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Trace Elliot Quatra valve head????

T

Tim1

Sep 9, 2005
4,531
3,750
New Zealand
#1
I have the opportunity to buy a Trace Elliot Quatra head for what may be a very reasonable price. I know that it is a 200watt all tube head with a very clean sound, and that it may be fixed bias like Mesa(not sure on that). I will not be able to hear it before purchase so I would welcome any feedback from you guys.
My main amp is a Mesa 400+ so I would be keen to know if the Trace sounds similar or very different. There does not seem to be much point in buying it if the Mesa covers the same sound. I am familiar with the traditional Trace Elliot sound from their transistor amps but not their tube amps.
Any opinions and experiences would be welcome. Thanks guys.
 
#2
The Quatra Valve is a truly great head, IMHO. It will have some similarity to your 400+, but will not get as overdriven as the Boogie. I would give the Quatra Valve the nod for a killer "full yet articulate" clean tone (and IME/IMHO the 400+ is no slouch in this regard). The midrange complexity is a bit different, and again, my personal tastes favor the Trace slightly.

But, it's not like the Quatra Valve is going to be night and day better than the 400+. Again, I have a lot of love for the 400/400+ as well, and I think it's just a matter of personal preference. I could definitely see many people preferring the Boogie.

Tom.
 
#3
The Quatra is a great head but it isn't "all tube". It's a SS pre with tubes in it plus a tube output.

This makes it kind of unique....are really neat blend with that graphic eq combined with the depth and warmth of the tube output.

I love this amp because of this. But, it doesn't do the SVT overdrive/grit thing because of the pre.
 
#5
i picked my quatra up for 40 british pounds and i love it. it's never let me down {unlike my svt2!} and has a wicked sound. you won't be disapointed in buying it:->. it's really easy to get a nice mix friendly sound out of too!
 
#12
if u think geddy will give up his gear selection and sound uh no wayyyyy...... if you like the trace sound go for it...if u need something different then look for that sound. geddy uses a sans amp rbi plus many basses and amps to get all of his sounds, so trying to duplicate his tone is a waste of time. the easiest tone to reproduce is from moving pictures!!
does any body know he used an ashley bp41 in the 8
 
#14
To be completely truthful...if you look at the BP article on Geddy Lee it shows his rack setup...and I quote, "two Trace Elliot Quatra Valve VR power amps". Not the Quatra Valve head...two power amps. He does use his SansAmp pre and Avalon U5 DI as a pre too. The tech says part of his "real" sound comes from the Palmer PDI-05 speaker simulator.

So to clarify...Quatra Valve VR power amps for Geddy...not the head.
 
#15
To be completely truthful...if you look at the BP article on Geddy Lee it shows his rack setup...and I quote, "two Trace Elliot Quatra Valve VR power amps". Not the Quatra Valve head...two power amps. He does use his SansAmp pre and Avalon U5 DI as a pre too. The tech says part of his "real" sound comes from the Palmer PDI-05 speaker simulator.

So to clarify...Quatra Valve VR power amps for Geddy...not the head.
Click to expand...

Whoops! My mistake, I figured they were the same thing. Either way, it's good stuff.
 
#17
tombowlus said:
Technically, I think that would be either a VR350 or VR400.
Click to expand...
At first I thought it was just a typo. but if you watch the "Geddy Lee / Tech: Russ Ryan" interview on bassplayer.tv (you'll have to watch closely) you'll see not-so-clearly the labelled QuatraValve, silver logo, with no preamp section whatsoever, only vents. Must be a QuatraValve VR! Note that the QVs each drive one of the original Palmer speaker simulators which act as a dummy load.

PS - This is not in any of the catalogs from that period that I have.
 
#18
oddio said:
At first I thought it was just a typo. but if you watch the "Geddy Lee / Tech: Russ Ryan" interview on bassplayer.tv (you'll have to watch closely) you'll see not-so-clearly the labelled QuatraValve, silver logo, with no preamp section whatsoever, only vents. Must be a QuatraValve VR! Note that the QVs each drive one of the original Palmer speaker simulators which act as a dummy load.

PS - This is not in any of the catalogs from that period that I have.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I wonder if Geddy had these custom made at some point?

Tom.
 
#20
@Oddio & Tom,


I saw the same thing in BP magazine about those Trace pwr amps Geddy uses. I never saw one & wondered if they're "made up" fakes with something else inside(doubtful, but you never know) or possibly some one off customs that Trace experimented with & never released to the public?

~S~
 

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