Rob Wienbrock RIP

lustycourtier

Ive just read the sad new that Rob died last week. A wonderful guy and great builder 

ToneControl

That's so sad, he was a great guy, and made some amazing amps for me

mgaw

First decent amp I owned was a Weinbrock ME 1?  Loved it and he was very helpful on the phone when I had a few questions 

lustycourtier

ToneControl said:

That's so sad, he was a great guy, and made some amazing amps for me

I bought one off you from memory. He was a really great guy. Moved back to states a good few years ago but was always commenting on stuff on Facebook and always friendly. 

beed84

Blimey. Just finished playing on my Wienbrock HOBO I managed to pickup last November and see this. Superb amp builder and really helpful with enquires despite his amps being no longer in production. RIP.

Petepassion

Recently bought a Gringo combo, brilliant amp, sad he’s no longer here.

jonnyburgo

I met him in Sounds Great in Wilmslow (Also RIP), I didn't know who he was until he said, "I make those" When I was playing through one. Had a brief chat and he told me things I didn't understand about amps lol, nice man, RIP Rob.

lustycourtier

jonnyburgo said:

I met him in Sounds Great in Wilmslow (Also RIP), I didn't know who he was until he said, "I make those" When I was playing through one. Had a brief chat and he told me things I didn't understand about amps lol, nice man, RIP Rob.

Yeah he had fantastic knowledge. Was ex US Army and also did very high end home audio so his (and James') work was up there with the best. Sounds Great was a great shop too

ToneControl

I used to drive to the Mill he made them in, a few floors up in Sowerby Bridge.
I remember when he gave you an amp to test in the showroom, he'd turn off most of the lights, to make it more like an onstage vibe

lustycourtier

ToneControl said:

I used to drive to the Mill he made them in, a few floors up in Sowerby Bridge.
I remember when he gave you an amp to test in the showroom, he'd turn off most of the lights, to make it more like an onstage vibe

Yeah very similar set up to Rick Henrys place in Pear Mill. 

ToneControl

lustycourtier said:

ToneControl said:

I used to drive to the Mill he made them in, a few floors up in Sowerby Bridge.
I remember when he gave you an amp to test in the showroom, he'd turn off most of the lights, to make it more like an onstage vibe

Yeah very similar set up to Rick Henrys place in Pear Mill. 

I didn't know he was in Pear Mill 

JimmyH

I worked for Rob Wienbrock at Wienbrock amps at the little unit in the Sowerby Bridge Mills, prior to this I was working at Hiwatt.

I met Rob at the Northern Guitar Show (Pudsey Civic Hall, Leeds) and got chatting to him at his stand, he offered me a job on the spot, I worked there until the bailiffs emptied the place, it was a crying shame.

Whilst I was there I designed the Wienbrock Gaucho and some of the smaller circuit tweaks to the later amps (the ones with names not the ME-xx series). I also made a couple of one off amplifiers such as 2x12 combo version of a Marshall Super Lead that had an ME-5 front plate on it, if anyone has this one, damn that's a nice amplifier! And a few of the signature amplifiers we made for people.

I've waited quite some time to post this since hearing of his passing as It's been rather difficult to process, as having met Rob sent my life on a trajectory that I could never have predicted, he truly changed my life for the better and I'm so heart broken at his passing.

I've spoken to his younger brother since and sent my condolences.

lustycourtier

JimmyH said:

I worked for Rob Wienbrock at Wienbrock amps at the little unit in the Sowerby Bridge Mills, prior to this I was working at Hiwatt.

I met Rob at the Northern Guitar Show (Pudsey Civic Hall, Leeds) and got chatting to him at his stand, he offered me a job on the spot, I worked there until the bailiffs emptied the place, it was a crying shame.

Whilst I was there I designed the Wienbrock Gaucho and some of the smaller circuit tweaks to the later amps (the ones with names not the ME-xx series). I also made a couple of one off amplifiers such as 2x12 combo version of a Marshall Super Lead that had an ME-5 front plate on it, if anyone has this one, damn that's a nice amplifier! And a few of the signature amplifiers we made for people.

I've waited quite some time to post this since hearing of his passing as It's been rather difficult to process, as having met Rob sent my life on a trajectory that I could never have predicted, he truly changed my life for the better and I'm so heart broken at his passing.

