Trace Elliot - Yay or Nay?

[Downunderwonder]

Thanks for the answers guys!

heavy, mean, loud, bitchin amps is what i take away from this thread

Hopefully peavey can re-release the line with a few lightweight options, all while maintaining this apparent anger they have. Thanks a million fellas.

My smx 250 is an armstretching 30lb in its case.

 

[DaveAceofBass]

Ashdown was started by the guys who started Trace Elliot. That's the update of the old stuff.

 

[BlushResponse]

Still rocking a GP7SM BLX 130 in the house and for small gigs, and the GP12 SMX 2x10 combo with a 2x10 extension cab for band practice and real gigs. Huge sound! Before I had my current equipment, I rocked a Series 6 GP7 2x10 combo for about 15 years before selling it.
The old stuff before Peavey bought them is what most of us have been talking about. You can still find plenty of that stuff cheap on eBay or CL. My current combo, I found for less than $300 on CL.

 

[sonic 7]

Although I've not played them , the Ashdown Mark King/ JJB amps most closely resemble Trace Elliot gear.The new retroglide looks like something Trace would produce now. The ABM series however, sound nothing like anything ever produced by trace elliot , Ive got both , totally different.

 

[bassguppy]

Not sure if these are good prices but on Reverb.com they have a few Peavey era Trace cabs for what seems like really good pricing. A TE 810 for 460.00 with free shipping. Also a 215 for 289.00. I think they're returns.

Just passing along what I've seen.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

It was British Racing Green—on acid!

It might have been green due to the prominence of BRG in the national pysche, but it wouldn't have stood out on the amps. The carpet covering on mine was BRG and there was BRG tolex all over the retro styled lines.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

At one time Gibson owned or distributed for them. Some of the main guys started Ashdown amps. I owned a 4 by 10 combo which I purchased in the early 90's through Bass Centre Los Angeles. I loved that amp, but man it was heavy as hell. I had a hand truck that I use to lug it around and the wheel broke because it was such a heavy amp. It sounded great though. It also had the tuned ports (Removal port covers).

I had a problem with a used Ashdown amp, emailed them, and Mark Gooday mailed back. That's service. I hadn't realised it was him until I checked out the Trace wikipedia page and I recognised the name from the email.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Trace Elliot was my dream rig when I was first starting out around '83. I remember a local music store had an AH250 and 410 cab in a glass case to separate it from all the peasant bass gear! LOL Total Wayne's World. I think there was a Strata (pre-Status) headless bass in the case as well.

Wasn't Status the OEM for the short-lived Trace Elliot branded series of jazz basses?

 

[-Asdfgh-]

I had an AH350smx (I think that was what it was called anyways back in the day and it was awesome. I have one of the new ones now, and also really like it. Super punchy and lots of tonal options. Trace amps always color the sound a bit. Some people don't like that, but I think they sound great.....however I am a sucker for the late 80's and 90's music.....and the Trace sound was the one that I really dug on back then.

The coloration isn't too in that you can get something acceptable with EQ. A friend's band's PA amp wasn't working so at a smaller acoustic folk gig we ran the PA off my 300W TE head and used my back up combo for the bass reproduction successfully. It was good enough for folk-rock anyway.

 

[Dragan]

Forget the stack, tell me more about that bass

The bass is custom buildt,I ordered it from a luthier. It was my tribute to Paul Jackson's bass "Geraldine" which was modified telecaster bass. Ash slab body (one piece), bartolini,big chunky neck... funny thing was - my luthier got one telebass at his shop for repair at the time,so he could get instant measures for my bass!
Unfortunatelly,the bass didn't last, as I wasn't satisfied with the result in terms of playability and construction so I sold it several months after.
It sounded very good in studio tho and here is a 2 tracks I recorded with it:

 

[tomydacat]

Anyone using a AH600? - interested in hearing some peoples thoughts about it.

I owned one and it Rocks and is loud and very warm great bass head

 

[Versatek6]

I still have my 715X combo (Peavey era) at home. I played through it regularly for a few years, with never a complaint about how it sounded or performed. My only gripe was the 86 pounds I had to lift every time I wanted to move it. My guitar amps are Trace, also - a C30 Speed Twin and a Velocette. Now I'm on a GK MB200 w/two 1x12 neo cabinets.

