Trace Elliot Elf head

[VTypeV4]

I've followed a few of the 'Elf' threads and it seems pretty much anyone that has tried one appears to be reasonably happy with it. I've not yet had chance myself so couldn't say but I'm very pleased that the Trace Elliot (in whatever guise) brand lives again and is doing something modern and a bit crazy. As mentioned elsewhere, I'm sure a 'mini SMX' would go down a storm also..

[Daz39]

I did have a hankering for one of the Elfs plus a 2x8 cab they now do - but have you seen the prices?! Are they made in Antarctica and shipped via canoe?!

[TheGreek]

If you hunt good and hard you may be able to find a 1x10 ex cab from the "good ole' days"....weighs in at a sensible 15lbs-ish and can boot out the legendary TE power.

Haven't seen too many for sale but Skezz has one which he's got under lock and key, guarded by a pack of Rottweilers and Smaug's big brother... 

[Daz39]

I sold a 1x15 TE when i sold my AH250 as they were overkill.

as for the transit; jinkies.

[therealting]

I picked one up at this year’s LBGS to serve as a backup - how can you argue with a backup head that’s the size of a DI box?! Have ended up using it regularly for rehearsals, and even ran through it as my stage monitor at the Royal Festival Hall. I run it flat, with the Sadowsky preamp on my Nano board providing the tone control. 

[King Tut]

I bought mine as a spare. Love the tone so much I use it most of the time now. Only been for small venues so far, but with two cabs I'm pretty sure it'll do for larger stuff. Bass always goes through the PA anyway. Imagine one with a dinky 12 band graphic on and illuminated front panel - that would be mega!

[Happy Jack]

Mine doesn't sound as good as either my Matamp GT100 (100W all-valve, worth £1000) or my Genz-Benz Shuttle 9.2 (900W Class D with full bells & whistles, worth maybe £700).

Funny that.

On t'other hand, it's actually more than adequate for many of the gigs I play, and it's so tiny that taking it as a spare is a no-brainer. It was cheap, too.

If this amp didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent it.

 

[Merton]

45 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

Mine doesn't sound as good as either my Matamp GT100 (100W all-valve, worth £1000) or my Genz-Benz Shuttle 9.2 (900W Class D with full bells & whistles, worth maybe £700).

Funny that.

On t'other hand, it's actually more than adequate for many of the gigs I play, and it's so tiny that taking it as a spare is a no-brainer. It was cheap, too.

If this amp didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent it.

 

I concur.

It’s a really good little amp but it ain’t my ABM on full tilt

[fryer]

With one 8 ohm cab you only get 130 w. To get the 200 w out of it, you need two 8 ohm cabs. Doesn't that defeat the object of going small ? 

[Merton]

Depends on your cab. I used it with a single Super Compact on a pub gig without PA support and it coped - just, no headroom left!

[PaulWarning]

1 hour ago, fryer said:

With one 8 ohm cab you only get 130 w. To get the 200 w out of it, you need two 8 ohm cabs. Doesn't that defeat the object of going small ? 

I've got a 150 watt series 5 Trace head, plenty loud enough, class D watts just aren't the same 

[T-Bay]

10 minutes ago, PaulWarning said:

I've got a 150 watt series 5 Trace head, plenty loud enough, class D watts just aren't the same 

Mine too, or was, and hopefully will be again when I work out why it’s continually ticking (I think a capacitor is on its way out)

[Happy Jack]

3 hours ago, fryer said:

With one 8 ohm cab you only get 130 w. To get the 200 w out of it, you need two 8 ohm cabs. Doesn't that defeat the object of going small ? 

Thing is, I'm not after 'enough watts'. I'm after 'enough volume'.

[PaulWarning]

1 hour ago, Happy Jack said:

Thing is, I'm not after 'enough watts'. I'm after 'enough volume'.

this is the thing, there's watts and then there's watts, it would seem 100 valve watts are plenty (never used a valve bass amp myself), 200 watt Class AB amps are enough, but Class D amps seems to need to be about 500 watts, as I understand it anyway, and that's before you start talking about speaker efficiency.

Even listening to them in a shop's no good, it's not until you get in a full band situation that you find out if it's giving out enough volume

[King Tut]

Apparently, when the ELF was designed, they made a point of putting a realistic power rating on it. As I've said before, my ELF, with a Barefaced Big Baby 2 is easily loud enough to gig, on its own in a small venue and with PA support at a large venue. I don't think class D watts are necessarily quieter than normal watts, but I think a lot of the manufacturers of class D amps are being misleading about their power ratings. My GK MB500, for example, is class D and has as much volume as I could ever imagine wanting. When talking about the ELF 'only' giving 130 watts at 8 ohms, remember that watts are logarithmic. To double that volume you need to increase the watts by a factor of x10 so you'd need a 1300 Watt amp. I know that's possibly an oversimplification, but take it from me, the ELF isn't a mis sold toy, it's a serious bit of kit. So long as your expectations are realistic it'll serve you well!

