NAD...another Elf on the loose.

[Raslee]

Loads been said already about these so I won’t take up your time but thought I’d gloat my NAD, still yet to try it out though. Cab wise I was thinking either the Trace 1x10” or the Barefaced OneTen but a 4ohm Eden EX10 came up at a third the price and thought that’ll do me for what I need right now - hopefully the cab will be here sometime soon. 

So more tiny Elf 😘

[RossHetherington]

I think this is going to be my next year, retire my 20 year old Ashdown.

[Reggaebass]

Very nice Raslee , I look forward to hearing your opinion , it looks great 🙂

[Raslee]

21 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

Very nice Raslee , I look forward to hearing your opinion , it looks great 🙂

Cheers, it’s for a Ukulele band I’ve been jamming with so emphasis on little 😂  

[Mickeyboro]

And how has it done?

[Microbass]

Welcome to the club! Haven’t used mine for a while.. should take ‘er for a spin. 

[Raslee]

On 04/11/2019 at 09:45, Mickeyboro said:

And how has it done?

Still in the living room so not driven it hard yet, but I like the core sound a lot. Ukulele practice this Sunday so it will be it's first outing

[spyder]

I've had mine for around a week now and I also really like the core sound. 

It has a baked in scoop sound with the tone controls at noon. If you turn the mid knob all the way up the sound is much more natural. 

The compressor is fantastic, really punchy and strong. 

It's an amazing amp both in size and tone. 

[spyder]

As a follow up.. 

I took delivery of the Elf 1x10 cab today and was initially impressed.... 

Until I turned it up above home rehearsal levels, the sound just farted out. It wasn't the driver but the cabinet size. 

I was really looking forward to using it with the church worship group this Sunday but I'm afraid it won't cut it. 

So.... Its going back and I'm trying the 208 cab. 

 

[Mickeyboro]

Be interesting to see how that compares. I have two BF One10s and am considering an Elf...

[Raslee]

17 hours ago, spyder said:

As a follow up.. 

I took delivery of the Elf 1x10 cab today and was initially impressed.... 

Until I turned it up above home rehearsal levels, the sound just farted out. It wasn't the driver but the cabinet size. 

I was really looking forward to using it with the church worship group this Sunday but I'm afraid it won't cut it. 

So.... Its going back and I'm trying the 208 cab. 

 

Think I read a similar review on Amazon that said the speaker didn’t cut it 😕

[spyder]

2 hours ago, Raslee said:

Think I read a similar review on Amazon that said the speaker didn’t cut it 😕

Yep it farted out at quite a moderate volume and had no real bass response. It was all mid with no bottom end. 

I've got the 208 cab on the way so report when I get it. 

[TheGreek]

I use mine with an original 1x10 extension cab (BLX???) from the 90s. I haven't had any issues with farty-ness even with the amp turned up..

You might want to try to track one down - having said that I think I've seen two others for sale in the 2 years I've had mine. Good luck.

[spyder]

On 12/11/2019 at 16:32, spyder said:

Yep it farted out at quite a moderate volume and had no real bass response. It was all mid with no bottom end. 

I've got the 208 cab on the way so report when I get it. 

Well what a transformation. 😋

The 208 cab really opens up the sound of the Elf and it can handle a low B ( within the house ) without any problems.

I will take it to church, with the Elf this Sunday and give it a good work out. 

Will report my findings. 

Edited November 15, 2019 by spyder

[Lozz196]

Last week I saw a bassist use one of these plugged into an Ashdown 410. Not sure how much on-stage volume was generated but it was a really nice sound FOH, and considering he was using a Rickenbacker, not a bit tiny or twangy, just a good balanced bass sound.

[spyder]

The Elf head definitely has a baked in trace sound. 

It has LOTS of midrange punch with a forward scooped sound that really cuts... Subtle it is not. 

This can be a blessing or a hindrance in getting a great sound. 

It really suits my Stingrays punchy forward sound but it won't do a smooth relaxed sound without a lot of tweeking. 

[Merton]

I used an Elf through a single Super Compact, no PA support, in a loud rock band gig a while back. Left my ABM in the car because I was feeling lazy!

It coped, albeit with absolutely no headroom left, and sounded pretty good. In the end I decided I needed more headroom so went back to my beloved Ashdown RM heads for my lightweight option. The Elf is a great little thing though

[TheGreek]

10 hours ago, Merton said:

I used an Elf through a single Super Compact, no PA support, in a loud rock band gig a while back. Left my ABM in the car because I was feeling lazy!

It coped, albeit with absolutely no headroom left, and sounded pretty good. In the end I decided I needed more headroom so went back to my beloved Ashdown RM heads for my lightweight option. The Elf is a great little thing though

You were only using 130w of the 200w available??

 

[Merton]

Yep!

[stewblack]

Why did I read this? Want an Elf too now. 

[spyder]

Update on Elf with 208 cab. 

Used both at church with a light drummer an acoustic guitar and acoustic upright piano. 

I ran the Elf with tone controls at noon, the input gain at 2 O'clock where the compressor was just coming on and the master volume around 9 O'clock. 

I used a MusicMan Stingray 5 with treble and mid flat and the bass boosted almost full because the cab has very little low bass. 

Over the last year I have been using a Taurus combo with a single 10 inch speaker and horn. The size is around 50% bigger than the Elf 208 cab. 

Now for the sound.... 

The Taurus had a clear deep sound with very little colouration to the sound. 

