Fuchs Audio Technology Train 45 Head

Very basic features but excellent dynamics in the tone controls. The brite/dark switch adds some color as well. This is otherwise a single channel amp head with no effects loop AND No Master Volume. This is a loud 35 watts especially when hooked up to a 4x12 cabinet. An all tube amp that can drive a small venue like a club. I use it for hobby recording and home playing. It would be nice to have switchable channels but you can get all the sounds you want with a sound board and BOSS pedals and a Master Volume.

I have used my Gibson Les Paul with 57's, Ibanez RG350 and my PRS McCarty (original model). All these guitars excelled in tone and sensitive to your style. Pick soft and the output is light, pick hard and the output is heavy and richer (even considering there is no Master Volume). You can play clean, blues and classic rock - maybe even some modern rock. The breakup is pretty smooth from bottom to top and with higher gain, the notes ring with sustained tone. The clean sounds are very "Jazz Chorus" - like.

This amp has been pretty reliable. It is compact and sturdy. Has not broken down and tubes still fine since I bought it. EL34 Groove tubes. I have not gigged with it so I won't give it a 10 but for all else, it has been great.

Not needed - bought used. Under music store warranty of one year and that is long past.

I would definitely give this amp head a 9. The basic style of this amp only gives more to the sound and tone of this compact beauty. I love the volume, the tone and the dynamics of the tonal controls. This is very similar to my Boogie Mark I in sound and tone and I love it for all but metal. This amp excels as a classic rock, modern rock or blues amp. With the clean sounds, you can also do jazz but you could get other amps for just that. I love to set the knobs at 12 o'clock and use my digitech GNX4 to alter the sounds. Now, you are talking about a real setup.

Combo 1x12 made in March 2006.

THis amp has little head room and is very loud. Being a closed back cabinet, the sound heads straight out, so unless your in front of the amp, it sounds worse than normal. Too much base, way too loud. Changing from EL 34s to 6V6s is a hassle and doesn't seem to make much differnence in sound. Amp volume still on when volume on 0 (suggestive of quality of work). Worse, amp hisses all the time. Fuchs says that's typical of Trainwrecks, But to pay to $2,000 for a hissing amp even a t bedroom volumes is a joke. Gene at Ultrasound in New York says these sound nothing like Trainwrecks. Sound distorts fast sound muffled. Attenuator is a necessity for anything, but those are a hassle to hook up.

Fuchs was always there. it's just that the product kind of sucks.

This amp is way overrated and they just went up in price. Stay away. This amp might be good for AC/DC crap but that's it. Forget playing this amp at home even with the 6V6s in, which cut power to 18 watts. Just touching the volume sends you in high volume. Terrible.

See the Fuchs Audio Technology site for complete details, but notable features are the three position tone switch on the front panel, the positions labeled "Dark," "Flat," and "Bright;" the tone and presence controls that offer quite a wide range of EQing possibilities; and the "Soft/Hard" switch on the back. The little LED headlight on the train graphic on the front panel is just plain fun, and, I think, indicative of Andy's mastery of his craft and his company's pride in this amp. As the other owners below have mentioned, there's only one channel. So it all comes down to the amp, your guitar, your fingers, your musicality, and your ideas.

I've been using the Train 45 with my two guitars, a '74 Les Paul and a Parker Nitefly; both sound just great through it and, more so than most other amps I've played through, is very respectful but responsive to the qualities of the guitar you are playing. The clean headroom, as one other reviewer below noted, is surprisingly big. Admittedly I'm still new to the amp, but each time I've strummed a clean chord I mutter, "Man, that is just the most beautiful clean." And when you push it, the overdrive is just the cat's meow. The word that comes to my mind is "singing;" this amp just sings. I love that the fundamentals of the notes are so solid, but at the same time the harmonics so sweetly enriched. And touch sensitive applies 100% here: even with your pots wide open, if you play soft, you get a sweet, clean sound, but when you dig in the amp sings with you. It's a great feeling. How much variety of sounds in the amp? I know there's an enormous pallet of sounds in there, but unlike most other amps with master volumes and all the rest (I think they're great, too! I love my ODS30!) it simply comes down to your creativity, finger, guitar, and this amp. This is an amp to really grow with; and an amp that entices you to grow as a musician.

