Trace Elliot Bonneville 100 Head

This is a single channel amp with three unique settings. There is a delay between the settings because the amp has to re-bias and re-relay itself for each sound (or so the Trace Elliot Rep told me at the seminar for this amp). They said that the only thing that is solid state on this amp are the relays. The amp is has internal chrome appointments, very nice! This also has a dummy tube that Trace Elliot decided to leave in because they wanted to have as many tubes in it as possible. Don't shoot me, that's ACTUALLY what they told us sales guys at the seminar. They had a left over tube because the combo version has reverb and the head does not, thus the extra one. The amp was triple polished at the factory, a lot of good that does after the first month. This amp is said to be "Hand Wired" what ever that means. I opened mine up to find a large PSB in it. There are some wires that connect the PSB to other components, maybe that's what they mean. At any rate, there are no hand wired solder joints in it AT ALL. It's NOT hand wired.

This amp is dark and smooth. The "american" setting is smooth, but lacks a lot of complexity when it's purely clean. The overdrive you get on this setting is amazing: responsive and dark, but with a good bite. They said that this setting is the same circuitry as a black face fender's preamp, whatever that means. It sounds nothing like my black face bassman, so I don't know how it could be. the second channel is said to be the same design as a Marshall JCM 800. This channel sounds better than my JCM800. I don't know how this could be the same design if the gain is at least twice that of any JCM 800 I've used, or 900 for that matter. I love this channel, it's, you guessed it, dark and crunchy with a superb smoothness and terrific gain. It's a better Marshall than my Marshall. the Third Channel is the high gain channel, very cool, but too over the top for me. It is rich with harmonics and gain. Sweet!

I have had this amp for 12 years and have yet to run into a problem.

I emailed them and they never got back to me. I think they got bought out by Gibson, so maybe it's better now.

I have been playing for 21 years. I would be very sad, very sad, if I ever lost this amp. It's the best amp I own or have owned. I love this amp and even named it after a cute librarian.

just bought it second hand for both the cab and head. versatile, but the lack of footswitch is annoying at times, and the second- delay between the preamp switching. but its very very good. lots of valves and wondow rattling power- its not a bedroom amp- use it in various medium to large gigs.

yamaha pacifica 712 w/ dimarzio. versatile and tight rock sound- brings out the brian may in all of us. its quiet at all times, even at high settings. i use it with the trace elliot cab i bought it with. the clean channel isnt that impressive- miked up its fine. what i like most is the variety of distortion you can get with this head- sparkly and trebly to a full rock sound. so its a very versatile rock sound.

hasnt broken yet, 4 gigs in.

never contacted- bought second hand.

been playing for 3 years, but that doesnt really reflect my ability. ive some other amps- a Marshall VS**te and a beautiful little 1978 American Acoustic 50 watter. Theyre rare so chances are i wont ever see another one of them sold and wont have the opputurnity to buy if it was sold. i really love its versatility, but the footswitching thing is a bit of a problem. if you ever see one for a sensible price, buy it- you wont be dissapointed(cant imagine anyone being dissapointed with it)- its just about my only conversation topic for the last 3 weeks. and its green. what more could you possibly want?

I bought this amp brand spankin' new in 2001. It was the second to last one they had. It was missing the green jewel that covers the "power on" light. I emailed Gibson and 10 bucks later had the jewel mailed in about three days. It runs 100 (very loud) watts in pentode mode and 50 (also very loud) watts in triod mode. The idea being that you get more clipping (distortion) at lower volume levels in triod mode. I personally don't care for the triod mode much as I am not a big fan of oversaturated (buzzy) distortion. If I did I'd buy a BOOGIE, which I won't. I wish Trace had the foresight to provide preamp footswitching as the lack of it keeps you close to the amp if you swith between songs and styles alot like I do. You can get just about any sound out there except for crystal clean. And it does them all well. I have noticed that both the gain and volume knobs have what seems to be a db boost when you turn the dial to about 10 o'clock. Don't know if this was intentional or not. I run the gain at about 12 o'clock in all three modes for rhythm and flat out for lead, except for the high gain mode, which loses a bit of control and character at full distortion. I am a tone guy, which means TUBES. I don't care about brands. I care about tone and this baby is loaded with all kinds of tone. It doesn't do exactly what a plexi or a JCM-800 does but it comes really close to both. I have owned both a 1981, 50 Watt, JCM-800, 2/12 combo and a 100 watt DSL 2000. I sold the DSL 2000 to buy this amp and have always been glad I did. I do wish I still had the JCM-800 as they do not make them like they used to. I don't play with reverb much so I don't miss it on this amp. I use my Fender Cyber-Delux for all that funky stuff. I won't mention the effects loop because I cannot get anything good out of it. I have NEVER seen any effects loop work well. I rated this a 9 because, as we all know, there are no tens, and the lack of a footswitchable preamp.

