Ken Fischer began working on electronics in the US Navy,[1] and then repaired TVs[2] and radios,[3] and then got a job building amplifiers at Ampeg, where he became senior engineer.
[1][5] When Fischer set out on his own, he started building boutique amplifiers with custom wood cabinets, rare new old stock (NOS) components, and custom-built transformers.
[1] "In beautiful wood cabinetry that matched their legendary sound,"[7] They were made to order in limited numbers, and are "ultra-rare and highly collectible".
[4] Lacking serial numbers, they are individually designated with women's names;[1] the one owned by guitarist and producer Matte Henderson is called "Nancy".
[8] The last one he built ("Kaylene"), while suffering from chronic fatigue immune dysfunction, was an Express made from an old leftover chassis.
John Mark, who was Ken's longtime friend and co-builder, decided to continue building amps under the Trainwreck name.
They can deliver a wide range of clean signals and high-gain overdrive solely with the manipulation of the guitar's volume knob.