VTypeV4

Not entirely sure but it's at least four different models (not including variations ie different covering) that I'm aware of. In reverse order as I know it.. The current model 2005 onwards. 1028H: Pimple finish, Celestion speakers plus HF component, 400w. Vented enclosure witth slot port along the bottom. The previous model up to about 2001, 2103H: Pimple finish and Green carpet, Celestion speakers (C10H) plus HF component, 200w. Vented enclosure with two front mounted round ports. 2102 came witth no HF unit and the H is dropped from the model number. Earlier model up to around '93 2103X: Pimple finish older models loaded with earlier version of the Celestion driver, newer ones loaded with C10H and two 5" paper cone mid/HF drivers. 10" drivers are slightly offset. 200w. Vented enclosure, round ports behind grill. Vintage versions (2102?): Pimple finish loaded with Fane speakers, no HF component and red stripe. Vented enclosure with round ports behind grill. Some (poossibly all?) came as a wedge shaped enclosure to act like a stage monitor. Not sure of power handling. I had a 2103H and it was quite a good little cab but I asked a bit much of it at the time. Sounded great once I'd bought an 1153 to go with it (compact 1x15") with a 300SMX driving it all.

[quote name='badboy1984' timestamp='1395760517' post='2405900'] Do power amp colour your tone or does it only pump out power to drive your cabs? [/quote] Depends.. A modern power-amp (probably like the O/P is looking for) shouldn't colour the sound at all, it should simply take the tiny signal from the pre-amp and make it big enough to drive the speakers. The amplifiers already mentioned, Crown, QSC, Chevin, Peavey etc should all be considered to have a flat enough response not to colour the sound at all. On the other hand if the O/P was looking for a valve power amplifier then these tend to add their own characteristic sound especially when turned up. An example might be the Ampeg 300w power-amp lifted from the SVTs circuitry or the Marshall 9100 / 9200 models. The power section in your Trace Elliot shouldn't colour the sound, all the tone shaping is done in the pre-amp section. Hope that helps.

I've never owned an Ampeg 810 but I did own the Trace Elliot one, the mighty 1084. I could have ruled the world with it! I don't miss it's bulk and only ever did a couple of shows as I was offered twice the money I'd paid so sold it but it was probably the best sounding cab I ever owned. I'm not sure which model Celestion was inside but they were great. Congrats on your cab, hope you enjoy!

[quote name='Subthumper' timestamp='1395332082' post='2401263'] Don't know about the cab but that looks like H/H drivers in there. Worth researching the cab, some of . The park stuff is worth bucks. [/quote] +1 on those being HH drivers. I wouldn't worry too much about the surface rust, as long as the drivers sound good of course. I'd have thought the original units might have been Celestion G15C or possibly Powercel if it is indeed a genuine Park / Marshall cab. The HH speakers are at least fitting with the period.. Loving the ali dust-caps!

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1395215638' post='2399737'] The occasions where I don't use my own rig are things like festivals where there is a hired rig, or multi-band lineups where another band is supplying the rig (a large proportion of our gigs are multi-band jobs) It's not a matter of my rig not being portable, but [i][b]swapping rigs seems so much hassle in terms of stage space, extra time, and soundguy disapproval[/b][/i]. 100% of our gigs are at a place with in house PA and engineer, and they are [i][b]usually keen to put the bass through the PA, even if it's a small venue. I suppose they like the control.[/b][/i] [/quote] My rules are usually something along the lines of 'you can do as you please as long as you A: let me know what the plan is and B: make sure you're where you're needed to be and ready to play when needed' Other than that, it's usually all good with me. As for putting the bass in the PA, if it's big enough for kick-drum then it should handle bass guitar too. And IMO, if you're not doing one, then don't do the other or conversely if you are doing one, then do the other too. In terms of mix, they should sonically 'fit' so to have control of both helps to shape the bottom end of the mix as these are often the first to be 'lost'.. Just my pennies worth.. When it comes to using my rig, I often use my own (not that I've done many in the last 18 months) but if I can't, I do try to use my own head and EQ unit. Assuming a half decent speaker cabinet is available of course. Failing that, I'll take my combo.

