Late to the Trainwreck party, gonna build one anyway.

[Matthews Guitars]

It seems like the heyday of building Trainwreck clones is several years gone, and today many of the resources in this forum are "page not found", but I think I have enough to go on.

I've been acquiring parts for a while now, to get on with a build some time soon. I'm going to start with a standard Express build.
Modulus chassis from England, Classictone transformer set. Hand laid out black G10 PC board with turrets. EBY TS103 preamp tube sockets, NOS Amphenol ceramic snap ring sockets with eye plates. Wiring will be as close to a Hiwatt hand wired by Dave Reeves and his mil-spec precision wiring style as I can possibly manage. I want to to be a work of art as much as it is a tone machine.

I'll build the cabinet, I'm fully capable of building dovetailed hardwood cabinetry. Done it a fair number of times.

I want to switch over to a paxolin perf board but I can't find a current vendor for board stock that hasn't been cut to size by somebody else. Got any leads on that, anybody?

I have all these parts in hand or on the way to me now. Plus I have the majority of the components required. Not seeing any show stoppers yet.

But I know how I am. At some point after the Express is completed I'll be thinking of something ridiculous....a Big Boy. A 100 watt Trainwreck derivative using 4x 6L6 power tubes. Just have to figure out the transformer specs.

I'm no stranger to high power amps. One of my prizes in my amp collection is the legendary Fender 400PS. 435 watts conservatively rated, all tube, out of 3 pairs of 6550s.

[dorrisant]

All sounds good but the wiring... I don't know if you will find joy unless you wire it as close to Ken's way as possible. Just sayin'.

Also, a standard Express is so loud that you may nix the 100 watt idea.

[Matthews Guitars]

I got the chassis from Modulus already. That barely took a week. Really impressed with the fast shipping across the pond.

Now the serious planning begins....

[Reeltarded]

It seems like the heyday of building Trainwreck clones is several years gone, and today many of the resources in this forum are "page not found", but I think I have enough to go on.

I've been acquiring parts for a while now, to get on with a build some time soon. I'm going to start with a standard Express build.
Modulus chassis from England, Classictone transformer set. Hand laid out black G10 PC board with turrets. EBY TS103 preamp tube sockets, NOS Amphenol ceramic snap ring sockets with eye plates. Wiring will be as close to a Hiwatt hand wired by Dave Reeves and his mil-spec precision wiring style as I can possibly manage. I want to to be a work of art as much as it is a tone machine.

I'll build the cabinet, I'm fully capable of building dovetailed hardwood cabinetry. Done it a fair number of times.

I want to switch over to a paxolin perf board but I can't find a current vendor for board stock that hasn't been cut to size by somebody else. Got any leads on that, anybody?

I have all these parts in hand or on the way to me now. Plus I have the majority of the components required. Not seeing any show stoppers yet.

But I know how I am. At some point after the Express is completed I'll be thinking of something ridiculous....a Big Boy. A 100 watt Trainwreck derivative using 4x 6L6 power tubes. Just have to figure out the transformer specs.

I'm no stranger to high power amps. One of my prizes in my amp collection is the legendary Fender 400PS. 435 watts conservatively rated, all tube, out of 3 pairs of 6550s.

The board? Paxolin. MODULUS!! Tell him dimensions and hole spacing.

You will be very unhappy with a Super Express. It is simple enough to examine by throwing Express preamp on Marshall SL.

Fun/Not Fun. I own Majors for 4 decades. Trust me, bro.

[Matthews Guitars]

Thanks for the advice. Man I'd love a Major to add to the pile. I have three Superleads (1969 rebuilt plexi, 1973, 1974) and a 2203. LOVE Superleads. The '69 Plexi came to me as a running basket case, it literally had 86 more holes in it than when it came from the factory. (Just the chassis...) ONE component on the perf board was original. As was the choke, and the perf board, and the chassis pan itself. After a considerable effort including welding up all the extra holes, grinding them back down, regalvanizing the chassis, and sourcing a lot of original or original spec parts, I got it back up and running, and man is it glorious! Merren OT, running KT66s at this time.

That's what I do. I take restorations to a level of intensity that few will bother with. And I make very authentic replica face and back panels for nearly all JMP and JTM era Marshalls. Nobody was making really GOOD reproductions when I needed them for myself so I decided, there's a need, I'll fill it myself. And that began a LONG process of learning Marshall typography. I think it's safe to say that when it comes to front and back panels, I'm probably something of an authority on vintage Marshalls now.

