Trace Elliot AH500X Bass Head

The classic series 6 gp12 pre-amp, from ultra-bright to sub-lows.
Features extensively axpalined by fellow reviews.
To me one of the best Trace Elliot design, surpassed in clarity
only by mark IV gp11.

Only 250 watts per side?
Never had a problem hearing myself on-stage, lot of trouble with other
manufacturers amps declaring as much 2-3 times the power.
Very clean and accurate, not hi-fi but the right colour to make the bass shine.
Good 'what-you-play-is-what-you-hear' vibe

It's like military equipment

Mine was an early '89 model, bought new that year and sold in '95.
Found used in a shop some month ago, actually MY amp sold 9 years
ago, re-bought immediately.
There's a BIG difference in these beasts and later Trace designs,
the older, the better.
I higly suggest you to try out live one of these,
every Trace Elliot prior to black-panel GP12smx era is a stunning
piece of gear.

It's a heavyweight Powerhouse!
Manufactured in UK at 1989 (look at the back, a handwritten serial# like this: xxxxxE9 - "E" stands for eighties, 9 for the year).
It has two channels with each 250W or one channel with 500W. I read other opinions and i don't know what problem they had with bridging the two 250 W channels to one 500 W. At the back of the amp i a switch witch allows to use the amp as 2 x 250 W Fullrange, 2 x 250 Biamping or 1 x 500 W Fullrange. In the 2 x 250 W Fullrange-Mode you can use both channels independent from each other with two input-jacks. 12 Band Graphic-EQ, FX-Loop, Sound Pre-Shape, Limiter, Frontside DI-Out (Post or Pre-EQ), Headphone, ... it has it all!
It has a Neon-Light in the front wich allows full control on the darkest stage, but i think it's just LOOKING GREAT!!!
I don't miss anything on this amp.

I play a lot of different kinds of music with it and it sounds great! It has a mighty punch and a fast attack. One day, a Metal-Band was calling me and they told me "We are loud!", I said that it is not a problem. As I begin to play, the AH500X kicked the drummer from his seat and they told me they are not so much loud. Any questions? :-)
I use it with Schack Carbon and Warwick Thumb 5 Basses on a SWR Workingman 410T Cabinet. This amp is able to give you the mighty Warwick-Growl and the whole brilliance of the Schack Carbon-Neck.
I want to buy a second SWR WM 410T or an 1x15" Cabinet to use the whole power of this amp.
I tried Trace Elliot Cabinets, but they don't have enough Brilliance or
It has the VERY BEST EQ I've ever seen! The frequences are very well zoned and it has a very high efficiency factor.

I don't use any other amp because i don't need it. I bought it used a few years ago and i never had any problem with it but it seems to be build more than a tank as an amp.
I rate "only" 8, because i didn't use it for ten years.

I never needed support.

It was my Dream-Amp. I played once on a AH500 and I loved it, but i hadn'd enough mony for something like this. So I used Peavy (good quality for this price), Laney G150 (it sucks) and at least Geen Audio (good amp) wich i sold for the AH500X.

I have an older Pre Gibson head, 250w per side, fully bi-amp capable, 12 band eq, pre shape, DI out located on the front.

I use Rickenbacker,Warwick, and Fender basses, all sound great with the AH 500.

This head is heavy and built like a tank, the rubber shell is wrapped around a metal case that protects the amp itself.

I've had some work done on another Gibson/Trace head and it was pretty efficient, however they don't like to answer emails.

I've been playing 26 years and have found it to be the most reliable amp I've ever used. If I could change one thing it would be the output, I would rather have a mono 500w output rather than a 250 w stereo two channel output.

