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NAD - More Trace Elliot Content...


discreet

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NAD - More Trace Elliot Content...

I bought a Trace Elliot 7215 Series 6 GP7 300W Combo way back in January, and enjoyed it very much. However... I did some rehearsals and gigs with it - and to be quite honest, it did seem a little heavy to transport efficiently, especially for a man who is used to Barefaced cabs and Rumble Combos. So I moved it on. But over time I had to admit to myself that I was missing something from what I laughingly refer to as 'my tone'. Long story short, there was a hole in my sound that was Trace-shaped. So When I spotted this 1997 Trace 715 GP7 SMC 150W Combo on eBay, I put a bid in for it. There wasn't a lot of competition for it (possibly because it was 'only' 150W RMS?) and I snagged it for £80. Given the quality of build, components and facilities available (not to mention the 'tone') I can tell you that this is a ridiculous bargain - especially given the condition, which is good, as you can see from the pics. This example has stood in a recording studio for twenty years, has had very little use and has been recently serviced. The black cable-tie you can see was a temporary addition to hold some wiring in place while I re-attached a sticky pad - it's now gone.

And it's a real lightweight, too - my previous combo weighed in at just over 35kg - this one's only 32kg! ;) OK, so it's still relatively heavy. Relatively. I have one of those £20 Maplins folding sack trucks which makes it easy to get to the car, whereupon I still have enough strength in what remains of my body to lift it into my hatchback. It's honestly not a big deal. OK, if I had to physically carry it for more than a couple of hundred yards I'd be seriously worried about my hernia repair, but that's also true of a 16kg amp, or even a 12kg amp. The bottom line is that it does of course have the Trace slam and yes... 'heft' that I crave. I'm certainly no electronics expert, but  I genuinely believe it's something to do with the FET arrangement (which apparantly emulates valves to a certain extent - happy to be further educated about this) and also something to do with the power stage and that big round iron thing. Trace amps just seem to have a bottomless tin of beans available on tap regardless of their output numbers. It's really bloody loud considering it's rated at 150W and when playing with my band (drums, guitar, mandolin-violin-bazouki-banjo, 3X vocals) I have the master somewhere between 8 and 9 o'clock, and even then I'm too loud. Apparently...

I'll record an audio clip through the amp with my Zoom H1 later. Thanks for looking. :)

FRONT.jpg

FRONTLEFT.jpg

FRONTRIGHT.jpg

TUNING.jpg

GUTSONE.jpg

BACKLEFT.jpg

BACKRIGHT.jpg

HANDLE.jpg

TRANSFORMER.jpg

BUTTON.jpg

Edited by discreet
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Nice! Bet it sounds as awesome as it looks!

I still find myself hankering over the Trace tone I had (and loved) in the 90's.  I should by an old TE amp or combo like this just to satisfy the urge - although it's difficult to justify when I don't really need another amp! 

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3 minutes ago, burno70 said:

I should by an old TE amp or combo like this just to satisfy the urge - although it's difficult to justify when I don't really need another amp! 

Be creative! Put it next to your armchair or sofa, stick a cloth over it, et voilà - a handy occasional table for your tea, TV remote and drug paraphernalia!

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6 minutes ago, PaulWarning said:

I had the same weight issues when I had a TE combo, loved the tone but not the weight, I've solved it by getting a TE GP12 head (well 2 actually) both weigh around 14KG easy one handed lift and light weight cabs.

It's a fair point and that's a good, workable solution. But in general I believe we've become weak, flabby and limp-wristed. Back in the 70s and 80s we were REAL men and laughed in the face of 8X10s and 35kg valve amp heads!* Seriously though, I think I started to put portability over tone. There is some good lightweight kit out there for sure, but I found that the very light stuff just wasn't doing it for me. I like to be 100% confident about the box I'm standing in front of and need to know that it's going to supply the tone, slam and power I need. And preferably a bit more, just in case. ;)

*Yes I know, we were younger, stronger and more stupid. And had little choice.

Edited by discreet
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I really do think the separate cab and head gives the best of both worlds.  I have 2 old TE heads, one rack mounted in an ABS case.  Weighs 12kg, which is in one arm carry territory even for a fragile back like mine, the other was out of a combo and inside a decent case about the same.  Barefaced Supercompact at 11kg in the other hand and I have a balanced load to walk along with.  Trace Elliot tone and heft with Barefaced transparency and portability - win:win.  :) 

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1 minute ago, Paul S said:

I really do think the separate cab and head gives the best of both worlds.  I have 2 old TE heads, one rack mounted in an ABS case.  Weighs 12kg, which is in one arm carry territory even for a fragile back like mine, the other was out of a combo and inside a decent case about the same.  Barefaced Supercompact at 11kg in the other hand and I have a balanced load to walk along with.  Trace Elliot tone and heft with Barefaced transparency and portability - win:win.  :) 

I may well try that if and when I can afford another lightweight cab...

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That's a right bargain that you've got there Mr @discreet B|

I was whining recently on another thread about how gutless and under-powered my old TE SMX rig was (which too be fair it absolutely was, it had about as much heft as a cigarette paper) but it seems as though I'm in something of a minority on that score when it comes to old TE gear.  All this talk of the big old Trace sound has got me thinking that my old rig was probably just a bit duff. Not actually knackered as such, more like the fat asthmatic kid on the cross country run when I was at school, it just ran out of steam in seconds. And I still do. Anyway, for the sort of money that these are going for now I'm tempted to pick up another one and see if I can get that big, slamming, hefty sound that folks keep talking about - and to see if mine really was a bit 💩.  

