Jackroadkill Posted Tuesday at 22:48 Posted Tuesday at 22:48 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 Quote
Downunderwonder Posted Tuesday at 23:27 Posted Tuesday at 23:27 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. 6 1 Quote
thodrik Posted Wednesday at 09:33 Posted Wednesday at 09:33 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. 2 1 1 Quote
Leonard Smalls Posted Wednesday at 09:39 Posted Wednesday at 09:39 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... 1 Quote
thodrik Posted Wednesday at 09:46 Posted Wednesday at 09:46 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. Quote
Ed_S Posted Wednesday at 10:58 Posted Wednesday at 10:58 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. 1 Quote
neepheid Posted Wednesday at 11:12 Posted Wednesday at 11:12 (edited) 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 Wednesday at 11:13 by neepheid 2 1 Quote
Merton Posted Wednesday at 17:50 Posted Wednesday at 17:50 (edited) I’ll echo others - I’ve used an Elf in a loud rock band, no PA support, and it’s been a revelation. To the point I considered just having two, one as back up to the other, and nothing else. If the TE 1200 is too big and you do decide the Elf is too small, what about the Warwick Gnome 600? Edited Wednesday at 17:55 by Merton Smelling pistakes 1 Quote
Jackroadkill Posted Wednesday at 21:58 Author Posted Wednesday at 21:58 Thanks for your comments, everyone. The Eden rig I normally use is a WTX 500 and it has all the punch I need. I'm a reasonably seasoned hand in terms of gigging etc and know that it's not a numbers game. I just quite like the tone of the Elf but it hasn't got the headroom of the Eden so I was wondering if there's a Trace rig that sounds like the Elf but has a bit more left in the tank, so to speak, when in a band context. Cheers, JRK Quote
David Morison Posted Thursday at 18:27 Posted Thursday at 18:27 If you really like the tone of the Elf & don't mind carrying both and you weren't needing the Elf's DI for normal FOH feed, you could run the Elf's DI into the fx return of the Eden to take advantage of the latter's increased headroom. Would need an XLR to TS adaptor cable, and it's a bit clunky, but might get you the best of both worlds. 1 1 Quote
Happy Jack Posted Thursday at 18:49 Posted Thursday at 18:49 I found that asking Google "What's bigger than an Elf?" was really, really unhelpful. 1 1 4 Quote
BassAdder60 Posted Friday at 07:23 Posted Friday at 07:23 What about one of the Peavey amp heads ? Minimax I think it was called ? I used my ELF into a 2x12 4ohm cab with a loud rock band and it kept up nicely Quote
Mickeyboro Posted Friday at 07:44 Posted Friday at 07:44 20 minutes ago, BassAdder60 said: What about one of the Peavey amp heads ? Minimax I think it was called ? I used my ELF into a 2x12 4ohm cab with a loud rock band and it kept up nicely I tried the Minimax and it seemed like overkill after the Elf. Too complicated for the likes of me… Quote
tauzero Posted Friday at 22:43 Posted Friday at 22:43 On 03/07/2025 at 19:49, Happy Jack said: I found that asking Google "What's bigger than an Elf?" was really, really unhelpful. You didn't also happen to ask if you could fit a dead elf into the boot of an MX-5 did you? Asking for a friend. 1 Quote
Jackroadkill Posted Saturday at 10:44 Author Posted Saturday at 10:44 20 minutes ago, prowla said: A bigger cab? I'm running a 4ohm 2x15, so I think that should be sufficient! Quote
prowla Posted Saturday at 10:59 Posted Saturday at 10:59 14 minutes ago, Jackroadkill said: I'm running a 4ohm 2x15, so I think that should be sufficient! Nah - you need a second one! 🙂 1 Quote
tauzero Posted Saturday at 11:27 Posted Saturday at 11:27 Rewire the 4 ohm 2x15 so it's two 8 ohm 1x15s sharing a box, get a second Elf, and split the signal between them. 1 Quote
Chienmortbb Posted 11 hours ago Posted 11 hours ago I must admit that going a range one 200 watt amp and one 1200 watt amp suggest a hole in the range at 500–600 watts. 2 Quote
Jackroadkill Posted 9 hours ago Author Posted 9 hours ago 2 hours ago, Chienmortbb said: I must admit that going a range one 200 watt amp and one 1200 watt amp suggest a hole in the range at 500–600 watts. Exactly... Doesn't make sense to me. Quote
Downunderwonder Posted 8 hours ago Posted 8 hours ago 500w is only going to get you a 3dB boost if your cab can take it all without cooking or breaking. 1200w means you can plug into a big high power handler like a BF Twin and give it some berries, outdoors on a big stage. Elf sales don't hurt 1200 sales and vice versa. A 500w version would not be significantly cheaper than the 1200. Hence no 500w version. 1 Quote
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