I've spoken to his younger brother since and sent my condolences.

Hi Mate, good to hear you're doing well. Your work was brilliant and was always a joy to hang out with you both.  

Petepassion

JimmyH said:

I worked for Rob Wienbrock at Wienbrock amps at the little unit in the Sowerby Bridge Mills, prior to this I was working at Hiwatt.

I met Rob at the Northern Guitar Show (Pudsey Civic Hall, Leeds) and got chatting to him at his stand, he offered me a job on the spot, I worked there until the bailiffs emptied the place, it was a crying shame.

Whilst I was there I designed the Wienbrock Gaucho and some of the smaller circuit tweaks to the later amps (the ones with names not the ME-xx series). I also made a couple of one off amplifiers such as 2x12 combo version of a Marshall Super Lead that had an ME-5 front plate on it, if anyone has this one, damn that's a nice amplifier! And a few of the signature amplifiers we made for people.

I've waited quite some time to post this since hearing of his passing as It's been rather difficult to process, as having met Rob sent my life on a trajectory that I could never have predicted, he truly changed my life for the better and I'm so heart broken at his passing.

I've spoken to his younger brother since and sent my condolences.

I had my Gringo up for sale a few weeks ago. Robs daughter contacted me and bought it. She was over the moon to find one locally. She said she sometimes helped out in the workshop when she was 15, maybe you worked with her? Lovely person.
   Just out of interest do you have a YouTube channel called 'The Bald Middle Aged Metal Head'? As a comment was left on my Wienbrock Gringo video I uploaded.

JimmyH

Petepassion said:

JimmyH said:

I worked for Rob Wienbrock at Wienbrock amps at the little unit in the Sowerby Bridge Mills, prior to this I was working at Hiwatt.

I met Rob at the Northern Guitar Show (Pudsey Civic Hall, Leeds) and got chatting to him at his stand, he offered me a job on the spot, I worked there until the bailiffs emptied the place, it was a crying shame.

Whilst I was there I designed the Wienbrock Gaucho and some of the smaller circuit tweaks to the later amps (the ones with names not the ME-xx series). I also made a couple of one off amplifiers such as 2x12 combo version of a Marshall Super Lead that had an ME-5 front plate on it, if anyone has this one, damn that's a nice amplifier! And a few of the signature amplifiers we made for people.

I've waited quite some time to post this since hearing of his passing as It's been rather difficult to process, as having met Rob sent my life on a trajectory that I could never have predicted, he truly changed my life for the better and I'm so heart broken at his passing.

I've spoken to his younger brother since and sent my condolences.

I had my Gringo up for sale a few weeks ago. Robs daughter contacted me and bought it. She was over the moon to find one locally. She said she sometimes helped out in the workshop when she was 15, maybe you worked with her? Lovely person.
   Just out of interest do you have a YouTube channel called 'The Bald Middle Aged Metal Head'? As a comment was left on my Wienbrock Gringo video I uploaded.

Yeah that's me "The Bald Middle Aged Metal Head", Rob had a partner at the time called Barbara with a son called Matthew I believe, I'm not sure if they had a child(daughter) together or not or if he was her step dad etc..

I know Rob had a son in the states but they weren't on the best of terms, at least to my knowledge.

Rob grew up in New Jersey but also spent time in North Carolina where his brother lives now, he had some amazing stories to tell but always had a way of making sure there was a lesson to be learned in everything, he had a really kind spirit and even managed to find a way to play down the day I nearly burned the factory down trying to kill a wasp with Deoxit spray and a lighter (burned the curtains down and scorched the printer), he never said anything, but he knew it happened.

He just said something along the lines of "wow the factory is a lot brighter in here" knowing full well the curtains were in the bin burned and he loved to darken the place to jam out and show products.

ToneControl

JimmyH said:

I worked for Rob Wienbrock at Wienbrock amps at the little unit in the Sowerby Bridge Mills, prior to this I was working at Hiwatt.

I met Rob at the Northern Guitar Show (Pudsey Civic Hall, Leeds) and got chatting to him at his stand, he offered me a job on the spot, I worked there until the bailiffs emptied the place, it was a crying shame.

