Trace Elliot Commando 15

Mid to late 90s amp, discontinued by Trace. I bought it from a small company that specializes in repairing British made electronics and they thought the amp was 150/300 watts, but I don't think it puts out much more than 100-150 watts. It doesn't have a full equalizer on it, but you can adjust the bass, middle and treble with either dials or quick buttons. It has effects loop in/out, and different inputs for passive or active pick ups. It has a line out, but no speaker out jack. This is plenty of amp for playing in a small combo, in a small to medium sized performance space. I have used the line out to connect to another 100 watt combo amp, which doesn't quite double the sound, but was enough for a really noisy big bar. This isn't enough amp by itself for outdoors or a big space, but it's enough to practice with and small gigs. It may not seem like a big thing, but it's only got one handle on top, and for an amp this heavy, that's ridiculous, it's my least favorite feature of the combo, that it can't be easily carried very far.

I have three cheap basses, and this amp brings out the unique qualities of two of these three basses quite well. I have a peculiar all wood fretless Wishbass, and this amp brings out the almost upright double bass sound of that axe. I also play a Rogue viola bass with flatwounds, and this amp does a great job of matching the 60s Beatles sound. My third cheap bass is a vintage 70s Tempo with original pick ups, and the bass is capable of a wide range of rock 'n roll sounds on other amp set ups, but this amp is really only suited for clean, straight bass. The sound is clean all the way up to almost max gain and volume.

I got this combo when it was already a decade old, and it looks and plays great. It's got metal corner protectors, and it's well put together. It's never given me an ounce of trouble. The only thing is the silly single handle on top, given the weight of this thing, sooner or later that handle will give, I'm sure.

Trace Elliot has little or no interest in their obsolete models, you can't even get an email out of them. Maybe they're more responsive to the customers who can afford their pricey high end amps, but they don't have the time or interest to look up anything about their older stuff. I find that really obnoxious. When I can afford a more expensive top end combo amp, I'm going to get a different brand, just because I was so put off by their lack of reponse for some simple questions about this Commando 15. If it ever needs repair, the guys I got it from, British Audio Service near Geneva Illinois, they seem really nice and competent, they are an authorized service center, but in general there aren't a lot of places in the U.S. authorized to fix any of the British sound equipment makers, but I don't know how important that authorization is, this model is a decade past any original warrantee. By the way, if you live in Milwaukee, I recommend JONATHAN BLICK SERVICE CENTER 4712 W. Washington Blvd
(414)475-6198 for amp repair.

It's a discontinued model, so anyone reading this review is like me, you stumbled across a used one and you're wondering whether to buy it or now. This combo shouldn't be compared to the new high end models Trace sells now, this was moderately priced when it was sold new. If you can get one of these for under $350, it's better than any new 100-200 watt combo amp, so snap it up. It's got a much better sound, projects better, and can get much louder than my 100 watt Kustom KBA combo. I'd also recommend it if you're looking to make a little more noise than with whatever 100 watt combo amp you already have, you can use the line out jack to daisy chain two combos to the same bass. If you need to be heard over a couple of death metal guitarists, you'll need more than this amp and it doesn't have a speaker out jack so you can't hook it up to a monster cab. If I lost this, yeah I'd look for another, but I wouldn't buy a new Trace product of any kind, since they don't care to support their obsolete models, that's just bad customer service if you ask me. Any new amp should will eventually be an obsolete model like this one.

It's a 1995 model, price-quality-wise this baby can't be beaten, and I've used it for folk, metal, rock, blues, soul, you name it and it 'll do it all. I rehearse with a 14 piece soul-coverband and a progressive metalband (yeah, I know...) and it's great for practice and small gigs.

No fuss getting the right tone, with whatever guitar you use (passive Squier, active Warwick, with or without effects). No distortion or hissing.

In allmost ten years of regular gigging and rehearsing twice a week it never-ever let me down! (touch wood...). So I carry it aroun a lot, and not always as carefull as it deserves.
Compare that to the Marshall B-65, which was at the store getting one repair after another 70% of the time I've owned it (I shit you not)

Never needed them

I bought the amp in November 1995 and payed about 1100 Dutch Guilders ($550) for it. It was my first amp and since then I've owned a Marshall Bass State 65, several shitty practice amps and since 2001 a Hartke 2000 with a TP 410, I use for larger gigs.
I play a 5-string Warwick Streamer Stage II with Bartolini pick-ups, a Squier P-Bass and a Basscollection active with J and P-bass pickups, and use a Korg AX30B through the FX loop. If stolen or lost I would be at my witts end really, it would be a disaster... Shure I would buy the same thing! In the past decade it was able to beat anything I've ever tried, apart from Hartkes more expensive series. Anything else is not worthy of standing in this amps shadow.

