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I had one of these, bought new in 1997 or 1998. Not sure when they originated or how long they continued making them.
Can't find details with this serial number. 500WCombo 2x10. Possibly Peavy?
Would like to know date made & is it Peavy?
Thanks, Pete
That is definitely a Peavey era product.
Peopke should be aware that the current Trace Elliot products marketed by Peavey have zero relationship to the original Trace Elliot company or its original products that made them famous.
Peavey bought the brand name rights, not the actual company that Gibson dismantled. Nothing remains of the original Trace Elliot, which went defunct 20 years ago.
Whatever qualities the fake "Trace Elliot" products may or may not have, they do not share any technological lineage from the real Trace Elliot.
Thanks for your reply.
All I know now is that it's Peavey.. and that is effectively only a Brand name.
Looks like the history is.. Trace Elliot, then Gibson, then Peavey.
Are you saying that Gibson & Peavey are considered as "fake" TE?
In practice, it's a quality piece of kit regarding power, tones & reliability. (although it is very heavy)
Would be nice to actually get a date & place of manufacture for my amp.
Regards,
Pete
All I know now is that it's Peavey.. and that is effectively only a Brand name.
Looks like the history is.. Trace Elliot, then Gibson, then Peavey.
Are you saying that Gibson & Peavey are considered as "fake" TE?
In practice, it's a quality piece of kit regarding power, tones & reliability. (although it is very heavy)
Would be nice to actually get a date & place of manufacture for my amp.
Regards,
Pete
Hey Pete, as in the other thread you'll need to open it up to see if there are any dates to give you the clues.
Pre-Peavey era amps and cabs had the serials sharpied on.
I believe there was a Kaman era before the Gibson era.
Here's a relevant post that explains Peavey bought the company in 2005 and Trace Elliot continued as it's own entity: Trace Elliot Ownership...The "Official" Word | TalkBass.com Open the link and expand the quote inside post #1.
I do not know if they continue to this day.
I wouldn't worry too much about lineage. The previous series of Peavey era amps were well regarded for continuing the Trace Elliot tonal legacy. However, IMHO, they did not sell particularly well because consumer preferences had changed. I love the old solid state TE sound, but its sort of representative of the 80s. Also the designs were big and relatively heavy and the market was moving towards a preference for compact and light gear...micro class-d and neo cabs. The Trace Elliot ELF fits the bill and I believe it has been a market success.
Year ago I believe the touring industry drove the market from the top, which resulted in big heavy rigs with lot's of features. AFAIK this is no longer the case.
I wouldn't mind adding a 1200-12 to my collection...but it would be a basement queen.
Here's a decent review:
The latest high-powered TE amp is the TE-1200. This amp abandons the traditional TE preamp layout and I believe the design flows from the ELF tradition.
This is a relatively small and light amp. Reviews have been positive, but I don't get the impression it has sold particularly well. The new cabs look great, but they are rather big and heavy, consistent with the old touring-focused tradition. I am sure they would be great for touring, but probably a bit much for most people's local gig requirements.
Notice the back says, "Designed in the UK...." This seems to suggest that TE is still it's own thing, under the Peavey umbrella.
I believe Fred From Peavey was the TE product manager and he seemed pretty excited about the release of the TE-1200 and associated cabs. Fred from Peavey | TalkBass.com He has not posted since 2022, but you may find some interesting reading and background by going through his postings.
The original Trace Elliott company was purchased from Kaman by Gibson, who subsequently dismantled the company for reasons which are entirely unknown to anyone outside of Henry Juszkiewicz and his mismanagement team. Gibson briefly directed Trace Elliot to manufacture a line of guitar amplifiers sold under the Gibson Goldtone brand, and they are essentially copies of the Velocette line in different cabinets. All of the Trace Elliot products up to this point are some of the best available.
Back when this all happened, there was very little information publicly available as to what was going on, but it became very quickly clear that Gibson's ownership was proving disastrous, and eventually Gibson gave up any pretense of Trace Elliot continuing as a manufacturer. The plant in England was shuttered in 2002, and all employees terminated.
Eventually, some three years later, they sold the rights to the name and trade dress to Peavey, but Peavey did not receive *any* of the electronic or mechanical designs. This is what I mean when I say the Peavey products share no lineage with the original Trace Elliot; they are entirely new designs that have nothing to do with the originals. I have nothing to say about their sound or quality or reliability, or anything else, other than they have zero relationship to the original Trace Elliot products.
The final location of the Trace Elliot factory was in Maldon, Essex. This is not where Peavey was/is operating, because that factory no longer exists, and none of the original staff were rehired. You can be sure that Peavey would be very vocal about even the most tenuous connection to the original staff, factory, and designs, if there were any such connections at all. The Peavey facilities were in Corby, Northamptionshire. Peavey ceased manufacturing in the UK some time before 2014, and distribution operations in the UK in 2014, and all their products are now made in China.
