Trace Elliot Acoustic Cube

Think I bought this puppy in '96. Use it as a local monitor at church, playing through a '96 ltd. ed. tak. Others have commmented on the functions. It does have a rather versatile and quiet series of reverb effects. I wish it had a second input, but what do you expect for a little fellow?

Mostly various contemporary fingerstyle and rhythm playing. The thing I like best about this amp is the sound: it sounds like... an acoustic guitar. At the time, I tested it against Marshall, Crate, Carvin, and Centaur acoustic amps in this price range. Thoroughly. I wanted to like the Crate for its features, but it was just too noisy - lot of fuzz. Even w/out fuzz, quality of sound wasn't quite as good as the Cube. The other models sounded basically like PAs. Only the Trace really had a "true" acoustic sound to my ears, at least in this price range.

No problems with this so far. Seems well constructed. I love its portability too. Lightweight and small w/a nice storage case that you can carry over your shoulder.

From limited interactions via the web site, they have been slow to respond and not very helpful... about like Kaman. Very little contact info in the documentation. I'm sure it saves costs to have little of a support infrastructure, which is no big deal until you start having problems, course.

I love its portability. Lightweight and small w/a nice storage case that you can carry over your shoulder. It has plenty of power for my purposes. I've also used it for simple backyard events, where I've plugged in a mic and played and sang through it. Sounded very nice too.

If it was lost, I'd possibly opt for the TA50 Trace model w/2 inputs, but I'm very fond of the cube. Personally, I think a TA50 would be nice for small coffeeshop events w/mic and guitar. Very nice sound, particularly for the price, and very portable.

This is an amendment to my previous review and will atempt to clarify some customer service issues.

I bought the unit new from Brockton Music. The more I played it, the more I became convinced that it wasn't behaving as it was designed. I really began to suspect that the speaker was blown. It turns out that this unit had been Brockton's floor demo for about a year and a half. They sold it to me as "new". While I suppose this is technically true, I think it's deceptive. The unit even came with a ripped cover.
Now the unit was still under warranty but the Trace warranty specifically exempts speakers and tubes. I was really on the verge of selling the piece, but I didn't want to stick a buyer with a bum piece of gear. I decided that I'd better have it looked at while it was still under warranty.
I contacted Trace Customer Support in England via email. Linda Francis answered my email the next day. She referred me to Trace Elliot USA Ltd. Finally, I was beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel (a warm body in the USA to deal with).
I contacted Pam at Trace Elliot USA Customer Support and explained the situation. Originally, I was trying to determine who was authorized to check the unit out under warranty in the greater LA area. The tech she referred me to has a great reputation for quality but also a reputation for slow service. At this point Pam convinced me to ship the unit to them.
To make a long story short, I'm very glad I did. They verifed that the speaker was indeed "not functioning to spec". Rather than simply replace the speaker and charge me for the work (which was clearly out of the scope of the warranty), they sent me a brand spanking new unit and charged me nothing, zip, nada (they even paid for return shipping!). BTW, the turned the unit around in 3 days! Within 10 days of shipping the unit, I had the new one.
I just can't say enough great things about Trace USA's Customer Support. Pam and the Service Manager (Shane) are terrific. They have a genuine enthusiasm for Trace products.
I strongly encourage any American owner of Trace equipment to deal directly with Trace USA if they have any problems. Here's how to contact them:
Trace Elliot (USA) Ltd 2601 75th Street Darien Illinois 60561 Tel: 630-972-1981 Fax: 630-972-1988 E-mail: telliotusa@aol.com
Ask for Pam or Shane

Very nice feature set for such a compact, simple unit. Very functional notch filter, reverb, shape control & EQ, quiet preamp and nice D.I. on the back. Adequate power for intended purpose, which is to be a near field monitor for acoustic instruments on stage. Can be mounted on mic stand, which is one of it's primary benefits.