I suppose I can always just put a preamp out jack on the TW. That way I can mate it up to whatever power amp I choose.

[Matthews Guitars]

I'm wondering if there's any reason to, or not to, use multi-section filter caps instead of individual ones. Because...I have a few extra CE multi-sectional filter caps in the right values
for a TW Express. Plus it conserves chassis real estate and would make the chassis look even simpler

[dorrisant]

That's what I do. I take restorations to a level of intensity that few will bother with. And I make very authentic replica face and back panels for nearly all JMP and JTM era Marshalls. Nobody was making really GOOD reproductions when I needed them for myself so I decided, there's a need, I'll fill it myself. And that began a LONG process of learning Marshall typography. I think it's safe to say that when it comes to front and back panels, I'm probably something of an authority on vintage Marshalls now.

I suppose I can always just put a preamp out jack on the TW. That way I can mate it up to whatever power amp I choose.

Sounds like something I might do. I love hearing about it. And you have to show proof of your rebuilds, or it didn't happen.

[Reeltarded]

External cap cans are always a decent idea. The stack is a tough row to hoe in the end.

You know how a brown Fender blows into uncontrolable feedback with a flat boost? Imagine that at 4 on the clock with no boost, but add ten pounds of squeel. Yikes. The best Express amp is louder than a Park 75 and you are like 4 meters away riding the tone knob, which I effin hate. lol

You know what kicks asses? EL34 Rocket with some add-on Top Boost shenanigans.That is a big boy amp that massages your ego instead of destroying it. haha

[Matthews Guitars]

OK, here are photos of the '69 Plexi rebuild. Just the summary photos showing how bad it was, and what it ended up being.

Obviously, these are in reverse order. Finished restoration on top, as I got it, on the bottom.

In retrospect, I probably made an error in having the chassis yellow chromated after regalvanizing, as that isn't period correct, but I like it.

Restored 69_2_sm.jpg

Restored 69_1_sm.jpg

IMG_2810_sm.JPG

DSC_6835_sm.jpg

DSC_6742_sm.jpg

DSC_6740_sm.jpg

DSC_6735_sm.jpg

DSC_6733_sm.jpg

[Reeltarded]

LOL

Monster.. Monster Garage...

Get the sticks out. Where are my gloves? Jeeesus

[Matthews Guitars]

For the Express build, I've decided to go with multi-sectional capacitors instead of the 3 each discrete 20 and 40 uF caps. Simplifies the build, saves a little real estate, makes for a cleaner build, why not?

I'll include, at the very least, a preamp out jack. Thinking about an effects loop, too. Not committed to it by any means. I'd see if I could use a Metropoulous zero loss loop.

I've looked at photos of a lot of builds and some of them almost make me laugh, they're so bad. I saw one where both transformers are side by side with the same orientation of the laminations. Crosstalk problems, anyone? Have teachers forgotten to teach people about how transformers work off of magnetic fields?

If mine has a problem, I want it to be that it's TOO neat and orderly.

[Reeltarded]

Well, the lead dress and layout are king. The response is very picky about flux in the appropriate places or you tempt one of two things.

Noisy squealing hell or bland sterility. Be mindful of that.

[Matthews Guitars]

That's why I'm going to try to find documentation of examples that are known to be really good, and try to copy their layout and wire dress.

I'd rather copy success than failure, right?

[romberg]

I'll include, at the very least, a preamp out jack. Thinking about an effects loop, too. Not committed to it by any means. I'd see if I could use a Metropoulous zero loss loop.

On an express having a preamp out and or an effects loop is mostly a waste of time. The reason why is that the express preamp mostly does not do much more than amplify the signal. Alot. But it is pretty clean all the way up until near the end of the volume pots rotation. Even then, only the third gain stage starts to distort. Just a little. The preamp in an express is all about hitting the power amp hard and fast.

The very first stage in an express to start clipping will be the power tubes. And they will start to do this at around 2 or 3 on the volume dial. At this point everything else in the amp will be clean and it will allready be at FULL VOLUME . Somewhere around 4-6 the phase inverter starts to overdrive as well. Most players don't turn an express up much past here At this level the whole preamp is still putting out a clean signal. The whole show is going on in the power amp.

Mike

[Reeltarded]

^^^ all that.

The layouts in the files section are known and verified badasses. Bright assed face peeling badasses. 50w Marshall smashing midrange battering rams.

Ear toasters.