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16 minutes ago, Osiris said:

All this talk of the big old Trace sound has got me thinking that my old rig was probably just a bit duff.

It may have been, or you may just not like the Trace sound. But as I tried to say in another thread about Trace 'tone', you really don't have to have 'that' Trace sound. In fact, I don't much care for 'that' Trace sound, which is the big mid-scooped top-and-bottom-heavy tone you get from using the pre-shape preset(s) and/or 'smiley face' EQ curve. I don't like a mid-light tone, in fact I'll boost the low mids and keep all switches OUT (apart from the compressor, judicious use of which gives a nice fat bottom... fnaar). The graphic EQ can give a huge variation of tones. You get a whole 15db of cut or boost, which is a truly massive range. But because the sliders don't actually have that much physical travel, it's easy to miss the fact that a very small movement of an EQ slider can make a huge difference. I'm sure people just don't spend enough time with it. :)

And you can't set your tone solo with these amps. You really have to be playing in a band to do it, because the sound you get solo and in concert is very different. This is of course true of all amps, but particularly Trace, which are made for gigging. In fact, the tone I like best for use with the band (which sounds lush, articulate, punchy and hefty) sounds totally different solo - it's a bit too gritty and boxy for my liking... 9_9 work that one out...

Edited by discreet
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3 minutes ago, discreet said:

It may have been, or you may just not like the Trace sound. But as I tried to say in another thread about Trace 'tone', you really don't have to have 'that' Trace sound. In fact, I don't much care for 'that' Trace sound, which is the big mid-scooped top-and-bottom heavy tone you get from using the pre-shape preset(s). I don't like a mid-light tone, in fact I'll boost the low mids and keep all switches OUT (apart from the compressor, judicious use of which gives a nice fat bottom... fnaar). The graphic EQ can give a huge variation of tones. You get a whole 15db of cut or boost, which is a truly massive range. But because the sliders don't actually have that much physical travel, it's easy to miss the fact that a very small movement of an EQ slider can make a huge difference. I'm sure people just don't spend enough time with it. :)

And you can't set your tone solo with these amps. You really have to be playing in a band, because the sound you get solo and in concert is very different. This is of course true of all amps, but particularly Trace, which are made for gigging. In fact, the tone I like best for use with the band (which sounds lush, articulate, punchy and hefty) sounds totally different solo - it's a bit too gritty and boxy for my liking and I don't really like it! :)

All good points and no disagreement from me on any of them but in 10 years or so of gigging it, reading up about sound engineering and trying just about every combination of knob twiddling, slider sliding and button pressing I could with my old rig I just could not get any convincing low end or mid range from it. It just wouldn't deliver. You could get it sounding OK-ish in isolation but once the band fired up it just couldn't project any lows or mids with any substance to them. And that was through a pair of TE 15's. Most folks are reporting the opposite, which is making me think mine was just a bit of an underdog.

I'm not trying to be a contrary sod, I'm just relaying my past experiences :)

But for less than £100 I'm might consider giving them another go. 

Likewise, I like those low mids prominent in my tone and I always use a bass sound that works with the band - and I totally agree, it may not be the sexiest sound in isolation but it works when the rest of the clowns are making a row 🤡

Anyway, back to your NAD (just the one :o?)

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3 hours ago, Osiris said:

I'm not trying to be a contrary sod, I'm just relaying my past experiences :)

But for less than £100 I'm might consider giving them another  go.

Didn't think you were. All experiences welcome. As are off-colour jokes, rambling diversions and blatant derailment. :crazy:

I'd say buy a decent, complete and unmolested Trace amp or combo for peanuts and give it a go. If you don't like it, use it as furniture for 10 years or so. I'm convinced that once the penny finally drops, Trace gear will become highly sought-after and prices will go through the roof, as they have done with just about any old manky valve amp. 

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As another TE owner,  but especially the 4x10 combo which i have, i decided that as i couldn't lift it in and out of my Nissan hatch, and the fact that it didn't sell despite a great price, the previous weekend i did this ....

Job done !   Separate head and cab.  Each  carryable.  ( did i just invent that word ? )

 

rig1.jpg

rig2.jpg

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12 hours ago, fleabag said:

As another TE owner,  but especially the 4x10 combo which i have, i decided that as i couldn't lift it in and out of my Nissan hatch, and the fact that it didn't sell despite a great price, the previous weekend i did this ....

Job done !   Separate head and cab.  Each  carryable.  ( did i just invent that word ? )

 

rig1.jpg

rig2.jpg

 

interesting EQ settings, here's mine from last night :lol: (no presets engaged)

 

20181020_092536.thumb.jpg.b36f20fbcf4ba30f18b897bf12944950.jpg

Edited by PaulWarning
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14 hours ago, fleabag said:

As another TE owner,  but especially the 4x10 combo which i have, i decided that as i couldn't lift it in and out of my Nissan hatch, and the fact that it didn't sell despite a great price, the previous weekend i did this ....

Job done !   Separate head and cab.  Each  carryable.  ( did i just invent that word ? )

 

rig1.jpg

rig2.jpg

Love that bass. Pup positioning must provide oodles of tone. Any chance of more details? 

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