FUCHS Train 45

[Lucid_Lunatic]

I've got the chance to nab one with the matching 2x12 cab. I've never owned one or played a FUCHS amp, but have read that they are good stuff.

Tell me a little about this model and most importantly, what I could expect to get out of it if I wanted to unload it quickly (in other words, not top dollar value but a quick selling value). It's in excellent shape and looks like new, but I don't know if I'd be getting a good deal or not since I know next to nothing about them.

GO!

 

[Lucid_Lunatic]

Re: FUCHS Train 45

Nothing?

 

[LReese]

Re: FUCHS Train 45

Think that's a based on a Trainwreck amp.... I've got an Overdrive Supreme, but that's another ocean of fish.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: FUCHS Train 45

http://www.fuchsaudiotechnology.com/amps/train-series

 

[Lucid_Lunatic]

Re: FUCHS Train 45

http://www.fuchsaudiotechnology.com/amps/train-series

Thanks!

I can get into it for about a $1100, maybe a tad less for the whole rig. Thinking seriously about it. Someone told me the head was $1900 and the cab another $700, but I don't know if that's the actual new price or just an inflated retail. The biggest problem I'm worried about if I get it and don't like it is that it may sit for a long time for sale just trying to get the original investment back out of it.

There's one head listed on eBay for $1300, but no one is clamoring to buy the thing, so that tells me a local sale would be even tougher, even with the cab.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: FUCHS Train 45

You should probably buy it to keep it. There's a good chance it'll blow you away. Fuch's (fooks) are fookin good amps.

They sort of made a name in the boutique world catering to the types of players who like Dumbles and Two Rocks.
The Train 45 is more of their foray into hard rock tones.....more grunty and open like a Marshall. The other amps are more fusiony and compressed.

 

[FretFire]

Re: FUCHS Train 45

You should probably buy it to keep it. There's a good chance it'll blow you away. Fuch's (fooks) are fookin good amps.

They sort of made a name in the boutique world catering to the types of players who like Dumbles and Two Rocks.
The Train 45 is more of their foray into hard rock tones.....more grunty and open like a Marshall. The other amps are more fusiony and compressed.

Agreed. Plus, the market isn't really conducive to flipping right now IMO. It's a buyer's market, and things that aren't priced to move just don't move. I'd get the amp if you like it, but wouldn't look at it as an "investment" unless you don't mind sitting on it for a while.

 

[zzmoore]

Re: FUCHS Train 45

Others have said.....Not something you should "buy to try".
Do you understand the "principel" behind the Ken Fischer Express.
This Fuchs will do that.
If you gig...are not into pedals...and like your guitar volume pot...this amp will make you happy.
Andy builds awesome amps.
good luck

 

[UberMetalDood]

Re: FUCHS Train 45

Fuchs amp are really good. If you bought one without trying, it wouldn't be a mistake. I've been longing for a Blackjack 21 for some time. I say go for it.

 

[Lucid_Lunatic]

Re: FUCHS Train 45

I know nothing about the Express amps. I've got an original series DSL and a Mesa MK1 now. I like both those because they seem to help cover some of my suckiness when I play. The thing is, I know if I invest in this and don't like it, it's not something I can just turn around for the same money as a more widely known brand.

It's kind of like the last tweed I had. The dude I bought it from made it sound awesome and I wanted it. The dude I sold it to made it sound awesome and I regretted selling it. The whole time I had it, I couldn't do anything with it. It was so "touchy" that you could hear every little noise I made through it, and I'm a sloppy player with tons of mistakes. Anything I tried to play sounded like a blind man going through an unfamiliar silverware drawer.

 

[zzmoore]

Re: FUCHS Train 45

The 45 is going to be quite dynamic...it will respond very quickly to your picking hand.
You are probably a better player than you think.....maybe the 45 will help you improve.
Go with your gut though.....you know what is best for YOU.
good luck

 

[LReese]

Re: FUCHS Train 45

Ya pass on the Fuchs?

 

[mtm105]

Re: FUCHS Train 45

I am proud owner of both Lucky 7 and TRAIN 45. Single channels. I play super low volumes at home. The Lucky 7 has tone to die for. Single channel Class A EL 34 at 7 Watts. (I'm not aware other any other Class A single EL 34)

TRAIN 45 is a different beast. Owning a high watt Amp at low volumes is like driving a Corvette as a golf cart. I have yet to open it up. Both Amps are strangely designed to play with volume levels sitting at zero. And that is where my Amps sit. I have 1/2 ton of effects going in. I've tried attenuators and they suck the living tone out of Amps, IMO.

Correct me if I am wrong. Ken Fisher built the TRAINWRECK with original Marshall JMP in mind. FUCHS built the TRAIN 45 with TRAINWRECK in mind. So, with TRAIN 45 you will have a JMP designed Amp built to sound better than the original.

TRAIN 45 was originally intended as a collabortation with Ken. Ken, being fatally ill with chronic fatigue, was incommunicative to Mr. Andy Fuchs. Andy built the Amp regardless. High trace PCB and twin EL 34s. It wasn't designed as a clone, but a "tip of the hat". Because it's high trace PCB, the guts are completely different, but better because there is consistency; whereas no two TRAINWRECKS were built the same. All I can say it has a FULL solid sound EL 34. Tone knobs are extremely sensitive and one minor adjustment is almost like a whole other Amp. 3 settings, Dark, Flat and Bright. I imagine it's like a 3 channel Amp replicating Marshall, Vox and Fender respectively. The bright, in TRAINWRECK tradition is VERY bright, probably Bassman bright. Amp has cooling fans engaged with power.

One major endorsement is Rick Nielsen who plays three of them on stage, unmodded. (minus checkerboard tolex). Now, I believe he plays TRAIN 45 II. But original single channel is still in production if requested. When you consider Rick can play through ANY amp in existence, the fact that he plays through FUCHS is a testimony. And it's not a promo. Al DiMeoloa tours with FUCHS ODS.




For about the last two years, FUCHS used single channels were a buyer's market and had been selling cheap, about 1/3 retail, but has slowed since and you might pay 1/2 retail for used. But single channels only, the ODS line does not sink in value. If you can find a single channel less than 1/2 retail, grab it. It'll last for three generations. Imagine your gear outliving you.

There is nothing wrong with single channel FUCHS. Dr Z owns the market. Andy simply bowed out from comparisons/competition and came up with Master Volumes on the Casino line.