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Trace ELF Gig Report

Quadzilla

Quadzilla

Supporting Member
Feb 11, 2002
12,991
14,197
Maryland Burbs (horse-country)
www.thenewromance.com
#1
So I brought the ELF to one of our medium/small shows last night (500 - 700 person room).

I paired her up with a Schroeder 12L cab (4 ohm and just 20 lbs!).

I have to admit that u was a bit concerned before the show that the rig wouldn't be enough...

Good news is that I was wrong. I had my trusty Lakland J.O. with an Audere preamp. I set the EQ on the ELF flat and had the gain and master set at roughly 12:00 (gain) and 11:00 (master) for the majority of the evening.

The amp cuts extremely well. A bit of an aggressive rock tone to it and to my ears, when set flat, there is a slight bump in the low mids as compared to some of my other amps.

The volume is deceiving as at my home, it seemed loud, but I wasn't sure if it was going to be gig-worthy loud. Well, again, it is. It cuts well. I used the DI on the Elf too for the F.O.H. The sound man had no complaints and said the tone was good.

For context, I play in a 5-piece 80's tribute (drums, guitar, bass, keys, etc).

Pic of the rig that I used and a picture from where I was standing on the stage last night (couldn't capture the whole room in the picture, as it's very wide and the is a lot more space on the right too)...
IMG_20180104_184105__01__01.jpg
IMG_20180113_224948.jpg
 
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#3
Downunderwonder said:
More bands should have squiddly little rigs and big FOH playing to 500.
Click to expand...
Most of my rigs (with the exception of one large one) are"medium size" and I also, always send to the FOH and let the PA do the heavy lifting... Plus, we always use a sound man. Many bands that I've heard don't do well mixing from the stage, but to each their own.
 
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#11
bought one of these as a back up......as I had a Minimark3 that got a bit wonky that has since been repaired but of course my confidence is a lil shakey. Saw this, was intrigued by it. small, adorable, plenty of power for a back up.

God I love this little thing. It sounds especially wonderful with a Acoustic BN112........which obviouly makes for a small lightweight compact rig in it's own right.

if anyone plays through FOH alot or most of the time....this is your amp man.
 
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#13
Quadzilla said:
Agreed!
Click to expand...

So I'm thinking about picking up an ELF to use on a Pedal Board. My only gig is ampless / all IEM so what I was thinking about doing was building a pedal board with the ELF at the end of the chain as basically my preamp / di in the live gig and then when at home just sit the pedal board on top of my cab (Avatar TB153) and plug the ELF into the cab as a normal amp, giving me the consistency of same chain live or rehearsal.

What do think of this dual purpose idea? The amp seems small enough to use on a pedal board as a Preamp / DI and plenty powerful enough to use for home rehearsal.

Any thoughts?
 
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#14
jmbjandfam said:
So I'm thinking about picking up an ELF to use on a Pedal Board. My only gig is ampless / all IEM so what I was thinking about doing was building a pedal board with the ELF at the end of the chain as basically my preamp / di in the live gig and then when at home just sit the pedal board on top of my cab (Avatar TB153) and plug the ELF into the cab as a normal amp, giving me the consistency of same chain live or rehearsal.

What do think of this dual purpose idea? The amp seems small enough to use on a pedal board as a Preamp / DI and plenty powerful enough to use for home rehearsal.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Fine plan except amp with fan is less impervious to a jug of beer than pedals.
 
#16
Ok, so I received my ELF and have played with it at home just a bit. I have a couple of questions about it and I thought I would ask on this thread since there seems to be several users here.

First: The manual says the compression is not kicking in until the green light begins to flash red (which to me looks orange). I don't get the color change until the gain is cranked almost all the way up (like well past 3-4 o'clock). Are you guys getting the same and does this mean no compression is being triggered at lower gain levels?

and

Second: Speaking of gain all the way up. When I rotate the gain all the way up (which is supposed to be the overdrive / distortion zone), I get a massive hiss that is different from any normal noise levels I'm used to (even with the volume set to near zero). It's prominent and at a very stable, loud level, almost as if being generated much like when I've heard pink noise? being used to EQ a room, if that's the correct term? Anybody else experience this? Is that normal?

