Jule does a great Night Train mod
I had Jule mod my Night Train with both the NT mod and the effects loop. I couldn't be happier with
the Night Train mod itself.
Supposedly based on a Trainwreck design updated by Tony Bruno, it is one hell of an amp. With the Jule mod, on the EQ side it just rings and rings (I did upgrade the tubes with TAD 12ax7's and JJ EL34's). I have two Mesa amps and a Fender '57 Harvard, and none of them ring like the NT. Gorgeous. Far better than the original amp.
On the EQ bypass side, great crunch, and to me sounds like an EQ dimed JCM800. Not as loud, too. Perfect for practicing my hair metal.
As far as the effects loop, Jule makes it plain that it's not a standard tube buffered loop. I can't get it to work, the secret is supposedly boosting the output of the last pedal in the loop, but wherever the take off points are, it's not what I expected.
I have had zero problems with using pedals before the clean channel, but I do agree you can't crunch up the amp and expect time based effects to work without muddying up the sound. Grunge, anyone?
To sum up, Jule does a great job upgrading a fantastic, well designed small amp built on the cheap. I don't recommend the loop mod for most applications, and he makes that plain up front. No regrets, my gamble.
I would buy another NT and have Jule mod it if I needed one. Still cheaper than a Trainwreck or Bruno Cowtipper.
Now, if Vox could turn this into a two channel amp with effects loop, with the same options and 50/100 watts, they'd be able to compete with Marshall for the big boy business. I would buy the head in a heartbeat, and send it to Jule, too. I can assure you, Marshall will never achieve the clean tone this thing has. It would be a shame if Vox didn't follow this up. Really a unique design for them.
I do recommend either the Celestion Gold or Weber Blue Dog, or something similar, to hear the high end this thing has. Probably blow a Cele Blue. Just fantastic.