One other thought with respect to sound quality. I'm very sensitive to auditory health; I lost some hearing many years ago with my big Marshall amp, and I've regretted that as I've gotten older. The EL tubes in the amp when it came were very, very capable tubes -- but there was no way I was going to play as loud as I needed to in order to arrive at the "sweet spot" on the gain where this amp starts to sing. I had 6V6s installed, and they helped reduce the need for gain some. However, I find that I also have to have a Hot Plate 8 ohm attenuator between the head and speaker in order to make it work for me. In fact, without that I'm not sure I could have kept the amp because, again, I do not want to risk losing any more hearing. I've found the Hot Plate to be a superior product that, at least to a 98% degree, leaves the tone alone while reducing the volume. It's what I need, anyway, and I'd sure commend that to anyone. With the Hot Plate, the amp sings away, and I keep my hearing! Serious: it's a solid combination.

Not being a person trained in electronic circuits, I don't think I'm able to respond to this question. It looks extremely well built, inside and out. Not even the smallest part looks flimsy or less than top grade. The cabinet is solid. I've had my ODS30 (until a couple months ago when a thief made off with it...) for almost three years and the machine never once so much as burped. Based on that experience, I wouldn't expect any troubles at all.

Unbelieveable customer support from Andy, his wife, and Andy's staff. Gee, they are nice people. Andy built me a breakout box for my ODS30 so that I could control channel switching with my Ground Control system; worked like a charm and was reasonably priced. He has responded personally to nearly every email I've sent him, and in a professional manner. Now, as I'm in the process of purchasing another ODS30 to replace the one that was stolen from me, they've demonstrated genuine, go out of the way to help this fella actions that are deeply appreciated. Andy and his staff are really terrific. Sorry to be so effusive, but these folks really deserve it.

I've been playing for 36 years now -- 3/4s of my entire life. I played on Mesa Boogies for many years, and have a great respect for their amps. I still have my Mark IIC+, and expect it will one day pass into the hands of one of my sons, and I have owned a Mark III, Mark IV, Triaxis, and 20/20 amp. They've all been, in their own way, terrific tools to make music with. Andy's amps -- beginning with my purchase of the ODS30 about three years ago -- have honestly had the only sound that has been intriguing enough to cause me to move beyond the Mesa "sound print." I feel so strongly about that, and love the sound of Andy's amps so much, that I am replacing my stolen ODS30 -- as fast as possible! And in the interim I was attracted enough to the unique tone of this Train 45 to actually purchase one: I knew I needed an amp for a new gig I just started, and knowing I'd have to wait for the replacement ODS30 to be built, and having heard what a complementary sound the Train 45 was to the ODS amp, I splurged and bought one. I guess that says it all.

If there's one thing I wish the amp had it would be maybe a half-power switch, or some other way to reduce the volume needed to make the amp "sing" as beautifully as it does. For many others this might not be a big problem, but for me -- I'm a professional musician earning my doctorate in choral conducting, I play lute, i.e., I need and value my hearing above all else -- if there was some way to switch the amp to a softer setting without sacrificing the incredible tone, that's the only comment I could make to improve this machine. But as I mention above, using a Hot Plate does enable that to happen for me. My guess is that Andy already thought about this and in the end made the very best decision that would lead to the best tone. So, I've worked around it.

This is just a terrific amp. I think one of the reviewers below said it has elements of a Hiwatt, a Marshall, and a Vox all rolled into one. I think this is a pretty astute observation and has a good amount of truth in it. Another said it wasn't an amp for everyone, that it really is a very special artistic tool a cut above so many others. I think that's true, too. I think if you're a guitarist ready to understand that it's your musicality and your ideas that count, and if you're a guitarist ready to step up to an amp that will really deliver your best ideas with astonishing tone, you really owe it to yourself to check one of these out. The world needs good guitarists; this amp will deliver all the goods you've got in spades.

