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New Trace Eliots are out, anyone tried them?

#2
I played one of the new heads through a 4x10"+1x15" at the Music Player Live! event in New York a bit over a month ago.

They sound very nice; the original engineer (I forgot his name) is still working on the gear. I was glad to hear that Peavey purchased Trace Elliot from Gibson. It is nice to have choices.
 
#4
I like the look of the new gear, getting tired of the Ashdown retro look (although still love the tone).
I guess ill just be getting a small Combo (1x15) to replace my MAG but need to check if the 250watt 715 is louder than my MAG 300.
Im sure its not a full 300watt with just the one speaker on the MAG but i cant find any decent specs for the TE.
allthe websites have the same descriptions but no tec details (or size)
nice pic by the way, did you take it? any more of Doug?
Dave.
 
#6
getz76 said:
They sound very nice; the original engineer (I forgot his name) is still working on the gear.
Click to expand...

the designer is Paul Stevens.
I asked him a few things about the differences between the last Trace bass amps and the new ones at the Trace launch yesterday at the Bass Centre (with Doug Wimbish demoing)-

they changed the old round ports on the cabs to slots to bring the height of the cabs down, and no-one used the tuning plugs on the round ports anyway,
the led signal level indicator is different now-
I asked as I had problems with the SMX dual compressor pedal's indicator led that seemed to cause a breakthrough crackle when it changed colour.

it seems that the other Trace (and current Ashdown) designer, Clive Button, designed the SMX, the SMC (2 power mosfets on my SMC 300 head burned out a few weeks ago) and various Ashdowns that there have been reliability issues with-
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the new Traces are out of my price range though.
 
#9
The Mock Turtle Regulator said:
the designer is Paul
it seems that the other Trace (and current Ashdown) designer, Clive Button, designed the SMX, the SMC (2 power mosfets on my SMC 300 head burned out a few weeks ago) and various Ashdowns that there have been reliability issues with-
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the new Traces are out of my price range though.
Click to expand...

Clive is back at Trace as of this past February.

nevermind on my comment....Clive Roberts is at Trace...Clive Button is at Ashdown as you said. I just saw Clive and didn't read the Button until my post "cleared"....sorry.
 
#10
hasbeen said:
Clive is back at Trace as of this past February.
Click to expand...

that's odd, as Paul Stevens referred to him as "my predecessor", and said "I designed the whole lot".

*edit*, yep, got it.


one thing I forgot to ask was about the jack sockets on the new amps-
they've brought back the recessed jack sockets-
the trouble with these is that you need a box spanner or needlenose pliers to tighten the nut-
they were always loose or missing on Trace SMX amps in rehearsal studios.

on my ironically cheaper SMC the jack sockets protruded from the panel in the usual way- so you could easily tighten the nuts.
 
#12
I know it's a bit of an ask but can anyone who's head the new gear describe what they 'sound' like?

I'm debating on whether to wait for the new TE gear to hit Australia before investing in a new amp...

Particularly after a vintage jammerson type tone

Text_Edifice
 
#13
The Mock Turtle Regulator said:
that's odd, as Paul Stevens referred to him as "my predecessor", and said "I designed the whole lot".

*edit*, yep, got it.

you are correct....Paul did design the whole bit. Clive Roberts, who was at Trace "in the day" is back at Trace handling all the sales end of it. He was actually at Peavey before they aquired Trace.

I used to work very closely with Trace over ten years ago as Trace was owned by Kaman......which now owns Genz-Benz. Before that, I was an endorser of Trace. So to answer the thread starters question, to my ears, the new Trace sounds like the old SMX Trace. As well, because of the changes at Trace between the Kaman then Gibson now Peavey eras, I would believe that the new gear is very reliable. They did have their problems years ago.

Even though they are competitors, I still have a warm spot in my heart for them and I like Paul and Clive very much. In my opinion I think they did a great job updating the look while still keeping the "Trace" vibe.
Click to expand...
 
