GALLERY OF DAVE'S TUBE AMPS AND PLAYERS
Thunderfunk 100ELS Piggy Back Amp with 12-Spring Reverb
TF100ELS used for Guitars and Bass (938Kb Download)
Thunderfunk 100ELS Amp Head with 12-Spring Reverb
Brad Davis Acoustic Clean (2.7Mb Download)
Brad Davis using TF100ELS with Marty Stuart's Rock & Roll Cowboys
Merle Haggard, Marty Stuart, Pam Tillis and David Ball.
Thunderfunk tube amps have also been with Shania Twain, Patty Loveless,
Colin Raye, Ricky van Shelton, Pam Tillis, Billy Dean, Tracy Lawrence
Thunderfunk 100ELS Chime (275Kb Download)
Thunderfunk 100ELS Note Separation (185Kb Download)
Jack Pearson with The Allman Brothers
Tracii Guns/L.A. Guns
Kevin Curry with Air Supply
Ricky van Shelton
Tommy Hannum
Steve Cochran
The Refrigerator
TRAINWRECK AMPS
TRAINWRECK ROCKET "MALOU"
"When I lived in Nashville, Ken Fischer started sending finicky Trainwreck customers to me for service when he was too sick to do it himself. I've worked on five different Trainwreck models including the one-of-a-kind 'Wiggle Woman' tremolo amp. Trusting me not to butcher his amps or steal his designs, Ken made me the only official Trainwreck Service Center. In 1998 Ken asked for my help in building new Trainwreck amps. One of these amps was the Raindrop Maple Rocket "Malou" shown above. I built both Rocket and Express amps for Ken who sold them as Ken Fischer built Trainwrecks. Ken's amps were built on very thin aluminum Bud box chassis of a size no longer produced with obsolete perf boards with holes spaced at 0.200" centers. Since these parts are no longer available it makes it easy to spot counterfeits. If you look at the picture of the amp's insides you'll see that all the wires are formed in a particular way. I was lucky enough to have access to any amp I needed as a copy example due to a collector who prefers to remain anonymous. On December 23, 2006 we lost the finest amp designer who ever lived. Many builders will now attempt to claim his throne but his experience and ear will never be replaced. Many builders think it's a mechanical process assembling certain parts in a certain order and you will have the same thing, but it's much more like Santana said,
"If you think playing the guitar is easy, pick it up and show me."
Inside Thunderfunk Built Trainwreck Amp
TRIGGS AMP
Jim Triggs with Frank Stallone
"The Triggs is a very unique amp. It was designed to be the ultimate clean amp for jazz and country. All the Triggs amps were covered in leather with a very beautifully tooled one shown here. Sixty-Six watts of cathode biased power in an aluminum chassis, with a EV 12L speaker, and Thunderfunk's True 12-spring Reverb installed. Fan cooled and originally equipped with GE6550A's, these were changed to EL34's due to the 6550's inability to take the vibration of being used in a combo. Originally selling for $3,000 to $4,000 you won't find one today. Their owners are very possessive and the amps rarely risk leaving the house."
"You may think you don't know Jim Triggs, but if you've ever seen an Alan Jackson concert, video, or TV commercial you've seen a Triggs guitar. Alan always makes an effort to put the Triggs headstock into the camera lens."
Marty Stuart with Triggs Amp
Alan Jackson
Tommy Hannum (Ricky van Shelton)
THE MANN AMP
James Burton's Linear Crystal Wire Amp
The Mann amps were hand-wired entirely with linear crystal wire giving them an extremely fast response. Two EV 12L's, with Thunderfunk's true 12-Spring Reverb, and a toroid power transformer.
James Burton
Jeff Cook (Alabama)
THE NASH AMP
The Nash amp was built for Nashville. A lush, clean 80-watt Twin 12" combo with Thunderfunk's True 12-Spring Reverb.
Dave Ferguson
Lorrie Morgan
MODIFIED AMPS
Marty Stuart's Single 15" Twin (100-Watt Vibroverb!)
Steve McClure's Marshall (Garth Brooks)
Richard Aspinwall's Bassman (Garth Brooks' engineer)
Steve Wariner's Twin with Sam Moore (543Kb Download)
Vince Gill playing Steve Wariner's Twin (377Kb Download)
Tony Joe White's Super Reverb
Steve Gibson's Deluxes (450Kb Download)
Bruce Brown (Charlie Daniels Band)
Steve Fister (Steppenwolf)
NOTE: Sound clips provided for educational purposes only. No reproduction permitted.