This amp is old! but, I have tried others & nothing comes close, eg. my standby is a SM-400. Single channel two inputs for active & passive basses, i/p gain control with LED level indication. Three types of tone to choose from selected via a simple footswitch; Flat; Preshaped -- bass & top boosted with a middle cut-- and, a 12 band graphic.. Later models have built-in dual band compression, I use the Trace separate one.
It's labelled AH500X, not 500w single ch. but two ch's of 250watt each. RMS not peak, turned up it bites, hard! To get the full 500watts, two cabs are required. Bridging the two amps is not possible, a big minus in my case. You can use the two power-amps separately if needed, ie. one can be used for the bass the other for whatever is needed, this via a range of std. jack sockets on rear.
This amp is very versatile, plenty of options to use, it handles a variety of styles with ease, from jazz & blues to just short of hard rock.

I use Status basses, a UK brand with graphite neck, all active, two headless five strings, one fretted the other fretless, my main bass is a headed six string, it has a vast variety of tone that is handled with ease by the Trace. Active basses can be noisy and the AH500X has a switchable noise gate that cuts this effectively on the quiet passages. As previously mentioned the tone shaping is facility is vast, 12 bands from approx. 30Hz to 15KHz via the 12 band graphic, each with a cut/boost of 15dB.
There is no distortion or, as much as you want depending on how the i/p gain control is setup..

I do not use a backup amp it's that reliable and, very robust due to the softy poly outer shell coupled with a steel sheet inner.
The assembly inside consists of separate boards connected via push on connectors. The only re-occurring fault was caused by these items via oxidisation. After talking to a technician at Trace. I eventually hard wired all the boards in a couple of hours work, which eliminated the fault completely..
The AH500X was bought second hand with a fault which showed itself by drastic drops in volume, this turned out to be the o/p transistors.
After a chat with the service technician (again) the help I received to remedy the fault was second to none. After paying a miserly amount for the mosfets, I received spare o/p transistors, circuit diagrams and, in short, superb after sales service.
That was five years ago, no faults have occured since..

As mentioned previously: Customer relations and service: Excellent..

After a playing period of around 40yrs. (no comments please)during which everything in the program has been played, I now own a minimum of gear, The Trace AH500X, three Status basses, a SWR SM-400 amp, two SWR 4x10" Goliaths and a Nomad effects unit. That's it. I would replace with SMX type if stolen, as it has built in compression.
I love this amp, wouldn't buy any other, It's a quality product with quality backup, wether I could afford a new I doubt but, what's wrong with second hand.
Enough from me, go out and try one..

This amp was made around 1990, it has some awesome tone. I play everything from funk and blues to heavy metal in gigging bands and this amp has done it all. I only wish it had an effects loop for the high section when in biamp mode. 250 watts per side at 4 ohms is plenty to power my Mesa 2x10 on the high side and Mesa 2x15 on the low, all EV bass drivers. I purchased this from a big local based touring act, the bass player had four stacks of these! This was Trace's flagship at the time of manufacture. The black light on the front always sparks alot of questions from the crowd.

I run an active spector 5 string and a custom made 4 string with Bartolini passives. This amp will get you that warm punchy MOSFET sound, if that's what you're after. This amp will HURT you, if that's your sort of thing. You can get a nice subtle tubey distortion by pushing the the power section with the preamp, i.e. turning the pre volume up to around 8.5, running the master volume around 6, and running the power amps around 9. This will be VERY LOUD, make sure you have quality cabinets. Inferior drivers will die...

I blew a MOSFET in this but only because the fan had died and I didn't notice, it got really hot. I finally rigged up the largest high-flow fan I could find to alleviate that problem. The MOSFETs are a little hard to find and I would recommend having a couple around for gigs, just in case. Keep in mind this amp is 10 years old.

I've never had a problem, they even sent me a free copy of the owners manual after I sent an email request!

I've been playing bass for around 18 years. I've slowly graduated from Peavey to Galien Krueger to the Trace Elliot. I have gigged with this amp and the only complaint I have is that it weighs over 50 lbs! I was looking for something to give me a good tone and lots of headroom without all the hassles of tubes. If I had the cash I would replace it with the new 1000 head but my band hasn't gone platinum, yet...