Using a Martin DC-1 guitar with a Highlander IP-2V pickup (no mic added at this time). I flatpick a lot, do everything from bluegrass to country rock and folk with this setup. The sound of the Cube is very smooth, especially when used in conjunction with floor monitors. I would not recommend using the Cube as your sole monitor source - set your regular monitors first and then add sound from the Cube as need be. The built in EQ provides a nice signal to send to the board, though I augment the EQ functions with a Baggs Para-Acoustic DI prior to the Cube. The tone quality is very mid-rangey without the "shape" switch engaged, but that's OK because the "shape" switch is like magic for taking the "honk" out of many pickup systems. The soundmen I work with love it, won't let me turn it off! The reverb is simple and perfect for guitar, and with the notch filter I can get quite loud without feedback.

I work a lot, and so far so good (1 year in service)

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Been playing for 25 years. I also use a Martin HD-28 for home and studio; Teles and Strats with old Deluxe Reverbs for electric work; play fiddle and mandolin as well. The Cube has become an indispensable part of my toolkit - I would replace it in a heartbeat. Nothing else compares for it's size and function - in many shows I do, a larger amp would be impossible due to staging and lighting requirements - the mic stand mounted Cube is the only solution of it's kind I've seen, and several friends have purchased them after trying mine.

35 watt solid-state acoustic guitar preamp (first and foremost) with 5" speaker for local monitoring. Small enough to mount on a mic stand. Includes digital reverb.
Controls: Gain, Lo Trim, Hi Trim, Notch In/out switch, Notch Freq, Reverb Plate/Room Switch Reverb mix and Level.
IMPORTANT: This unit is designed to be a preamp and provide low volume local monitoring. It is NOT and ampilifier. It does not have enough power to carry a room.
Having said all that, it is exactly what I was looking for. I always feed my acoustic direct into the board. My previous setup was a BBE Acoustic Preamp and an Intellifex. I only used the Intellifex for reverb so it was total overkill. The Cube's reverb programs are more than adequate for what I need.
Bottom line: very well thought out for WHAT IT DOES. Has just enough features to get the job done.

I use a Tak F360S with an L.R. Bagggs Dual Source PU. I was starting to feel that my previous preamp was kind of stiff and unforgiving. The Cube features the womnderful Trace preamp found on the rest of their acoustic amps. This preamp is very dynamic. Picking various areas between the neck and bridge really sound different with the Cube. Also, I find myself using much less microphone from the Dual Source. This sound is very detailed and warm.
On the downside, I do have a bit of trouble dialing in enough sound without feedback. I think this is because there is a wide variety of acoustic guitar PUs on the market. Some good, some not so good. Some hot, some with very weak outputs. I think Trace probably designed this unit to work fairly well with almost every type of PU out there.
Bottom line, I can dial in very nice tones with this unit, it's just not very loud. I haven't gigged with it (yet) but it should be loud enough for local monitoring. I would desribe the sound as workmanlike rather than holy grail. Hey, microphones in a recording studio are still the only way to really capture the nuances of acoustic instruments.
I can't say this enough - buy this unit for it's tone shaping NOT for it's volume!

I have some concerns here. Trace is on the verge of going out of business. Finding a Trace dealer who had one of these was very hard. Plus, this thing is really shoe-horned into a very small package (9x9x9 inches). Still, Trace has a very good reputation for over-engineering stuff for great reliability. At this point, I'd say reliability is a crapshoot.

Good luck. This company looks like it's setting into the sunset.

OK, had a few problems with the music store that sold it to me - Brockton Music. They said it was "new" but was in fact their floor demo. It arrived with 1.5 inch rip in the case. They credited me $20 for this. These units are pricey! Expecially considering the low output volume. But it does sound great and is exactly what I was looking for. IMHO, most other acoustic amps (I've tried them all) sound like shit! I won't use anything with piezos in it (yuk). Trace really knows how to preamp an acoustic guitar signal. I'd probably buy it again if it was still the best solution.
Overall score is supposed to be a "value" rating. On a price/performance basis I can't rate it any higher than 5. However, what it provides is completely unique and it does replace several separate units that in total cost more than it does.