This amp is very easy for anyone to get not only a great sound, but their very own sound. It really brings out the sound of your instrument. Sure, who woulnd like complete tonal shaping with 7-band eq, but this amp delivers the "trace" sound hassle free. For gigs where there are several bands on the bill and your setup is in and out, this amp is the mother lode. Works wonders when there is a good house PA that you can run from the line out jack and throb the whole place with warm, crisp tone.

Just keeps on giving clean deep crisp tone at all volumes. I love the trace sound. cant be beat.

Never broken down. Gigged it bery heavily and a backup amp never even crossed my mind. This amp has survived the two extremes. Used heavily in the dead of winter in Michigan and the dead of summer in Arizona. It cant be stopped.

Ive always dreamed of owning a trace stack, and it will happen, but i wont part with this amp by any means. It does the job in so many situations that you dont need a stack.

bought this amp new in 96 for $530. 100 watts solidstate with 1 15. nice little amp.

play rock,country,blues, and dance music(mowtown etc.) mostly play jazz and p basses but do plug in an active bass once in a while. has active and passive inputs and the bass,treble,mid, boost is a nice feature. great amp for a small room. i can dial in some great tones with this amp.

this amp was one of my main workhorses for the last 9 years. has been very reliable. i did blow it up once in 99 on the last song of a gig(my fault it was to much room and to little amp) but it was the last song so i can't say it ever let me down! $100 bucks for output trans and a couple resistors so i can't say the repair hurt to much. but it seems to be loosing power again so it may be time to retire the old girl.

never had to worry about it.

been playing bass for 30 years now. this has really been a great amp. to bad they went out of buisness but i do have an ashdown stack (300 watts w/410 and 115 cabs) same guys new product. i bought the commando because a friend was playing thru trace stuff and i loved it. it really paid off well. this amp played over a hundred gigs in its lifetime and made it through all of them without fail. had the ashdown a year and i think it will be a great amp also. check em out.

Model 1001 ( 100 watts of power on a 200 watts 15" speaker )
Passive and active inputs
Effects loop
Line out
3 frequency boost : "Deep", "Mid Shift" and "Bright"
Kick-proof front grid ( Believe-me, I've tested it )

I own a Godin BG-5 /w EMG active pickup, being used with Morley Power-Wah/Boost + Big Muff
With the "Bright" boost activated, it gives me a warm and rich distorted sound ( Big Muff )

Like a freakin' Tank

Never heard of them

Considering the fact that you have a single 15" speaker with no horns or tweeter, it proves to be a really versatile amp.

I bought this amp new, although it was in the store for a few years. I believe it is a 98'. It has an effects loop, but who the hell uses FX on a bass? This is my main amp, I use it for gigging, and practicing. Has not failed me once yet, and I trust it completely. Has plenty of power for what I am doin, does not cause one bit of distortion at high volumes.

I have a rickenbacker 4003, with stock single coils and a Fender Precision bass with stock pickups. They sound amazing through this amp. I could not believe the sound versatility on this amp, i play alternative/punk/jazz/funk and metal and this amp sounds great in all those categories. I have played through this amp with distortion one or two times, even though i do not like distortion on bass, it sounded pretty good. The clean on this amp at high volumes is extremely clear, there is no distored sound at all.

This amp is a beast! It has not failed me once yet, i never bring a back up amp to gigs. I have never felt the need to. This amp has had some beatings, fallen down stairs, off the back of trucks, and it turns on and cranks everytime.

Never Dealt with Trace Elliot, or whoever owns it now. Never had to. Dont remember how long the warranty was. I'm going to give this a low rating because i have never dealt with customer support for this amp.

When i bought this amp, i compared it to Hartke, Ampeg, SWR, and Fender. I bought this because the sound was so versatile, and also a friend of mine has a Trace 4X10 combo, and it is going on 25 years old now. I figured what the hell, it seems rugged, lets see how long it lasts. If lost or stolen, I would definately replace it, if i could find another one. I love this amp, and trust it, it is solid and thats it. I hate nothing about it. GREAT AMP.
Other gear - Bunch of Mackie Mixing/Recording equipment, and lots of Carvin.

Since I play a very heavy, ballsy but sometimes melodic style, I need to find a live sound that fits between these requirements and cuts through the mix as well. The bright and mid boost features allow this for me. The effects loop would be handy if i used any effects and the line out has been used regularly too. This amp is great for rehearsals and good for gigs too if you can find the right live sound in it. It also has dual inputs for active or passive pickups.

I use an Ibanez Soungear 885 with active pickups and find that I have almost too much control over the sound than what I should have considering there is no whatever-band eq on the amp. As said before, this amp can find a beautiful clean tone live for melodic sections while on the same sound chunk out the bottom end of a heavier section without any mud or fuzz. Its great for rehearsals because of its versatility of tone, and suits just about any style from bluesy/jazzy stuff to death metal balls and chunk.

I find that if you try to push the gain too hard at high volumes, you do experience a little distortion, but not enough to call noise. This can even be used to your benefit. This amp has a very clean sound at nearly all levels of volume and can be boosted in the mid range to cut through a mix without experiencing any tone probs.