Some of the staff went to Ashdown Engineering, which was founded by former Trace Elliot staff.
Accoring to all available industry press, Peavey no longer maintains facilities or offices in the UK as of 2014, so if they are labelling their new products as "Designed in the UK", the most likely explanation is that they are hiring an independent contractor in the UK to produce some part of the design—whether this is cosmetic or material is unknown—for all we know, it could be a British graphic designer doing the typography for the chassis.
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Could be wrong, but my memory is TE is was already struggling when Gibson took over from Kaman. By this time their glory days were well behind them.
AFAIK Gibson's stewardship of Orange was similarly disastrous. My understanding is Gibson secured the rights to use Orange branding and had Matamp finance and make reissue amps. Unfortunately the amps did not sell particularly well and Matamp was left holding the bag
. Not certain Matamp had no role in the failure of this series of amps, as the consensus online seems to be that they did not sound great in stock form. Then again I think the originals were sort of an acquired taste--not what I would call sweet sounding, if you know what I mean.
Later, ownership of Orange branding reverted back to the original owner. There still seems to be significant bad blood between Matamp and Orange to this day. My perception is it's partly misplaced, as Gibson is the entity that actually screwed Matamp...at least last time.
So I don't think it's a surprise that Gibson's ownership of Mesa makes some people nervous. So far so good
.My impression is the TE Vellocette and Gold Tone amps are somewhat coveted, but I believe their OEM output transformers are/were fragile. After the output transformer fails and is replaced, I believe they are fairly reliable.
The Trace Elliot V8 was from the Gibson era and it pretty much has legendary/cult status. I own a V8 and the earlier V6 and they are voiced quite different. Both are rated for 400W. The V8 is a bit more transparent and versatile, but I would say it has more of a rocking tone. The V6 has huge, remarkable lows and is very sweet and polished sounding (HiFi). Hard to choose. I think if I did an AB test I would pick the V6, but I seem to grow bored with it quicker than the V8. So it's sort of a choice between immediate appeal
and long contentment 
. Guess I better keep them both 
.I can't speak to the reliability of the OTs, but I can definitely say that yes, the Velocette and Goldtone amps are coveted. They are fabulous amps.
The Trace Elliot V8 was from the Gibson era and it pretty much has legendary/cult status. I own a V8 and the earlier V6 and they are voiced quite different. Both are rated for 400W. The V8 is a bit more transparent and versatile, but I would say it has more of a rocking tone. The V6 has huge, remarkable lows and is very sweet and polished sounding (HiFi). Hard to choose. I think if I did an AB test I would pick the V6, but I seem to grow bored with it quicker than the V8. So it's sort of a choice between immediate appeal
I owned two 1995 original V-Type heads, and a V-Type rackmount preamp. My memory wants to say the V8 actually was made before the Gibson buyout, but I could be misremembering that. So far as I remember, the only new products that resulted from the Gibson purchase were the Goldtone amps, which were really just cosmetic makeovers of the Velocette amps, with the exception of the Super Goldtone GA-30RVH head and 2x10/2x12 cab—and actually that amp might have just been the Velocette Twin with a re-jiggered output section to be mono instead of stereo.
I also question whether or not the V6 was ever really capable of 400W. I know I've seen the schematics, but that was years ago. I don't know that the KT88 is actually capable of 66.67 W per tube. The old datasheets say 100 W per pair. Even the claimed 220 W of the original V-Type head may have been fudging the numbers a bit. Not that it really matters. The V-Type heads are more than capable of pushing enough air.
The Wiki says TE was sold to Gibson in 1998. The Schematic for the V8 is dated to 2000.
The V6 seems to benefit from some sort of gestalt. I haven't measured it to confirm 400W, but it does seem stronger than my 300W tube amps. Also, the low end is really remarkable. My V8 is seems ever so slightly louder than the V6, however, I have never had a good matched set of KT88s in the V8. The current mixed set of tubes is the best so far though.
I also have one of the original green tolex V-Types as well. The V-Type, V4, and V6 use the exact same circuit cards. The only difference is the V-6 output card is stuffed with the extra components required to support two additional tubes.
The V-Type is a very good sounding amp, but it's does not seem to have quite the same gestalt as the V6. It's one of my stronger 200W tube amps though.
I rolled preamp tubes in the V-Type and wound up selecting a Gold Lion ECC83 B759 to replace one of the OEM tubes. The B759 made it sound less like the V6 (an intentional choice). The mids are stronger and the lows are more woolly.
The V6 is running three OEM 12AX7s, the fourth 12AX7 was traded out for a Tube Store Preferred Series 7025. I had hoped to buy some more of these to try one in the V-Type, but they are no longer available. Pretty sure they were made by Shuguang.