I have been playing for about 20 years. I run the Trace through a Marshall 4/12 cab loaded with 75's. I play a Fender Strat (all stock single coils), Fender Tele (stock pickups), Yamaha GSB-500 (stock humbuckers) and a wonderful little Washburn S/S/H (stock on the singles and a DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion at the bridge). They all sound unique and great through this amp but require their own unique settings to sound that way. The Yamaha is a little muddy at the neck but I attribute that to the stock pickup, not the amp. I play rock and hot rod country (kind of a midlevel distorted guitar driven sound). A little rougher than Mellencamp but not quite Judas Priest. This amp thrives in this area. It loves distortion and gives very lush harmonics, especially with the Super Distortion. It gives me the flexibility to get just about any sound I want but I do not gig with it as it doesn't have channel switching capabilities. I rated this an 8 because I am always seeking the Holy Grail of tone and am never completely satisfied with any sound I get. This is my 13th amp and comes closer to what I want than any other amp I have owned.

Have never had a single problem with it. It is what it is. An extremely solid, well made amp that will last for years and years. I think this amp was designed by someone with a military background as you could take this baby to war! Just don't drop it. Rated a nine for the reason described above. I never take a backup when I gig. I probably should but I never have.

Gibson was very helpful in the one instance I used them. I bought this without an owners manual and Gibson could not help me there. I did get my hands on a basic one and if you need a copy, email me. Rate a 9 because Gibson was very helpful the time I used them.

I would recommend this amp to anyone except the individual that needs channel switching on the fly. I have seen on the Internet people suggesting a mod that would add a footswitch but when you switch preamp modes there is about a one second delay where there is no sound. Kind of a bummer, but I can live with it. This makes a fantastic recording amp as it has line out capability throught the effects loop (with a manual level control) so you can send the preamp direct to the board. Of course, I prefer ambient micing so I would not use the direct out and I prefer power amp distortion anyway. Bottom line - I love this amp. If it was stolen I do not think I could find another one (very rare) but if I could, probably would buy another. This is one of those unique amps that no one knows about but if they played it would absolutely fall in love with it. Have you ever seen anyone complain about the tone on these? No, and you never will!

100 watt trace elliot bonneville head, loaded with lots of nice features such as 3 channels (can't footswitch) and a very cool green look. These were a limited run of amps, and I don't know exactly how many were made, but they are getting scarce I have heard.
This is a versatile amp, but the inability to footswitch does not allow such versatile playing live. It's basically a studio amp head. I wish they had made reverb on the head version, because the effects loop totally sucks, but don't they all?
One note I want to make, this amp is a paint peeler! It's LOUD. Not Marshall loud, but plenty loud enough for any venue you want to do. The damping switch allows control over the sound, and the pentode/triode switch also. This amp has a lot of cool easy to use features, but is not that complex to learn like a lot of amps that take years to boogie on.

