discreet

There is another Trace combo which is very similar to mine, only it is narrower and doesn't have the air vents either side of the amp head... do any Trace bods know what the difference is? And does anyone have any idea when it was made? From what I can gather it's probably early to mid 90s, but apparently it's difficult if not impossible to find out from the serial number.

Interesting. The combo may well be a solution, I'll know for sure after I've gigged it. Got the crane hired already.

Too late! My innie is now an outie...

Thanks Lozz, I'll try that.

Good idea. I'm going to try the combo head with my BFM Jack 12 (18kg) and also as an extension cab with the combo for maximum floor-rattleage.

It's certainly heavy, but no more so than the competition at the time. It's just that it was made before lightweight gear became the norm. In fact it was sold as a 'compact' solution, IIRC.

There is a new band in the offing which will be gigging a lot, if it works out for me... which is why I bought this combo. Nothing like being positive. I can't wait to gig it though, I think it will be tremendous. If so, it will be well worth the effort of moving it about.

Trace Elliot Series 6 Type 7215 GP7 1X15 300W Combo Back in the day, I was one of the few bass players who didn't use a Trace Elliot rig. When I saw them on sale at that time (late 80s/early 90s) they seemed quite expensive and I got the impression they were solely for Mark King-alikes who favoured the now-infamous slapping style that was all over the place then… In short, it was a hairdresser’s amp and not suitable for muscular Ampeg men such as myself. So I didn't ever have the Trace experience. In the intervening years, I've explored pretty much every other brand and every possible format of bass amp and cab with varying degrees of satisfaction. But then I saw more and more threads about old Trace gear, both here and elsewhere and was intrigued… …mainly because some threads insisted Trace gear sounded terrible, Trace owners wore waistcoats and looked at themselves in the mirror a lot, Trace was a one-trick pony and the gear was incredibly heavy because it was full of concrete. Others praised Trace to the skies, citing a big sound, a huge variety of tones not available elsewhere and claiming lifelong allegiance to the cause. Some very polarised views, then… but they can’t both be right, can they? This cognitive dissonance will not stand! So when I saw a Trace combo up for sale on BC, I thought ‘why not?’ It can only be terrible. Or great. I’ll find out. Got the combo home and plugged in my Jazz Bass - it sounded terrible. So I fiddled with the EQ for a while and it was better, but not great. After quite a bit of fiddling and button-pressing and bone-headed persistence, I got some acceptable results, but there was an overall baked-in aspect to the sound I couldn't seem to get rid of, a sort of Marcus-type twangy vibe. I fiddled for a bit longer (fnarr), upped the input gain quite a bit, then loaded a play-along CD into my Linn system which I set at near-battle levels, to see what the combo would do in concert, as it were - and suddenly there it was - without changing anything, the tone was at once lush, muscular and taut - and without the twang, or rather it was still there, but it now served to make the notes articulate and present, without being in any way offensive. Nice tight bottom end, too - I eased down the 50hz slider somewhat to avoid speaker stress, raised the 100Hz a db or two and all was good. Very good. It is a big, chunky sound that puts a stupid grin on your face. I strongly suspect it will be a cracking live amp. Trace obviously made gear that was meant to be taken out into the world and gigged with a band, not used solo in a bedroom. Tip: Leave the Mid Pre Shape button alone and avoid the ‘smiley face’ EQ curve. A word on LOUD: According to physics, a watt is a watt is a watt, but any layman will tell you that valve watts seem louder than solid state watts. I can tell you that Trace SS watts seem louder than, er… other SS watts. And by some margin. I need to do a lot more research, but apparently this 7215 combo delivers around 180-200 watts into its internal speaker which provides an 8 ohm load. There is an additional output socket on the rear of the combo to allow an additional 8 ohm cab to be used. It will then produce the full 300 Trace watts into 4 ohms, which must be truly seismic. All GP7 combos use custom Celestion drivers, it says here. In use, it comes on at least as 'loud' as a regular 500W @ 4 ohms Class 'D' amp and that’s without using an extension cab. I can’t imagine ever needing one - the combo on its own is punishingly loud and must have been astonishing back in the day, largely because it’s astonishing now. It is also built like a tank and the spec of this one puts it at a scrotum-busting 35kg - however I don’t think it’s genuinely that heavy, as it’s a do-able two-handed lift into my hatchback. Lift with your legs, lift with your legs… huppp. Having said that, I wouldn't like to carry it very far… Barefaced it is not. I now keep a folding sack truck in the car. And a truss. So there you have it. As you know, I've been on the gear merry-go-round for decades. Could it be that if I had bought this combo in 1993 I wouldn't have needed anything else and could have put an end to amp and cab GAS right there and then, saving myself a fortune in the process? We’ll never know. Will I now recommend that you madly rush out and buy up loads of old Trace gear? I will not. Because I don’t want the price to go up. You probably wouldn't like it, anyway…

Sold Alain some strings. All good, fast payment and he was even tolerant of me faffing about with the postage. Recommended!

What have the fecking Bangles got to do with... oh, right.

He Sphinx he's being clever. ...I'll get me loincloth.

What? No, I'm Disgraced Dr Liam Fox, the Idiot Charlatan. And I'm also David Davis, the most incompetent man on the planet, while being the smuggest man on the planet. Pip Pip!

Whats trifle got ro do with it? Am I alone in thinking it should be the subject of a separate thread? *sticks banana up bum and votes conservative*

Not as silly as bad grammar, or putting a space in front of a comma. Ftang! Ftang! Snurble! Wibble! Fweep!

I've owned a Euro4 and a couple of Legends, so already very much a fan. Have underlying Spector GAS constantly. Only one thing to do about that, really.

Another blue bass I like! Maybe it's a Spector thing...

Had GAS for one of these for years. Really must try and do something about it. Dont usually like blue basses but this is special.

Good Lord, 150 squid for an Overwater Jazz? That is a true bargain.

Comic Sans is a blight on modern life. Absolutely. The saying 'no such thing as bad publicity' is rubbish, imho. Quite. This means having a good memorable name, but it has to be one that the singer is comfortable with. If they say 'thanks very much, we're called Mike's Massive Moobs' after every song, the band could well be remembered for the wrong reasons...

YOU'RE a Johnson! *Runs away*

This one actually looks pretty good, but generally I think they're tasteless, tacky and a right pain in the bum. There, I've said it. An insert for the kick drum works OK though, there's nothing worse than pics of your band playing with some other band's name on the kick. That is, if you're on a multi-bill and there's just the one kit.

I'm sure this picture will grow on me. Geditt?

Bought Mick's cracking Trace Elliot Series 6 GP7 1X15 Combo. It's practically as-new and initial impressions are very favourable... gig review in due course. Unlike everyone else I've met in person from BassChat, Mick looked exactly as I imagined him... He is a lovely man, a top seller, a pillar of this establishment and is very knowledgeable about all things Trace. Early days yet, but I think I may well become a TE fan too...

Can you make him turn down though, that's the trick...

Not least when the band ask you where the rest of it is...