Whilst I was there I designed the Wienbrock Gaucho and some of the smaller circuit tweaks to the later amps (the ones with names not the ME-xx series). I also made a couple of one off amplifiers such as 2x12 combo version of a Marshall Super Lead that had an ME-5 front plate on it, if anyone has this one, damn that's a nice amplifier! And a few of the signature amplifiers we made for people.

I've waited quite some time to post this since hearing of his passing as It's been rather difficult to process, as having met Rob sent my life on a trajectory that I could never have predicted, he truly changed my life for the better and I'm so heart broken at his passing.

I've spoken to his younger brother since and sent my condolences.

was it you that introduced star grounding to the designs?

JimmyH

ToneControl said:

JimmyH said:

I worked for Rob Wienbrock at Wienbrock amps at the little unit in the Sowerby Bridge Mills, prior to this I was working at Hiwatt.

I met Rob at the Northern Guitar Show (Pudsey Civic Hall, Leeds) and got chatting to him at his stand, he offered me a job on the spot, I worked there until the bailiffs emptied the place, it was a crying shame.

Whilst I was there I designed the Wienbrock Gaucho and some of the smaller circuit tweaks to the later amps (the ones with names not the ME-xx series). I also made a couple of one off amplifiers such as 2x12 combo version of a Marshall Super Lead that had an ME-5 front plate on it, if anyone has this one, damn that's a nice amplifier! And a few of the signature amplifiers we made for people.

I've waited quite some time to post this since hearing of his passing as It's been rather difficult to process, as having met Rob sent my life on a trajectory that I could never have predicted, he truly changed my life for the better and I'm so heart broken at his passing.

I've spoken to his younger brother since and sent my condolences.

was it you that introduced star grounding to the designs?

Oh man that's entirely possible, my memory on that detail is fuzzy, but it would make sense based on my obsession with high gain circuits such as the Trainwreck Express, Liverpool and Soldano SLO 100 etc at the time. I was always designing things that had a lot more gain than anything Rob wanted to make and as such I definitely remember getting the noise floor lower when I started.

Rob spent a lot of his time working on DC heaters which he never quite managed to get noise free, I learned a lot more at Audio Note UK many years later about power supplies and I'd never design anything like I did back then, I emailed all of my old customers from the Healey Amplification days offering a free recall on the Sapphire to reduce the noise but nobody ever took it up.

JimmyH

Actually I lie there's one Healey Sapphire out there and it's the only one that says "Made in Southampton" on it rather than "Made in Leeds" that had the modification done.

Meganwienbrock

JimmyH said:

Petepassion said:

JimmyH said:

I worked for Rob Wienbrock at Wienbrock amps at the little unit in the Sowerby Bridge Mills, prior to this I was working at Hiwatt.

I met Rob at the Northern Guitar Show (Pudsey Civic Hall, Leeds) and got chatting to him at his stand, he offered me a job on the spot, I worked there until the bailiffs emptied the place, it was a crying shame.

Whilst I was there I designed the Wienbrock Gaucho and some of the smaller circuit tweaks to the later amps (the ones with names not the ME-xx series). I also made a couple of one off amplifiers such as 2x12 combo version of a Marshall Super Lead that had an ME-5 front plate on it, if anyone has this one, damn that's a nice amplifier! And a few of the signature amplifiers we made for people.

I've waited quite some time to post this since hearing of his passing as It's been rather difficult to process, as having met Rob sent my life on a trajectory that I could never have predicted, he truly changed my life for the better and I'm so heart broken at his passing.

I've spoken to his younger brother since and sent my condolences.

I had my Gringo up for sale a few weeks ago. Robs daughter contacted me and bought it. She was over the moon to find one locally. She said she sometimes helped out in the workshop when she was 15, maybe you worked with her? Lovely person.
   Just out of interest do you have a YouTube channel called 'The Bald Middle Aged Metal Head'? As a comment was left on my Wienbrock Gringo video I uploaded.

Yeah that's me "The Bald Middle Aged Metal Head", Rob had a partner at the time called Barbara with a son called Matthew I believe, I'm not sure if they had a child(daughter) together or not or if he was her step dad etc..

I know Rob had a son in the states but they weren't on the best of terms, at least to my knowledge.

