Trace Elliot AH300-7

Trace Elliot AH300-7 300W.

I found the T.E. AH300-7 PERFECT if you are into slap bass. With my Fender Jazz bass and the Musicman Stingray, I found the T.E. is perfect.

I usually use this amplifier in inside and outside concerts with T.E. 1048 4x10 and T.E. 1153 1x15 speakers. POWERFUL!

The sound is clean, clear and crisp. If you are into lapping your bass and using the high frequencies, this amp is perfect for you.

It is very dynamic sound wise. you can play anything on it from metal to reggae to anything really. It always gave me the sound i was looking for. The compressor on it is amazing. It compresses the sound of your bass beautifully to make it suit any style of playing you want.

I fell in love with this amp the first time i played using it!

I've had this amp for 2 years and some and never had any problems. so I'll give it a 10.

Thankfully i never needed Customer Support.

i have been playing for 13 years and used tons of equipment. I would not exchange my Trace Elliot with any other Amp.
I can't think of anything I don't like about this Amp.

I played with groups of all kinds of genres and it never disappointed me.

This is actually an update to accompany my previous review of the 7 band, 200 Watt head version of this amp. Said amp's features are the same as before, obviously.

Well, lets see... I've had the chance to use the head with my 4x10 SWR and 1x18 C-V cabs in a few rehearsals and I have to say that it sounds great! I can't NOT play without the contour control on (shape 1), although I'm finding that I'm using less drastic EQ settings than before, with only a fair dip in the mids, compared to my usual settings. I'm also finding I'm not turning this amp up as much as my previous rig, yeilding a cleaner sound (although I'm still using a compressor in the FX loop, just because I hit rather hard on the strings with a pick!). This rig (the 4x10 with 1x18) just thunders away, in a Ampeg like fashion, but with more midrange definition and clarity. Its not tubes, like the higher end T.E. stuff, but its pretty damn good.

Well, I still haven't had a probelm with the power section cutting out like some reviewers here have claimed. Could it possibly be just the specific model they have or a production run fault? Who knows? I feel totally confident with this amp.

Well, I didn't rate this the first time, because I had no need for it. But just on a whim, I contacted T.E. (now under Gibson), and requested a service manual for it. I got a PDF file sent to my email the same day, and a tip on a music dealer that carries replacement parts should I ever need to service it! Great support, IMHO for a product T.E. doesn't even make anymore!!!

Light weight.
Easy to store (two rack space).
Power to size ratio is incredible.
See my comments previously posted here...

This review is actually for the older 200 watt, 7 band EQ head only version of this product, so things might seem a little different.

Setup is pretty easy- just plug your instrument in, select the active or passive switch, play the loudest you will ever play while adjusting the input control until the single red LED flickers then back things off a little. adjust the output level and engage either the graphic EQ and/or the "shape" controls and you are set!

But make sure the mute button is in the proper position (LED lit) or you will hear nothing. My only conplaint about that is you would think th eLED should be lit when the mute is engaged (no sound), not when there is sound. Weird, but just small complaint.

The EQ is VERY useful, although I'd prefer simple bass, treble and parametric EQ (ala SWR or Ampeg). I'm old fashioned and prefer to just turn a knob up or down rather than "hunt" for the frequency (especially live).

After having a great deal of trouble with an Ampeg preamp, I ended up trying out this head. I was surprised to see it is called a "preamp" when it has a 200 watt power section. I can still use it as a preamp in this context (live where I'd need more power) or for practicing with my band. Less gear to carry for rehearsals!

Sound wise- things are clean and clear. I tried this amp out at the store before I bought (something I wish I'd done more indepth with the ampeg before making the 120 kilometer round trip twice to the store I got it from), and the tone, even at near full volume actually bottomed out the SWR cab I was trying at the time there (much to the distress the salesguy). Even better where the results when I got it home and hooked it up to my SWR 4x10 and Cerwin-Vega 1x18. This amp thunders at all but the most extreme volume settings (some clipping near the upper settings, but my house was rattling nicely at this point!).

