Trace Elliot - Yay or Nay?

[pbass62]

A Massive Yay,
I owned the 1st AH250 head w 410cab sold in the midwest. Killer solid state punch!
I own and still use a peavey era Trace rig 1210 with 210 cab that is just as good and electronics wise very robust.

 

[rtav]

Not using an AH600 - using an AH500X to power this beast. Input on 4, output never above 2 - it knocks things off the walls in our neighbors practice room and breaks their stuff. It overwhelms a prog metal hard hitting drummer and a guitarist with 2 4 x 12 Marshall cabs and a Mesa Triple Rec.

Yay. BIG. DAMN. YAY.

Link Removed

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

I owned a bunch of their stuff over the years. Series 6 and earlier=pure gold, if you like the mid-scooped Trace sound.

The one Series 7 amp I owned was a nightmare...in and out of the shop constantly. I eventually returned it.

 

[Webtroll]

I had an AH something or another around 15 years ago and it impressed the hell out of me new and when I first started using it. Then I got an SVT. Then I compared them and sold the TE. It had a great initial sound, but it was very sterile compared to the Ampeg. If I had to have a clean tone I'd consider another, but I like a little grind and color, and the TE AH just didn't deliver. Currently I have a couple of Mesa heads, a TC R750, and a rack system that starts with an RBI, and all of these sound better to me than the solid state TEs. Tube TEs are a different story entirely.

 

[caligula]

Whats the story with them?

Never heard anyone talking about them or much discussion about the products they put out.

were they a once famous brand that got left behind or are they an up an coming amp maker?

whats the skinny, talkbass??

Let me google that for you

Trace Elliot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Tom Howland]

Big Ya, Had a V4 Head with a Trace 2x15 cab. Killer.

 

[Mediocrity Man]

F yea!

Used Trace gear back in the 90's and I'm still using it. There's always been a concern about the scooped nature of their heads but that's what the EQ's are for. I can get dirty or clean depending on what I'm after. Can't comment on the current stuff. I guess you can ask Doug Wimbish?

 

[Dragan]

I played them a lot in the past,I guess older heads and cabs were better. Here is a picture of one good stack I had in the studio:

However,recently whenever i had misfortune to play their newer (mostly Combos) I was so dissapointed as there was NO usefull tone - very scooped, just awfull.

 

[Lucky D]

Trace Elliot has been around for quite a while. I don't know the whole history of the company but I remember when I was playing gigs in the late 90's it was one of the must-have rigs. They are still around and owned by Peavey if I'm not mistaken. I don't know why they aren't mentioned much anymore because every time I see a reference it is glowing.

Glowing Green!

 

[Lucky D]

Our guitarist has a 500w combo he leaves in the practice space and he lets me use it so I don't have to bring my rig. I can never really get a tone I like out of it. I am not picky about amps, I can usually find a tone I like on just about anything.

 

[ryandavid303]

I had a GP12 SMX 4x10 combo that I loved, it had great tone and almost too many knobs and sliders to not get the tone you wanted out of it. It was a monster! I ended up getting rid of it, and I regret it - wish I could have kept it around.

 

[Spirit of Ox]

First time I saw Rush, Geddy Lee had a wall of Trace rigs on stage. I think that was the last time he used on stage amps.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

For about 5 years, they were the flavor of the month. I worked at a store that sold them, so I had a chance to thoroughly test-drive some of their rigs (this was... 1989 or thereabouts).

I ended up opting for an SWR rig for a few reasons: The trace rigs were *heavy*, expensive and I didn't want to pay extra for a black-light just to light up the fluorescent green "Trace Elliot" logo. Add to that, I didn't care for how they sounded and found them overpriced. Lots of metal guys I knew at the time *loved* them, but they also loved pointy basses with stripes on them so...

Newer TE gear? No clue. But I just didn't like the whole "dig me" vibe I got from them. Maybe some were good - but I never played one I cared for.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I like them a lot. But, I also like Brussel sprouts.

 

[CrUiSeR]

Better than ANY class D and/or amp made in china, indonesia, taiwan, thailand, korea, vietnam or poland

 

[pingvuiini]

Back when I was starting out I lusted for Trace Elliot rigs with their blacklit glow in the dark look. At that time I couldn't afford anything close to that though. I haven't kept up on them as a company ever since, so its interesting to hear they're still around.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Peavey purchased them and the new ones are made in the US.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

You win the "Best Vehicle For Transporting An 8x10".

 

[boamedt]

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

Better than ANY class D and/or amp made in china, indonesia, taiwan, thailand, korea, vietnam or poland

uh...