Trace Elliot AH200

[Andytre]

after GASing for a Trace Gp12, I've picked up one of these from eBay for what i think is a good price, id like to rack mount it and have a little draw below for my compressor and overdrive to make it all neat and tidy, i know that they are rack mountable but the one i'm getting doesn't have the rack ears, does anyone know if i can pick up some generic ears that will do the job (even if it means re-drilling or modifying them in anyway) or even if there's another way to mount the head?

 

I'm also curious what everyone means by trace Watts vs (insert brand name here) Watts is there mathematical formula!? is it all just nonsense!?  i mean is 1 trace watt is 1.2 (insert brand name here) watts or something.

 

anyway looking forward to getting it and turning it up nice and loud!

[Jono Bolton]

I think when people mention "Trace watts", they're implying that it's a lot louder than expected, based on the power rating. Similarly, my old Peavey head does about 170W at 8 ohms, and 220W at 4 ohms, but will safely rip the derrière out of most modern amps.

[Jono Bolton]

I can't believe the profanity filter got me there

[Paul S]

29 minutes ago, Andytre said:

I'm also curious what everyone means by trace Watts vs (insert brand name here) Watts is there mathematical formula!? is it all just nonsense!?  i mean is 1 trace watt is 1.2 (insert brand name here) watts or something.

It is all clearly explained in this video, with graphs etc

 

[PaulWarning]

that video always makes me smile, but they do seem to miss out the anti gravity stuff a lot of the time.

Trace watts is because Trace always seem to be very conservative with their power ratings, I've got a 200 watt GP12 and it never goes above 3 (I have the gain on full) and we've got a very loud drummer

Class D watts on the other hand................

[Lozz196]

Yep, for some reason Trace watts are louder. A TE 80 watt combo is a lethal instrument and can be as loud as that scene in Back To The Future. No idea why, their amps just seem to be majorly loud, irrespective of the power ratings.

[Deedee]

5 hours ago, Andytre said:

after GASing for a Trace Gp12, I've picked up one of these from eBay for what i think is a good price, id like to rack mount it and have a little draw below for my compressor and overdrive to make it all neat and tidy, i know that they are rack mountable but the one i'm getting doesn't have the rack ears, does anyone know if i can pick up some generic ears that will do the job (even if it means re-drilling or modifying them in anyway) or even if there's another way to mount the head?

 

Trace rack ears are mythical things, I've never seen any available, anywhere.  However, if you buy a pair of 'long' generic ears off a well known auction site you can re-drill the 3 side holes and (with the help of a 5mm packer each side between the ears and the head) pretty much get away with it as shown on my SMX below  

EDIT - Just to clarify I know that proper Trace Rack ears do exist, it’s just that they’re usually already attached to an amp/pre so finding someone willing to part with a pair is extremely rare.

Edited November 8, 2018 by Deedee

[Mudpup]

I had an AH200 Series 6 many moons ago - bought it new. With the official rack ears.......so they do exist, you've just gotta find some

[Deedee]

11 minutes ago, Mudpup said:

so they do exist, you've just gotta find some

That’s the tricky part 😟

[Sparky Mark]

Yep. I got a pair with my Series 6 GP12 AH200. 

[mep]

I used to have an AH200. It was well loud and I never turned it passed 2.5 unless i played and outdoor gig. I eventually rack mounted it in a 3U rack unit with a TE UV light underneath. It looked the biz but weighed quite a bit. It was quite a while ago and can't remember where i bought the rack ears from but they were proper TE ones. 

[JapanAxe]

13 minutes ago, mep said:

I used to have an AH200. It was well loud and I never turned it passed 2.5 unless i played and outdoor gig. I eventually rack mounted it in a 3U rack unit with a TE UV light underneath. It looked the biz but weighed quite a bit. It was quite a while ago and can't remember where i bought the rack ears from but they were proper TE ones. 

They probably came out of the groovilium mine.

[Andytre]

13 hours ago, Deedee said:

Trace rack ears are mythical things, I've never seen any available, anywhere.  However, if you buy a pair of 'long' generic ears off a well known auction site you can re-drill the 3 side holes and (with the help of a 5mm packer each side between the ears and the head) pretty much get away with it as shown on my SMX below  

 

cheers for that! i'll have a look! and cheers everyone for demystifying the mythical trace watts! especially that video, haha. cant wait to get me mits on it now! 

[Paul S]

There is an official Trace Elliot authorised agent/repairer, whatever that means, near to me in Southend and they haven't been able to get 'proper' rack ears for many years now.  It is worth doing by whatever means, though - taking the heads out of the heavy wooden boxes lightens the load considerably.  I have one which is the exact replica of Deedee's and it is very portable.

[ianrendall]

Trace watts are the opposite of Bugera watts. 

[Sparky Mark]

4 hours ago, ianrendall said:

Trace watts are the opposite of Bugera watts. 

Strangely enough, the loudest watts I've come across are the 300 or so that reside within my Bugera BVV3000I all valve head.

[Andytre]

used it first time in anger yesterday for a practice, sounds bloomin lovely, only had it turned up to 3 against 2 guitarists and a loud drummer playing some raucous punk rock. need to get a rack sorted soon as it might become my main gigging amp! 

[ahpook]

The only way is Essex.

[Sparky Mark]

The only thing I find a little disconcerting about mine is the thump from my cabs when I switch it on, even with the gain and output turned down. I've started to only connect my cabs once it's powered up which might not be necessary as the thump might be harmless (but makes me jump/cringe almost every time!). 

[ianrendall]

On 09/11/2018 at 23:27, Sparky Mark said:

Strangely enough, the loudest watts I've come across are the 300 or so that reside within my Bugera BVV3000I all valve head.

I suppose I was waxing satirical on how Trace always seemed to under rate their wattage, whereas some modern manufacturers like to use marketing nonsense to muddy the waters with their peak RMS ratings. Or summat like that 😁

[Andytre]

Behringer are quite bad, especially with their power amps, Inuke NU6000 is suppose to be 6000watts, but its about a quarter of the volume of our Crown macro tech 1200. i suppose its just to get people all excited with the big numbers!

 

not sure if Bugera are also fudging the books with their watts  

[WHUFC BASS]

In the early 90s I used to have a GP7 1x15 combo which was rated at 100w and it was insanely loud. I played a Status 6 String at the time and the two sounded amazing together. I'll always remember the huge bottom end especially how it handled the low B string. Was quite portable from what I remember too. Looked like this ..