Trace Elliot GP12X Preamp

Made in 1996 bought by myself 18 months ago. Had to make a few repairs to bring it fully up to spec but it's now as good as new! The input stage is variable between solid state (a J112 fet transistor driven stage) and a valve (12AX7) stage. I tend to keep the knob screwed round to the valve end (warms and richens the sound incredibly!) Has two switchable preshapes and a very usable 12 band graphic equaliser. The real masterstroke of this head is the twin compressor. The signal passes through a crossover and then the two components pass through seperate compressors each with their own compression level control. An eq balance control completes this section. Screw the low compression knob up to about 2/3 and about a quarter with the high compression knob and you've got a very impressive sound. If you find the sound a little boomy or thin (due to the room you're playing in) just tweak the eq balance and 9 times out of 10 you've cracked it! Also round the front is an effects level return for the 2nd stereo (high pass parallel) effects loop- very nice with a touch of chorus on the top end and tweakable from the front.
Round the back we've got connections for both effects loops (loop one is a series full range loop) 3 DI sockets (left and right (post eq) and pre eq mono) Also a tuner output (still effective when you mute the amp output with the front standby switch) a footswitch socket (pre shape and graphic) left and right line level outputs and left and right high pass outputs and low pass mono outputs (with variable crossover) I suppose a headphone socket would be usefull but I really can't think of anything else I'd really need.

I use this live with whatever spare power amp I have lying around and a Laney 4x10" cab and it sounds pretty good. Projects nicely (a lot of which is down to the compression) and copes with the very noisy drummers I sometimes play with. I've also been using it for recording (di out of the back of the pre-amp) with blinding results! I find it a very versatile piece of kit and can cope with just about any type of music you try and make with it. I usualy play a Fender Jazz with EMG's through it. I would concur with other people's opinions that Trace have their own distinctive sound which can, on occasions, overwhelm the sound of the original instument but with the features introduced on this pre amp it is easier to stray from "That Trace Sound" and create a sound that is your own. I think a bit of valve distortion would have been nice or at least the chance to drive the valve input stage into distortion. Maybe I should learn to hit the strings a bit harder!

There where a couple of faults with the pre amp when I bought it. 1. there didn't seem to be anything coming out of the left hand outputs. I soon found the culprit to be a dodgy transistor in the standby circuit. Very easily rectified. 2. 2 of the front panel illumination bulbs had blown so I replaced the lot with green LEDs. Nearly all of the components are stil available today so future maintanence shouldn't be a problem. My main concern is that the chip which provides the compression (SSM2024) is very hard to get hold of these days and so if this fails the amp could be rendered useless! Other than that the build quality is very impressive and the thing is built like a tank

Trace had long since vanished when I took care of this unit so I can't really comment. However British Audio Services in America have proved an invaluable source of information.

I've been playing for more than 20 years and previous to this had a Laney G150 head (the poor man's Trace!?) But getting hold of this was a revelation. If this went bang I'd have to get another one or a head with the same pre-amp.

First introduce 1990 this preamp was voiced only for bass players.

Front Panel has the following:

Inputs for Active or Passive Instruments
Input gain control with 3 LED indication
Noise Reduction Switch
Two switchable pre-shaped Eq's
Footswitch Jack (Activates Graphic or Eq)
12 Band EQ
Graphic Level balance control
Switchable pre/post EQ Transformer Balanced DI Output
Effects loop
Line output
Output level control
HeadPhone Jack

Sounds you can get range from Jazz to Rock and everything in between. Push the graphic mid pre-shape button and you have tone. Now you have 12 EQ sliders to shape your sound even further. Really nice feature is the Input Gain control knob with the 3 LED's. This tells you how much your instruments signal is loading the preamp stage. It really helps to smooth out your bass pickups or create some growl.
Yellow - Increase Gain
Green - OK
Red - Overload
I have used Active and Passive Basses and this makes them both sound great. You can use this preamp with your present amplifier in the effects loop like an effects pedal. Connect this to a Power Amplifier and EV's or JBL speakers now you have Quality Sound. The back of this panel has an adjustable crossover control and Line Output Jacks for "Low Pass" "High Pass" and "Full Range". This gives you the flexability for Biamp Sound System. The for recording you have the Transformer Balanced DI Output. This preamp was a still is a very popular and sought after by many musicians all over the world.

Never really had any problems, it works everytime. No need for a backup since it sits in a protective rack case. Probably a regular yearly cleaning on the sliders to keep them quiet.

Never had to deal with Trace Elliot but I am sure they can provide a solution.

I have been playing for 25 years and used alot of equipment. If this were stolen or lost I would find another to replace it. It is a valuable piece of equipment.