Product: Trace Elliot Hexa Valve
Price Paid: EUROS 1400 USED
Submitted
07/06/2009
at
01:39am
by
TMStevens
Features
:
10
The Amp was build in 1995 and still runs on its first tubes. A professional said they are in a very good condition and there is no need to replace either the preamp- nor the poweram-tubes. The amp is , although it is a all tube amp, extreme versatile. I used to play in Rock and Hard-Rock bands (some were even close to Metal) and I was quite satisfied. However, now I play in a Soul/Funk combo and get every tone I want to hear out of this amp! It has only one channel, but that's enough for me. You can add a Shape funktion and deactivate/activate the graphic EQ with a floorpad, so you got enough funktions and sound variations at all. There is actually nothing I miss with this amp, but there is no feature I never use, so I think it is very well balanced.
I Use this amp for practice with my band, small and big gigs. Never had any problems to set me through because of 380 Watts all tube sound.
Sound Quality
:
10
I play a MM Bongo 5 HH with it and I am very happy with my sound. However, I am not very happy with my cabs right now. It is one Hartke VX410 and one VX115.
The amp can get a bit noisy though, that might have to do with the tubes, but I am not sure. It has a "high gain" ventilation system integrated, which can get a bit annoying, but you will not recognize it after playing the first tone. The amp only distort at very high gain and very high master, I never get that loud and my cabs do not want me do play that loud as well.
The overall sound quality is brilliant. It can get as clean as a transistor amp and it has the same punch, but also the warmth of a tube amp that is rarely seen on stages these days.
Reliability
:
9
The amp has had never any problems at all, but depending on the tubes I would love to buy some backup (money, money, money...) just in case. Somehow I feel uncomfortable, but than I see other bands equipment defect on stage and my old baby is doing its job very well. If something would happen in the future there is nothing you can do, unlike a transistor amp where you can easily replace the fuse.
Customer Support
:
1
Trace Elliot does not respond on my several requests on a users manual for example. Therefore just 1 point!
Overall Rating
:
9
This amp is stunning! I used to play with a Fender amp (combo) and was very satisfied. After that I got a Mesa Boogie Basis M-2000 which is very good as well, but the Hexa kills everything! I compared an Ampeg SVT 2Pro with it and was amazed how good the sound of the Hexa was compared to the muddy sound of the Ampeg.
However, customer support is useless and the tubes are sensitive, but that's in the nature of things!
9/10
Highly recommendable!