This amp I have owned now for about 3 years, and I must say that if you could ever find another one as tough as this I'd be surprised. Let me fill you in on the beating I have given this amp over the years.

I have:

- dropped it several times in transit, sometimes from greater heights than others.

- burnt the outer covering without realising. No damage at all that affected the amp's usage. Just a scar on the top of it.

- blown it up with fireworks recently when some idiot decided fireworks were fun in the middle of the bands equipment. No noticable damage.

- dropped it down a flight of concrete stairs with no damage.

This amp is like the T-1000 of bass amps. There is no destroying it. Believe me, I would've done it by now. Never needed repairs.

I have never needed to deal with Trace, or even get the speaker or wiring looked at. Very reliable.

I have been playing six years. I think if this amp were stolen or lost I would probably get something else, but only because of the opportunity to upgrade. I havent needed to yet, so why bother? I love the tone, I love the durability. My only gripe is that it needs side handles because the top handle is a bitch to carry, even though it doesnt weigh too much. After all we're musicians - laziness is out trademark.

This is the upgraded model Commando 15 (150W all FET [field effect transistor] power output as opposed to 100W in the original). It has a basic low / mid / high EQ with deep, mid and bright boost switches to change the overall character of the EQ. All very easy to get to grips with. High and low sensitivity inputs for passive or active instruments respectively. Line out but no speaker extension, but that's not a problem unless you have an informal stadium gig planned. There's an effects loop too, but who the hell uses bass effects?? ;-)

There are no features apart from the effects loop that i don't use, and nothing i really want it to do that it doesn't. The idea of a 7 band EQ is always nice, but in reality you just end up playing with it for too long trying to get a sound. With this you just turn the dials and get so close it makes no difference. Saves you hours.

I use this with a yamaha passive 4 string with 2 single coils, a westfield acoustic 4 string with some microphone type thing and a jackson active 5 string with 2 huge soap-bar humbuckers and a full 3 band S.Duncan EQ. They all sound great through this amp - you can push them as loud as you like (and believe me, this goes LOUD) and there's no distortion or farting. The amp itself does hummmm a little, but this doesn't increase when you wind the vloume up, so it's of no real consequence.

Some people won't like this amp at all because the fully solid state construction means that distortion is completely out of the question. For my purposes, however, that's great! A bass shouldn't distort, and it pisses me off when they do! I play classic rock and metal, and it all benefits from the nice clean, warm but punchy bass that this amp delivers.

I'm gonna give it a 10, cos this is /my/ review, not yours! If you want to play distortion bass, however, consider this rating a 1 (or you could go buy a Boss ODB-3 and whack it in the effects loop i guess).

No tubes really seems to mean no maintenance under normal circumstances. I've carried this beast round in my car and it's had a real go at killing the suspension, but the amp is fine! I don't think it'd break unless you did something fairly radical to it, and i've played gigs with it and not even thought to have a backup amp. I pretty much trust it completely.

Coming up 2 years of faultless service - i'd say that's a 10.

Never had to contact Trace (or whatever the parent company happens to be) and i don't reall want to or think i'm going to need to.

Overall, this is a great amp for playing very loud and clean yet warm bass. It's built like a tank and the features are extensive enough to be useful, yet simple enough not to pose a problem if you fancy a pint before you go on stage!

There's nothing I persoanlly dislike about this amp, but i have a feeling that if you're a tube freak who needs distortion, you're not going to be happy in the slightest!

When i bought my commando, I compared with more expensive tracers which were really too far above my price range, an Ashdown with a pre-amp valve that was just too distorted at even mid volumes for my tastes, and a peavey that just had no dynamic capabilities at all. No surprises that i got this one, then!

If it were stolen, I'd get another pint, go outside, find the nearest guy on the pavement with a broken back and ask him to return it. (Yes it is that heavy.) If it really had gone missing, i'd go and buy it again without even having to think.

Great amp made in 2000
I like to play funk and jazz and some hard edged rock
very good clean tones no matter how hard i tried i couldnt make it fuzz!
i play in a band and have used it at various gigs (250 people at the most) and it has been fine.

i use a peavey cirruss C4 bass and run through an ibanez chorus and a phat head bass overdrive pedal. which is nice

N/A

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Brillant--would never replace it

very basic features...nothing too flashy or extrovert...just sits quietly in the corner doing its job. active/passive inputs, bass middle & treble equalizer with bright, deep & mid shift buttons and a preamp knob...line out jack and, funnily enough, a volume control. nice and simple. does the job

i am using it with an ibanez soundgear and a cheap washburn for all sorts of styles...it makes a fantastic sound...very clean...no noise or hiss or anything like that...just good clean beautiful sound...doesnt distort at high volumes, but there is no harder sound...you have to use an external effects box or something for that because the sound is clean all the way

extremely reliable. ive bashed it around a bit and it still works fantastically so no problem

never dealt with them

10 out of 10. no question.