# NAD Ceriatone Trainwreck Expression TOTL



## Tone Chaser (Mar 2, 2014)

A few days ago, I saw an ad for this amp on the local Kijiji. It happened to be from someone that I have dealt with before. I have heard about Trainwreck amps and clones, and did some homework. The single picture on Kijiji, seemed to have a few more details than what was available online from Ceriatone.

The price was good so I told him I would take it.
TOTL stands for Top Of The Line.








Big iron, nice dressed,wiring, some of it solid core wire. Lots of attention to detail. This is a fairly heavy amp. It had been sitting on a shelf, forgotten, collecting dust, lots of it. Rubber feet were temporarily added to the chassis, by me.

I dusted it with a microfibre towel, and I am pretty sure the bias pot moved while cleaning.
I never biased an amp before, and this amp is tricked out to do so easily. In fact both tubes can easily be checked for match and drift.
There is a half power switch, a 5K2 to 6K6 OT switch, a resistor to choke switch, and a very effective 3 position bright switch.
Another unique option on this amp is a very effective PPIMV. However, it is still insanely loud for home use, while dialing in tone, clean to mean. Your guitar knobs are used to clean up from drive to expressive clean, with little to no volume drop. Digging in is rewarding.

I do not have the chops yet to sound good on this amp driven. There are many nuances to learn.
The amp still needs attenuation for me to control it around the house. This amp can damage your hearing at half power. I am curious about using 6V6 tubes in it, but my homework says that it will still be loud. There is a lot of potential in this amp.

I have some crazy ideas for a Cab, that entails an access hole in the front to get at the internal switches. This will be a fun amp, that I will likely keep, because it is like no other that I own.


----------



## Guest (Feb 6, 2018)




----------



## Guest (Feb 6, 2018)




----------



## Guest (Feb 6, 2018)




----------



## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Player99 said:


>


I owned both of those amps at the same time but in different tolex, even had them set up like that at one point. My musical tastes may be slightly different than the vid but the musical language of Def Leppard is universal. Cool amps, miss them sometimes, when the ear aren't ringing.


----------



## Guest (Feb 6, 2018)

vadsy said:


> I owned both of those amps but in different tolex at the same time, even had them set up like that at one point. My musical tastes may be slightly different than the vid but the musical language of Def Leppard is universal. Cool amps, miss them sometimes, when the ear aren't ringing.


When aren't the ears ringing?


----------



## Tone Chaser (Mar 2, 2014)

@Player99 , those were some of the clips that convinced me to take a chance on this amp.

I read where some say that pedals won’t work well with this amp. I know the clip with the Strat had the effects added post recording. I have tried to get that tone with a Topanga in front. It shows promise, but I need to work on my playing technique.


----------



## Tone Chaser (Mar 2, 2014)

Gut shot


----------



## losch79 (Jul 11, 2016)

Very nice. I was very tempted by the ad when it went up... but I was much too slow! Wiring looks very neat and tidy.


----------



## Tone Chaser (Mar 2, 2014)

losch79 said:


> Very nice. I was very tempted by the ad when it went up... but I was much too slow! Wiring looks very neat and tidy.


I let it slide for at least 3 days before I convinced myself to make the move.
The price was not going to go down with this seller. He is a very high quality guy, who has a skill set and connections way beyond most of us. He has restored and built guitars for the rich and famous. I never knew he existed in our little city. He got this amp custom made in exchange for a guitar or work on a guitar from Nik at Ceriatone. I believe he has closed up his restoration, build shop, hence the selling off of all his specialized equipment, etc. on Kijiji. I thoroughly enjoyed talking with him.


----------



## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

You should really stick with the standard hardwood Trainwreck style cabinet IMO. There are plans available on the net (ampgarage). You can access the switches through the open back.


----------



## Tone Chaser (Mar 2, 2014)

Sneaky said:


> You should really stick with the standard hardwood Trainwreck style cabinet IMO. There are plans available on the net (ampgarage). You can access the switches through the open back.


I agree that a traditional cab should be used. However, the power tubes are really in the way of the switches. I may lean towards a relic version of a traditional cab with a hole scratched and clawed through it in manner that fits a hand.


----------



## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

You could go for the "live edge" look I guess.










I like the simple design of the original myself. Once you find "your" settings on the amp, you probably won't mess with those switches much.


----------