KT88 vs 6550.. Now there's a battle! Personally I like clean bass sounds with just a touch of power stage compression (venue and arrangement permitting of course) going on.. I've also used both valves in various guises and in different amps too and agree they all have a slightly different flavour so making that choice will always be tough. My 60w amp runs a pair of re-issue Tung-Sol 6550 and if pinned will get all Lemmy but as stated I prefer to run it clean so tend to back off as the amp compresses but it does have quite a wide area where that compression happens before we get into grit town. I appreciate it's as much circuit design as the valves but this combination works great. The big Ashton runs EHX KT88 and it too does the compression thing nicely but is rather loud when it does and doesn't really break-up even flat out. I found in a nutshell that 6550 have more compression and grit with pronounced lower mids whereas '88s are altogether more hollow and transparent staying cleaner when maxed. I know there is a number of 'fluffy' statements and sweeping generalisations in this paragraph but they are based on real world experiences. If the Stoneham amps are built to order then maybe on application, the customer could specify their playing style and consider the options between a KT88 or 6550 loaded model?

I borrowed a Hiwatt 200 a number of years back and whilst tonally I didn't really get on with it, it was mega, mega loud. I think you'll be very pleased with just how far 200w of KT88 power will go..

If 200w ain't enough... I'd be worried! As I've previously said, I have gigged with 60w and whilst it was a bit marginal I would do it again. 100w - 200w is ideal IMO for a valve amp into a decent cab(s) and as stated above, just how loud do you want to be.. As long as the asthetics and practicalities are attended to, I think this line of amps could be a real winner. The only other amps (that are still in production at least) which seem to have the balance struck correctly are Matamp and the big Ashdown CTM models. I'm not normally a fan of Ashdown (ABM etc) but they really do look spot on. My personal faves were always the Trace V-Type series and even tho I haven't owned a V4 for years, when V6s crop up, I do hover over the 'Buy it now' button.

My old Trace was 200w and that was great especially through the less than perfect MAG210 cab i ran it through. I could have it loud enough to compete and have it in that 'cooking' zone.. It was a monster through the Trace 1084 (8x10)! I think these amps look lovely and I expect they do the sound thing very well too.

Wow, thats lovely.. Whats the valve config? 3x ECC83 and 4x KT88? Oh, and can I have a look at the chassis and transformers. Can you tell I like this amp?

You may well find an 810 offers enough efficiency / percieved loudness to make up for the lack of horsepower from the amp but it seems a shame that to use your amp, you [i]have [/i]to maul such a big cab around. It might be that the 100w CTM model suits your needs better.. Personally, I have only modest volume requirements and have gigged with my 60w valve amp with different cabs on a number of occasions but I certainly wouldn't want any much less power especially if a drummer was involved..

Ashdown have made some tiddlers.. CTM15 I think is the model which has two EL84s.

No problem, I've been using Trace stuff for many years and it's always been great. Glad I could help. To clarify the 150 / 300 watt and extention speaker thing.. On the back panel of yours there is only one jack socket for speaker output and this is utilized by the internal speaker. The internal speaker is a 4 ohm speaker and the minimum impedance for the amp is also four ohm so if you were to add any more (which you can't as there's no more sockets) speakers (in parallel) then it would total less than this which would cause the amp to overheat and shut down. On the larger 300w models, their internal speaker is 8 ohms so a second socket is provided to drive a separate 8 ohm cab in addition to the internal speaker bringing the load back down to four ohms. Hope that makes it a bit more sense.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/176021-ashton-bv300-all-valve-300w-bass-head/"]http://basschat.co.u...300w-bass-head/[/url] Simple, cheap (if you can find one) and phat.. Personally, I like the look of the Laney and getting to grips with the controls may take a little time but I bet it sounds great. I have no isssue with complex amps (like this or the Sunn / Fender 300T) or simple setups as long as they sound right and wouldn't disregard any setup based on either of those points alone. +1 about improving the bass playing tho. You have to be inspired by the gear you're playing and not fighting it for that to happen.

