Trace Elliot ELF

[Microbass]

View attachment 3228422 My wife was decorating for Christmas and I figured this was a good time to put out my new backup amp. Sadly, she didn’t understand the joke.

This is amazing.
———
My other band rehearsed in a rented space last night that had an Ashdown 4x10 + RM500. The 4x10 is 8ohm so I AB’d the heads. I was impressed with the RM’s tone but assuming ~250W vs ~125W the Elf was more useable and confirmed my beliefs that Ashdowns cabs are still disgracefully inefficient. It really boggles my mind that TE engineers created Ashdown in TE’s shadow to make such poor gear.

 

[Zbysek]

My wife was decorating for Christmas and I figured this was a good time to put out my new backup amp. Sadly, she didn’t understand the joke.

I always promise to myself not try to be funy in front of my significant other...

 

[Red Planet]

I always promise to myself not try to be funy in front of my significant other...

Yes my wife is not particularly fond of my sense of humor

 

[jim nolte]

View attachment 3228422 My wife was decorating for Christmas and I figured this was a good time to put out my new backup amp. Sadly, she didn’t understand the joke.

You need to get a little elf figurine and have him sit on the corner of the amp,she will then understand

 

[Zbysek]

Yes my wife is not particularly fond of my sense of humor

Same here!

 

[Uche_bass]

Today at rehearsal I realized this little can replace my pedals... Goodbye carrying a backpack, anytime soon it'll be elf in the gigbag, cab in one hand, and off to shake foundations! (I just noticed that when in overdrive mode, a little volume tweaking on the bass can clean up the sound enough to play soft, slow ballads, or give it a nice grit. And that with my current cab, if I go anywhere beyond 5 on the master volume I risk breaking some window. I'm more surprised every day with this thing)

 

[Microbass]

Today at rehearsal I realized this little can replace my pedals... Goodbye carrying a backpack, anytime soon it'll be elf in the gigbag, cab in one hand, and off to shake foundations! (I just noticed that when in overdrive mode, a little volume tweaking on the bass can clean up the sound enough to play soft, slow ballads, or give it a nice grit. And that with my current cab, if I go anywhere beyond 5 on the master volume I risk breaking some window. I'm more surprised every day with this thing)

I seem to get a LOT of hiss on my Elf when I reach 3pm on the gain... could be my pedals doing I guess tho. Is yours noisy?

 

[Zbysek]

I seem to get a LOT of hiss on my Elf when I reach 3pm on the gain... could be my pedals doing I guess tho. Is yours noisy?

No, it's not. I have never set my gain past noon though...

 

[Microbass]

No, it's not. I have never set my gain past noon though...

The gain is fine until I reach 3pm, no noise whatsoever. Admittedly 1pm is about as high as I’ve needed to go. It’s as if I’ve activated a drive channel with high presence.

 

[Zbysek]

The gain is fine until I reach 3pm, no noise whatsoever. Admittedly 1pm is about as high as I’ve needed to go. It’s as if I’ve activated a drive channel with high presence.

This is what the manual says as regards the gain knob:
"There are three regions of operation of the control, which can be visually confirmed by the activity of the signal LED": 1. no compression, 2. compression, 3. distortion/overdrive.

http://traceelliot.com/resources/te-elf-om.pdf

I usually try to stay within the first region...

 

[JGbassman]

Pedals will introduce hiss into a system for sure. Try unplugging your pedals and running direct into the elf to see if the problem continues.

 

[Uche_bass]

I seem to get a LOT of hiss on my Elf when I reach 3pm on the gain... could be my pedals doing I guess tho. Is yours noisy?

I get a little bit of hiss when I have the gain in max and use pedals in between. It's not a lot, but maybe it's too much for some. Since I plugged direct in I'm having no unwanted noise whatsoever

 

[Yogi Bear]

I've owned this setup now for a little over a month. I had the opportunity to use this rig for rehearsals, using only one cab, and one gig using both... I am seriously impressed

With the TH500, these little cabs really perform. Thick and very punchy lows with very clear and defined highs - not harsh at all as you sometimes get with tweets. I had my concerns with these only being 8" driver, but boy do the faitals perform!

 

[QRanc]

This is what the manual says as regards the gain knob:
"There are three regions of operation of the control, which can be visually confirmed by the activity of the signal LED": 1. no compression, 2. compression, 3. distortion/overdrive.

http://traceelliot.com/resources/te-elf-om.pdf

I usually try to stay within the first region...

According to the manual, I never get compression, regardless of the position of the gain knob. I need to have the gain at 3pm then absolutely slam the front end with a high gain pedal before the red light comes on. Otherwise all I ever have is green. If I turn it all the way up, I do get OD with the red light constantly on. But mine doesn't seem to behave as it's supposed to compression-wise.

 

[QRanc]

Also, I currently only have one 110, with the second on order. And I don't think I'm going to be able to comprehend the amount of sound coming from both cabs. Just one is seriously impressive. I haven't used it in a band setting yet, but I will on Wednesday, and I can't wait.

 

[lmfreeman9]

Tried to lighten up and just bought and received the Elf 1x10 which I paired with a GK MB500
Sounds great and is incredibly loud.
I now own a 20 lb rig which can
do rehearsals and small gigs.

 

[JGbassman]

Also, I currently only have one 110, with the second on order. And I don't think I'm going to be able to comprehend the amount of sound coming from both cabs. Just one is seriously impressive. I haven't used it in a band setting yet, but I will on Wednesday, and I can't wait.

I have two of the 110 cabs, and they are plenty loud with most small club gigs. I've been very impressed with their performance so far.

 

[jeff7bass]

I've owned this setup now for a little over a month. I had the opportunity to use this rig for rehearsals, using only one cab, and one gig using both... I am seriously impressed

With the TH500, these little cabs really perform. Thick and very punchy lows with very clear and defined highs - not harsh at all as you sometimes get with tweets. I had my concerns with these only being 8" driver, but boy do the faitals perform!

View attachment 3230466

That's awesome. Saw that cab at GC today and was thinking what a pair would like like stacked vertically with a powerful head on top. The also had the brand new Peavey 2x8 combo, which looked cool also.

 

[BeRad]

I'm going to get an Elf but now I can not decide between the 2x8 or 1x10 cab to pair with it. I'm just jamming with some friends and playing very small gigs (25 people ish). Which would everyone prefer?

I am playing a Warwick Streamer P Bass as well

 

[nightchef]

I'm going to get an Elf but now I can not decide between the 2x8 or 1x10 cab to pair with it. I'm just jamming with some friends and playing very small gigs (25 people ish). Which would everyone prefer?

On the one hand, getting a 1 x 10 would allow you to then add a second 1 x 10 for only a little more total $ than a single 2 x 8, and significantly more power handling (2 x 300 vs. 1 x 400).

OTOH, the single 2 x 8 will give you more volume and power handling than the single 1 x 10. And I can testify from trying one out at GC that the 2 x 8 sounds stunning. (Of course the 1 x 10 may sound just as good, for all I know -- they didn't have one of those on the floor.) The 2 x 8 also just looks really cool, I think. The 1 x 10 looks more generic.