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Trace Elliot BLX 80 combo


petetexas
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Just purchased a BLX80 from ebay , made in 1997 .

 

Arrived with a blown speaker which the seller did not know about ( ! ! ! ! ! ! ) .

 

Tried it out as a head with my Mesa 112 subway cab ..............VERY LOUD for an 80w , and great variety of sound GP7 SM preamp.

 

Read somewhere that the replacement 10 inch driver is a celestion TF 1020 , bought one , and fitted it .

 

Now got a great practice amp , but I need to do some weight training to move it around .

 

Anyone else got one on here ?

 

Pete

 

Edited by petetexas
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My first decent amp was a BLX-80, bought new in 1996. Wish I still had it, as it would have been just perfect for leaving in our drummer's reharsal studio, but when we moved to the other side of the country in 2016, I donated it to the guitarist of my old band rather than lug it all the way over here with us (and risk shifting the Earth's axis by a degree or two).  🙄

Edited by tony_m
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I finally acquired one of these years ago, having lusted after them when they were first released.

 

Never really loved the sound, hated the weight.

 

What a relief when I finally shifted it for some better sounding lightweight kit (Genz Benz STL-10T driven by TC RH450)  Never looked back...

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UPDATE.........

 

With the TF 1020 it sounded very nasal.....and its too heavy to move around , so got a SM7 sleeve on ebay and installed the amp in it , now its a 80W

 

head that I can link up to any 8ohm cab..............I already have a Mesa 112 subway and a Epifani 112 lightweight .

 

Seems to suit the Epifani better (seems even louder now).

 

Pete

Edited by petetexas
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  • 1 month later...

Hi Andy,

 

Just a lucky find ............. BUT...........I read about someone replacing his Hartke 10 inch drivers with FaitalPRO 10FE200 ( 150W x 8 Ohm ) ,

 

and saying how amazing these are for £35 from Lean Business Audio, so I got one and put it in the Trace Combo......IMHO Its brilliant 

 

( not nasal as with the Celestion ) so I have an empty SM7 ( with very fluffy covering ) case available at the same price I bought it at .

 

I now have a heavey combo again , but sounding MUCH better IMHO .

 

The way I held the Amp in the sleeve was with two wood screws through the sleeve into the base of the amp case MAKING SURE THER WAS NO

 

BOARDS OR CABLES in the way . This stopped the case moving around .

 

Pete

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I had one of these when they first came out. It was my first "proper" amp. I remember the cab design being very efficient, and the volume belied it's power rating - it easily kept up with a drummer in rehearsals and small gigs.  The preamp was pretty good and had "that" classic trace tone.

 

I just wished it was lighter. Or at least had side handles rather than the rubber strap on the top.

 

I do wonder how well a modern version of this design would work, with a lighter cab material, neo speaker and lighter amp. Maybe Trace (or rather Peavy) should investigate.

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3 minutes ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

I had one of these when they first came out. It was my first "proper" amp. I remember the cab design being very efficient, and the volume belied it's power rating - it easily kept up with a drummer in rehearsals and small gigs.  The preamp was pretty good and had "that" classic trace tone.

 

I just wished it was lighter. Or at least had side handles rather than the rubber strap on the top.

 

I do wonder how well a modern version of this design would work, with a lighter cab material, neo speaker and lighter amp. Maybe Trace (or rather Peavy) should investigate.

I had the BLX130. Same basic unit but, as I understand it, had an extra pair of output devices allowing it to drive an 8R extension cab. Otherwise, it was the same beast. I think a new version of it would be interesting, but I am not sure whether anyone could explain how the cabinet design worked.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 09/01/2024 at 05:39, Greg Edwards69 said:

I do wonder how well a modern version of this design would work, with a lighter cab material, neo speaker and lighter amp. Maybe Trace (or rather Peavy) should investigate.

I seem to recall it was brought up in a thread over on TB when Fred from Peavey was soliciting input from Trace enthusiasts about upcoming products. I recall him being non-commital. :D 

 

Obviously they’ve got a 10” ELF combo right now, but it’s pretty conventional, with no bass reflex trickery. More Commando than BLX, but better sounding than either of them!

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