If I were playing someplace that needed 'more me,' I'd try pairing one of the GK 1x12 with the 715X. If I could find an inexpensive 1518 or 1028 cabinet to mate with it, that would be fun!

 

[BassCloneBrian]

Loved them back in the day. Had two 2x10s and the small 15" and would use one, two or all 3 cabs depending upon the gig. Speakers made with Kevlar!! I still see some of the old ones pop up here and there but they are usually in pretty bad shape. Haven't heard the newer ones, although I think Doug Wimbush is still using them - saw a clinic with him back in the 90's and that sold me.

 

[physics]

Ha, ha Onyx. Yeah, I have to restrain myself on the power amp's gain control, lest my neighbors think that the Hayward fault nearby is slipping.

 

[physics]

As a former MGB owner (yes, it was BRG), I don't buy this. The green on those Trace amps was bright, safety green, not BRG. Guys I knew thought it was really cool that there was a black-light in the front of their higher-end heads to light-up the display in the dark... seemed like one more way to make the thing heavy, to me... But I'll tell you, if I liked how they sounded, I would not have cared. But I didn't so... I went with SWR.

Former MGB owner here: 1967 with wire wheels, red exterior and black interior. I also had a 1969 MK IV Austin Healey Sprite, BRG with black interior. I think I spent more time under the hoods(bonnets?) of those cars than in the driver's seats, but they were tons of fun.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

Former MGB owner here: 1967 with wire wheels, red exterior and black interior. I also had a 1969 MK IV Austin Healey Sprite, BRG with black interior. I think I spent more time under the hoods(bonnets?) of those cars than in the driver's seats, but they were tons of fun.

Dashpots & brake cylinders. What a nightmare - but so much fun.
I'm on my 4th Miata now - so that "little car-ragtop" thing bit me hard with my '72 B. Yes, I have a pickup truck for gigs - but I have done small gigs with a cab in the front seat of the Miata!

 

[MegaSwing]

Former MGB owner here: 1967 with wire wheels, red exterior and black interior. I also had a 1969 MK IV Austin Healey Sprite, BRG with black interior. I think I spent more time under the hoods(bonnets?) of those cars than in the driver's seats, but they were tons of fun.

Never owned one, but to this day driving an early-70s MGB was the most fun I ever had behind the wheel of an automobile—maybe, at least partly, because the one I drove liked to cut off whenever the exhilaration of driving it needed some extra spice. When it ran, it was quick, sure-footed, and solid, but I could never trust them after that. They were great-looking, too.

 

[physics]

Never owned one, but to this day driving an early-70s MGB was the most fun I ever had behind the wheel of an automobile—maybe, at least partly, because the one I drove liked to cut off whenever the exhilaration of driving it needed some extra spice. When it ran, it was quick, sure-footed, and solid, but I could never trust them after that. They were great-looking, too.

That's right, they were fun to drive - when they ran. Dealing with the Lucas electrics and SU sidedraft carbs was an "interesting" experience. I finally had to realize that my MG and Austin Healy were going to run how they felt like running, despite whatever efforts I might make to keep them in tune or repair.

My Austin Healey would also mysteriously cut off for no apparent reason. I wound up rebuilding the engine on that thing but it really didn't seem to make much difference in the reliability. My last sports car was a Porsche, very fast with great handling and very reliable but not as much fun to drive as the two British cars. The car I lusted after all of my life was a 427 Shelby AC Cobra, never had the cash for that little gem.

 

[Downunderwonder]

I have driven quite a few high performance cars but nothing spins my wheels quite like my Trace.

 

[delta7fred]

Never owned one, but to this day driving an early-70s MGB was the most fun I ever had behind the wheel of an automobile—maybe, at least partly, because the one I drove liked to cut off whenever the exhilaration of driving it needed some extra spice. When it ran, it was quick, sure-footed, and solid, but I could never trust them after that. They were great-looking, too.

I've got to admit that I have never driven a B but enjoyed a few Midgets and a couple of MGCs. Midgets are like a skateboard with 13" wheels (and tons of fun, getting out is the difficult bit), the Cs always seemed a bit numb to me, not surprising considering that they had a lorry (truck) engine.