[la bam]

My 500w markbass evo gives out around 300 class d watts when used with my 8ohm Barefaced Super Compact.

It sounds loud when up and running. It copes with a full band fairly easy, but starts to run out of headroom when really full on.

However, put it through my markbass 6x10 at 6ohm - and itll rock the walls and rattle the tables!!

Its not neccessarily class d watts - more what you power with them.

Id always took what id heard about more speakers meaning much more volume with a pinch of salt - but its SO true.

Itd be interesting to try an ELF with a 4x10, 6x10 or 8x10.

PS

i saw something interesting on youtube today regarding the elf - someone said there was a warning sticker on it saying not to touch the jack lead at all when in operation - is this true?

[King Tut]

1 hour ago, la bam said:

My 500w markbass evo gives out around 300 class d watts when used with my 8ohm Barefaced Super Compact.

It sounds loud when up and running. It copes with a full band fairly easy, but starts to run out of headroom when really full on.

However, put it through my markbass 6x10 at 6ohm - and itll rock the walls and rattle the tables!!

Its not neccessarily class d watts - more what you power with them.

Id always took what id heard about more speakers meaning much more volume with a pinch of salt - but its SO true.

Itd be interesting to try an ELF with a 4x10, 6x10 or 8x10.

PS

i saw something interesting on youtube today regarding the elf - someone said there was a warning sticker on it saying not to touch the jack lead at all when in operation - is this true?

Almost correct - printed on the chassis it says: 'Caution bridged speaker output. Speaker negative is live and must be isolated from chassis. Do not touch 1/4" jack plug while amplifier is operating'

[Happy Jack]

2 hours ago, King Tut said:

Do not touch 1/4" jack plug while amplifier is operating'

So it's dangerous to unplug your bass unless you switch off the amp first?

Shurely shome mishtake?

 

[Merton]

It means the speaker output:

 

[Merton]

I’ve moved on the Elf now. It was a superb little thing but I found myself hitting the limiter too often in outdoor gigs and just didn’t enjoy the tone. I’ve gone back to an Ashdown RM500 for my lightweight amp option and am much happier.

[Happy Jack]

Mine lives in the lounge, running through a Crazy 8 cab. Overkill? Of course. But then so is my main gig rig (GB Shuttle 900W through either a Markbass 210 or a Markbass 410).

I like headroom ...

[Linus27]

Something like the Elf is perfect for me as I am looking for as small and lightweight as possible for my acoustic setup that I use my Kala Uke bass with. I'm currently using a Fender Rumble v3 100w combo which is great but still pretty chunky with a 12" speaker. We've played in all manner of places with this setup like schools, railway stations, shops, high streets, fete's etc. so something as lightweight, small and portable would really suit me. The Elf with a 10" speaker might do the trick or maybe a 2x8 speaker if funds allow. The GALLIEN KRUEGER MB 110 Bass Combo is my other option.

[AndyTravis]

Tried an Elf and the 2x8 cab a few weeks back. Was quite pleasantly surprised with it as a set up.

I’d like the idea of a 4x8 cab with maybe 2 stacked up and the head.

forgive my ignorance though - does it attach to the cab somehow? I can just se a kicked cable causing an early death to such a tiny head.

[Happy Jack]

No, it doesn't attach, but it IS small enough to fit under the handle of many cabs! I've rehearsed with mine many times, and gigged it a few times (usually when playing gigs where I'm mostly going through the PA), and I haven't had a problem yet.

Linus, there's a country band I play with that rehearses at loud but less-than-gig volumes, right on the cusp of should-I-wear-earplugs?

I play a Precision through the Elf into a Crazy 88 and it's (i) more than capable of holding its own, and (ii) utterly righteous.

Like any good, small cab it's significantly heavier than you think. My Crazy 8 weighs less than my old Barefaced OneTen, but not by that much. The Crazy 88 is definitely heavier.

 

[tayste_2000]

On 10/08/2018 at 08:55, Happy Jack said:

No, it doesn't attach, but it IS small enough to fit under the handle of many cabs! I've rehearsed with mine many times, and gigged it a few times (usually when playing gigs where I'm mostly going through the PA), and I haven't had a problem yet.

Linus, there's a country band I play with that rehearses at loud but less-than-gig volumes, right on the cusp of should-I-wear-earplugs?

I play a Precision through the Elf into a Crazy 88 and it's (i) more than capable of holding its own, and (ii) utterly righteous.

Like any good, small cab it's significantly heavier than you think. My Crazy 8 weighs less than my old Barefaced OneTen, but not by that much. The Crazy 88 is definitely heavier.

 

Work well on db?