a thought;

If this sounds weird or crazy, you can start by considering that your mind, heart and body, never separate. We just think that they are separate and we keep it that way. Don’t roll your eyes yet, think about this. Ken talked about this point as it were moot. Most people laughed at him. Are you going to argue with the results?

Derek

[flood]

wow.... these articles are truly awe-inspiring. i am possibly one of the younger people on this forum (27) and, having spent 19 of my 27 years in india, i have never got to hear a trainwreck in person, and know the sound only from glen's mindblowing music and various clips, which have been more than enough to thoroughly fascinate me. .

thank you very much, RJ and derek - these posts are NOT cheesy and are also not new discoveries, but basic fundamentals that we all tend to forget every now and then, sometimes by allowing ourselves to become victims of compromise.

i look forward to reading more about ken.

[RJ Guitars]

...I have both of the Novella albums and they got amazing tones on both. Now I know why! Ron

AGF - here is the breakdown of info that Derek Ferwerda provided to me on the Liquid Earth CD recordings. rj


From Derek:

The Novella “A liquid Earth” recordings is evidence that no matter how much crap, effects and EQ you do to a Trainwreck, it will still sound great. No additional effects were used from me on the amp or the guitar. I only used Dean Skalar’s strings, which were a hand wrapped nickel silver string, much like the vintage strings of the 50’s. The amps used were. A Rocket (Amanda) an Express (Kelly) and a Liverpool (Nicolle) and on the last track “Stranger; Jonathan played an additional amp. It was a 1968 Hiwatt that Ken had modded out in 1990

Track 1.) Story; Rocket- ESP 1982 Telecaster- Skylar 11 gauge strings nickel-silver wraped.

Track 2.) Bad Place; Rocket on Rhythm, Express on leads Gibson 1960 re-issue Les Paul with hand wired pickups from Lindy Fralin.

Tarck 3.) ‘Don’t you run; Rocket Rhythm and an express for leads. Les Paul 1960

Track 4.) Fire in the house. Same as above.

Track 6.) ‘Let’s talk about Love; Rocket- Les Paul

Track 8.) “color of Love Liverpool 1960 Les Paul and a re-issue Les Paul from 1988. Standard pickups

Track 9.) “Missionary” Liverpool 1960 Les Paul (re-issue)

Track 10.) Jonathan Played all of these tracks. Liverpool and a Hiwatt off of his 1988 re-issue Les Paul.

As all recordings were then. There was tons of EQ, compression, reverb and B.S. It is Liquid Earth, despite the ever-present use of Trainwreck”s really don’t showcase the amp. But here is the info. I hope that this helps.

Plinky AKA Ray Giglio was the producer for the Novella records. Both One Big Sky and A liquid Earth. He did a great job especially for the day.

Derek

[Tubetwang]

We also prefer warmer pure Nickel strings.

I use d'Addario EPN 115...


Namaste Flood...while in around Bombay, check for Vippassana.
By far, the stongest eye opener for me...
Boom shanker!

[tweedeluxe]

Thanks for the info RJ and Derek. I was trying to guess what amps were played on what tracks - I wasn't too far off! Great tones and playing, wish I could have seen Novella live.

[RJ Guitars]

From Derek:

Hello Gang,

Thank you for all your wonderful replies. They are an encouragement to me as one of the many trials-blessings for me is that I am truly mourning Kenny for the first time. I realize that these writings are as much of a front line journal as they are an unabashed account of who Ken Fischer-Trainwreck really is. Thank you all for being so kind and embracing and thank you mostly for letting honor my friend and mourn him. It was his open heart that made this amp so it will be my open heart that will continue who he was so you will all make better amps. Again, these were Kenny’s words.

The Following is a repeated quote from Ken Fischer;

“ I wish that they would listen. Listen to me, listen to the parts, listen to the speakers, listen for pure tone. I can’t even get them to listen to simple logic. Everybody has an idea already in their heads. They just don’t listen.”


I will end here. You think about this……….

[RJ Guitars]

Hello AGF - Derek has provided us a look back on the recording sessions for the "Liquid Earth" CD and then a link to some of his recent studio work featuring his Trainwreck Rocket. rj

http://www.aleestephens.com/player.htm



From Derek:

Thank you Dave and Alyn for your kind words. Unfortunately, “A Liquid Earth” is about 30-50 percent of the Trainwreck tone potential. All caused by well intentioned human interference. The best way to record a Trainwreck is FLAT EQ!! But that tends to hurt the ego of most engineers and producers. Many of them feel as though they need to control something rather than to just let it breathe. Sounds like a philosophical and an emotional issue for most of us. Some of the Novella recording sessions were pretty heated and it was always over this issue. If you want to sound good, learn to hear and create tone then leave it alone. Sorry, sore subject.

I have recorded something fairly recently on my rocket through a so-so speaker cabinet. I think that it was recorded through a 1960 re-issue Marshal cabinet. Eh. With the Rocket. I used my custom shop, 20 year old ESP style strat with a one piece swamp ash body and hand wired Lindy Fralin (awesome) pickups. The recording is a title track for a new Artist;

ARTIST: A. Lee Stephens

Songs: Learn to Live

The open melody line, the clean lines and the solo was done strait through and in one take. Tone changes came through adjusting the volume knob and adjusting my attack. The playing is o.k. It was last minute and the record company A&R people were in the studio waiting for me to play so they could catch a plane. I actually like that pressure. I hope that you like it.

Derek

[tweedeluxe]

I have recorded something fairly recently on my rocket through a so-so speaker cabinet. I think that it was recorded through a 1960 re-issue Marshal cabinet. Eh.

Derek,

What speaker and cabinet set-ups do you like with your Rocket?

[RJ Guitars]

I have recorded something fairly recently on my rocket through a so-so speaker cabinet. I think that it was recorded through a 1960 re-issue Marshal cabinet. Eh.

I talked with Derek on the phone tonight and he said send him a list of gear questions and he'll answer them for us. He has enjoyed posting info for us and he'll talk pretty openly to us about any gear questions we've got. A few folks have asked about his and/or Ken's (Derek always calls him Kenny) preference in speakers so I'll put that on the list of things to ask him about.

He also mentioned that he had just finished a live recording with the band that backs Patty Labelle. He'll let me know when that is available and we should have some more Rocket recordings to listen to.

rj

[kec]

I'm listening to Liquid Earth right now - just got it yesterday! Good stuff Derek!

[stevek66]

Hey RJ,
If you would,ask Dereck what tubes he's running and what volume settings on the amp.

With my clone I can cop his tone with my strat and the amp set at about 2:00.I can't cop his chops ,I don't have a country lick in me.Wish I did.
I find my Rocket is pretty nuetral on preamp tubes.I'm just running JJ's at the moment but I have been thru my stash,Bugle boys,Brimars,Mullards and it sounds alright with the JJ's.Wish my Express's were That way.
Thanks Steve

[Blues Hound]

This has to be one of the best posts I have read at this site...amazing stuff, simply amazing insight on Ken, thank you Dereck for sharing.