A rundown and description of the channels :
Channel 1 American/Tweed clean : Although the name calls it american tweed clean, I'd call it more if a British inbetween, but mine has el-34s so that could be part of the reason. I haven't tried 6l6's and probably won't since I have a Fender Twin for that sort of tone. I use this channel for light breakup tones. What is really cool about this channel is the touch responsivness and the ability to do the louder "marshall clean" tones. I own a marshall plexi reissue and love the clean sounds I get with it, but the problem w/ the marshall and clean tones, you can't do loud and clean with it. This channel is almost identical to that sound and louder levels. With humbuckers it breaks up very early on the dial, giving a Vox tone. If you are looking for pristine clean, this is not the amp nor channel to do so. I will say that it is 10x better than the Bogner Ecstacy clean channel however. The bogner's clean channel might stay clean louder, but it is a terrible sterile sounding clean sound. So what's better, a sterile clean tone (bogner ecstacy) or a shimmering british invasion tone (trace elliot bonneville)?
Channel 2 British (vintage)gain : This is my favorite channel on the amp. It chimes with strats, it sings with humbuckers. a very great sound, it really nails the Vox sound with single coils. The midrange on this amp is wonderful sounding btw, especially this channels. This is the perfect rhythm channel for blues, rock, alternative, etc Cleans up well w/ the volume control and is also very touch responsive. The amp as a whole is very compressed, which is a cool feature giving it originality. Channel 2 is unique in the way it acts with humbuckers. It has a very MesaBoogie like tone to it, but like way better. I have owned a mark iv and borrowed a Heartbreaker to check out for a while also. While having decent sustain and warm sounds, there is just that something missing with all Mesa amps that I've ever played. They also get real tubby on the bass notes w/ the neck pickup on. This channel 2 w/ humbuckers does the Santana tone like you wouldn't believe with more clarity than his mesa's, and the ones i've played that were missing that special something was found in this amps channel2. It's a vintage gain type sound. With a strat it wont go any over blues overdrive though. It's a clarity type overdrive. Good and snappy. Telecasters can break out the country at this point also! I do love this channel!!!
Channel 3 Modern Gain: To sum this channel up, it is SUSTAIN and CLARITY. I've never heard an amp get such harmonicly rich tones with such gain. I was expecting a meatier overdrive on this channel when I first tried out the amp, but I was shocked when it ripRoared into this HUGE sounding gain. With hot humbuckers you could play just about any style of metal you want I would assume. Thats not my thing at all though. I like instrumental guitar work, and I don't use high gain a lot, but when I do, this channel has got me covered. WAY more sustain than other amps of it's kind (Mesa Boogie mark iv, bogner ecstacy, cruise mq4, egnater...yes i've tried all of these and was unimpressed.owned 2 of the 4) I also play with a band that likes to play heavy guitars over techno music, and I use this amp for that sound actually with a Peavey Wolfgang. I only turn the gain knob to about 10 o'clock...thats usually where the gain knob is at for all my channels actually, and most of the time I reduce some of that gain w/ the volume knob. We are talking major fat,detailed distortion that absolutley SINGS.
I don't know if you know it or not, but Eddie Van Halen used some Trace Elliot amps back in the day, and I'm not sure which models he had, but it very well could have been this amp. The reason I say that is because Neil Zaza owned one of these amps for a while, and he has a lot of the same gear as eddie. especially amps and guitars. Plus, a friend who tried this out said it reminded him o

Blew a fuse within the 1st week of owning, but I bought it used so that kind of thing is expected. The amp is 4 yrs old i think, and it still had the original TraceElliot tubes,so go figure. I have heard good things about Trace Elliot service, but will it still be good w/ gibson heading up things? Lets hope so.

Never had to deal with and hope that I do not have to. It would be a pain to get this looked at since they don't make them anymore.

I've been playing for about 6 years and own quite an amp/guitar collection. I have a marshall plexi reissue, tube Works tubeDriver, a Fender Twin 65 RI with upgraded JBL speakers, and a Fender Twin 65 stock. This amp fits in w/ all happily and I'm looking at getting etiher a matchless or gibson goldtone amp in the near future. If lost or stolen, I would try my hardest to get another one. My favorite part about this amp is that it saves my ears from the marshall!! Ti really does do a great plexi tone at lesser volumes. very authentic sounding as far as the marshall sounds go, and channel 3 is like the marshall plexi w/ a gain mod.
I wish it had some sort of on board spring reverb tank, because this effects loop is one of the worst ones i've seen/used.
Using humbuckers with this amp in general will not get you any pristine clean tones btw...just thought I'd add that in too.
I give it an 8 overall for its tone!

