Hi Paul, Great video! I've got the exact same V4 down in Australia. Although funny enough the ground and lift are the other way around. I absolutely love it. The sound is so clean.
S/N ends with 295 meaning this was made between April and June (inclusive) 1995. XLR connectors were used for speaker outputs (starting in the '80's) as they handled more current/power than jacks. This was before Speakon types were introduced and became standard for that use.
Thanks Paul! I knew there would be a good reason for the XLR's. I hope my video's aren't too inaccurate (as really I don't know anything, just enthusiastic about this stuff ;-) ). You guys made some incredible amps btw!
it does sound good but the valves inside are not kt88..anyway would you do a proper sampling of the amp by microphoning the amp.also i m a vintage influenced bassist, where are you located. i m in London uk
I've got a TE amp head that looks the same on the front as what you've got there, but it's different on the back. Mine has model 5001 on the back. It also has only two 1/4 inch speaker outputs. I was recently told mines not a v4 but a hybrid (300h or ah300?) I love its sound. Always enjoyable to play.
yeah great amps. 300H and 600H had the preamp section the same as mine, but with a solid state power section - still really good amps, I'd love to get hold of one of those!
Hi Paul, I've watched quite a few of your videos since I became interested in the 90's Trace Elliot stuff. Honestly your channel is the best source for information on these things I've been able to find! Considering how popular their products were there really isn't much information about them online haha. I wanted to get your opinions on a couple of models which I am considering incorporating into my setup. I recently started looking for a 90's GP12 SMX for my rack, and have thus far not found one exactly right, but I have been offered a GP12X which I am interested in. Is there much different sonically between the two? (I'm led to believe the GP12X is the SMX range after Trace Elliot was purchased by Gibson, is this correct?). I wanted the GP12 SMX because of how amazing I think Geddy Lee's setup with his sounded, so if the GP12X has too much difference sonically then I'll probably hold out until I find an SMX. Any thoughts you have would be appreciated! Thanks
Thanks very much for the kind words. I do like the SMX. Its basically the culmination of all of the research that Trace had put in over the years. With the 150W and 300W models you have to be careful, as a lot had a power board called the "Bipolar Bear" which is problematic (planning a video about that). The replacement MOSFET board was way more reliable. Other wattage power boards seemed to be OK. Is the GP12X a Series 6 model? (the only ones that I recall were Series 6). If so the main differences would be that the 12X wont have the dual band compressor or valve pre (two of the main attractions of the SMX). Series 6 are solid workhorse amps though, so if you are not so fussed about those features its worth considering. I tend to buy anything that comes up "at the right price", which is why I currently have 7 Trace Elliot amps, and another 5 have passed through my hands!! So my advice is don't over pay. There are some ridiculously priced items on Reverb - I just bear in mind that the newest classic Trace is going to be shaking 30+ years old, and electronics do deteriorate over time so I pay accordingly to factor in potential repair costs in the future.
The big capacitors are not original from Trace Elliot. TE always had BHC (? can't remember) Capacitors from England. Black housing and golden lettering and on the top the date of manufacture .
Hi Paul, Great video! I've got the exact same V4 down in Australia. Although funny enough the ground and lift are the other way around. I absolutely love it. The sound is so clean.
Cheers! I'm in Aus too!
S/N ends with 295 meaning this was made between April and June (inclusive) 1995.
XLR connectors were used for speaker outputs (starting in the '80's) as they handled more current/power than jacks. This was before Speakon types were introduced and became standard for that use.
Thanks Paul! I knew there would be a good reason for the XLR's. I hope my video's aren't too inaccurate (as really I don't know anything, just enthusiastic about this stuff ;-) ). You guys made some incredible amps btw!
it does sound good but the valves inside are not kt88..anyway would you do a proper sampling of the amp by microphoning the amp.also i m a vintage influenced bassist, where are you located. i m in London uk
I've got a TE amp head that looks the same on the front as what you've got there, but it's different on the back. Mine has model 5001 on the back. It also has only two 1/4 inch speaker outputs. I was recently told mines not a v4 but a hybrid (300h or ah300?) I love its sound. Always enjoyable to play.
yeah great amps. 300H and 600H had the preamp section the same as mine, but with a solid state power section - still really good amps, I'd love to get hold of one of those!
Hi Paul, I've watched quite a few of your videos since I became interested in the 90's Trace Elliot stuff. Honestly your channel is the best source for information on these things I've been able to find! Considering how popular their products were there really isn't much information about them online haha. I wanted to get your opinions on a couple of models which I am considering incorporating into my setup. I recently started looking for a 90's GP12 SMX for my rack, and have thus far not found one exactly right, but I have been offered a GP12X which I am interested in. Is there much different sonically between the two? (I'm led to believe the GP12X is the SMX range after Trace Elliot was purchased by Gibson, is this correct?). I wanted the GP12 SMX because of how amazing I think Geddy Lee's setup with his sounded, so if the GP12X has too much difference sonically then I'll probably hold out until I find an SMX. Any thoughts you have would be appreciated! Thanks
Thanks very much for the kind words. I do like the SMX. Its basically the culmination of all of the research that Trace had put in over the years. With the 150W and 300W models you have to be careful, as a lot had a power board called the "Bipolar Bear" which is problematic (planning a video about that). The replacement MOSFET board was way more reliable. Other wattage power boards seemed to be OK. Is the GP12X a Series 6 model? (the only ones that I recall were Series 6). If so the main differences would be that the 12X wont have the dual band compressor or valve pre (two of the main attractions of the SMX). Series 6 are solid workhorse amps though, so if you are not so fussed about those features its worth considering. I tend to buy anything that comes up "at the right price", which is why I currently have 7 Trace Elliot amps, and another 5 have passed through my hands!! So my advice is don't over pay. There are some ridiculously priced items on Reverb - I just bear in mind that the newest classic Trace is going to be shaking 30+ years old, and electronics do deteriorate over time so I pay accordingly to factor in potential repair costs in the future.
@@Paul-Green-Bass thanks for the detailed response. Thats a lot of help! I think it's quite reasonably priced so I will probably go for it
The big capacitors are not original from Trace Elliot. TE always had BHC (? can't remember) Capacitors from England. Black housing and golden lettering and on the top the date of manufacture .
I can't say for sure. What I do know is that they've been there since before my ownership (since before 2006).