One other difference is my V6 is running a fairly fresh set of Sovtek KT88s and the V-Type is running JJ KT88s (even fresher).
For what it’s worth, perhaps someone at British audio service can help you with knowledge.
British Audio | Where Gear Comes To Life
they service and carry trace Elliot parts
British Audio | Where Gear Comes To Life
they service and carry trace Elliot parts
I'm sure that the difference in the relationship between having six output tubes running at a high voltage with a bigger transformer has an effect.
I never experimented with tubes in my V-Types. I stuck with the original OEM tubes, because they worked for my needs. I did at one point buy a matched quad of VHT branded KT88s, but never needed to use them before I passed the two amps on, when I got to the point that lugging that much gear was just more than I could handle, anymore. The only thing I have left is the 1248H cab, and that only because it's too difficult to ship and I never found a local buyer for it. My plan is to one of these days get a 2x12 sealed cab of the right dimensions (I think the Mesa 2x12 Recto Horizontal cab is about right), transfer two of the drivers into it, store the other two for spares, and junk the cab.
All of the V-Type tube amps run about the same operating voltages as an SVT; around 690V on the plates and 350V on the screens.
My perception is my V6 compares pretty evenly to my Reeves 400, which is another amp the runs 6 KT88s at about the same operating voltages.
I can't tell you if the TE V6 or Reeves 400 actually make 400W clean. But I can tell you they seem noticeably louder than all of my other amps that run a sextet of KT88 or 6550s. I have no idea why.
In all honesty, I did not hear much change rolling preamp tubes in the V-Type...and the original tubes sounded very good...I believe they were Shuguangs with a TE silk screen.
The V8 seemed a bit more responsive to tube rolling. I replaced all 7 of the original Sovtek 12AX7WAs with a mix of current production tubes: Mullard ECC83 V1 , Gold Lion ECC83 (standard) in the OD channel V2, JJ ECC803S and Tung Sol 12AX7 in V3-V7.
In 1987 TE gave me a logo Members Only jacket. It was as ugly as you imagine.
Can someone help please.... I have AH400SMX amp,but the UV lamp does not appear to have a voltage to it.
I've noticed that someone has totally removed the mains voltage selector switch & whatever cables were connected to it. (110v/240v options).
I fitted a new starter(240v ?) & UV lamp, but it didn't light up. I don't get a voltage reading at the socket for the UV lamp. I couldn't find the 110v at the Tx as it has been fully enclosed with tape, and the cables are all enclosed with heat-shrink.
The amp is now a dedicated 240v ac & only used in UK.
So.. 1)Where can I tap a 110v to connect to S13 (the lamp supply switch..)
2) should I then use a 110v starter..
3) Does the switch "prise" off? (looks a bit fragile.
update: I removed the heat-shrink from the Tx cables.
Perhaps someone knows the color codes of those cables (to tap 110v for S13?
I know this is a big ask, but it's a shame not to have the rather cool UV lamp.
Thanks Pete.
I've noticed that someone has totally removed the mains voltage selector switch & whatever cables were connected to it. (110v/240v options).
I fitted a new starter(240v ?) & UV lamp, but it didn't light up. I don't get a voltage reading at the socket for the UV lamp. I couldn't find the 110v at the Tx as it has been fully enclosed with tape, and the cables are all enclosed with heat-shrink.
The amp is now a dedicated 240v ac & only used in UK.
So.. 1)Where can I tap a 110v to connect to S13 (the lamp supply switch..)
2) should I then use a 110v starter..
3) Does the switch "prise" off? (looks a bit fragile.
update: I removed the heat-shrink from the Tx cables.
Perhaps someone knows the color codes of those cables (to tap 110v for S13?
I know this is a big ask, but it's a shame not to have the rather cool UV lamp.
Thanks Pete.
I have pics of UV cct & the current wiring in the amp.
Looking at pic 110v Lamp Supply.Buff colored cable from Sw13 is connected to second Buff colored cable (brown heat-shrink) & goes to the choke. Considering I have NO voltage supply to the cct, should I connect 110v i/p supply at this point?
I don't know which cable from the Tx is 110v as I don't know the color codes for those cables.
The amp works fine, but it would be cool to have the UV lamp operational.
Pete
Looking at pic 110v Lamp Supply.Buff colored cable from Sw13 is connected to second Buff colored cable (brown heat-shrink) & goes to the choke. Considering I have NO voltage supply to the cct, should I connect 110v i/p supply at this point?
I don't know which cable from the Tx is 110v as I don't know the color codes for those cables.
The amp works fine, but it would be cool to have the UV lamp operational.
Pete
Attachments
OK guys.. this will be my last attempt here if no-one can help. I have some illustrations which may help. Current Circuit is how it's wired in my amp. There is no 110v to this circuit. 250W cct showing 110v supply.
