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VTypeV4
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Everything posted by VTypeV4
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That SM is literally perfect - it's possibly the last 'new' one in existence.. I thought I was lucky when I bought my V4 at the end of 2003 when it too was NOS let alone 20 years later! 😃 I concur with most of the previous comments - you could get a more modern amp with more features and power for the money. An ELF may have the Trace badge on it and judging by posts on here, it does something akin to the Trace sound but that's about as far as it goes whereas that AH150 is definitely a 'real' one. Despite it's modest power rating, it will probably be surprisingly loud as that 715 (1x15" combo) I had (with the same or at least very similar power amp) played very loudly - I never ran out of steam.
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I've had my LMB-3 for many years and it quietly just gets on with it - I wouldn't want to be without it as I feel it's part of my sound when using the V-Type rig. I also have a Digitech Bass Squeeze Dual Band pedal which is a good tool and seems to work really well with my vintage Bassman setup although on balance, I still prefer the Boss.
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Of the less rare and esoteric Trace amps, an SMX with the big EQ and dual band compressor is a great tool. As mentioned a few posts back, the compact 250 / 300w heads are a great compromise in terms of size, power and capability - arguably the best all rounder in my opinion. The bigger 350 / 400w head is a better amp overall with it's more comprehensive I/O, greater power and the unquestionably cool ultraviolet lamp but it's notably larger and heavier than it's sibling. The 7-band models with the compressor (GP-7 SMC) and late model GP-7 were very good too - I personally much preferred these to the preceeding SM range which I found a little anemic somehow. Both the 712-SMC and late model 715 combo I had a few years back were decent - I felt the 715 was probably better than the 300SM head possibly owing to that compressor. All good - hope it got put back together. 😃
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The V4 MK2 are ultra rare - as far as I could work out plus a conversation with Paul Stevens, there's apparently only about 45 that were ever built with 15 being a 1x15 combo another 15 being 2x10 format plus the heads, again of which there's fifteen. They are based around the V8 pre-amp which was a more advanced version of the original V-Type but with additional drive and compression features. The four-valve power power stage has plenty of 'go' in it and does around 200w . Super rare and a glorious sound but I have little doubt the combos will weigh as much as a small planet - my V4 MK2 head is bad enough. @Kiwi The V4 MK2 combos are a little later than the '90s and are from around 2001. The V-Type combos from the 1990s were hybrids featuring the original V-Type pre-amp and the 250 / 300w SS output stage. Early green 'pimple' tolex ones only came as 1x15 although the later green furr examples also came as 4x8 (model 4808) using Celestion BG8-60 drivers. Again, like most Trace combos, they're horribly heavy but sound great.
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I expect it would have been near perfect with a matching 2x10 - as long as someone else was moving it all! 🤣 Good luck with your search. 😃
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I've had lots of Trace gear over the years and out of the two you mention (assuming the AH250 is in comparable condition), I'd take the 11-band AH250. There's nothing wrong with the 7-band SM but remember that AH250 was part of the premium range back in the '80s whereas the '90s SM was still only the middle sibling to the flagship 12-band SMX series. I had a Twin Valve combo for a while which was a fantastic sounding thing despite it's modest 115w rating and simple 7-band pre-amp. It weighed an absolute ton and was a pig to move plus the power stage was more than capable of finding the limits of the speaker but I'd happily own another - a lovely amplifier. I expect this was the amp you tried all those years ago as it was the only all valve combo they would have made back then - mine was built in 1990. As suggested above, the V-Types are somewhat different than the GP7, 11 and 12 ranges offering a valve pre-amp and basic Fender style EQ. Personally, I don't think they sound much like Fender and have a character of their own - these are a favourite of mine. Hope you find these links useful..
