Another Express...

[gktamps]

Wow. That's pornographic.

[jelle]

*Very* nice!

[RJ Guitars]

Dave, that one is awesome, you've set the bar pretty high!

Thanks for a look at another set of Mercury Mag trannies in a Wreck. I know they were not in any of the KF builds but I believe they are more than worthy... I anticipate that they will grow in popularity as after a few of them are heard and it doesn't sound like there is any problem hearing this one??

Great job! thanks for sharing.

[njwrecks]

nicely done-excellent my friend!!!

[Colossal]

Thanks a lot for the nice comments guys. This amp was a labor of love and I really enjoyed the build. I got a chance to crank up the volume yesterday and it was a blast.

Thanks for a look at another set of Mercury Mag trannies in a Wreck. I know they were not in any of the KF builds but I believe they are more than worthy...

RJ,

If you have spoken to Patrick about Mercury's TW set, Ken and Sergio were friends and shared ideas. Out of respect for Ken after his passing, Mercury never released his transformer specs (which they do have) but modeled the TW-KF-PT an -OT after what would be fitting. I burned in this amp for another 6 hours yesterday and then played it at quite high volume and it was nothing short of spectacular. The Mercury set sounds very, very good. The voltages at 300VAC variac'd to 120VAC primary match Kelly '90 exactly. I hear the sag and hiss drop out on big chords, exactly as documented by Glen. The clarity and transparency are phenomenal. It will blossom into feedback playing clean and is the best and most musical sounding Express I have built to date. I had the most enjoyable practice/noodles that I have had in a long time. It has all of the fat, chewy warmth and woody knock of the best Plexi but also a clear, horn-like quality. That's the only way I can describe it. Very clear, balanced, elastic, and three dimensional with that characteristic rich midrange. Not at all fatiguing or strident in the high end, and even better with the bright on 500p. The 6CA7s sound amazing. No need to parallel the 0.002uF cap, plenty of low end.

Settings were Volume at 11 o'clock, TMB all at noon, Presence at 11 o'clock, Bright 500p. I roll off the Tone knobs slightly on both neck and bridge pickups.

[RJ Guitars]

yeah I've talked with Patrick a few times. He told me a story once about ken bringing them a power transformer that he had scrounged from an old TV and asking if they could copy it. I think they have always been respectful toward Ken and his legacy as far as not capitalizing on his intellectual remnants for their own financial gain.

I also got a look at the original Z-Wreck and it had a MM output tranny in it. I don't know if it was actually built by Ken or Dr Z but it's clear enough that Ken was working with Z in the circuit design and I might safely speculate that they talked about transformers in addition to the other components used.

[deeder]

This amp was a labor of love and I really enjoyed the build. I got a chance to crank up the volume yesterday and it was a blast.

Karen looks so cool, let us know about the honeymoon

Your build is simply splendid, a great source of inspiration.

[Decko]

Awesome!

[Zippy]

Thanks a lot for the nice comments guys. This amp was a labor of love and I really enjoyed the build.

The "labor of love" really shines in this build. Thanks for the details regarding the ground bus in a previous post - I was wondering about where it found ground too.

Is that a multi-turn pot on the bias? Where'd you find that?

I also noticed the voltage spike protection on the mains. I recall reading that in the TrainWreck pages and have often wondered why we don't see it used more often. You really pulled together some nice bits on this build. Thanks for sharing.

[NickC]

Beautiful!

[KellyBass]

Man, that's very impressive!...and beautiful! These pics are going in my "This is how it's supposed to be done" folder.

[Koolaide]

A true display of skill. Thanks for sharing.

Jim

[Colossal]

Karen looks so cool, let us know about the honeymoon
Your build is simply splendid, a great source of inspiration.

The honeymoon... well, I have been really enjoying the amp. I'm still messing around with preamp tubes, checking out different combinations to see what works. I gotta say, the amp is remarkably quiet. Very low background and the hiss is quite manageable. It passes the stability test in that I can dime both the Volume and Presence and it doesn't oscillate. There is a huge increase in shot noise at that point but it stays stable.

I have cranked her up a few times and the distortion is pretty sublime. Very bold, deep/fat, and clear low end with that very midrangey grind. I'm really digging the GE 6CA7s. Played Bring It On Home and the blues intro sounds really cool on the bridge pickup with the tone rolled back and then down to the bridge for the riff/verse. Played Kashmir. It sounds monstrous tuned to DADGAD. That is a fun song to play; one of my favorites. Huge tone. The neighbors far and wide think so too.

Building an Airbrake next week.

Thanks a lot for the nice comments guys. This amp was a labor of love and I really enjoyed the build.

The "labor of love" really shines in this build. Thanks for the details regarding the ground bus in a previous post - I was wondering about where it found ground too.

Is that a multi-turn pot on the bias? Where'd you find that?

I also noticed the voltage spike protection on the mains. I recall reading that in the TrainWreck pages and have often wondered why we don't see it used more often. You really pulled together some nice bits on this build. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks man!

The bias pot is actually a little Russian pot. It is 33k, not the usual 25kB but it is fine for the job. I ran out of 25kB Piher trimmers so subbed in the Russian. I got some surplus Russ pots from Bob S (thanks dude).

The red disc on the mains switch is a 150V 600J MOV. Ken used 130V varistors but since today's mains run a little hotter, I used 150V there. The MOV is standard on the TW circuit so I added it for completeness and the added protection is nice.

Beautiful!

Man, that's very impressive!...and beautiful! These pics are going in my "This is how it's supposed to be done" folder.

A true display of skill. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks guys, that means a lot. I am working on a Liverpool. Waiting for a few parts for her.

[angelodp]

Wow that is art. As always your work is a combination of art and technology with that special sauce.

A joy to see….. and hear soon?

Best Ange

[Smokebreak]

This is some of the best workmanship I've seen. Wow! Great work Dave!