VTypeV4

Valve amplifiers only, ie Valve pre-amp and power-amp stages.. Big (or small!) glowing bottles a-plenty please.. [IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/BeavisClean.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/BeavisChassis.jpg[/IMG] Beavis, my 60w custom built head. [IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/LaneyHondo.jpg[/IMG] Laney VC30 (4xEL84) 2x10 with lovely Jensen speakers. [IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSCN1200.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/BV300RVW.jpg[/IMG] Ashton BV300H Stack. 6 x KT88 and Celestion Loaded cabs. [IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/LinearStackL30.jpg[/IMG] Linear L30 Stack. 2 x EL34 and Goodmans Loaded 12" cabs. [IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSCN1141.jpg[/IMG] Leak Stereo 20. Really sweet sounding peice of kit.. So bring 'em on, big small or indifferent, from Ampeg and Boogie through to Dr Z and all in between. [IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSCN1200.jpg[/IMG]

I haven't had chance to use under 'full battle conditions' yet however, a quick blast in the house with the master on 5 (and gain approiatly set at 7) it does begin to break up but in that smooth way, not in a 'I'm dying, give me a break' sort of way. Much like like my Trace V4 used to be.. I know it's in the house but it really does seem massively loud, especially given its compact dimensions. It'll give my Ashton stack a run for it's money!

A Crashdown I could get on with.. Very interesting! Even I'll admit that it's a lovely looking amp..

[quote name='john_oprey' timestamp='1363901095' post='2019291'] This is exactly the situation I'm in!.....I'm currently selling off all my older Trace gear to fund a Barefaced big twin cabinet....just about got the funds together. [i][b]Alex suggested keeping my old TE ah400smx [/b][/i]and newer ah500-12 just to see how they fair with the new cabinet. The tc electronic was the first alternative lightweight option I looked at (the rh450) but I'm now considering gk fusion (500w) valve amp or gk1001rb. Also the mark bass little tube amp gets good reviews.....? Being a trace man myself for the best part of 20years it's all a bit daunting, but, just like Big Rob, I feel the time for a change is fast approaching... Barefaced was ordered 2 weeks ago - so about 6 weeks to wait! JohnO [/quote] Thats really good advice, wish I'd never sold mine..

Sounds fair to me, I haven't any experience with Jensen speakers but they seem to have a good reputation and I'm sure your man knows where he's at. Hope it sounds great! I bought the Celestion in the pic to go [i]in[/i] one of my WEM cabs but it had a bit of a coil rub but I re-aligned magnet and it works well now but it's not currently in a cab. I have an HH Invader thats really sweet sounding in one and an Electrovoice SRO / EVM 15-L in the other but I still have the original Goodmans drivers too, one of which is still in good health.

What speaker are you putting it with? Something like this.. [IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/Celcoil4_zps3c55f509.jpg[/IMG] Not hugely efficient but certainly distinctive, warm and smooth sounding.. In my WEM 1x15 anyways..

[IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/TV2_zps02353bd0.jpg[/IMG] Slightly Arty shot.. [IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/TV1_zpsb76e92fc.jpg[/IMG] And a slightly fuzzy one.. This amp has blown my socks off! A 20 year old single-fifteen combo has no right to sound this good or be this loud. I dialed my usual settings in and it just did it without any further tweaks being required.. I've had many Trace amps over the years and they've all been great but I don't think I've ever plugged into any amp (Trace or otherwise) that has as much punch and imediacy that this does. The 15" speaker is in a very compact enclosure but it doesn't seem to compromise the low end too much although there is a slight upper-bass hump (as expected from a tiny box) but I don't mind this. The upper frequencies are very well catered for with enough 'ping' to keep me happy without requiring an HF component. This combo is head and shoulders above the 712, 715 and V-Type 4808 combos I've owned in the past, it really iss that good! The owner has said I can keep it for a month (he's moving house) so I can get used to it and decide if I want to buy it. I'll have to see if I can find fault with it but other than it's a little bit heavy, it's awesome. He recently installed some PM brand 6550s in it's power stage so valves aren't really a worry although I've got some shuguang KT88-98s if needed.. What a fantastic bit of kit.. Seemingly old-skool Trace Elliot at it's best.

Well.. He dropped it off this evening.. What have I done... It's got 'that thing' going on, serious mojo!

Selmer Tremolo is the best I've ever used.. I had a Constellation 20 (EL84 powered 2x12") combo that was stunning. The wobble was truly magical on that old thing!

