What's bigger than an Elf?

[Jackroadkill]

Hi all, I had a thought (steady!) at rehearsal tonight and now I can't stop thinking it.  I usually play through a David Eden amp and I really like it, but apropos of nothing, I've used my Elf the last two weeks.  Now, at present there's just me and my mate on guitar, so volume's not been an issue when using my 4ohm 2x15 cab, but I think adding a drummer, possibly another guitarist and at least two vocals might be a bit more than the wee Elf can cope with in the volume stakes.

 

So, here's the thing - do/did Trace make anything that sounds similar (because I love the toanz) but that will kick out about 500w into that same 4ohm cab?  At the moment it looks like the Elf and the TE-1200 are their only offerings.

 

Any thoughts etc gratefully received.

 

Cheers,

 

JRK

[Downunderwonder]

I wouldn't worry about it until you are getting gigs. That gives you plenty of opportunity to see if the 200w is enough.

 

20W is twice as loud as 2W

200W is twice as loud as 20W

2000W blows up your cab way trying to be half as loud again.

 

500W is just a bump up.

[thodrik]

You could try the new TE-1200, but it is very expensive. You could also try some of the older Trace Elliot gear which can be found for relatively cheap second hand, but they are very heavy. 

 

However, 200 watts at 4 ohms should be plenty loud enough, if it isn't ask the guitarist to turn down.

[Leonard Smalls]

5 minutes ago, thodrik said:

However, 200 watts at 4 ohms should be plenty loud enough

Our other bassman uses an Elf, and we have no trouble at all hearing him over drums, vox, orange guitar stack and my 1500W bridged Crown doofer...

[thodrik]

4 minutes ago, Leonard Smalls said:

Our other bassman uses an Elf, and we have no trouble at all hearing him over drums, vox, orange guitar stack and my 1500W bridged Crown doofer...

I played downtuned guitar through an Orange Micro Terror connected to a Mesa 6x10 bass cabinet. It didn't sound good, but it was definitely loud.

[Ed_S]

I have to wonder whether there was actually something wrong with the Elf that I had and moved on. Nice tone, but it couldn't produce anywhere near enough volume to be useful through a pair of cabs which are more than capable with amps of only slightly higher quoted power.

 

I think in the OP situation, if the Elf proved to be lacking I'd be tempted to try the Transit B preamp pedal into a power amp. I like the Crown XLS xx02 series, myself.

[neepheid]

Sorry for the lack of TE relevance, but I would like to add weight to the argument that watts is just a number beyond a certain point.

 

I use a modular system (Markbass Mini CMD121P IV + Markbass New York 121 cab) and I have a backup head - a TC Electronic BH250.  All of the following combinations (in order of wattage) are loud enough to be heard fine with a full band IMO.

 

Markbass full rig - 500W into 4ohm 2x1x12"

Markbass combo on its own - 250W into a single 8 ohm 12"

TC Electronic BH250 into a crappy rehearsal room Behringer 4ohm 4x10" (250W)

TC Electronic BH250 into 4ohm 2x1x12" (250W)

TC Electronic BH250 into single 8 ohm 12" cab (so providing a nebulous amount of watts less than 250W - TC shy with this info but I guess it will be less than 200)

 

At its most powerful (500W), I don't need the master up on my rig more than about a third in general when playing in the same room as a drummer, guitarist and singer or a drummer, singer, backup singer, keys, sax, trombone.  Even with the lesser powered stuff, it doesn't need to be cranked to be heard.

 

TL:DR - try the Elf with your 2x15" in the full band setting (and play with EQ) before you even think about buying anything.

Edited 2 minutes ago by neepheid