Quite the collection!! I've got my eyes on a V type and a 1048H cab to add to the collection as well. I've had multiple ampeg, mesa, aggie, tc, gk, te and found that I really like the versatility of what I have now, but looking at the v type or other tube style amp to round things out.
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Team Trace Elliot pt4.
- Thread starter Downunderwonder
- Start date
Tube is a wonderful thing but tends to be high maintenance. Still remember New tunes for the SVT running over $250 '70's pricing.
Nice. These don't seem to come up for sale very often anymore.
I own one of the original V-Type heads and also a V6, which use the same preamp.
IMHO this preamp is not super sensitive to tube rolling. First step is to play through the preamp for an extended time, so you really get to intimately know the way is sounds and responds.
Use this experience to decide what you like and dislike about it. I think you will find that it is very sweet sounding, but fairly mid scooped.
Next, research various tubes to see which are known for qualities you think will push the sound in a desirable direction.
Roll all candidates through each tube position and select the tube you like best.
I like to go through an amp in reverse and cycle through each slot at least twice. I.E. roll the candidates through the V2 slot and choose the one you like best. Roll the candidates through V1 and choose the tube you like best. If you change V1, roll the candidates through V2 a second time. If you choose a different tube for V2, roll the candidates through V1.
You could do it the other way around as well...I.E. start with V1.
I have not bothered to roll tubes in my V6 because it sounds great. It's running three stock TE 12AX7s and a Tube Store Preferred Series 7025. This amp has really incredible lows that are big and sort of pillowy, but also very clear and focused.
My V-Type came to me with four stock TE 12AX7s. I wound up swapping out one of the stock tubes for a Gold Lion ECC83/B759. The resulting change was very subtle. The Gold Lion has slightly stronger/nicer mids and slightly leaner and looser lows. I see it as choosing slightly enhanced mids over slightly degraded lows. I.E. I chose a desirable compromise, rather than a pure improvement. This sort of dilemma is fairly common when tube rolling.
Good luck and have fun.
Thanks!
That seems to confirm my first impression.
The seller put Sovteks in there but also sent me the JJs the preamp originally had,
I didn't hear any significant difference in swapping them.
But, contrary to what I read online, I got the preamp to distort quite nicely just with cranking the gain.
But the clean sound alone is to die for!
My SWR Stella is dangerously close to losing its place in the rack to the V-Type...
That seems to confirm my first impression.
The seller put Sovteks in there but also sent me the JJs the preamp originally had,
I didn't hear any significant difference in swapping them.
But, contrary to what I read online, I got the preamp to distort quite nicely just with cranking the gain.
But the clean sound alone is to die for!
My SWR Stella is dangerously close to losing its place in the rack to the V-Type...
Thanks!
That seems to confirm my first impression.
The seller put Sovteks in there but also sent me the JJs the preamp originally had,
I didn't hear any significant difference in swapping them.
But, contrary to what I read online, I got the preamp to distort quite nicely just with cranking the gain.
But the clean sound alone is to die for!
My SWR Stella is dangerously close to losing its place in the rack to the V-Type...
I believe all the TE-labeled 12AX7s I have seen are Shuguang. The internal structures look like this
You can see some examples in this thread: Trace Elliot 12ax7 Tubes
I believe the later Mk2 V-Types were loaded with Sovteks. This is per the designer of those amps. My V8 was full of 12AX7WAs, and I believe they were probably the original tubes. The Mk2s seem a bit more responsive to tube rolling than the Mk1s. I replaced all of the Sovteks. You can read about it here: Trace V8 Tube Rolling
Here is my thread for tube rolling in the Mk1: Trace V-Type Tube Rolling
While most people do seem to think the Mk1 V-Type excels at clean, I can also get a bit of drive out of the preamps by cranking the gain up somewhere between about 14:00 and 15:00. The exact setting will vary depending on how hot the output of your bass is.
I have JJ ECC83S - originally had 1 each in V1/2, felt it was slightly more aggressive sounding but still tight and warm with stock TE 12AX7 in V3/4.
Did a full retube in 2019 and have the JJ's in all slots (plus fresh JJ KT88's in the poweramp). Can't say I felt any difference in the preamp, however the fresh power amp tubes made a massive difference overall (my original JJ's were so close to dying, the volume difference was intense!).
Did a full retube in 2019 and have the JJ's in all slots (plus fresh JJ KT88's in the poweramp). Can't say I felt any difference in the preamp, however the fresh power amp tubes made a massive difference overall (my original JJ's were so close to dying, the volume difference was intense!).
Glorious Trace rig on Reverb. No affiliation just wish I had the cash!
Trace Elliot AH500 1989 | Reverb
Trace Elliot AH500 1989 | Reverb
Man, that would be glorious to play through, but the seller is wildly mistaken someone will pay that for it!
Serious firepower, but especially given the impracticability of shifting this rig around to/from gigs compared to what else is available these days, $3250 seems like a whole lot of cheddar.
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Bloody Hell !!!
I can't imagine ever needing that kind of firepower, let alone having to move it.
That's in spectacular condition, and I wish them the best of luck trying to get that kind of money for it.
Damn, son.
That has to be about the cleanest old school Trace rig I've seen come up for sale. Not gonna lie, I would love to have it if I had the space (and use like once every year or 2 probably). But I agree the $3250 asking price is definitely ambitious. I could see it getting $2000-2500. Most of that is for how clean everything is. Realistic street value is probably more like $1500-2000, BUT, you have to find someone who wants it all AND can afford it AND has a place to put it.
That has to be about the cleanest old school Trace rig I've seen come up for sale. Not gonna lie, I would love to have it if I had the space (and use like once every year or 2 probably). But I agree the $3250 asking price is definitely ambitious. I could see it getting $2000-2500. Most of that is for how clean everything is. Realistic street value is probably more like $1500-2000, BUT, you have to find someone who wants it all AND can afford it AND has a place to put it.
In a time of IEM's and micro systems, I can only imagine this system ending up in a Ridley Scott Prometheus or Steven Spielberg Stargate script.
I'm sure there are potential private owner collectors out there, intent on preserving the Majesty of the past, with this as a future museum piece. Would be nice to see footage of this system on stage and performing at Peak power. "I'm not gonna lie" my stack remains in my warehouse, wrapped in duvetine cloth quietly waiting in hopes of coming back to the stage. Probably not in my lifetime.
As they say, GLWTS.
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What OD/grit/ pedals is everyone using to put a bit of 'hair' on the SMX series? Just got a 4001 and my Xotic BB isn't sounding that good to me.
Not looking for heavy drive or distortion - maybe thinking something like a SGFX Beta or W.H.Y?
Not looking for heavy drive or distortion - maybe thinking something like a SGFX Beta or W.H.Y?
Quite a lot of people, back in the mid-90's swapped out the tube in the SMX preamp, for something that broke up more easily.
My Trace head is a much older model, so I don't have that option. I just use either a Boss OD-1, or a Sansamp VT Bass Deluxe.
Ok, so just answering my own question and for the benefit of all at Team TE, I gigged my 4001 GP12 SMX at the weekend and added just a touch of drive/grit with an Xotic RC Boost. Drive set to about 1 o'clock, EQ knobs left flat, vol at unity. Using the dual band compressor too, this made for a beautiful punchy tone in the band mix, a very happy FOH engineer and a great compliment from the main bands bassist.
Picked this fella up from Craigslist earlier this week. Took a significant amount of time to figure out how all of the tone shaping interacts but I've got it dialed in and love it!
