VTypeV4

Yep, this! Ha! 😀 To the O/P, would you be willing to pop the chassis out and take a pic? It may be DFA control..

I've never seen that before - looks like an addition / modification to me..

My first 'big' Trace back in about '99.. I had trouble with the original bg12s Celestion speaker which got a bit 'flappy' but thankfully Trace Elliot upgraded it for free with a Q/K series model with a bigger magnet, voice coil and a generally better spec. Sounded super after that. Hope you enjoy yours - £44 is a bargain!

Synkronize ml5k by VTypeV4, on Flickr So we opened the studio at the weekend.. AARRGGHH! 😀 ML5000 - main mix console GL3000 - fx returns console 02R - tracking console

Yup, it's an early one - early eighties - MK4 / 5 era and probably the 150w (possibly 100w) / 4 ohm power stage.. If you pop the thing out of the case and lift the lid, you may find more info inside as they were often dated like Marshall gear.

I know you've all seen it before but this was a pre-gig rehearsal the other night - thought it looked slick.. Bassman studio by VTypeV4, on Flickr

3rd 02r return by VTypeV4, on Flickr So we had a little bit of a hiccup with the 'analogue card' console a few weeks back - I think there was a weird power spike in the studio as it also upset one of the SPX FX units and sent the computer nuts too. The faults were a couple of channels down with no A/D conversion, a dead line on the screen and a few other glitches suggesting something was unwell. Thankfully, as ever the repair man (K. Edwards Electronics) has cured the ills except for the screen but that wasn't the end of the world. A quick shakedown last-night seems to have it back on form as can be seen in the pic above. It may be 2018 but they're still going (strong now they've all been fixed in the last few years!) and earning their bit.

I had a Peavey Classic 60/60 for a while - not big numbers at 60w / ch but it was great and played louder than you might think.. Other options are the Marshall ones (9100 I think) - true dual mono-blocks and a very nice bit of kit plus a plethora of second hand options from Ampeg, Mesa Boogie, Trace Elliot - all the usual suspects. Vintage options from the likes of Hi Watt, Orange and Soundcity et-al are all loud and heavy and tend to go for a little less than their pre-amped dedicated instrument brothers - I had a Soundcity 'Energizer 120' which simply had a level control and it was ridiculous. Massive transformers and 6x EL34s. Not sure if you're after vintage, modern or somewhere inbetween but there's more than a few ideas for you to go at, hope it helps..

Glad to see it brought back to life - I loved mine. I only sold it to pay for the V4 although I re-acquired a few years later, it now belongs to a mate in a tribute band.. Hope you enjoy it!

Peavey Microbass - great little thing despite it's size and being a bit basic. Not sure what the newer ones are like but the models from the late '90s / '00s punch well above their weight.

I could, gladly - I've done plenty of gigs and a few studio sessions with my early VM Jazz. In my opinion it's 'better' than the '75 RI, the Marcus Miller and a few other 'real deal' Fenders I've owned. The only thing it doesn't beat was a 50th anniversary Deluxe Jazz (regret selling that one) I had years back.. Can't really compare the Warwick as it's a 5 string..

Keep the Trace - as clever, compact and light as the TC amps are, I can't see one keeping up with that 715 - irrespective of the apparent 'watts'..

I believe the O/E Trace drivers were both variations on standard Celestions of the day - I owned both the 2103H and 1153 for a time.. The 10" is a 16 ohm C10H - a variation on the old BG10-80 model albeit with a larger magnet which may (or may not) change the spec compared to that of the standard model. And the 15" is a C15H which is essentially K15T / H with a slightly different cone / dust-cap and possibly a few other detail changes - again how much difference over a standard K series it is, I don't know. Celestion are generally pretty helpful with their older range - I've had plenty of info from them in the past so hopefully somewhere in their archives are the T/S specs for these older units.. As for the tuning of the Trace cabs, I can't recall the depth of the port - I think they're 8" maybe 10" deep by 4" dia although someone would have to check if they wanted to run the numbers accurately. I seem to remember something in one of the old manuals about there being bungs available to block one or both ports to alter the characteristics of the cab. Both open 45Hz, one open for 35Hz or maybe the other way round? Seems a bit daft to tune so low - neither cab would do anything close to 45Hz (from memory at least) let alone 35 although they were both great sounding boxes. As for the Berg cabs, I can't comment as I know nothing about the model or the drivers they use..

