Trace Elliot, then and now.

[vbchaos]

Hello all. Michael Smith here from Trace Elliot/Peavey. I'm curious about your experiences with Trace Elliot gear all through the years. What did you like about the old stuff that's missing from the new? Thank you!

With my very first bass my parents purchased a Trace Elliot Boxer 10 to go along with the bass. Nice little Combo, the 30watts were plenty loud. We are talking about the year 1997 (I guess) and Trace Elliot had a top-of-the-league reputation.
I went on with a head/cab setup but wasn't able to buy TE gear, so I went with the rip-off, a Laney DP150. After a year waiting, I got my hands on the original, a Trace Elliot GP11 MK5 with 150 Watts power amp. Now that thing was killer! It was ripped off a 410 combo, so the head HAD to be mounted into a case (it was a front and a back connected with a wire) but I was happy with this thing for very long. Good fat tone. Trace Elliot was still expensive in that time but they already disappeared from most guitar shops - Ashdown had taken their place at most shops. The second hand market tried to make money with "vintage" trace elliot products, but eventually the prices dropped.

The GP11 MK5 head was built like a tank and I enjoyed it many years, until I went the fEARful road and was in need of more clean power. I used the amp as a preamp with a more powerful poweramp a couple of month before I accidentially ruined the head - I had it removed from the case and when I put it back in, it managed to turn the wire connector. When I switched on the head I heard a PLOPP and nothing else. Afterwards the head was working but was doing PLOPs and loud noise through the signal. I guess I blew some at least one OP amp in the pre-amp. I tried to repair the head but eventually took it to the trash can. The preamp can be bought for 50€ used in case I would want it back.

I am still after a V-type preamp. Goooooooood please resurrect this 1unit rack preamp from the dead. They are hard to find and unbelievable expensive

 

[tombowlus]

Nice to see this thread and to see folks at Peavey who are A.) interested in the Trace Elliot brand and B.) willing to hear us out!

I have owned (and still do own) a good bit of older TE gear. Several things stand out. The ability to get a meaty tone, but with great cut and clarity. The ability to have a solid midrange, without the expense of low end depth/fullness. Great dynamic power. Great tone when set "flat," and then use the EQ for room adjustment. The ability to tweak the character by varying the input gain and master volume. I could go on...

What is impressive about the TE gear over the years is that there are multiple, rather distinct, product lines, and they all excel. The Valve series tube heads are quite different from the V4/6/8, but they are all great. The VA tube amps and VA heads are kind of their own thing, as well. The varying lines of hybrid heads/combos are perhaps a bit more similar to each other than the tube lines, but still offer different ways to skin the cat. My V8 and VA400 are two of my all-time favorites among the many, many heads I have owned.

I am quite fond of the latest iteration of TE gear, as well. When we reviewed the 1210 combo, I was very impressed with the rig, and I thought it compared favorably to my AH1200SM head. The only thing "wrong" with the current TE gear lineup is, as has been pointed out, the lack of a lightweight head/combo option. Well, that, and the lack of an all-tube option.

Seriously, though, it seems like there is a counter-current surge of interest in all-tube heads riding along with the influx of class-D/SMPS heads. I would love to see TE offer both a lightweight power option and a new all-tube design.

That all being said, I would love to just see Peavey team up Bobby Baldwin and Paul Stevens, and let them roll.

 

[phillybass101]

I have a TE GPSM7 300 I got used over 11 years ago and it's still kicking and sounds awesome. I'm on the bandwagon of small and light great sounding gear and I'm now with Tecamp. The TE is tank and seems indestructible. I now use it as my practice head at home and will never get rid of it. And it seems louder than a 280 watt head. 280 British Watts. As far as the new TE stuff goes I have not heard anything good from my bass playing Peers.

 

[Schlyder]

I own three GP12smx heads. I even bought one with a dead power section and had it converted to preamp only.
I have them for a reason. It is the best bass amp ever made.

Make the GP12smx again. Make it with the very best quality components.

I tried the AH600-12. It was an attempt at copying the GP12smx that just did not measure up to the original. I did not like it.
I did not like the dual band compressor in the new 12 band line. I thought it made too much noise....too breathy, and too hissy.
I did not like the tube drive section. There was no smoothness between SS and full tube drive. It just didn't blend very well.
It had the power, but did not give that Trace Elliot sound that the old ones have.
I did not like the EQ sliders. They seemed to be very fragile looking... and looked too big and gawdy .
I did not like all the detentes (the clickiness) of the gain and output knobs. These should feel smooth through the sweep.

Again, I feel that the new line was a poor copy of the GP12smx line, and I was very disappointed with the AH600-12 when I tested it.

Make the old GP12smx line again. Use the old circuit design but with modern, even better quality components..... not cheaper components.
Maybe also develop a class D version of the GP12smx to attract that market demographic.
And make them indestructible.

 

[Downunderwonder]

So much green. So purty!

 

[Mediocrity Man]

I don't what's happening with TE now but here's my current rig that mimics what I was using back in the 90's. I missed it so much I had to get it back. The AH250-GP11 came from South Jersey and the 1518 from Seattle. Might just add another cabinet soon. This gives me my tone and that's all there is to it.

