The Trace Elliot V-type Club!!

[Tender Prey]

Originally Posted by MrBonex

Not a stupid question at all!

If I recall correctly, it's not a true standby switch like in a tube amp. It's more like a mute switch. I have a 300h.

Thanks! I figured it out now. I always have the standby switch engaged when I power the head on and off. Last night I was playing it and flipped the standyby switch when I was changing basses. It didn't cut the sound, just reduced the volume. I tried again tonight and realized that it doesn't cut the sound immediately but gradually cuts the sound off. Learn something new every day.

[pbassnut]

Originally Posted by RotInHell

has anyone had any experience with the mains fuse blowing out, happened more than once now and I am slightly concerned.

I used to have a V4 that I bought used off of eBay for $600. It was the best sounding head I ever had. Unfortunately, after using it for only 10 or 15 gigs, one of the KT88s fried on me and it was fairly expensive to retube/rebias and afterwards it started blowing fuses periodically. After the second blown fuse, it seemed to stabilize itself. However, by this time, I'd lost faith in it ... loved the sound, but didn't like worrying about it failing on a gig so I turned it over. I later ran into a V-Type preamp for $225 that I now have in a rack with an Ampeg SVT 3 Pro which I use as the power section for the Trace via the poweramp in jack. It doesn't sound quite as good as my all tube V4 did, but it does sound quite good and has been perfectly reliable for me.

[wmheilma]

Yesterday, I spotted a Trace V-Type 600H in mint condition sitting in a pawn shop for $499. Bad timing. I am about to get hit with the bill for retubing my V6! Sure would like to add that amp to the arsenal, though.

Has anyone here in the states see any V-Type cabinets for sale? I have only ever seen a couple here in the U.S. and that was pre-Gibson takeover.

[bassdoubler]

Originally Posted by wmheilma

Yesterday, I spotted a Trace V-Type 600H in mint condition sitting in a pawn shop for $499. Bad timing. I am about to get hit with the bill for retubing my V6! Sure would like to add that amp to the arsenal, though.

Has anyone here in the states see any V-Type cabinets for sale? I have only ever seen a couple here in the U.S. and that was pre-Gibson takeover.

No! I've always been on the lookout for one of those v type 4x12s but never found one....$499 is a killer price for that 600h too

[gotyoursoul]

AHA!!!! Like minded comrades.
I bought my V Type 300H new some years back now...... 15years ago???? to tell the truth my brain is a bit fried so i can't remember that far back, BUT!!!!!!!! I remember the day i bought it. It was amongst some higher spec bass heads in the Rose Morris bass dept in Denmark Street, London, i just fell in love with it cos it looked cool as f**k and it wasn't wraped in black vinyl and it didn't have loads of confusing knobs and switches like the others. I asked to be plugged in and.......................... BANG!!!!
It had the warm fat sound that i had imagined what my sound should be but could never get out of my old battered up HH crap combo. Had to have it, there and then.
Good job that it was payday and it was half the money that i was prepared to pay for it, so i bought the matching 300watt 4x10" bass speaker also. Hailed a black cab and loaded it in and went home with it chuft to peaces. Never looked back!!! Never used any other head for gigs or recording, i have played other rigs but i'm always left wanting more. It was my very first bass rig and my only bass rig, i added 15" speaker cab a couple of years latter and that is all i have ever done.
HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!!
Last week, i plugged in as usual at rehearsal while chit chatting with my band members and after an hour jamming and going through the set, the sound went and it didn't come back. Dropped it off to my Tech who is now finding it difficult to find parts as he has to rebuild some of the circuit board.
Now i am looking for a replacement or a backup head, my guitar player keeps going on about Ampeg SVT's how better it is but I told him to put a sock in it cos i don't play anything else!!!!!!!
I play heavy rock-stonner with Burns Bison basses and Epiphone Revoli's and it just has it all. Shame us lot here in blighty don't build anything anymore..... Marshall... most of that is built in India and assembled in the UK......
Oh well, tuff s**t!

[msquared]

What cabinets are you all finding work better than others with these amps? I am running a V4 with an Acme B2 and it's great for low volume work but the B2 seems a bit inefficient for it to really work for other tasks.

[wmheilma]

I used an SWR Henry the 8x8 with Celestian BG60 speakers with a Trace V6 for quite a while. Nice mids, but a bit lacking in the bottom, so you depend on the PA to get the true lows happening in the house. I also used the V6 with an SWR Goliath II Jr. for small gigs. That had a great tone and made me wish for a 6x10.

[klejst]

I figured this would be the best place than any to ask. I have an opportunity to buy a all working and very nice condition Trace Elliot V-5001 amp for $300. I believe it is a hybrid tube amp. Can anyone tell me anything about it or some specs? For those who have tried one or own one what do you like about it and don't like? I am looking at changing my amp and trying something new. My cab is a Mesa Powerhouse 6x10, would this be a good match? Thanks.

