DG Custom influenced by Trainwreck Liverpool?

[JDutch]

Hi, guys. I had a chance to play a DG Custom 50 at Guitar Maverick, a very cool store that recently opened up in Keller, TX. While I was demoing the amp, I noticed that the controls of the DG Custom are similar to Trainwreck Liverpool--i.e., volume, bright switch, treble, middle, bass and presence (which, on the DG custom, is on the rear panel). Boths amps also are very touch sensitive and repond really, really well to changes in the guitar's volume know. Although, the DG Custom also has some other features, like a master volume and reverb, that the Trainwreck lacks.

I was wondering if anyone knows whether Doug Sewell may have been partially influenced by the Trainwreck Liverpool when he designed the DG Custom, although the DG Custom is of course its own animal.

Either way I though the DG Custom sounded really, really great. A very warm, dynamic and musical amplifier.

 

[László]

An awful lot of amps have those exact controls, going back to at least the 60s with Fender amps. On some amps presence is called "contour."

I find that the DG30 I have sounds nothing like a Trainwreck, though I don't have a 50. But I had a Komet that was actually a true Trainwreck licensed design in my studio for a short time, and it sounded absolutely nothing like any PRS amp I've heard. It had a very nasal sound (on purpose), that almost sounded like it was played with a cocked wah in some ways.

Is the 50-watter that different from the 30?

 

[JDutch]

LSchefman, you're absolutely right that the controls aren't nearly enough to establish any kind of real connection.

I have 2 Komets, a K60 and a Concorde, that I love, but they don't exactly sound like Trainwreck Expresses (which were quieter, warmer and less gainy). I've played through an Express but not a Liverpool; The closest I got to a Liverpool was a Liverpool-inspired amp built by Tony Bruno that had a musicality, an amount of gain, and a relatively warm voicing similar to the DG Custom. That amp and the DG Custom also seemed to have a quasi Vox-ish voicing, although I preferred both of them to an AC15/AC30 because they were softer and warmer. I was reminded of that Tony Bruno amp when I played the DG Custom, but I have no idea whether there's any connection between the two amps, and I'm not technically versed at all, so I couldn't tell even if you handed me schematics of both amps.

In any case, the DG Custom was a very cool, very musical amp that really made an impression on me. The cabinet also was great. IMO, FWIW, I've never heard Vintage 30s sound as good as they did in that cabinet.

 

[László]

LSchefman, you're absolutely right that the controls aren't nearly enough to establish any kind of real connection.

I have 2 Komets, a K60 and a Concorde, that I love, but they don't exactly sound like Trainwreck Expresses (which were quieter, warmer and less gainy). I've played through an Express but not a Liverpool; The closest I got to a Liverpool was a Liverpool-inspired amp built by Tony Bruno that had a musicality, an amount of gain, and a relatively warm voicing similar to the DG Custom. That amp and the DG Custom also seemed to have a quasi Vox-ish voicing, although I preferred both of them to an AC15/AC30 because they were softer and warmer. I was reminded of that Tony Bruno amp when I played the DG Custom, but I have no idea whether there's any connection between the two amps, and I'm not technically versed at all, so I couldn't tell even if you handed me schematics of both amps.

In any case, the DG Custom was a very cool, very musical amp that really made an impression on me. The cabinet also was great. IMO, FWIW, I've never heard Vintage 30s sound as good as they did in that cabinet.

Yeah, I got the cab for my DG30 Custom earlier this week, and it's really great sounding. It warms up the whole studio! I am amazed that the V-30s can sound so good, and this is new out of the box without even breaking in!

I haven't heard a DG50, though, in fact, I don't know much about it. I haven't played through a K60, but I've played the 50 and the Concorde (beautiful sounding amps by the way). And of course, I've always felt that Tony Bruno makes great sounding amps, though I was a Two-Rock guy for a long time, which is a completely different direction.

My DG30 Custom doesn't sound very Vox, so it's interesting that the 50 does!

 

[jfb]

You dudes aren't helping my DG amp GAS.

 

[jcha008]

You dudes aren't helping my DG amp GAS.

Seriously.

 

[László]

You dudes aren't helping my DG amp GAS.

Wait, we are helping your GAS. We just aren't curing it.

 

[Boogie]

Wait, we are helping your GAS. We just aren't curing it.

Cure??!! Bwahahahahahahhahahahahaha!!

I'm anxious to try out the DG50, personally. One of the influential designs is the Super Dallas, which DG played for several years, and is a very warm amp considering the Fender preamp lineage and the EL34 power stage. The DG50 is supposed to be an improvement on that original amp, and considering how much I love the SuperD, the DG50 must be heavenly.

 

[László]

Cure??!! Bwahahahahahahhahahahahaha!!

I'm anxious to try out the DG50, personally. One of the influential designs is the Super Dallas, which DG played for several years, and is a very warm amp considering the Fender preamp lineage and the EL34 power stage. The DG50 is supposed to be an improvement on that original amp, and considering how much I love the SuperD, the DG50 must be heavenly.

I'd love to hear one.