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NAD Elf


msb
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A new shop recently opened across the harbour in Dartmouth. Checked out their site and saw a new Elf. Now I’ve been reading great reviews on these things for years. None of the other local stores ever stocked them. One turned up on kijiji maybe five years ago and instantly sold. I kinda kicked myself for missing that.

So I was thinking about that Elf. And looking at stuff I haven’t been using, and decided that a trade might work. I picked up a SWR HeadLite a couple of years ago , and used it for a little while as a practice amp with an Ampeg 210AV. The amp is in perfect condition , none of the pots are scratchy , everything works perfectly. And I had picked it up for a song. So the dealer made a great trade , and I got a brand new Elf for roughly what I had planned to sell the HeadLite for. Without the hassle. I think we’re both quite happy.

First trying it quietly out at home with a Bareafaced One10.

Then in my practice nook at the in-laws with the C2.

The fan is noisy , I can live with that , the HeadLite has a noisy fan too.

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Posted (edited)

I don’t have any “big” cabs , but have some Bergs I gig with that can fill a room.

 

edit … I’m surprised at how loud that little amp will get  

 

Edited by msb
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I’m going to use at our next rehearsal with the One10. I’m enjoying this little rig. 
I think I might move some amps that I haven’t been using much to try some new things.

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Entirely in line with The Law Of Unintended Consequences I too bought a Trace Elf some years ago intending to keep it in my gigbag as an emergencies-only fall-back rig. This was after seeing one of the early ones being used by @Mike Brooks at The North Star in Ealing with @Silvia Bluejay.

 

Unbelievably, it very rapidly displaced several £000s of high-end amplification and became my first choice head at every gig with both my main bands ... just as much for DB gigs as for those using a Rickenbacker 4003s5. Who knew?

 

Modern amplification is so unbelievably powerful and useable that those 750W / 900W / 2000W heads we all lust over are simply a load of willy-waggling. Any gig big/loud enough to need that sort of amplification and you'll have full PA support and a sound engineering team to take care of it.

 

For me, the Elf has never once skipped a beat in the last eight years (that's >400 gigs, even with Covid slap in the middle), it weighs next to nothing, and it's built like a tank. Game Over. Insert New Coin.

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Yup, I’ve not used one of these amps yet, though heard a few and they’ve sounded great. But I have used my Warwick Gnome iPro (the 280 watt version). Was into a GK112 cab of some sorts and for onstage volume it was quite amazing, plenty of power and a good rich sound. From now on I think my Gnome will be my regular gigging amp, makes life a lot easier.

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It's a little belter is that amp.

 

I A/B it for fun with big expensive amps occasionally, and eyes closed, it definitely holds its own.

 

I have gigged it with a BF One10 a couple of times. It was on the edge of being not enough, but it managed. Two One10's would have been great, or any cab at 4 ohms. It's my backup amp at the moment, and my cab is 4 ohms, so I have no worries at all that it would manage if I called upon it.

 

Rob

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1 hour ago, Downunderwonder said:

On the other side of the pond they liked to say it's impossible to gig with one. Not that they ever tried. Actual gig reports were scorned!


I’ve had a number of friends in the US say that they can easily cover a mid sized room without going in the PA. I have some gig rigs so I’m not worried about covering that.
 

For years I got by with a RB400. 

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