I love those old Selmers although the croc-skin ones are my faves.. Baxter, what a lovely job! I'm glad to see another vintage valve amp in tip-top shape.

Glowing valves and Lurpak-laden toast? Just add bikes and girls and we're away! Ha!

I've been offered a really clean example of a classic Trace Elliot Twin Valve combo for good money.. Has anyone owned or borrowed one or have any experience of this model? Was it good? Was it loud enough given it's ~100w? Does the compact enclosure compromise the low end too much? Was there reliability issues with the delicate valves? Etc etc etc... I have plenty of experience with valve and hybrid Trace stuff, I've owned plenty before but never anything as old (or as low powered!) as this model with the old Series 6 seven-band style pre-amp. I'll have the opportunity to try it but not for a few days or weeks or whenever the chappy who owns it is about. I appreciate thats the obvious answer; try the thing! Thoughts and feelings most welcome, cheers, Matt

I'm amazed at the sheer pig-headed arrogance.. As I said earlier, I don't like the products they offer but even if I did, I would NEVER buy one after reading through this.. Many years ago, (much like the Marshall story on the prev page) I had trouble with a BG series Celestion speaker in a Trace Elliot combo but it was seemingly a known weak point and under warranty they installed an upgrade 200w Celestion Q range in it's place without question or quibble..

I think these things really look great, a comprehensive (if not slightly complex) pre-amp and a beefy KT88 output stage? Sounds pretty good to me!

[quote name='Merton' timestamp='1363555411' post='2014124'] The tone will be fine, trust me I know this coz I had the power trannies replaced in mine after my mate [i][b]dropped it heavily and knocked all the heat sinks off [/b][/i]the originals... [/quote] Had this with a 300SM I sold on eBay many years ago, luckily the insurance paid up..

There's three on eBay at the moment.. MK 1 100w 1 x 15 [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trace-Elliot-Commando-1001-15-Combo-Bass-Amplifier-/261182772121?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item3ccfb4d399"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trace-Elliot-Commando-1001-15-Combo-Bass-Amplifier-/261182772121?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item3ccfb4d399[/url] MK 1 100w 1 x 12 [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trace-Elliot-Bass-Combo-/300874098873?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item460d7e68b9"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trace-Elliot-Bass-Combo-/300874098873?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item460d7e68b9[/url] MK 2 65w 1x10 [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/trace-elliot-bass-guitar-amp-65w-/221201426626?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item3380a1e8c2"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/trace-elliot-bass-guitar-amp-65w-/221201426626?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item3380a1e8c2[/url]

I'm not a fan of rics whatsoever least of all their company attitude.. If we break it down into fundamentals then all my Warwick is is a Jazz copy albeit turbocharged.. Are Fender about to take Warwick on? I rather think not.. The question is, where do you draw the line...? I think Ric should sort their own issues with QC with the top flight models and much like Fender, Gibson etc, bring their own budget models to better compete in that market..

Good luck with your search, hope you find one soon. Oh, and post some pix when you do!

Cool.. It's difficult to say whether I can hear any differences when operating different loads on any of my amps as any difference can likely be attributed to the change of speakers. Plus I expect the freq range of the amp to be greater than that of any speakers I have at home..

TruVox will be a black pressed frame with a red label on the magnet.. I think it's the TF1520 unit. Merton, for the MK1, I'm not sure, let me know and take some pix as I'd be interested to see.. When I had trouble with the BG12S flapping in my 712SMC, Trace Elliot udgraded it under warranty to a Q12 (2025?) 200w unit and that never gave any trouble. I expect the rest of the Q series were equally up to the job and judging by the age of the MK1 Commandos, it's where I'd put my monies on..

I remember reading something about windings on secondaries causing a head ache for designers for use at 8 ohm due to a potential imbalance.? I think it was something to do with two sets of windings in parallel driving current into one another potentially causing output losses and errors? .

Cheers Man.

Cheers Umph, You say 'how it's wound' can you expand a bit more on that? For example, guage of wire, distance between windings, thickness of insulator, density of iron core?

Nope, not at the time.. I always find it fascinating how much each component contributes to a particular sound, you know how it is man, I can't help it!

An X of mine had the 1x15 MK2 model and was great. It never saw much hard work but at rehearsals and home use it always came up trumps on the occasions I used it. It's possible that MK2 came with a different 15" speaker as they came with a TruVox series Celestion whereas the MK1s pre-date this driver so it was probably a K or Q series unit in those.. I owned a Commando 10 for a time and it was a belting little amp and I only paid £50 for it!