Hi, To answer your questions.. 1: I don't think one does exist, best bet will be the GP7 SM manual which covers all models from the little BLX combo through to the big 1200w head. The pre-amp is the same on all except for some BLX models which do not have a balanced output (DI). Rear panel facilities vary from model to model. 150w versions like yours will not drive an external speaker as the internal speaker is 4 ohms however the 300w models will. 600 and 1200w have two power stages ie 300+300 and 600+600 respectively. 2: Quality did come down a little particularly the middle ranges but some great models including the AH1000-12 and BFC and V8 came from this period. The main problem was that they were under developed not so much bad models if you see what I mean. All were built by the same people in the same factory. 3: Your combo will date earlier than 2001 as it's an SM. The SM was superceded by the SMC (with compressor but no EQ balance) and the SMC then updated with a different facia and glowing panel simply called GP7. I would guess yours comes from around '97 as it has the later green carpet covering but still the earlier pre-amp. You may be able to tell by looking at the serial number but not always. Some are written T****/*** whereas some have an extra division T****/***/*** with the last three numbers showing date for example 397 which would be March 1997. 4: You can use a headphone amp by using the line out on the amp but you will have to disconnect the internal speaker as I think the line level is governed by the 'output level' control. Hope that helps!

[quote name='Scott_LP' timestamp='1394203927' post='2389142'] I know that some amps require the valves biasing once installed, mine included. I don't know if that would be the case here. I only mention it as a friend of mine's amp failed after just 6 months as the new valves weren't biased by the amp tech, who believed it not necessary due to him installing matched pairs. Just a thought. :-) [/quote] Not sure that applies to the little Ashdown as I [i]think[/i] it's cathode biased..

I wonder if the 12AU7 is used in the driver stage? These are lower gain as stated but can deal with a greater current and as such are often used as the driver valve..

I gigged a Laney rig which I borrowed from my good mate Mick (RIP) and it was a great setup. I'm not sure of the model numbers (it's not a Trace you see) but it was the 300w head (RB9?) with the graphic EQ and compressor coupled with the Celestion loaded 4x10 and the compact size 1x15 on the bottom. The rig was loud, clear, punchy and distortion free. It did everything I asked of it and quickly found my sound without fuss or issue. Great! Another guy I knew (played in a band with my step dad years ago) had an old BC120 combo which was knackered and flapped uncontrollably at the sign of any low frequency action. In it's defence, I don't think there was an isssue with the amp itself rather the speaker was fried. He traded this for a Torque 200w 1x15 in the end. I have no problem with Laney bass although I do think it does get overlooked as it's not particularly fashionable which is a shame because IME, it's great stuff. I love the look of the Nexxus stuff, especially the big 400w head but a guy who's done 3 bass gigs in 7 months, I can't justify another expensive box with glowing glass things inside.

Let us know how you get on.. Cheers!

That would work just fine and would probably be the simplest solution. The alternative would be to buy a 'Y split cable' which would take the single output and split it into two (jack or XLR) but there's no real need for that as the power amp provides an easier method of getting a single input to both power stages. Good luck.

Seems fair, I appreciate that it's cosmetic condition goes against it somewhat however, if we consider what we have in parts then it'd represent good value.. A decent 15" Celestion Speaker in a suitably tuned enclosure.. The highly flexible 12 band pre-amp with valve stage and compressor.. Pokey 300 watt power stage.. And a glowing front panel of course..

I wouldn't like to put a value on it but I'd guess it was from '00-'02 as they moved from green furry to leatherette around that time plus it's the generation after the SMX series with a few extra bells and whistles.. It won't be any later as trace was under Gibson at the time and shut production down around '02 until Peavey revived the brand in 2005..

Post some pix!

I'd be interested to do a 'blind' A / B test.. I'm quite convinced I can hear a difference between Soundcraft and Allen & Heath mixing consoles even on a flat setting. It'd be really interesting to see if that 'percieved' difference is real or in my head..

Did anyone buy the new one? I had a quick play with one yesterday and to be fair, it was very good. I'm not so sure about the funny sized keys or the 1/8" patchbay but the sound was excellent, right on the money! Oscillators and filters reacted in a very similar way to my MS-20 although the controls for them seem a little less sensitive than my original item making them sort of better and worse at the same time. It'd very interesting to run them side by side. As for my original, I'm undetaking a new project where it may become my main instrument again which would be pretty cool if it comes off. I've spent many hours on mine this week using the laptop as an FX unit. It's been wicked!