Rob grew up in New Jersey but also spent time in North Carolina where his brother lives now, he had some amazing stories to tell but always had a way of making sure there was a lesson to be learned in everything, he had a really kind spirit and even managed to find a way to play down the day I nearly burned the factory down trying to kill a wasp with Deoxit spray and a lighter (burned the curtains down and scorched the printer), he never said anything, but he knew it happened.

He just said something along the lines of "wow the factory is a lot brighter in here" knowing full well the curtains were in the bin burned and he loved to darken the place to jam out and show products.

Hey it’s Robs daughter, Meg here! I just wanted to drop a couple of lines to say I came across your posts and I wanted to say thank you for all your kind words. I miss my dad everyday and his passing has hit so many of us. I also wanted to reach out and say we’re still on the hunt for a Wienbrock amp for my uncle in the states, I’m planning on going out to visit them again this year, so fingers crossed I may find one before I go, now I’ve logged on here it’s another chance to find one for him.

ToneControl

Meganwienbrock said:

Hey it’s Robs daughter, Meg here! I just wanted to drop a couple of lines to say I came across your posts and I wanted to say thank you for all your kind words. I miss my dad everyday and his passing has hit so many of us. I also wanted to reach out and say we’re still on the hunt for a Wienbrock amp for my uncle in the states, I’m planning on going out to visit them again this year, so fingers crossed I may find one before I go, now I’ve logged on here it’s another chance to find one for him.

@Sevenof9 was selling one last year, but withdrew it from sale

lustycourtier

Meganwienbrock said:

JimmyH said:

Petepassion said:

JimmyH said:

I worked for Rob Wienbrock at Wienbrock amps at the little unit in the Sowerby Bridge Mills, prior to this I was working at Hiwatt.

I met Rob at the Northern Guitar Show (Pudsey Civic Hall, Leeds) and got chatting to him at his stand, he offered me a job on the spot, I worked there until the bailiffs emptied the place, it was a crying shame.

Whilst I was there I designed the Wienbrock Gaucho and some of the smaller circuit tweaks to the later amps (the ones with names not the ME-xx series). I also made a couple of one off amplifiers such as 2x12 combo version of a Marshall Super Lead that had an ME-5 front plate on it, if anyone has this one, damn that's a nice amplifier! And a few of the signature amplifiers we made for people.

I've waited quite some time to post this since hearing of his passing as It's been rather difficult to process, as having met Rob sent my life on a trajectory that I could never have predicted, he truly changed my life for the better and I'm so heart broken at his passing.

I've spoken to his younger brother since and sent my condolences.

I had my Gringo up for sale a few weeks ago. Robs daughter contacted me and bought it. She was over the moon to find one locally. She said she sometimes helped out in the workshop when she was 15, maybe you worked with her? Lovely person.
   Just out of interest do you have a YouTube channel called 'The Bald Middle Aged Metal Head'? As a comment was left on my Wienbrock Gringo video I uploaded.

Yeah that's me "The Bald Middle Aged Metal Head", Rob had a partner at the time called Barbara with a son called Matthew I believe, I'm not sure if they had a child(daughter) together or not or if he was her step dad etc..

I know Rob had a son in the states but they weren't on the best of terms, at least to my knowledge.

Rob grew up in New Jersey but also spent time in North Carolina where his brother lives now, he had some amazing stories to tell but always had a way of making sure there was a lesson to be learned in everything, he had a really kind spirit and even managed to find a way to play down the day I nearly burned the factory down trying to kill a wasp with Deoxit spray and a lighter (burned the curtains down and scorched the printer), he never said anything, but he knew it happened.

He just said something along the lines of "wow the factory is a lot brighter in here" knowing full well the curtains were in the bin burned and he loved to darken the place to jam out and show products.

Hey it’s Robs daughter, Meg here! I just wanted to drop a couple of lines to say I came across your posts and I wanted to say thank you for all your kind words. I miss my dad everyday and his passing has hit so many of us. I also wanted to reach out and say we’re still on the hunt for a Wienbrock amp for my uncle in the states, I’m planning on going out to visit them again this year, so fingers crossed I may find one before I go, now I’ve logged on here it’s another chance to find one for him.

Hi @Meganwienbrock ;

 Your dad was a great guy, and despite the distance I always enjoyed a drive over to his workshop to hang out and absorb knowledge. 

 Ill keep an eye out for an amp. They do come up for sale.