 

[Omega Monkey]

I think Trace going forward really needs to look at what made them so popular for so long back in the 80s and 90s, what caused their decline since then.

Some of the things I like about Trace, I've always liked that fat, punchy, high quality SS sound that was beginning in the 70s, but was really predominant in the 80s (Trace, SWR, GK, etc...). Tony Levin on a MusicMan through a Trace stack, it's hard to beat that.

I have a matching pair of cabs from around 1990 (racing stripe). A 1518 and a wedge 2x10. The 2x10 (I still have no idea what the model number is since the tag is worn off and it's a pretty unusual one that I haven't really seen anywhere else) has a pretty distinctive sound and is cool, but the 1518 just sounds AMAZING. Granted, it's a giant 80 pound cab, but that Fane 15 is about the most musical bass speaker I've ever heard. Basically it IS that T-Lev sound. Unfortunately mine has a very tiny tear in the surround that I need to try to fix, which happened soon after I got it (both cabs for $300!), or maybe before I got it and I just didn't notice right away. And it's got that extra wide mounting ring so other 15s don't really fit without extra hardware. Honestly when I bought it I figured I'd just beat on the 15 until it died and replace it with something like an EV 15B Pro (which I already had). But now I just want to get the Fane going again.

I also have the head out of a 1210 combo (also sadly out of commission after a fall which took out some circuit which I haven't had replaced yet). I don't get the badmouthing of the modern Trace stuff. It kicks plenty of ass. The sound is probably a bit different than the old stuff, but it's got a lot of similarities as well. Having a tube pre with switchable overdrive, 12 band EQ, dual band comp (which is really cool), and a very full featured I/O on the backend (stereo fx loop, etc...) is awesome. A variable crossover would be better though. I was really disappointed to find out it's the GK style split with the highs being just tweeter frequencies on up. I tried to run it crossed over with my SWR head, and got next to no signal since I didn't have any cabs with tweeters anyway. And call it an "AH-600 12" when it's rated at 500w is a little weird. Either call it a 500, or engineer the wattage up to 600 (RMS).

It's a little pricey ($1500 almost, if you can even find a dealer), and a little heavy (30 pounds for just the head from a combo with no case). But teh things got a massive toroidal transformer in it, and a bunch of other high quality features and parts. I hope Trace won't go JUST to class D, but it might be a good idea to add one to the range. I think the model lineup should be planned strategically. Hit a few key market segments where Trace presence makes sense, and cut down on model redundancy.

I think an amp lineup like this would be great:

250-350w class D compact lightweight head. Could be full SS or hybrid. Maybe 7 band EQ to keep size and weight down. Maybe a single band comp with a similar voicing as the dual band. This would be the beginner model.

Similar but in 500-600w. Maybe with a 12 band. Tube pre/OD. Dual band comp.

120-200w tube head. I don't really know much about the Trace tube amps, but it should be 2 channel and sound killer. Otherwise pretty simple for this model.

300-400w tube head. Flagship tube amp with all the bells and whistles

Basically the current AH-600 12.

Basically the current AH-1000 12

6 amps. Very streamlined lineup. Maybe 210 and 15 combo versions of the 250w class D head. The current 12 band heads are just too damn heavy to be in a heavy combo with conventional speakers.

Cabs, I'd say 4x10, 2x10, 1x15, 2x15. I don't know if you really need more than that. Everything priced as reasonably as possible but still made somewhere where people give a damn (preferably US or back to UK). 12 products (for bass, I'll leave the acoustic and electric guitar side of things out of it for now). That should be pretty manageable. Don't fenderize yourselves to death with 18 zillion variations on everything. Get some advertising going again and FFS, get in some damn stores! If people see Trace in stores and try it, they WILL buy it. It sells itself but it needs to be in somebody's face.

 

[4DGeorge]

I have to concur with many of the previous sentiments: Trace Elliot gear is fantastic!
When getting back into playing again recently, after hanging it up 16 years ago, I searched long and hard specifically for a Trace Elliot rig.
Why? Because I knew I loved the sound and quality way back then and I could count on it holding its own and handling the load.
I'm sure there are other newer brands out there that could meet or even possibly exceed what I wanted to hear, but the time and hassle of searching them out and not knowing the longevity of those newer ones, made the decision VERY easy: Find a Trace Elliot!
Did that.
Loving it!

Trace Elliot 7210H w\ 15 Extension Cabinet
2004 Warmoth Gecko 5-string (formerly belonging to 1st. Sgt. Aaron Jagger. May he rest in peace.)
2005 Fender Deluxe Jazz 5-string (MIK)

 

[BlushResponse]

Over 20 years ago I happened onto a small club show in Seattle with Mick Karn, Dale Bozzio, etc. Mick was playing through a Series 6 2x10 combo amp. I was playing through a variety of Carvin amps and cabs and Peavy rackmount preamps at the time. When I got back home, I dumped all of them and got myself a Series 6 2x10 combo and played with it (and a trace 1x15 cab) for the next 20 years. I sold it recently last year, but currently have a BLX130sm and a GP12 SMX 250 watt head that I use to run various Trace cabs. One of my 1x15 cabs is a Gibson era cab. The rest of my cabs are pre-Gibson.
The SMX dual compression is amazing, as is the valve/solid state preamp.
I liked how the Series 6 had almost all the connections facing the front; where they belong.
The amps have been utterly bulletproof. The cabs are heavy and solid, which I feel, adds to a good tone.

