Old trace Elliot Amp - How old?

[blyn]

I found this AH 150 - 11 for sale locally.

Serial no appears to be S4114

Is this a very early amp?

Any other comments would be appreciated!

Thanks.

 

 

 

[fleabag]

About 1985/6 or before i'd say  Clive Button designed everything from '85/6 on, and the GP11 was not his design, so it must either be before '86/85 or earlier

 

When Fred Friedlein owned TE,  Stuart Watson was the engineer designing the TE amps , including the GP11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 19, 2023 by fleabag

[Bassman68]

Looks like a very tidy MK IV AH150 to me?
somewhere around ‘84 (ish?) Think the MK V’s came out in ‘86?

[DGBass]

Very solid bass amps, i've owned a GP7 and GP11 versions. If you get a chance to try it out, there are a couple of things to look out for which are mostly due to age/use. These are fan cooled and have a high quality metal 110v cooling fan. If the fan makes any clattering noise when its on, the bearings could be on the way out and replacements aren't easy to source these days. The amp also has surge protectors fitted across the mains switch, thease can wear out over time and normally there should be a quiet 'pop' when the amp is turned on heard through a speaker. If you get an almighty bang then the the surge protectors probably need replaced. Thats not difficult or expensive. Last thing i'd mention is the ECI ( earth continuity indicator ) light on the front panel of GP11's. As far as i know this was originally intended as a safety feature to let you know if you were plugged into mains supply with a bad ground. It should stay on if that was the case. In normal use it should flash briefly then go out. The ECI circuit can be a bit temperamental on these old amps and come on intermittently even if there is no earth fault. If the ECI stays on after power on, and its not a bad ground you can also get a fairly obvious clicking sound through the speakers that doesnt go away and the red light blinks. I've never come across an MKIII or a MKIV TE before and the GP7 and GP11 of this era i've owned matched the schematics for MK2 amps. That would put them in the early 80's age wise, perhaps 83-84 which is fast approaching a forty year old amp.  

[VTypeV4]

It looks very clean - nice purchase. 😀

 

I agree with the above comments with being early / mid eighties although I couldn't be specific as I'm not sure how the old serial numbering system worked.

 

Hope you enjoy it. 😀

[Sparky Mark]

Found some stuff I picked up in my youth.  Can't see a date on the brochure anywhere unfortunately. 
 https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/445206-vintage-trace-elliot-brochures/?do=findComment&comment=4713528

Edited January 22, 2023 by Sparky Mark

[DGBass]

Some handy info in those early TE sales brochures, especially about features and specs of the older models. Thanks for posting @Sparky Mark👍

[Deedee]

On 19/01/2023 at 16:23, Bassman68 said:

Looks like a very tidy MK IV AH150 to me?
somewhere around ‘84 (ish?) Think the MK V’s came out in ‘86?

Great amp and I agree with @Bassman68 , a MkIV produced from ‘84 to ‘86.