$30K for a Trainwreck?

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311boogieman

311boogieman

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https://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Train ... 6347962.gc


Really?

So I did a little research so I don't look like a complete fool ;)

I found on the trainwreck website FAQ


How much do they cost?
Ultra Sound Amp Sales have listed prices running from the mid/low $30,000's to high thirties for Express amps and Liverpools. A Rocket is listed for over $40k. If you are serious about buying a Trainwreck you should probably speak with Gene, someone who respected Ken's human spirit, not just his ability to design and build amps. His contact info is on the Ultra Sound website.

An Express sold for $27,000 in June of 2005. A Liverpool sold on eBay for $25,500 (plus $125 shipping) in June of 2007. Offers of $30,000 have been made on Trainwreck Rockets but these offers have never been accepted.

Why do they cost so much?

The cost of Trainwreck amps is set by the law of supply and demand. They sound incredible and rarely require service.

What makes Trainwreck amps so good?

To start, they are so responsive. You can set up a Trainwreck so that you can control the amount of distortion in your sound with the volume knob but, depending on how much overdrive you like, you can go from gorgeous clean to gorgeous crunch by merely altering your touch.
The tone of these amps is incredible but if you don't have tone in your fingers, don't expect a 'wreck to make you sound good. Remember, they are totally responsive. If you have a bad sounding guitar or you put bad sounding tubes in the amp, don't expect it to sound great.
The unprecedented clarity of these amps makes it possible to hear the tonal differences created by your guitar cable, your speaker cable, removing your pick-guard, or whatever. A Trainwreck head will allow you to distinguish the quality of every link in your signal chain. Clarity also means that when the amp is distorting, you can still hear all the nuances of your playing. That Ken made amps with this degree of clarity that still sounded beautiful, even under distortion, was his unique genius.
Trainwreck amps are also built incredibly well, built to last. I know two people who have been playing through them for over twenty years. One person sent it in for service once. The other had an old tube die so he had to replace the tubes and a fuse. That's it.


No offense to anyone that owns one. They have a great reputation for sure. No need to tell me how my crappy playing doesn't deserve to be fed through one :D
 
Well its a pretty rare bird, single El34, built in '99 and signed by Ken. With the "Experimental Amp" sticker it is probably a one off amp as well so it could be justified..
 
Back in like 1989 or 1990 I had a chance to buy one from Kenny. It was like $1,300-1,400. It didn’t have enough gain for me so I passed. lol. I wish I had bought it now so I could cash out. Haha
 
yeah they are not cheap. this is still one of my favorite vids ever, glad its still up


 
RaceU4her":1t19l1gw said:
yeah they are not cheap. this is still one of my favorite vids ever, glad its still up


this isglorious
thanks for posting
dude is a great player and the amp is godly
better than any dumble i've heard
 
RaceU4her":2w0e7jsm said:
yeah they are not cheap. this is still one of my favorite vids ever, glad its still up



The perfect rock tone. Absolutely perfect. I'd like to see a Kemper try to profile that level of responsiveness, touch sensitivity, overtone content and how well it cleans up with the volume knob.
 
I’ve played a few Komet’s and they sounded great to me. At the time I was trying them I could’ve had a Concorde model for $2500 used. Maybe should have in retrospect

That being said, the clips I’ve heard of these Trainwrecks still sound to me like they’re on another level tonally. One guy I’ve talked to that’s tried and compared both said he felt the Komet gets about 85% there. I’ll have to try one eventually
 
I get that they are on another level but are they at a $30,000 level?
 
311splawndude":3grvddf8 said:
I get that they are on another level but are they at a $30,000 level?
I’ve never tried one, so I can’t say from personal experience. I have tried a Dumble once though and it was the best sound I’ve ever heard

I don’t care to argue whether a product is worth the price or not, but I’ll just say I would buy a Dumble if I had the means, but I don’t (not even close). As for Trainwreck, I’ll have to hear it in person, but it seems legit to me

With most of these things, like my Klon as well, it may not be x amount of money better, but if you hear the difference and what makes it special you can’t unhear it imo and that always irks me enough to go for the best version whenever I can. The reissue Klon KTR and various clones, as an example, never sounded good to me anymore after the comparison to the real deal
 
311splawndude":rpidpjlq said:
I get that they are on another level but are they at a $30,000 level?



yeah they are on the dumble level and the builder is no long with us. the guy from his shop still builds a few amps a year and i think they are $6-7K
 
RaceU4her":2ebj4nuz said:
311splawndude":2ebj4nuz said:
I get that they are on another level but are they at a $30,000 level?



yeah they are on the dumble level and the builder is no long with us. the guy from his shop still builds a few amps a year and i think they are $6-7K
They’re also I believe rarer than Dumbles and less than a third the price. If they really are the Stradivarius of amps then I don’t see the price as being that terrible when you see how much other top of the line instruments go for. With all these things in life you pay a ton more for that last few percent better

I mostly play classical guitar and the equivalent stuff to Dumble and Train Wreck would be Hauser and Torres guitars, which can be 200-400k
 
They sound incredible. So do Komets though, and while they aren't cheap.....they are a hell of a lot cheaper than a Trainwreck :D
 
311splawndude":193x026c said:
A Liverpool sold on eBay for $25,500 (plus $125 shipping) in June of 2007. Offers of $30,000 have been made on Trainwreck Rockets but these offers have never been accepted.


Imagine paying $25,500 for an amp and then having it shipped to you :lol: :LOL:



I think I'd be driving to pick that up in person.....
 
Devin":20kzq17b said:
311splawndude":20kzq17b said:
A Liverpool sold on eBay for $25,500 (plus $125 shipping) in June of 2007. Offers of $30,000 have been made on Trainwreck Rockets but these offers have never been accepted.


Imagine paying $25,500 for an amp and then having it shipped to you :lol: :LOL:



I think I'd be driving to pick that up in person.....
Right?

Imagine trying to file a claim if it was damaged. 'But FedEx, you don't understand...the crystal lettuce was ruptured and now my fragile harmonics are inhibited'
 
A good late 60`s Marshall will do the same thing, volume and good hands.
 
Even if I hit the lottery and cleared $250 million, I would still never pay even close to $30k for an amp...not even remotely close. I'm sure they're amazing, but law of diminishing returns and all. Just seems asinine. That's just my perspective and others will clearly have a different opinion.
 
panhead":qvpfvmzp said:
A good late 60`s Marshall will do the same thing, volume and good hands.
Bullshit. You can even hear in that squashed YouTube video above that that Trainwreck is the next level.
 
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