I like that Peavy has pretty much retained most of the Trace sound, though aesthetically, the cabs and amps look like toys, compared to the old line. A face lift would do wonders.

 

[Downunderwonder]

I 2nd the toy comment ^.

 

[Altitude]

Now, I wouldn't ever own Trace Elliot. I have tried to capture lightning in a bottle and bought some older 1980's AH350's, AH500's and so on. They were all way too tired. They hissed, and just were no good. I understood what "dated tone" meant. I have always thought good tone is good tone and good tone is timeless. As far as old Level 42 goes, yes, it will ALWAYS sound good. But, for me, the honeymoon is over and I've moved on.

There may be no bigger Mark King and Level 42 fan than I am. I also came up in the 80s and early 90s trying to match that tone. As much as I love it, that kind of shimmery, punchy bass tone is not where it's at in music right now. People, in large mass, have gravitated back to an SVT-inspired tone. I rebelled against it in my mind for years, but I've finally started to develop an uncolored set of thoughts about how to use that kind of tone to advantage.

Even the 4 pound GK head I use now has 3 tubes in the preamp stage; it has a really sweet dirty tone when I want it. I'd think that in order to be as viable in the market as possible, Trace would want to draw upon its tube amp lineage as much as its solid state AHXXX lineage - even though it's not exactly what I dig the most, personally.

Like many have said, years and years went by when I would walk into a club, see a glowing green Trace stack set up on the stage, and know I was going to hear a guy who took his s**t seriously. And, given the right opportunity, I would probably buy an old Status or Jaydee bass, just to hang on the wall and appreciate, even if it did not have a place in my gigging situation. Unfortunately that feels more like nostalgia than strategy to me now.

 

[disssa]

I was never a big fan of the SS-Trace Elliots but I love the sound of the Trace Elliots Tube-Amps like the V-Types, the VAs and the Valve-series.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

That imo one of the best Bass-amps, I ever played. And I own/owned a lot of amps...

 

[calypsocoral302]

Just a quick point to you guys hating on the lightweight amp trend-- it is entirely-possible to have a switching power supply in a Class AB amplifier, you know.

I'm watching this thread because I have always admired Trace. I love the color Green and many of my favorite bassists have used them throughout the years. I'm one day hoping to score a TE 1200W head and 8×10 cab with Neodymium Celestions as a kick-butt 5-string rig...

 

[Clark Dark]

It would be nice if the OP chimed in every now and then. I'm curious to how much Peavey is into reviving the Trace line even if they just accurately copied all the vintage stuff that all the positive compliments are linked to. "If it ain't broke don't fix it" certainly fits what the owners/players are ALL saying.
...all hail the MP-11, the SS "little" (yeah, I know, heh heh heh) brother to all those valve heads Trace is notorious for.

 

[gwangi]

Not trying to sound stupid but since Peavey is selling off everything are they still dealing with Trace Elliot because I tried contacting somebody at Peavey to enquire about Trace Products and dealers here in the U.S. and nobody calls back or emails back.

 

[Clark Dark]

Not trying to sound stupid but since Peavey is selling off everything are they still dealing with Trace Elliot because I tried contacting somebody at Peavey to enquire about Trace Products and dealers here in the U.S. and nobody calls back or emails back.

Well the OP started this thread 2 weeks ago ???!!!??? on 04/22/2015 and if he's representing Peavey maybe there's something going on in the backrooms. It would be nice if he chimed in.

 

[gwangi]

Well the OP started this thread 2 weeks ago ???!!!??? on 04/22/2015 and if he's representing Peavey maybe there's something going on in the backrooms. It would be nice if he chimed in.

+1

 

[Altitude]

At this point, who knows if the OP actually works for Peavey or was just a guy with an interesting idea for a thread here. If we don't hear from him directly, let's assume the latter.

 

[Versatek6]

At this point, who knows if the OP actually works for Peavey or was just a guy with an interesting idea for a thread here. If we don't hear from him directly, let's assume the latter.

I know that he does. I have received help from Michael when I needed assistance with my 715x.

And you know what happens when you assume...

 

[Clark Dark]

I hope Michael is listening and that there are some people listening to him. As a for instance, Mark Gooday left then sold Trace Elliot to an "American" company. He then formed Ashdown engineering. If you search this forum for all the Ashdown threads vs. all the Trace threads you will find on the Ashdown side complaints about noisy fans, popping fuses, and a whole litany of dissatisfaction that you don't see in the Trace Elliot threads. "IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT". I would rather see Trace come back as they once were. Every mosfet, every valve, every attention to detail that made them one of the best if not 'the' best bass amps ever, than to see them watered down into something akin to Behringer or some other bargain line. I wonder if Hartley is listening.