The Elf is very coloured in comparison (in a good way). The biggest difference is in the way the Elf handles the mid frequencies. The Elf combination punches hard in the midrange. This really helps in projecting the bass sound. People in the audience could hear my notes better than with the Taurus. The 208 cab being relatively small has some limitations major limitations. These limitations are not the fault of the cab itself because the build quality is excellent and the drive units are of the highest quality. Size is the problem.. It does not fart out or rattle even when playing a low B at high volume. It simply roles off the lowest bass frequencies. This can be a blessing if you have a boomy stage or a problem if you want to play some dub. 

I personally don't mind the low frequency limitations because if I wanted more bass I would use a bigger cab or two 208 cabs. 

The cab also does not have a tweeter horn so it does lack the sizzle of a horn loaded cab. Again this is not a problem for me. 

My conclusion is that the Elf head and 208 cab make a great combination. The size and weight is simply mind blowing. The cab is a one hand lift and the amp fits in my gig bag or bass case. The sound is punchy with great projection. 

It's not a cheep rig but if you want light weight and a Trace Elliot sound than I highly recommend you try out the head and 208 cab. 

I would really like to try another 208 cab and a more powerful head.

Peavey if you are listening please bring out an Elf size head ( Double height ) with around 600 - 800 watts . This would be perfect sitting on top of two 208 cabs.

I have no link or affiliation to Peavey or Trace Elliot or thier dealers. 

 

 

Edited November 18, 2019 by spyder

[stewblack]

Thanks for the review @spyderI don't have that set up but I do have a 2x8 cab (TC Electronic) and I agree that the weight and sound are just unreal for those of us brought up with old fashioned heavy gear.

Interesting what you say about the Elf and the way it is designed. That lack of real deep bass and increased mid punch will always get you heard and keep the band mix clean.

Sounds like a well thought out little amp. 

 

[spyder]

On 18/11/2019 at 07:59, spyder said:

Update on Elf with 208 cab. 

Used both at church with a light drummer an acoustic guitar and acoustic upright piano. 

I ran the Elf with tone controls at noon, the input gain at 2 O'clock where the compressor was just coming on and the master volume around 9 O'clock. 

I used a MusicMan Stingray 5 with treble and mid flat and the bass boosted almost full because the cab has very little low bass. 

Over the last year I have been using a Taurus combo with a single 10 inch speaker and horn. The size is around 50% bigger than the Elf 208 cab. 

Now for the sound.... 

The Taurus had a clear deep sound with very little colouration to the sound. 

The Elf is very coloured in comparison (in a good way). The biggest difference is in the way the Elf handles the mid frequencies. The Elf combination punches hard in the midrange. This really helps in projecting the bass sound. People in the audience could hear my notes better than with the Taurus. The 208 cab being relatively small has some limitations major limitations. These limitations are not the fault of the cab itself because the build quality is excellent and the drive units are of the highest quality. Size is the problem.. It does not fart out or rattle even when playing a low B at high volume. It simply roles off the lowest bass frequencies. This can be a blessing if you have a boomy stage or a problem if you want to play some dub. 

I personally don't mind the low frequency limitations because if I wanted more bass I would use a bigger cab or two 208 cabs. 

The cab also does not have a tweeter horn so it does lack the sizzle of a horn loaded cab. Again this is not a problem for me. 

My conclusion is that the Elf head and 208 cab make a great combination. The size and weight is simply mind blowing. The cab is a one hand lift and the amp fits in my gig bag or bass case. The sound is punchy with great projection. 

It's not a cheep rig but if you want light weight and a Trace Elliot sound than I highly recommend you try out the head and 208 cab. 

I would really like to try another 208 cab and a more powerful head.

Peavey if you are listening please bring out an Elf size head ( Double height ) with around 600 - 800 watts . This would be perfect sitting on top of two 208 cabs.

I have no link or affiliation to Peavey or Trace Elliot or thier dealers. 

 

 

Just a quick thank you to Raslee because I've hijacked his original thread. 

I've now acquired an AH600-12 peavey made head. With both heads going through the 208 cab I've managed to get the AH600-12 head to sound almost identical to the Elf. 

With the Trace preset engaged, the compressor switched in on its lowest setting and a small boost to the 660 hz slider it sounds remarkably like the little Elf. 

The big Trace wins out in the balls department leaving the little Elf wanting. 

Hope this helps with the Elf adventure. 

 

[Raslee]

23 hours ago, spyder said:

Just a quick thank you to Raslee because I've hijacked his original thread.

No problems dude. Your review is more comprehensive than i would ever get around to doing.

 

On 18/11/2019 at 09:46, stewblack said:

 don't have that set up but I do have a 2x8 cab (TC Electronic) and I agree that the weight and sound are just unreal for those of us brought up with old fashioned heavy gear.

I'm intrigued by the TC 2x8", don't think I can justify the readies to splash out on the Trace 2x8" - what do you think to it?

[spyder]

8 minutes ago, Raslee said:

 

I'm intrigued by the TC 2x8", don't think I can justify the readies to splash out on the Trace 2x8" - what do you think to it?

I think it's fantastic. A new classic. 

The sound is very punchy and it can take a lot of power. I tried it with a 600 watt AH600-12 and it came alive. The bass and treble are a little reserved but the mids a great. I'm on the look out for a second..... Could be a long wait because I've not seen any on second hand market yet. 

It comes highly recommended. IMHO