The tone, like I said, is clean, clear and very focussed!

I've heard a few people complaining that the power sections on these amps have a few board problems, but I haven't had a problem with this baby cranked up (although, honestly, I have yet to have a full 3 or 4 hour rehearsal or gig.).

I've seen some big names use all levels of T.E. gear withou complaint.

N/A

Great tone so far. We'll see if I have to go back and break the salesperson's legs after two 120+ kilometer trips (1 dead Ampeg pre and purchasing this amp).

I'll know more about this amp in the long term after a few rehearsals this week.

The Graphics are not as influential over the sound as I expected them to be, however using the pre-shape and the variable compression I've been able to achieve a sound that I like very much.

I've found that when I use the effects send/return with a Boss Bass Chorus, there's a significant loss of volume.

Yamaha 5-str active bass. I use it in theatres playing musicals; mostly this requires modest volumes, but occasionally fairly loud, and the sound quality is very good at all points on the volume scale.

I have two compact Trace cabs, a 2x10 and a 1x15. I like the flexibility of the choice of cabinets, and rarely have to use them both. I always prefer the sound of the 2x10, which has the carpet covering.

Like several other responses, I have noticed that the illuminated front panel occasionally fails, but can be reset by powering off and on again.

Small point but a niggle nevertheless, the blanking plugs covering the chassis mounting screws are easily lost.

Initially I had problems in several theatres where a DI was taken in to the house sound system and a terrible hum was transmitted through the house system. This was found to be caused by using a separate DI box un-necessarily, since the amp has a built in DI of good quality; the moral here is to take DI straight into the desk from the balanced DI outlet on the amp.

I'm unclear as to the current status of Trace; their service support in the UK has been outsourced. Calls to the service company have been dealt with in a helpful way.

I'm very pleased with this amp, and would purchase another if I had to.

I had a problem with the front panel light failing after a couple of minutes. I took it back to Trace and they fixed it while I waited. They told me that they replaced a capacitor and that this was a manufacturing fault. Of course the circuit board affected is the only part of the amp that is bought in by Trace. After 6 months I notice that the light has started to fail again. But much less frequently. I have not contacted Trace yet regarding this.

Customer support was good. I was tole that Trace would have picked my amp up from my home to repair the front panel light if I wanted.

This is the new 300watts version with a redesigned preamp section. The amp is rather easy to use: select input gain (with three LEDs as a help), open main volume and that's it. The Preshape buttom gives more highs and lows, less midrange and adds a good punch. Vor more variability the 7band-EQ helps, the two-band compression works much better than I expected. Serial FX-Send/Return, LineIn/-Out, aktive and passive input, 300 watts RMS, two speaker outputs (1/4", Speakon would have been a good idea). Up to now I have used it only in our practice room. All solidstate. I got a 1048H (4 x 10" + tweeter) as a starter.

I do miss a tuner-out and speakon outs. The EQ is not that easy to handle.

I use the AH300-7 with a Jazz Bass/Bartolini 9S and Dean Edge Select5/EMGs. Playing rock with a little fusion influence the clean and clear sound is nearly 100% what I wanted to have. Very few noise, a rather quiet fan and I just push the Preshape button and that's all I need. It is an amp that sounds clean and crystal clear. As FX section I have a BOSS SX-700 which adds also Leslie and overdrive sounds. Also the FX sounds do come very transparent. The most impressive effect is that I can now play with less volume than before (2 x TKO115S) because the sound of this combination really cuts through.

The frontpanel illumination does not work. This has to do with a design bug in the power supplay. TE promised to fix it and send me an updated PCB after telling them that I am able to change alone.

But the amp makes the impression that is build to last. Very heavy. Seems to be reliable.

The German distibutor really tried to help. But it's really not a major problem.

I am wondering that I got the right amp and enclosure for me without testing it before. I just heard a lot of good stories, and it was a good price (975DM for the amp, 1090DM for the 1048H). So I did it.