I have a little VC30 2x10 guitar combo that sounds lovely - it's nicely made and conveniently portable..

I gigged a borrowed Laney rig about ten years ago and it was pretty kick-a$$ to be fair. I think it was the same head as pictured above (300w / graphic EQ / compressor) with matching Celestion loaded 4x10 and compact 1x15 - very impressive. I can't remember why I'd borrowed it, maybe my Trace combo at the time was in for repair or something but I was very happy with how big and tight it sounded and as such always stuck in my mind..

I've said a few times but for me the pick of the bunch was the 400SMX - power for days and somehow better than the 600 IMO! The more compact sized heads pack plenty of power too - the 300SMX was my fave of those..

Thanks! I still have the original knobs but I thought the black / white / silver colour combination was a winner. It's heavy but sounds fantastic.

I'm not sure about my cab but my amp is an '81 - possibly the first year of the Black Face style 135.. Matching 135 grill by VTypeV4, on Flickr Most of the silver face versions I've seen have the silver grille cloth but I've seen a few black grille ones too although not with the ali trim. They probably went through a transitional stage around that time? Sorry I can't be more definitive..

I used one a couple of times - it was given to me as a 'this is knackered, you can have it' kind of deal. I promptly fixed it and had it working but it wasn't the best as the amp was very rattly where it screwed to the enclosure. Some dampening by our old friend gaffa tape went a good way to curing it. It wasn't particularly loud either although it would just about stand with a drummer but I personally wouldn't have wanted to ever do a gig with it. On a positive note, the graphic EQ helped massively with tone shaping and the compressor worked reasonably well at lower settings plus the speaker is a Celestion (a cheap one, granted) which seemed to stand strong at all levels. I think £75 is almost the upper end of the market for one of these - for similar coin I'd take a Peavey TKO / TNT - but maybe your friend will get on with it and do everything he needs, hope he enjoys it.

The 'inspiration' for the Reeves and Mywatt amplifiers - Hiwatt - claimed 400w from 6 valves as did Trace Elliot with the V6. There may be some number juggling but can't imagine there's much in it under real world conditions..

Usually a frazzled voice coil caused by a thermal overload - bass boost + clipping amplifier come to mind. You may be lucky and find one of the tinsel leads which run from the terminals on the frame down through the cone to the coil itself has failed / split - I've got a few more years out of a couple of Peavey Black Widows by repairing the tinsel on drivers which would have otherwise been scrapped. Take the driver out of the box and do a visual inspection then check the speaker with a multi-meter set to continuity across the terminals. If you don't have a meter, you can use a battery and see if it clicks / moves. Take some pics of it out of the enclosure and report back when you've done the above.

I had the the slightly newer, larger box TXF version. It sounded awesome but weighed 8000 tonnes..

There's an old TNT 130 at our rehearsal space - the real old one with the parametric mid, not the graphic EQ - which is from the 1980's. We ditched the Scorpion speaker (which sounded a bit flat) and put a newer Celestion in (after trialing a JBL) and it for what it is, it kicks donkey. It's a bit 'clangy' but has plenty of power for it's rating and is more than usable in a gig situation - I used it at a wet / muddy show during summer last year as I didn't want my Trace or SWR boxes covered in muck! It'll never replace the Trace or the Fender but I'd happily use it again if I needed to.

I think my Ashton 410 had these - part of the lower end Tru-vox / TF series and they worked great in that too. They haven't got an exceptional spec but there's something pretty sweet sounding about them.

Me too, above and beyond - I'm not even a customer and I'm being offered support on a product that they didn't even build. Superb.