[MrBonex]

I'm a major V300H lover. Bought mine as a backup to my V6 and I ended up liking the 300 better! Go figure.

I'm not sure I can explain why in a purely scientific sense, but:

It seems to my ears that the solid state power amp controls the drivers better (in my case 2-12" in an SWR 12-pack). The overall tone of the V300H and the V6 are almost identical, but the 300 seems to have less note overhang. It's not the initial speed, but the rate which the driver returns to its starting place.

If that makes any sense!

Someone needs to get that V600H. Any chance that pawn shop is in the New England area?

[bassdoubler]

I can kind of feel that....I exclusively use EA amps now which are the complete opposite of everything my V6 stands for (heavy, tube fatness, insanely loud, etc.) but for practicalities sake it just makes more sense to throw my 2 lb. micro in my bass bag and go. I've also started to appreciate the clarity and quickness of sound reproduction EAs class D heads give you as apposed to the slower, warmer thickness of sound the V6 creates which is I think what you're hearing in comparison to your 300 head. Still, in the studio or with an old P with super dead flats the V6 is a god hands down! Could also be the cabs you have going too....

[wmheilma]

YES!!! I finally got my v6 back from Fat Willy in Denver and it is loaded with nice new matching Tung Sol 6550's. It sounds better than ever! I gigged with it already on top of my LDS 4x8 and 1x15 stack which was nice, but not so big and fat sounding as the Ampeg cab. Last night I had the chance to play it with an Ampeg SVT Classic 8x10. What a tone! There is no way I can get the 8x10 into my old Toyota Rav4 though. It just won't fit, so even if my friend said he'd loan it to me for the weekend I don't have a reasonable way to get it to the gig. Rats! I'm sure it will sound great through old Henry the 8x8 though. I am now thinking seriously about picking up a sealed 6x10 cab. The Bergantino I found near Boulder CO is a sealed 6x10 and sounds awesome, but I can't possibly come up with that much money especially after buying tubes. I may need to bug Don at LDS again to see about a custom 6x10. He makes great cabinets at a very reasonable price. I could make a down payment to start the order and scare up the rest of the dough when the cab is ready to ship in a couple of months.

Last time I checked, that 600H was still at the pawn shop here in Loveland CO. I tested it out and it sounds great. It is very similar to the Aguilar DB750 I plugged into which was backline at an audition last Sunday. If only money would fall out of the sky or something! GAS strikes again...

[jcburn]

Hi everyone. Currently paying off a 300h, will be mine soon.
Just confirming - the eq section is passive like an alembic f1 yeah?
Also the one I'm getting is a little noisy - could an amp tech look at it and possibly rectify?it sounded incredible in the store though.

[Seans]

V8 inc the super rare 810 1084 cab, unfortunately it's taking up too much space.

[tombowlus]

Originally Posted by Seans

V8 inc the super rare 810 1084 cab, unfortunately it's taking up too much space.

Nice! I love my V8, though to be honest, it has not left the house in a long time.

[bassdoubler]

same here....LOVE my V6, but with class D amps sounding as great as they do nowadays, it hasn't left my apartment in almost 2 years now....I just can't even imagine parting with it!!

[Seans]

Yep, not used in while now, last time it was out, I took it with my Ampeg 810AV and although it did sound great, it wasn't quite there, not so much brilliance, very similar cabs but those speakers do make a difference. (SVT sounds awful through the Trace cab though). Me and freq responses etc

[pratbasses]

The Avatar 410 NEO cabinet with Eminence deltalite neos speakers sounds AWESOME wih my 300H. Here is a bad picture:

[Dan_5893]

Hey all, newbie here.

A V-Type 300h and matching 410 cab has popped up on my Gumtree for $600 Australian. I'm in search of a new bass amp that will be gig worthy so this seems like a good fit. The guy is about an hour's drive away, so my questions before heading down that way are:

A) Is this a good price for the amp? I've no clue on ballpark figures since I can't find any others anywhere else here in 'Straya.

B) Will the amp suit my needs? (I play rock/punk stuff using a Stingray IV), I can't find many decent demos on Youtube.

Lastly, are the heads all valve or SS? I can't seem to figure out from Google since most of the specs are for the all-valve V4/V6 series. It doesn't bother me, but it'd be cool to know.

Cheers!

[aqstyp85]

My V8 was stolen after a gig in 2002 and my pre Earny Ball stingray went with him
Only both 1528 remained into the car-perhaps too heavy?
In this times it isn`t possible to get a V8 at a reasonable price......
regards michael

[aqstyp85]

@Dan: The preamp is a tube one and the poweramp ss-it doesn`t sound as mighty as a V6 but for punkrock it should be suitable ;-)