#14
hasbeen said:
The Mock Turtle Regulator said:
that's odd, as Paul Stevens referred to him as "my predecessor", and said "I designed the whole lot".

*edit*, yep, got it.

you are correct....Paul did design the whole bit. Clive Roberts, who was at Trace "in the day" is back at Trace handling all the sales end of it. He was actually at Peavey before they aquired Trace.
Click to expand...
So, are you saying that Clive Button did not design a good majority of the old Trace Elliot line? :confused:

They did have their problems years ago.
Click to expand...
What exact problems are you speaking of? :confused:

In my opinion I think they did a great job updating the look while still keeping the "Trace" vibe.
Click to expand...
Agreed! :D

The Mock Turtle Regulator said:
the trouble with these is that you need a box spanner or needlenose pliers to tighten the nut-
they were always loose or missing on Trace SMX amps in rehearsal studios.
Click to expand...
Hmm, I have never encountered this problem on my SMX or any of the others I have encountered.

BTW, you don't use needlenose pliers or a spanner wrench to tighten them, you use a 1/4" drive socket. ;)
Click to expand...
 
#16
Kelly Lee said:
So, are you saying that Clive Button did not design a good majority of the old Trace Elliot line? :confused:


What exact problems are you speaking of? :confused:


Agreed! :D


Hmm, I have never encountered this problem on my SMX or any of the others I have encountered.

BTW, you don't use needlenose pliers or a spanner wrench to tighten them, you use a 1/4" drive socket. ;)
Click to expand...

Clive Button- Yes, no, yes- Clive Button did the majority of the design for Trace pre-Peavey. Paul has designed all the new stuff.

What exact problems? That I can't answer because there were many different and frequent failures when we owned the company. I can't speak of what happened when Gibson owned the company. I wish I could remember dates but since I can't- major failures started when Trace introduced the SMX series and the tube pre's.

Within a span of one year, Trace approx. doubled their manufacturing facility, started building tube guitar amps (Bonnevilles, Tridents, Vellocettes), PA's, entry level bass combos, V series bass amps etc. I'd say this was mid 90's. Too much, too fast equalled large failure ratios.
 
#18
Text_Edifice said:
I know it's a bit of an ask but can anyone who's head the new gear describe what they 'sound' like?

I'm debating on whether to wait for the new TE gear to hit Australia before investing in a new amp...

Particularly after a vintage jammerson type tone

Text_Edifice
Click to expand...
If they're anything like the older ones, I'm sure they sound fantastic.

And (probably) extremely versatile in terms of tone.
 
#19
my experience with my Trace SMC 300 head (bought new at the start of 2000)- used only with Trace 1048H cab;

2001- DI output cutting out due to dry joint on the board. easy fix with soldering iron.

2004 december- loud hum and distorted output. due to dry joints on smoothing capacitors on power amp board. easy fix with soldering iron.

2005 november- 2 power mosfets burn out and fuses blow. I've taken them out and the circuit board tracks have come loose where the mosfets were soldered in. poor design?- the tracks could be wider here.

is this to be expected for an amp?

this US site has the whole power amp module-
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

and the mosfets BUZ901p and BUZ906p

I've found a local source for the mosfets.

while I decide how to fix it, or whether it's worth fixing, I'm using my old Laney G150H with the Trace cab.
 
#20
I'm very interested in this as my one and only local shop is a Peavey dealer and thinks he might be able to order the new Trace stuff for me.
So, am I to assume that this new line is equal in overall quality to the 'historic' Trace line, designed by the same guy and built by hand in England? I'm playing around with the idea of replacing my SWR350 head with the AH500-7. I bought the 350 with the intention of retiring with it(re: long term investment), so if I swap it for the Trace, I want the real deal. I've always wanted a Trace rig and almost bought one ...twice! :hmm:
So, gimme all the gory details folks! :)
 

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