Trainwreck Express Head

1985 Trainwreck Express Head. This amp is perfect for rock, blues, fusion. One channel. No channel switching. No master volume. Just the best EL34 tone ever heard by man! All tube, masterpiece!

Several Asian Les Paul copies by Love Rock, Dillion, ESP, Burny & Fernandes. Old Strats, Teles, Gibson Les Pauls & various Epiphones.

This amp is the absolute best when it comes to response, sensitive, richand creamy.Each guitar is distinctive and personal. Humbuckers grind. Strats sparkle. Teles bite. The main thing I like about this amp, is that it's noy that critical of your playing like a Dumble. If you make good mistakes, the amp doesn't punish you for it. Although, it does make you want to play better. This is seriously the ultimate EL34 based amp.

Are you kidding??? Ken Fischer hand built this puppy. There is none better.

Out of business for a long time.

I've been really lucky and made lots of money as a producer. This amp is the shit. If someone tried to steal this amp, I'd have to take their head. I've never spent so much money on an amp before in my life, but it's worth every hard earned dollar. This amp is spiritual. I pray Ken can build a few more.

1989 Trainwreck Express. "Newer" transformer model. Limited features, but for a reason. Basically only the features you need, and nothing else. One input, Volume, Bass, Mid, Treble, Presence and a 3 way bright switch (2 levels of bright, + bypass position). Has 4/8/16 ohm output on a rotary switch, and 2 speaker jacks. On/Off, Standy switch, Pilot light. That is it, period. Basically a "less is more" approach, that works VERY well. Amp will accept many different kinds of output tubes (EL34, 6550, 6CA7, 6L6, 5881, 6V6, etc...) usually without rebiasing. The amp does have an internal bias trimmer, if you need to tweak it. Ken Fischer says the amp is about 36 watts with EL34s, and about 22 with 6V6s. The amp is VERY responsive to different preamp tubes, and a lot of detail tweaking can be done there. It uses 3x 12ax7 tubes in the preamp, but will accept other similar pinout tubes. (The Liverpool model is quite similar, however it has a little less gain and 4x EL84s)

If you want a "singing" rock lead amp, this is IT. Nicely compressed, but not too much so. Plenty of gain IF you need it. A pure fat tone, without any holes or spikes in the EQ band. Most sound man say they can just set my channel flat and forget about it. My favorite thing about the amp is the depth to which you can control the overdrive and clean tones, with just your guitar knobs. Only a Vintage Marshall comes close in this department. I use the amp mainly with a PAF equiped Les Paul, and a Fralin equiped Strat.
The amp has 3 gain stages, and on 1/2 has about as much gain as a 4 input Marshall on 10. For the most part this amp is best played WITHOUT any pedals. Since so much gain is on tap, ANY noisy pedals can easily get out of hand. You will NEVER need a boost pedal or overdrive pedal with this head. Seems a little noisy at first, then if you consider how much GAIN it has you realize it is actually quiet. Not at amp you usually need to "dime", as it has plenty of gain around 12 or 1 o'clock. Usually I find it best to add any other "effects" (reverb, chorus, delay, etc.) from the sound console. Most volume pedals, or Wah Wahs work fine with the amp.
The amp "cleans up" very well, however if you want 100% sparkly clean I'd just stick with a Fender amp. I tend to use the amp with one of 2 cabinets, usually based upon what "fits" the venue or car! A late 60s Marshall slant with 25 watters, or a single 12 Mesa with a Vintage 30 Celestion.

No problems. I usually keep a spare 12ax7 with me. The amp has a ton of gain, so your tubes must not be microphonic. Ken Fischer says to put a piece of foam under the head if you "stack it", or just put it on the floor. The chassis is a rather light weight aluminum, and the cabinet is natural wood. I usually put the amp in a road case, and treat it kindly. It is well built, but not a tank or something. The amp has never let me down.

Ken Fischer is no longer making amps. However he is very helpful, knowledgeable, and willing to share tone tips.

I have been playing for 32 years. I also own some Vintage Fender and Marshall amps. At one time I also owned a Trainwreck Liverpool, but I always came back to the Express. If I had to replace it that would not be easy. It is my favorite rock "lead" amp and I will never sell it. Still, for some musical styles my Fenders are more appropriate. I wouldn't exactly bring my Express to a country or Jazz gig. Still, I rate the amp a 10 for doing what it was intended to do...ROCK LEAD.

The amp features are very standard volume, treble, mid, bass and presence. thereis nothing fancy here. No reverb or tremolo or channel switching or effects loops. none of the gadgets that take away the tone of the amp

I have guitars that cover all the popular sounds teles strats les pauls 335's and les paul jr's and sg 's with p-90's. This amp has the singing complex tone that everybody trys to get with there boutique amps and pedals. This amp needs no pedals. I would not say it is a amp for all styles but for singing sustain it is hard to beat.

I have never had a problem with this amp and it has a lifetime warranty.

Ken Fisher is just about the best man in the bussiness to deal with. He won't let you down. He is also about the most knowlegable person in the world when it comes to anything to do with old amps, speakers and effect pedals. He gives this information out freely and has advanced the knowlege of many people concerning tone and what makes or breaks it

I have been playing professionally for over 30 years. If it were lost or stolen I would not buy another one because I can't afford one at 15K. My only regret was I was not able to get a liverpool or rocket before there popularity grew and production shrank. If you can afford one you can't go wrong.