Trace Elliot - Rescue & Restore (and bargain finds)

[SimonK]

Hi all,

 

So back in the 90s/00s I had a Trace Elliot catalogue and dreamed about being an owner. When I went to University in 1998 one of my mates spent his entire student loan on a stack (a 1x18 cab, 4x10 cab and GP12 based head but I can't quite remember which one) meaning I did at least get a chance to play/borrow it on occasion (in exchange for food!) but other than that the price was way out of my league.

 

Twenty five years later and thanks to Trace being THE name in bass amps for a few years certainly in the UK, there is so much available second hand. There are some wildly optimistic prices on the normal second hand sites, but at the same time some awesome deals out there. Given that I really can't help myself when I see a good deal with the Trace logo on it, I thought I would start my own thread showing off/discussing some of the things I have found (and hoping others with old Trace gear might chip in!).

Edited October 26 by SimonK

[SimonK]

First up I drove for an hour or so to get this 1048 classic cab for a bargain of £90, and when I met the chap he said he had a GP7 head that was broken that I could have for free. I bit his hand off, took the head to my buddy with a soldering iron who found a blown transistor in the very first circuit (controlling the input gain levels) and 45 minutes later it was all working just fine!

 

 

The offending part that once replaced turned a free broken head into an awesome amp:

 

Edited October 6 by SimonK

[SimonK]

...then back around Christmas time there was another chap in Portsmouth who wanted to get rid of a 1x15 cab and also a 4x10 combo that he had blown the amp in (and sadly binned). I grabbed both for £100, and then swapped a GP7 head (that same buddy with soldering iron had acquired for nothing and fixed) into the empty 4x10 combo cab to make the following which I donated to a local church (albeit I get to play through it every couple weeks and it saves me carrying an amp in!):

 

[SimonK]

...and last week picked up a 2103x cab from a chap in London, combined it with the 1x15 I got just after Christmas and the fixed GP7, to make my current (as of last week) first choice rig (and yes I have a trolley to move it!). Cost to me £75 in total - frankly unbelievable given the sound - first gig with it next week which I am very much looking forward to!

 

[Homatron]

Woah... that's some serious good luck and/or perseverance! I count myself lucky if I find some half-priced strawberries for my berry addict toddler! Not sure I could hide a Trace cab at the back of the fridge.

[DGBass]

I suppose 'Rescue & Restore' would also be an appropriate name for a thread where old Trace Elliot stuff is concerned. Kudos for keeping some quality old school TE stuff gigging. I've had some similar TE kit pass through my hands over the last five years in particular, and the thing about old TE stuff, apart from the weight, is that it was built to last. That being said, the 'old TE classics' do now have plenty years under their belts and it's more or less a given that a good proportion of it will need repairs and servicing of some sort. So buying cheap, especially with amps can be a gamble. The J112 fet that was failed on your SM head is quite a common thing on these amps, and an inexpensive fix.  The older Trace stuff with output sections using Hitachi Mosfets can lead to more costly repairs if they go wrong. Cabs though are usually bomb proof and it takes a lot of abuse to break them. I've just bought an AH250 GP11 MKV for the princely sum of £30. It lights up beautifully, but the output is suspect. I know whats wrong with it, and it will need a bit of TLC. However, these amps are legendary, and well worth a little repair work to keep them going. Also rather nice to see a heavyweight thread where lightweight amps and cabs won't be mentioned😁

[DGBass]

Both of these were purchased for less than the OPs 1048 cab, which is really a travesty of modern times, but very good for the TE enthusiasts amongst us. The Mark 4 GP11 is in regular operational use, The Mk 5 is on the bench but should be working soon. Viewed in UV light as all vintage TE's should be.

 

[PaulWarning]

I've used a couple of TE heads for  years now, a series 5 GP12 and an SMX GP12 as back up, which did need a new set of output MOSFETS a few years ago, I did pay about £130 for each of them, because they are the fan less 200 watt ones they're not too heavy at 13 KG, plenty loud enough, I did have a 4 x 12 cab and a 1 x 15 cab but they are just too damned heavy, which is why they're so cheap, so use neo cabs now, I am perfectly happy with this set up, old TE amps are quality but the ones with fans do start to get a bit heavy

[SimonK]

I was hoping there might be others out there interested in the quest - let me see if I can change the thread title as well (edit - I can't)!

 

RE the GP11s, I did have one for a few years that has an intermitant fault that resulted in a loud banging noise every now and again. Although we think we fixed it I never trusted the amp again, and also given it had a full flight case it was just that bit too heavy so I moved it on. I also didn't get on with the green push buttons that seemed to stick. I think my favourite models start at about series 6 and then defintely the SMX models, but after that it got a bit too Peavey for me.

Edited October 7 by SimonK

[dclaassen]

I am using the GP12 SMX head with the AH400 amp....using lighter cabs for small gigs, but, due to noone else wanting them, have the 4x10 and 15 in the garage just in case. Anybody wants them should let me know...

[SimonK]

19 minutes ago, dclaassen said:

I am using the GP12 SMX head with the AH400 amp....using lighter cabs for small gigs, but, due to noone else wanting them, have the 4x10 and 15 in the garage just in case. Anybody wants them should let me know...

 

Have you listed those anywhere as I vaguely remember seeing something in Cambridgeshire recently? Do you have a picture of the cabs?

[SimonK]

If anyone is near Kings Lynn there is a TE 2x10 on facebook marketplace for £40 put on today. Too far for me as otherwise I would have had it for the speakers, port caps and name badge alone!

[dclaassen]

22 hours ago, SimonK said:

 

Have you listed those anywhere as I vaguely remember seeing something in Cambridgeshire recently? Do you have a picture of the cabs?

