Ok, here goes!
First encountered Trace way back in the late 80's when a friend (somehow) managed to afford one!! We were 14.
I've GAS'd since that day for the unmistakable Trace Sound. So many years on, I found myself in a position to actually buy a rig, only to find that the G**son had managed to screw it all up, ended up with a Hartke set up. Good, but not right.
Then all the peavey hoo-haw came along, I got interested again and flogged the Hartke to buy the Trace rig..
AH1000-12 - Twin Channel Amp
1028H - 2 x 10 + tweet Cab
1518 - 1 x 15 cab
Am I happy? You betcha!
Student-hood and poor paying jobs meant I missed owning any of the original TE gear, so my comparisons are going back to a hazy memory of being 14, in my mates bedroom learning to play Maiden and Metallica, but what came out of the new stuff took me right back there. As far as I'm concerned, its definitely Trace sounding and it sure looks pretty! Totally blew the Hartke (3500a with XL 2x10 and 1x15) away with the richness of tone, control and tightness of sound.
So the Amp....
Power?
Its a monster. I can't get it off 3, even on a big stage. There's power to burn. Admittedly, the pickups in my 'wick $$ are hot as hell, but even dropping them a few mm lower I've still got stacks of Volume! And its damn Heavy!
Tone?
Stacks of it, using the trace preset, its deep and controlled and with the graphic, you can dial in whatever you need to personalise your sound
The valve pre gives you a great range from warm and subtle to hard and dirty. Factor in the Dual comp, there's no need to go outboard on the compression front
Flexibility?
Yep, with 3 effect send and returns (Low Pass, High Pass and Full send, Left Right Mono return, all can be used together) you can hookup what you want. I've got my ocatver off the low send, envelope, wah and fuzz off the high or full). and you can control it all, Tube, comp, graphic and effect loop from the footswitch.
The cabs, to me sound great and work well with the amp. I've not tried any others with it, so can't really give a meaningful comparison. The 10s are tight and punchy, the horn in the 2x10 adds that bit of sparkle for the upper fret work and fuzz. The 15 takes care of the low end. I've got mine setup so the low pass effect output hits the right channel which is connected to the 15, and the Hi pass hits the 2x10
They (as opposed to the amp) are a lot lighter than I had anticipates and are easy enough to lug around.
I do have 2 gripes though:
First off, the vinyl covering on the 2x10 wasn't very well stuck down in the port at the bottom, so when shifting some serious air through there, it flapped about and added unwanted fart factor to the sound. So it was Mr Gaffer Tape to the rescue, stuck down firm. Can't see it and more importantly, can't hear it either!
Second gripe. The footswitch, while built like a tank and would probably survive being driven over by one, has stopped working. Still trying to figure out why. I think its either the socket on the f/switch (which was always a very tight fit for the DIN cable) has waggled its way loose, OR its the stupidly dusty garage I rehearse in. Gotta get it on the bench and open 'er up!
Would I recommend it? Yep!! I'm happy as a pig in the proverbial!!
That was my first attempt at a review! Hope you like!