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Owning as many valve amps as I do now, the thought of re-valving them all at the same time does bother me a little although that scenario seems unlikely. 6 in one go wil be more than enough! The V6 was apparently done a few years back and has been on the bench a few times since and given a clean bill of health so fingers crossed, I'll get a few more years out of it yet. 😬 Valve clean and compressed with added 'ping' is where I'm at tone wise so much like the V4, it's sibling hit's the nail on the head very nicely indeed. In the unlikely event I need some drive and anger, I'll pull the 'Gain 2' pot on the V4 for 'gnarly and hairy'.. As for weight, agreed - the V6 is pretty reasonable for what it is whereas my SVT CL is an absolute pig. Don't get me wrong, I love the SVT but the first time a lifted it, I genuinely thought it was stuck down. ❤️ -
I do feel a little greedy having two of these lesser spotted specials but I'll put the V6 together with my 2103H and 1153 cabs and enjoy - I'll share findings at a later date. 🥰
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Lots of weight, more power than you can shake a stick at and a truly wonderful sound - you can't beat a V-Type. ❤️
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This lovely V6 has been an on/off feature at the studio since early 2019 and is in plenty of pictures here on the forum. The previous owner and I had an agreement that I would store his Ampeg cab at the studio as long as the V6 came with it - something that has worked well for the two of us as both the 8x10 and V-Type have featured on many recordings. ❤️ As time has moved on and his band circumstances changed a little, I was offered the big Trace at a very reasonable price and let's be honest, if I ever had a weakness, it's TE V-Types. 😃 It's pretty clean throughout and sounds fantastic (obviously!) so I'll take it to rehearsal next week and see how it goes. I love these things. ❤️
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- trace elliot
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Ampeg Pro Series PR810H cabinet in used condition. It has some scrapes and marks but still sounds great and is capable of working at sound levels that are frankly, a bit daft - one for those playing in bands with 100w Marshall heads and multiple 4x12s. 😬 It's heavy and cumbersome but it sounds absolutely fantastic. 😀 I'm technically putting this ad up for a friend although I'm assuming all responsibility should the cabinet sell through the forum. Any prospective buyers are welcome to test the cabinet in my live room at the the studio (www.synkronize.co.uk) where it can be thoroughly examined - please PM me if that's you. I have the Trace V6, Fender Bassman 135, Trace 400SMX and SVT CL on hand to test the cab with or you're of course welcome to bring your own amplifier. This cabinet is exceptionally heavy - the typical Ampeg 810e, Marshall VBA 810, Orange 810, Trace 1084 etc are all easier and lighter than this cab. It's built more like a pro-grade L'Acoustics PA enclosure than an instrument spec cabinet so when I say this thing weighs around the 100 Kg (more than 200lbs) mark, I'm not kidding, it's a true monster! 🤣 ❤️ 1200w RMS power handling or split 2x 600w RMS Ampeg rate the cab at 2400w or 2x 1200w Program. The reality is, you'd have to work really quite hard to cause it any harm Cast frame, Edge wound and vented pole-piece 150w Eminence drivers Dual Fostex HF units - both with adjustable attenuators Quarter inch jack and Speakon input / patching Heavy duty wheels and integral handles / skids Collection only from Synkronize Music Group / Sun Street Studios in Hanley, Stoke on Trent. Bring a strong friend and a Volvo estate - it won't fit in an Aygo. 😆 In terms of sound, overall it's a little more aggressive than my 410HE / 115E combination offering a bit more upper mid 'bite' and 'clang'. It doesn't seem to have too much of a 'bass bump' in the low end and as such, seems to give quite a consistent and present bottom - possibly a little more than the usual cab of this configuration. https://ampeg.com/support/files/Discontinued User Manuals/PR810H/PR-810H.pdf Feel free to check my feedback - I've been a member here for nearly 12 years and have more than a few sales and purchases through the forum. Many thanks, Matt -
Thanks for that.. 😀
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Looking good, Mike! If had to choose, I'd probably go with A&H as I prefer the way they work and just find the whole process a bit more organic. Don't get me wrong, I do like Digico and can't say as I've ever had a bad show on one but the dLive is a fantastic tool - A&H really got it right. It's been a little quiter for me this year although I'm currentl in the throws of Bloodstock '23. It's only the small 'New Blood' stage with some ancient Community boxes and a pair of M32 consoles - I'm on FOH as I have been for the last few years now. Pics to follow. There's also Notting Hill Carnival coming up in a few weeks.
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I'm reasonably sure all of mine are MDF, too. I've never owned anything from the old TE company that wasn't a heavyweight - could they be all made from some sort of iron / concrete blend!? 🤣 The little Commando must weigh at least 20Kg (probably more!) which again, puts it on the heavier side things. If we were to scale it on a ratio for outright volume to weight, the poor thing would score really quite badly - good job it sounds sweet! 🥰
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Not a problem, many thanks for looking. ❤️😀 Fingers crossed this one remains (reasonably at least!) distortion free..
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And at the opposite end of the scale..
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I'll have to do some further 'sonic' investigation.. ❤️ As mentioned above, I was very impressed with it's core tone - I'll put my usual NE-1 / LMB-3 in the loop (as per my V-Type setup) and see how it sounds through both it's own speaker and into the desk..
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Celestion no longer make the Truvox series although they do make pretty much the same driver range now badged as the 'TF' range. Their TF1220 is equivalent to the driver in mine. I'm sure the helpful service at Celestion will point you in the right direction. I wonder if yours has the questionable BG12-S that some of these shipped with - they're easily spotted by coming with a dark green frame. The Commando enclosure is about 60 litres in volume and judging by the porting is tuned to 55hz - I don't have mine to hand to measure exactly so these figures aren't exact although the folk at Celestion may find it useful. Good luck.
