Sparky Mark

A rehearsal studio in Hertford used to have Series 6 410 and Series 6 112 combos that sounded amazing. I think they were both rated as 150 watts without an extension cab. They were what brought me back to TE amps. I'm not one for mid cut pre shapes, but there's something about that original Trace Elliot pre shape button that just works so well.

And this could be the reason Trace Elliot amps have a reputation for delivering more power than other amps with the same advertised output.

The maximum output of many modern amplifiers is stated at 1% (sometimes 10%) THD (total harmonic distortion). Trace Elliot used a 0.02% level at maximum output. I wonder if this means the TE amps were capable of higher outputs but with increased THD?

Agreed. Looking at the handle position, this looks like a cut down combo to cab conversion.

The cab is a Series 6 1153 (Classic) compact cab. It does have a single front port behind the grill.

Yep, a totally different animal, 300 watts, fan cooled with Celestion driver and carpet covering. Mine is 250 watts, rear heatsink cooled with Fane Axiom driver and vinyl covering.

Unless you saw it 3 years ago on eBay, I think it's a different amp.

Thank you. I can't remember precisely what I paid, probably somewhere around £150 three years ago. I used a NOS JJ valve from my spares box bought many years ago, so nothing like today's silly prices. I kept the original Trace valve for...... no idea really?

I found this SMX250 for a good price because it was making all sorts of horrible sounds, even before I started to play through it! Replacing the original hyper microphonic 12ax7 valve fixed it and now it's as good as new.

With that head and cab you should be able to achieve the type of tone you desire. I wouldn't max the Vintage filter; just set at 25% and reduce the hi frequency control. Reduce hi mids a little and perhaps boost low slightly. Use both or just the neck pickup to get a softer tone. Finally I'd go back to roundwounds because TI flats are very mid present. I loved TI flats on my passive Precisions but couldn't get a nice tone with my active Musicman basses. I think you've got all the elements available to get your tone but need to experiment more without going to any extreme settings, either on your amp or bass guitar onboard preamp controls.

Corner shop?

Try it and see if it returns enough brightness for your playing style. I'm not convinced doing this removes significant grime as the video maker suggests; I think it could be something to do with the winding being relaxed from the string core.

I use this technique to brighten dead strings. It really does work and saves £££.

Indeed. Those seem to be the reissue relic set now used on Roadworn and CS relic instruments.

My first rig was a Sound City 120 on top of a single 18 folded horn and a Shergold Marathon from Rockbottom in Croydon. They saw me coming. No definition but my mates said they could hear it rumbling half a mile away. Bloody awful. I replaced the cab with a SMF412 bought from Angelwitch's bass player who worked in a music shop in Leytonstone. Not much better.

You could email Andrew (John's son) at Jaydee Custom Guitars and ask how specs may have changed?

I have both lightweight and midweight cabs. The heaviest are my 56lb Bergantino HD210, the lightest are 29lb MB NY121P, with a few others in between. My choice for gigs depends partly on the venue, partly on the fee and partly on load in attributes. I use a folding trolley to move my cabs almost every time. My 100lb cabs went years ago, and I will be sad the day I can't shift my HD210s (one at a time). At 62 years old, I know that will happen before too long and I completely agree modern systems can be more accurate and go louder, but I don't want FRFR or huge volumes, so I'll gradually work my way down my cabs until I fade away.

I'm a little sceptical of Alex's choice of the extra compact Markbass JB combo for this comparison. One of the larger format MB single 15 cabs would've been a fairer comparison to the BF. Anyhow, my one single 15 cab is a Trace Elliot compact 15 ( can't recall the exact product reference number ATM) loaded with that Fane axiom driver. It sounds absolutely beautiful and I've gigged it in medium sized venues successfully for rock covers, no problems with being heard.

Yes,I did see that but wasn't sure what Brian's assertion was based upon? Perhaps a confession from the seller, or more photos not posted here?