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So I picked up this Trace AH300-12 for 125 quid...


DiMarco
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Bought from a pawn shop, it was carrying a sign "effect unit". :D

Something was rattling inside so first thing I did was open her up and fix the loose pcb which was attached to some odd little piece of wood...



Built in 2001, print on the rear side says "made in England" which is good right?
One of the two jack speaker outputs was dirty and the dualband comp balance pot was crackling. Cleaned all of that and the amp is working 100% now. Too bad the lit front panel is a bit damaged here and there thus not fully lit anymore.



Reason for this post: I have a couple of questions.

1. The tube "overdrive" is no overdrive but just adds a little warmth. Is this normal?
2. I'm not used to dualband compression. Can anyone with experience recommend me some settings?
3. Is this a good catch for 127 pounds (149 euros)?

The amp sounds REALLY good by the way. I'm impressed!

Cheers, Marco

Edited by DiMarco
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I had a conversation with Paul Stevens (CEO at TE) at the LBGS a couple of years ago - apparently prior to the Gibson take-over the factory was closed and one of the employees was "relocating" parts from the factory, putting together amps/combos and selling them himself. He was doing quite a good job of it as I owned one - the only way I knew was no serial nos.

Does yours have a serial no? If not it could be one of these...

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The amp has a hand written serial on the rear side.


Since the poweramp section board says 1999 and the amp was built in 2001 it must have been designed under Kaman flag and built while owned by Gibson I think.
I also own a late eighties AH250/GP11 but this AH300 has some really nice features the older amp lacks.

Next tuesday I'll drag it down to the rehearsal room where it will compete with my Fender TB-600 hybrid amp.

Point is with the Fender I use a tech21 vtbass to add warmth (the fender tube OD isn't my cup of tea and sounds quite muddy) and a Markbass compressore. I'm hoping I won't need those stompboxes anymore when using this TE amp...

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Correction: designed and built under Gibson as one of the last ever "made in England" products before Gibson moved production of just a few products to the U.S. In january 2002 and closed the U.K. factory (making the full staff redundant while at it).

Production date of this amp is august 2001... A piece of Trace Elliot history.

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a great amp...may only be 300 watts BUT all watts are not created equal....loud,flexible and dual compressor good
use low band around 10-11 o'clock and high on 8-9.....wont squash top end.

this amp is as loud as many 5-600 watt digital amps.....well the ones i've played !!

make of this what you will......toodles

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[quote name='ebenezer' timestamp='1367001220' post='2060226']
this amp is as loud as many 5-600 watt digital amps.....well the ones i've played !!

make of this what you will......toodles
[/quote]

What I make of this is that 3dB isn't really a huge amount. :)

Good buy OP. Nice reliable amp that sounds great and will last a lifetime. Now is an incredibly good time for used gear, particularly for heavy stuff.

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  • 2 months later...

Today a package came in from Memphis, TN. A brand new Illuminated front and new white caps for the 12 band EQ. I sprayed one of those bright red myself.

In the meantime I had the amp checked by a tech who did a lot of work on the power section.

Amp now looks like this (ready to shake some serious butt!):

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Aaaaand its back for repairs. 50hz hum is still there. I think it is the volume pot... Also since its last repair the cooling fan stopped working (unless it is supposed to not start turning until the amp becomes hotter?). Bummer, more waiting.

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