I'm not really wanting to set the gain that high but I was wanting to use the built in compression and to get the orange lights to fire, the gain gets very near that level and if I turn it just a bit too far then the noise appears.

I will say this though. The amp sounds great and is plenty loud. I'm looking forward to figuring this issue out and put it to use.
 
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#17
jmbjandfam said:
Ok, so I received my ELF and have played with it at home just a bit. I have a couple of questions about it and I thought I would ask on this thread since there seems to be several users here.

First: The manual says the compression is not kicking in until the green light begins to flash red (which to me looks orange). I don't get the color change until the gain is cranked almost all the way up (like well past 3-4 o'clock). Are you guys getting the same and does this mean no compression is being triggered at lower gain levels?

and

Second: Speaking of gain all the way up. When I rotate the gain all the way up (which is supposed to be the overdrive / distortion zone), I get a massive hiss that is different from any normal noise levels I'm used to (even with the volume set to near zero). It's prominent and at a very stable, loud level, almost as if being generated much like when I've heard pink noise? being used to EQ a room, if that's the correct term? Anybody else experience this? Is that normal?

I'm not really wanting to set the gain that high but I was wanting to use the built in compression and to get the orange lights to fire, the gain gets very near that level and if I turn it just a bit too far then the noise appears.

I will say this though. The amp sounds great and is plenty loud. I'm looking forward to figuring this issue out and put it to use.
Click to expand...
I don't recall any hiss with mine but I'll check it tonight. As for the level of gain, to me at least, it doesn't really matter that you have to crank the gain way up before it starts to compress.
 
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#18
jmbjandfam said:
Ok, so I received my ELF and have played with it at home just a bit. I have a couple of questions about it and I thought I would ask on this thread since there seems to be several users here.

First: The manual says the compression is not kicking in until the green light begins to flash red (which to me looks orange). I don't get the color change until the gain is cranked almost all the way up (like well past 3-4 o'clock). Are you guys getting the same and does this mean no compression is being triggered at lower gain levels?

and

Second: Speaking of gain all the way up. When I rotate the gain all the way up (which is supposed to be the overdrive / distortion zone), I get a massive hiss that is different from any normal noise levels I'm used to (even with the volume set to near zero). It's prominent and at a very stable, loud level, almost as if being generated much like when I've heard pink noise? being used to EQ a room, if that's the correct term? Anybody else experience this? Is that normal?

I'm not really wanting to set the gain that high but I was wanting to use the built in compression and to get the orange lights to fire, the gain gets very near that level and if I turn it just a bit too far then the noise appears.

I will say this though. The amp sounds great and is plenty loud. I'm looking forward to figuring this issue out and put it to use.
Click to expand...

Speaking about compression - it's not a usual abjusting compression effect that pedal does. It's auto-compressor limiter, that provided just for safety of your speakers. So basicaly you can use that feature if you...let's say...if you boost your signal with a 20~40Db booster, cranck the gain all the way up and crank up the volume. Auto-limiter should detect this and kick up. That thing actually does it's job with a pedalboards and other knob-tweaky stuff.
 
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#19
I think the limiting is kicking in any time the pre amp light comes on at all. I think the orange and red indicate that clipping is happening.
Also a question: anyone tried the T.E. cabs? Both the 2×8 and the 1×10? I have the 2×8 and it is great, but never seen the 1×10. Internet shows T.E. demoing the two together as a pair never as two 2×8, or two 1×10.
 
#20
Andrew Hargrove said:
I think the limiting is kicking in any time the pre amp light comes on at all. I think the orange and red indicate that clipping is happening.
Also a question: anyone tried the T.E. cabs? Both the 2×8 and the 1×10? I have the 2×8 and it is great, but never seen the 1×10. Internet shows T.E. demoing the two together as a pair never as two 2×8, or two 1×10.
Click to expand...
.....because you wants 8's for highs and a 10 for the bottom end...ba dum tchch

It's a marketing photo.
 

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