This amp is not for EVERYONE..I repeat..NOT FOR EVERYONE. It is a very PRO amp..with NO MASTER VOLUME or EFFECTS LOOPS...Just pure tone for days on end..
3 way pre amp switch for color..Volume, treb, mid, bass, & pres.
a switch on the back for a HARD/SOFT attack on the notes...
2 EL34's with about 35 watts...

Great power..still crunch's at lower volume...only one great channel..

I guess this amp was made for the player looking for a great platform to run a full pedalboard in front of the amp..But I only use two pedals..a rocktron chorus and a Barber direct drive. I was looking for a amp that had the perfect clean as well as a nice semi crunch, and the mighty Dumble lead voice. Well this is the beast..Hands down the best lead voice I have heard when the pedal is kicked in with just a touch of drive. When the chorus is in on the cleans, it is so 3D & wide, makes other amps sound thin next to it...If I only had one word to describe it, it would be PRO....
The leads are very Dumbleish, but the cleans are better then most vintage Fenders I have owned. The crunch is on scale with say a Plexi but tighter and no noise at all..For my kind of rock fussion playing..this amp suits me very well indeed....I love it.

I have heard so much great things about Fuchs..I have no worries at all...

I also heard Andy is the man when it comes to service after the sale..He loves his products and backs them 100%....

I play in a very different type band, kind of a Satriani meets Allman Bros. So I need the sweet southern rock cleans, as well as the modern semi crunch, and a lead voice 2nd. to none..I really get it all with the Train 45..
I have had so many boutique amps in the past few years it would be to long to list..
I work in the music Biz, so I really can play any amp I would like, and for now..I found MY TONE....

Made in 2005, this is a one channel high gain guitar amplifier, rated 45 watts RMS. It can covers all kinds of styles in the Blues, Rock and Fusion area. No effects loop, reverb, tremolo, direct out. The front controls include gain, mid , treble. bass, presence and a three-way tone switch which allows quick adjustment of guitars or pickups you are using. On/off plus standby on the back of the amplifier and an additional switch that allows for a soft or hard clipping of the power stage. The tubes consists of three 12 AX7 plus two EL-34 power amp tubes. The main feature of this amp is straigtforward plug'n play simplicity.

Even on a Fender vintage strat with it's low powered vintage pickups it can produce tremendous amounts of gain. It stays very focussed even wide open and cleans up like a champ when you turn down the guitar volume. Very dynamic response, even with the soft/hard switch in the soft position. Best of all: NO Noise. With my vintage strat standing right next to the amp with the volume wide open and the strings muted it does produce less sqeal, hum and noise than most amps with a similar power rating would produce when played with a humbucker equipped instrument. I used this amp with a 2x12 closed back cabinet loaded with two Celestion G12H Heritage speakers.

I am very careful in this category, but the built-in fan for keeping things cool and the obvious quality of the amp and it's parts give me sufficient confidence in giging with this amp without a backup.
Always carry tubes and fuses.

I have talked to Andy Fuchs several times and always found him to be a very good and helpful advisor who absolutely knows what he is talking about. Easily the best customer support that I ever enjoyed by a boutique guitar amp builder.

I have been playing guitar for 37 years now and owned and played a lot of different gear, since I was working in the music industry for about 25 years. Besides my vintage amps that I have all sold over the years I own or have owned following newer amps: Blockhead 18 Firstborn, Fuchs ODS30, Germino Club40 (Serial #1), Fender 57 Twin RI, Dr. Z MAZ 18 and MAZ 38, Budda Twinmaster Ten, Sovtek MIG50, Boogies MK1, MK2, MK3, MK4, Dumble ODS, Swart Atomic Tone 20.