Twincam Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I've seen a fair amount of these Trace Elliot combos for sale with instead of the speaker open they are behind a slotted front. What's the deal and theory behind having the speaker arrangement like this?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I know nothing about the theory but I had the misfortune of playing through one recently and it was truly awful... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No lust in Jazz Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 And in true forum 'Yin and Yang' I owned one in the mid 90's and thought that it was great - it was bought as a practice combo - 80w IIRC, but I did gig it in a rock band without PA support As for technical side of your post - dunno. But I recall one gig where a punter asked me at the end of the night - How did you get such a great sound from that... (pointing an accusing finger in its direction) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubsonicSimpleton Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Great place to park your bike if you keep your amp in the hall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomBass Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 [quote name='SubsonicSimpleton' timestamp='1450094039' post='2929454'] Great place to park your bike if you keep your amp in the hall. [/quote] And your pedals LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fitzmaurice Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 It's called, oddly enough, slot loading. The narrow slot widens dispersion, using the principles of diffraction: http://www.acoustics.salford.ac.uk/feschools/waves/flash/diffractionslider.swf It also adds a bit of acoustic loading to improve lows, but there being no such thing as a free lunch it also costs some high end, as it also works as an acoustic low-pass filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 [quote name='No lust in Jazz' timestamp='1450089080' post='2929377'] And in true forum 'Yin and Yang' I owned one in the mid 90's and thought that it was great - it was bought as a practice combo - 80w IIRC, but I did gig it in a rock band without PA support [/quote] That'll be the BLX80 then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrevorR Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Yup that'll be one of these then... Their adverts had the most wonderfully subtly tag line... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No lust in Jazz Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Yes that's the one. You could remove the amplifier from the carcass. 80w enough for a rock band? I know what you're thinking - but its true Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Yes, slot-loaded to help midrange dispersion. I think it's also acting as a bandpass cab, with the rear chamber coupled to the horizontal slot port and the front chamber coupled to the vertical slot, and the woofer in between those two chambers. I used one on a gig about 10 years ago - it wasn't that bad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Heavy and loud - the other bassist in my old band had one of these. Great sound, but weighed a hell of a lot considering its size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twincam Posted December 14, 2015 Author Share Posted December 14, 2015 [quote name='alexclaber' timestamp='1450107993' post='2929644'] Yes, slot-loaded to help midrange dispersion. I think it's also acting as a bandpass cab, with the rear chamber coupled to the horizontal slot port and the front chamber coupled to the vertical slot, and the woofer in between those two chambers. I used one on a gig about 10 years ago - it wasn't that bad! [/quote] Interesting. And cool. May I ask how exactly does it help with dispersion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPJ Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I'm sure there was a bigger 130w version too? Until recently, there was one of the 80w ones in a local rehearsal studio than seemed to be damned near indestructible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 (edited) The 130 Watt one was not surprisingly called the BLX 130. Almost identical but had two more MOSFETs in the amp that allowed it to drive another cab. They seem to be like marmite as you either love them or hate them. But two if those stacked would rock my world. Heavy, of course it had a lot more wood than most 10" cabs but it was the mutt's nuts.The BLX was short for what the advert suggests. It was so called because it was the Dog's BLX. You may not like the sound but that Trace pure and MOSFETs plus the EQ balance control. The only amp I have really regretted selling. I honestly think it was the look of them that put people off. Edited December 14, 2015 by Chienmortbb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fitzmaurice Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 [quote name='Chienmortbb' timestamp='1450122073' post='2929846'] I honestly think it was the look of them that put people off. [/quote]No doubt. If they'd hidden the baffle behind grille cloth people would have been far more concerned with how they sounded than how they looked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pobrien_ie Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I bought one of these used about 17 years ago. It blew during the first small pub gig that same day. Luckily the shop owner was at the gig and took it back, never to be seen again! Funnily enough, for some odd reason I started thinking about these again last week, and started looking for any for sale. I really like the look of them. Would be nice to buy one for old time sake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwan Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 When I left my first band the guy that replaced me used one and it was loud enough at full tilt to keep up with a reasonably animalistic drummer and 2 50w guitar combos, no lie. It was the 80 watt version. I really liked the sound of it actually. More focused and punchy than whatever I was using at the time. Would like to get hold of one myself! If I remember correctly the 130 watt version had a horn pasted on as an afterthought... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 I do like the engineering innovation in these! The problem is that front chamber generates a lot of unwanted resonances, as well as providing a Helmholtz resonance at the slot port, so although you gain bass output and gain improved midrange dispersion, there's a lot of midrange colouration. And I don't think the tweeter reaches low enough to match up with where the slot is acting as a lowpass filter on the woofer. I guess it's using a typically low excursion high efficiency Trace Elliot woofer, and the bandpass design is very good at reducing excursion for a given output, so it'll play louder than a conventional combo with the same woofer. Good way to get a lot of output and a lot of audibility out of a small box - certainly one of the lowest power combos that is giggable for many bassists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No lust in Jazz Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 From experience of ownership and gigging one of these, the issues presented by the science are lessened by the presence of a drummer in the same room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 To be fair, my experience of these is limited to a single use in a rehearsal studio and judging by the state of their other gear I suspect it hadn't had the best life prior to my unfortunate encounter with it... ... It was loud enough, just seriously honky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jecklin Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 My tutor had one of these in the late 90's. I had no time for Trace Elliot stuff as I was a hartke player ( teenage allegiancesvand all that), but I did have to admit it didn't sound bad at all. These days I really like the look of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthaside Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 Remember ..its 80 trace watts :-P that equates to twice as many of your non British watts :-P Our rehearsal studio growing up in leafy hounslow >.< , long gone now had a full suite of various trace gear from these BLX to the GP's , I'd even borrow one for gigs where where we needed more oomph ... Ususally i'd swap the BLX for a GP from another room if we were in one of the smaller ones without it . Probably the reason why i stayed with trace later on . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebenezer Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 I did own a blx 130 combo!...reasonable bottom end for a combo that size...all that mdf=heavy....very little midrange. I took the amp section out of mine and had it racked...great little amp though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alec Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 I too had a BLX-80, but with a horn. Bought second hand for a bargain, I loved it at the time - though just as a home practise & small gig amp, to complement my Trace 4x10 combo. As the years went on, I started to realise that I really didn't like the sound, and hated the weight. Replaced it with a TC RH450 head and Genz Benz STL-10T cab - much smaller, lighter, better (but more expensive). Way happier! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTypeV4 Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 I had a 130w model with the HF component on loan whilst my 712 Trace was having a replacememnt speaker installed. That was a while back - probably around '00. I was surprised by how loud it would play and liked the extra 'zing' the HF driver gave given it's modest size and power rating - I thought it sounded great. The weight was a bit of an issue although it was more of how that weight was distributed for me.. I have no desire to go out and buy one now but for what it was, I was suitably impressed. The SM pre-amp was pretty good too although I prefer the SMC models with the compressor. Thinking about it, I think they did do a BLX SMC with the 150w power stage and an HF component covered in green furr. I'll have a look in my old Trace catalogue.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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