Yes, I did...still would get rid of them. I'd even take some money for them. I bought the cabs in order to get the head. I am not hauling those around with me...:) 

[SimonK]

Cripes a Trace Elliott GP7SM Combo on ebay finishing in a couple hours for just £100... again too far from me for pickup (or at least I can't be arsed to drive into London when I have a similar head and cab already... although if it had been a GP12...).

 

Thought I'd stick some examples on this thread to prove I haven't really been lucky - these deals are not infrequent - and if you don't mind the weight I'm convinced you can't do any better for sound per £ than with old Trace gear.

 

2 hours ago, dclaassen said:

Yes, I did...still would get rid of them. I'd even take some money for them. I bought the cabs in order to get the head. I am not hauling those around with me...:) 

 

Which cabs and do you have a link to a listing - if you have a carpeted 4x10 with a tweeter I might be interested. Just missed one in Oxford last week for £150 which I thought was at the top of the price point but maybe justified if in good condition.

[dclaassen]

I had them listed for quite some time, no takers. I guess I'm currently on the fence about keeping the 410, because the sound is amazing!

Edited October 9 by dclaassen

[PaulWarning]

2 hours ago, dclaassen said:

I had them listed for quite some time, no takers. I guess I'm currently on the fence about keeping the 410, because the sound is amazing!

I had a 4 x10 given me by @kev b, because it was so heavy, it was too heavy for me as well, so I sold it for about £60 and split the money with him, the bloke who bought it carried it out of the door with one hand! I did feel a whim 😂, like you say, they do sound good

[SimonK]

...and then there was last week's bargain. Mentioned to my buddy that I was heading to Cardiff for a meeting, and he pointed out this 1818x in Barry for £20. I swung passed and grabbed it while I was down there. Was in a bit of a state but the speakers were fine and the crossover as well once we had bypassed the broken jack inputs. Cleaned up and it looks a whole lot more presentable now. Just in the process of switching out the old (broken) xlr connectors for some speakons which also means a new back-plate, but in doing so can also keep the biamp option (if two inputs are used the cross over will stick a 250Hz HPF on the 10 inch which is quite cool):

 

 

After a bit of TLC and black paint:

 

[JottoSW1]

So a trace fetishist ? Me too.

I think this is all the amps in one go ....!?

[Downunderwonder]

6 hours ago, SimonK said:

can also keep the biamp option (if two inputs are used the cross over will stick a 250Hz HPF on the 10 inch which is quite cool):

Sounds dodgy as hell. I would not be plugging two amps into that as described, on pain of smoking both.

[NancyJohnson]

I've seen many TE bargains over the years and once in a while my heart does this little flutter; I'm thinking how I simply couldn't afford that kit when it came out originally and how you can now pickup serviceable kit for takeaway prices.

 

I ran a ridiculous Trace rig in the '90s.  Tri-amp.  GP12 preamp, stereo and mono power amps, selection of cabinets including a 4x5 bright box.  Mental.  Amazingly, I could fit everything into a Renault 5.  Sadness is that a pair of current 1x12 cabs and a class-d head will likely outperform all that.

 

Sadly little use for it now.  I'm geared up!

 

 

 

Edited October 12 by NancyJohnson

[BassAdder60]

My concern if using it at gigs is will it get through the gig IE old age reliability!

 

I choose modern new amps so in the main they don’t fail 

 

A bit like driving around in a very old neglected car compared to a newer well serviced one ! 
 

Granted TE was superb in its day as was old Peavey stuff and old Laney stuff 

[PaulWarning]

15 minutes ago, BassAdder60 said:

My concern if using it at gigs is will it get through the gig IE old age reliability!

 

I choose modern new amps so in the main they don’t fail 

 

A bit like driving around in a very old neglected car compared to a newer well serviced one ! 
 

Granted TE was superb in its day as was old Peavey stuff and old Laney stuff 

as I said earlier I've been gigging with a series 5 Trace amp for years with no problems at all, but I do take a backup just in case, but I would do that anyway regardless of what amp I was using

[SimonK]

On 12/10/2024 at 10:49, BassAdder60 said:

My concern if using it at gigs is will it get through the gig IE old age reliability!

 

I choose modern new amps so in the main they don’t fail 

 

A bit like driving around in a very old neglected car compared to a newer well serviced one ! 
 

Granted TE was superb in its day as was old Peavey stuff and old Laney stuff 

 

So had a chance to use the GP7 SM head with the 2103x and the 1153 cab this weekend. First thought when carrying them to the car (particularly the 2103x) was "oh my god, maybe my enthusiasm for TE was misplaced..." but was able to use a trolley for load-in with no stairs so that bit was fine. I have to admit that @BassAdder60 comment did spook me so I had a little Aguilar Tonehammer 350 sitting ontop of the cabs just incase, but the Trace was absolutely fine. Plenty of power and sounded tight with the Stingrays, so very happy. Indeed I had one of those gigs where at the end I was absolutely satisfied with my sound - I don't quite agree with @NancyJohnson that a class D amp and a pair of 1x12 will sound any better (or even if they do they would cost a lot more than the £75 total I spent on this rig!).

[SimonK]

On 10/10/2024 at 20:55, Downunderwonder said:

Sounds dodgy as hell. I would not be plugging two amps into that as described, on pain of smoking both.

 

So it's all fixed up now with a new backplate and speakons for the full range signal. Essentially the treble jacks are switched (like in an effects send/return) so if something is plugged into the treble jack (middle in the picture), the full range plug signal is disconnected from the treble 10 and goes to the 18 only. That way you can biamp high frequencies to the 10 and lows to the 18 or alternatively (and probably most commonly) it is full range to both speakers via the speakon when nothing is plugged into the jack input.

 

 

[Downunderwonder]

That's a lot of faith in the switching jack if you ask me.