Sam Barrett

Excellent news. My amp is fixed. On first inspection the fault wasn’t actually showing at their end but on further examination it has shown up and Trace Elliot have traced it to "an intermittent fault on the plate through board of the pre amp module". Hopefully this info might be useful for any techies who look at other 1210s. I'm really pleased with TE - they’ve provided an excellent service at a very reasonable cost.

I've actually had an excellent response from Trace Elliot - I'm really pleased. They're having a look at the amp as soon as I get it to them. I'll update once they've had a look.

Thanks for your quick reply. I'm really sorry to hear how you feel. Like you I invested a lot - musically and financially - in the amp and have always been really pleased with it. In fact, mainly because of band changes etc, the amp hasn't been gigged all that much, which makes it much more "new" than its 2007 vintage suggests, which makes it even more frustrating. I had exactly the same experience as you - fine at a rehearsal, carefully taken home, no lights at the next use (which happened to be a gig). Interestingly, although the input lights had failed by the gig, I was still able to play the night by turning everything up full. Now, however, I can get nothing out at all no matter how loud everything is set. The fact I had a semi-failure first is odd - I guess it implies something was sort of failing one night and has since failed completely. I have no knowledge of electronics at all, but the manual suggests the signal travels from left to right. I don't know if it physically does that in the circuitry, but if I'm reading the manual correctly, the signal is processed from left to right, assuming each component (valve, eq etc) is turned on. The fact the input lights aren't lighting therefore suggests that the problem lies right at the pre-amp/input stage rather than anything to do with, for example, the speaker connections. I really don't know what I'm talking about though to be honest, and I don't know how much help it is even if I'm right. I'm going to do two things - I'm going to draw Trace Elliot's attention to this thread because I don't really think it is good for customers or the company if such an identical fault isn't even on their horizon. I'll ask again if it rings any bells too. Secondly, depending on what they say I'll try to see if I can get it fixed. Unfortunately, when I bought the amp I had a good job, and now I have no job, so fixing it is likely to be out of the question for a while, whatever Trace Elliot say. Unfortunately, although they have a generous three year guarantee, you and I seem to be just outside of it.

I have EXACTLY the same problem with EXACTLY the same amp of EXACTLY the same year. I contacted Trace Elliot and a nice man there said they'd not heard of the problem - slightly surprising perhaps if it is common enough for you and I both to have it, but fair enough. I've done nothing yet as I'm wondering to whom to trust my beloved amp and wondered if you'd had any success with any of the ideas other people have suggested, before I jump in and see if anyone I'm paying can fix it. Thanks.