Wrecked

[ricky]

I have not seen any kind of review of the Wrecked, so I thought I might start one.
I have only had a few days with it and as someone said here, it is a different kind of module. It is not a high gain amp at all. It plays semi clean and then dirties up as you hit the strings harder. Rob will have to chime in here and let me know if I am being articulate about it.
It has a gain switch on it that so far I can't even begin to see playing without it. Without it, there is almost too little pick response....if you don't hit the note, there will not be much response. with the gain switch off, it gets a little "blatty" for my tastes...almost like a lot of old Fenders turned up around five....not quite clean and not quite dirty, and not very smooth. With the gain on, it smooths everything out just right. With the gain on I hit a chord one way and it is nice and smooth with a little grit. If I hit the same chord harder it starts to burn. With the gain on it is one of the most responsive amps I have ever tried. I am just a little stumped about why it doesn't do much w/o the gain switch on.

 

[Jaded Faith]

It's a non-master design, like the real deal. To really understand the normal mode (the actual amp circuit), you need to crank the volume knob. Unfortunately, this will get STUPID loud. You would have to turn the amp master down. The gain switch provides this experience at much lower settings.

It's truly a unique design in the modular world. It you are a preamp gain guy who has limited experience with non-master amps and getting one to the sweet spot it's not a good choice.

 

[ricky]

I can do STUPID LOUD in a heart beat! I'll give it a try. I am still messing with it. I have yet to find one of the JF mods that doesn't get used on some special project.
So, Rob, are you saying that the normal mode needs to be turned up in order to get rid of that lack of response? That at a higher volume, the response will change a bit? I am one of those guys that lived without a gain knob or master volume most of my life. I was always able to find a tone.

 

[JayDA]

I'm not finding tones I dig at a reasonable volume without the gain switch engaged. It loves a slight boost though, especially with my RM50......Tele -----> Wampler Paisley Drive ----> Carbon Copy = Jay pretending to be a country guitar player for 2 hours. It's "attacky". . Dig in on that low E

 

[ricky]

I kind of thought that some kind of boost would also clear out a lot of the problem. I just have not tried it yet. I also have only used Gravity Storms or a Dimarzio Steve's Special on it. I think with some standard single coil strat or Tele Pups may be a different story. I will let you know as I stay with it. I have a funk gig on this Saturday and will have it in the RM4.

 

[Jaded Faith]

The Volume knob is right in the beginning of the signal chain. To get crunch and gain from it, you have to crank that up. It will push all the circuitry behind it quite nicely and give a sweet crunch. Try turning the amp master down quite a bit (under 9:00) and crank the module volume all the way with the gain on or off. That's the intended tone on these amps. Get it cranked like that and it's a FAR different experience than any other module you own. It will likely take you straight down memory lane to amps you owned back in the day.

My friends at Celestion had George Lynch's old personal Trainwreck on loan from Ultra Sound in NYC in the room next to us at the NY Amp Show in June. I got to try it side by side and it was so similar it was scary. Of course the real Trainwreck had to blow out the windows to get to the sweet spot... :shock:

You can check out "Suzanne" here: http://www.ultrasoundampsales.com/amp_browser.php?ampid=52

 

[ricky]

OK everybody.....I have been sitting with the Wrecked all morning and I have turned the volume all the way up and it is much different when I run it that way. In my first post I think I was comparing it to some of my old Fenders and that is partially accurate. however this morning I A/B'd it with the JF HW-103. I set the 103 with the Master all the way up and the volume down and the breakup point was very similar. The biggest difference is that the Wrecked is a hell of a lot warmer and smoother when it breaks up. You know how certain amps sound sterile when they start to break up? Like the clean and the grit are separate? Not with the Wrecked. It is kind of a Zen paradox where the clean and dirt are one or totally blended. This is an old fashioned amp. I keep wanting to compare it to something....like a combination of the HW-103 and an old Princeton, but that description does not do it justice. I can't wait for my gig this weekend in order to really open it up.

 

[dcg8]

It's only $37,350 more than my module. I may have to rethink my purchase :roll:

 

[VitaminG]

that sounds really cool, ricky. Is it a module that will play well with others? ie. could you use it live with a couple of other modules? Considering the setup to get its tone (module wide open/MV down) is it difficult to match levels with other modules?

 

[ricky]

It seems plenty loud as far as matching levels with other mods. I will try it out this weekend and get back on how it is live. I am playing with a twelve piece funk band this weekend and am not sure where to fit it in, but I will try.
I have a Tom Petty-ish gig on the 24th and that is where I hope to really see what it can do. In some ways I think this mod is a great roots kind of mod. I saw that Rob copied his mod after George Lynch's $37,500 TrainWreck. I am not sure why he would won one given his tone and all. I wonder what he used it on?
Also, with the gain switch engaged I am sure I can make it fit into my rig, which is an RM4 based live rig.

 

[Spencer4hire]

Here is that amp in action. Is the module close?
http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Trainwreck_Express_Liverpool_Demos

 

[ricky]

I use 6L6s in my power section so there is a difference. I am slowly getting used to how I set it up in order to get those tones and feel and am getting closer each time I use it. It is not just a plug and play mod as apparently the original also requires some tweaking.
I did a funk gig over the weekend and I have found that the Wrecked is my new favorite funk mod. It can do the clean rhythm sound (wacka-wacka-wacka) with the guitar volume dialed back and then do some singing sustain with the volume dimed. At this point I am still using it with the gain switch engaged.

 

[Jaded Faith]

I'd like to think it's about as close as you can get. As Ricky points out, it's not a plug and play/instant gratification thing with a ton of options. But neither is the original. The first amp shown in that video was the one we did a direct side-by-side with at the NY Show in June. If you go to my Facebook page and scroll down to June 2nd there is a 40 second iPhone video:

https://www.facebook.com/JadedFaithMods

 

[Spencer4hire]

I'd like to think it's about as close as you can get. As Ricky points out, it's not a plug and play/instant gratification thing with a ton of options. But neither is the original. The first amp shown in that video was the one we did a direct side-by-side with at the NY Show in June. If you go to my Facebook page and scroll down to June 2nd there is a 40 second iPhone video:

https://www.facebook.com/JadedFaithMods

Wow Rob that sounds sweet!

 

[reprimand]

I feel sick, 37,000!!!! there was one sitting in a shop here years ago and I kept looking at it wondering what hack made it as it was just the cheapest looking cabinetry I had ever seen on an amp. I used to laugh that trainwreck was a good name for it seeing as how it looked. could have been mine for under a grand but I never ever pugged it in. it was there for a couple years and no one seemed to ever take interest. Did sell eventually. Oh had I but known. Kinda like the $300 dollar les pauls in the late 80's. Seems to be a fairly versatile amp from the youtube clips.