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Thanks for the kind words, folks. 🥰 It's lovely to hear stories of yester-year - it seems more than a few of this humble range got some of us up and running. I agree with the general consensus that these were a little light on features regarding connectivity and marginal gigging capability although I expect the 15" model did a bit better than these smaller examples. The claimed 100w output is probably fair but I can't imagine any of us fancy trying to gig one of these today!? My ex from many moons ago (about 2002) had the later MK2 (150w) Commando 15 which always sounded good to me although I don't think she ever gigged it. 100% agreed regarding the weight - there's certainly no lack of that! 🤣 My first full-fat Trace wasn't a million miles from the Commando, it was a 712 SMC which was effectively same size box but with the 7-band SMC preamp and slightly pokier 130w power stage. From memory, it too was a little marginal at gigs but was much improved when it went back to the factory for a speaker upgrade. The original BG12S wasn't a great driver and it wore out quite quickly giving a nasty paper 'flap' when driven so Trace put a 200w Q (2035?) series in as a replacement. I have a writing session with the band this eveing so I'll press the little Commando into service for that. I'm really pleased that it will make some music both with me and later at the college after being out of service for a while as it really is a lovely sounding thing, ❤️ @Merton PM me if you find one and we'll make a plan. 🥰
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I appreciate discussions regarding these were a less than a 'hot topic' 20 years ago let alone today.. 😬 This little combo cropped up on eBay last week for a ridiculous price so I pulled the trigger. Costing less than £40 including the tin of contact cleaner and the fuel to fetch it, it seemed a true bargain although it was certainly looking a bit sorry for itself. The sellers' description was fair and honest suggesting it worked and passed audio but the pots were a little crackly. I decided it was best to pull it apart and sort the late model 12" Trace combo from the ground up. ❤️ I hope the pics show it's short story from grubby to gleaming plus a little look under the bonnet of how they built them all those years ago - a date sticker says 03/2001 although the transformer sticker suggests it may be a little later than that. After a few hours of scrubbing, cleaning and a quiick polish plus half a tin of contact cleaner, the Commando 12 once again lives to fight another day. I played it for about half an hour after I'd put it all back together and it worked faultlessly - the budget Trace sounds surprisingly sweet despite the modest 100w rating and that somewhat marginal 12" Truvox Celestion. I still need to find a missing jack nut but that's about the worst of it. It will go to the college when we start up again in September (I'll not keep it - I have enough Trace gear!) so it will go on to help the next generation of musicians hone their skills and find their own sound. 🥰
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I like this.. 🥰
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The V4 in action at home - I can't really 'stretch it's legs' here but even so, it still sounds great. It's looking extra shiny after it had a good dust and clean last week - pics are on the Trace Elliot thread in the Gear Gallery section.
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Sounds like a great idea to me.. 😃 Systems and associated hardware. Setup / configurations and methods. Mixing and concepts. Live performance as a whole.
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They certainly seem to be good valves and as far as I'm aware they're rebranded Sovtek which is very much a tried and tested product. I had a full compliment of EHX in an Ashton BV300 I owned for a while and as I recall, the big bottles are the reason I later bought them for the V4. Zero failure of any of them over the years. I've also got some JJ types on the go too - there's some long plate '83s, an '81 and 6L6GC in the Bassman, long plate '83s and KT77 in Beavis (scratch built 60w hot rod Marshall type) and the V4 has four short plate '83s. My SVT has it's original 'from the factory' valves which are JJ pre and EHX power tubes too. The best sounding 12AX7 / ECC83 I've used are the '80s Siemens 'slab plate' examples but the JJ and EHX are great valves in their own right. Glad you're happy with your EHX, Mr B. 😃 I love it too - it really does sound as good as it looks. ❤️
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Thanks for the kind words, folks - snaps were on the phone then a little tweaking / filters. The amp is just a work of art so it even looks good with shoddy pics. 🤣 I think it must be nearly ten years since it had a re-valve although I've toyed with various preamp tubes / positions over the years. Disappointingly and rather surprisingly, changing them doesn't seem to actually make that much difference unlike the older V-Type series that seemed quite responsive to tube rolling. The bias remains reasonably stable for the big bottles (although it does need a tweak from time to time) and it's certainly not lacking any grunt or power so despite their many hours of service, it seems pointless to change them. Those EHX KT88s were a good investment as they have been by far the most reliable and stable power amp valve I've used in the V4. My SVT has EHX 6550s so I'm hoping they'll be equally hardy and long-lasting.