Mine is a 1995 Bonneville 100/watt head. It's in excellent condition & covered in that gorgeous Trace Elliot green. I wonder if they dropped the green cover because the "GREEN" line of amps is around now in the U.K.? Whatever...I do wish they'd go back to it, personally, but it's not that big an issue. This is a master volume head with three "preamp styles". It's like owning three master volume heads all voiced differently. The first "preamp style" position was designed to simulate the Fender tweeds, the second a plexi sound, & the third is a modern high gain setting. Features: a toggle switch for the effects loop (series/parallel); a variable output damping control; two master volumes; a triode/pentode mode switch which cuts it from 100/watts to 50/watts; an effects send & return level; an impedance selector (typical 4,8,16/ohms); a mute for turning off power amp output & running it direct; bias for 6l6GC or EL34; also, the master volume controls & the effects loops are footswitchable. I rate it a 10 for features because it *is* a master volume head & as such is loaded with extras to let you tweak it's master volume capabilty to perfection. This is not a mega switch loaded, push/pull pot infested, goofy sounding "feature" named, ten channel option anxiety box. You can BOOGIE over to some other place for that.

I play a 1999 Tele Am Std & a 1991 RG560, but that will soon change. I've used it w/Les Pauls & an Ibanez Prestige model S1520. IMO, this amp sounds best w/Celestion 75/watt speakers. Since there are controls for pre-gain & post-gain, you can vary all levels of gain over the three voices of the preamp & have an incredible range of sounds available. This amp responds to you. The modern high gain voice will, of course, get noisy at higher gain settings. Otherwise, it's a very quiet amp. I aggree with "Dave the Camaro Kid" in his review. Don't buy one of these or any other Trace Elliot Guitar Works amp. That way, there'll be more for me to have!
I've been a Marshall player for about 7 years using various JCM 800s as well as the 1988 Custom Tube 2550, the SLASH reissue & some ohers. I've owned Crate, Peavey, MESA Dual Rectifier, Fender, Orange & various preamp/power amps rigs. My Trace Elliot Bonneville is my sound & I have never been more satisfied with a sound from any other amp. I know, that sounds pretty normal for a "new amp acquisition" state of mind. And that's a fair criticism. After all, I just got it & guitar players & gear can be like the record industry & hits. Here today, gone this afternoon!
Ask me a year from now how I like my Bonneville.

Trace Elliot Guitar Works Custom Shop amps are hand built. They don't skimp on components to save a buck. The preamp tubes use ceramic sockets & the power tubes use porcelain sockets. Jack sockets are gold plated. The preamp tube covers are chrome plated & so are the transformers. Cabs are birch. I would gig without a backup using this amp but I always provide for a worse case scenario & bring a backup. I've had this amp a few months & I got it from it's original owner. It's not been abused & I've gratefull for that. It's been reliable.

I've emailed the company & gotten responses within a few days. This has happened 2 or 3 times, so that's good. If they didn't respond to email, I wouldn't hate them. I'd simply snail mail them. I asked for a catalog & they sent me an owners manual for my Boneville, too. In my dealings, I'm satisfied. They are "approachable". Try that with Ibanez.

I've been playing 25+ years. If this amp were stolen or lost, I'd get the current Speed Twin model, no question about that. As a matter of fact I'm saving for that now! And, the next Bonneville I see used, I'll get it, too. There's nothing else like it.
I intend on publishing a Trace Elliot "fan" page for their Guitar Works Custom Shop amps. It's time they got the consumer recognition they deserve. Email if you're interested in contributing to this page. I'd love to hear from fellow Tracers.

Built about 2 years ago, now out of production. Sort of a twisted take on the master volume, single channel amp-it has a reconfigureably preamp (when you turn the the knob, relays actually physically rearrange the internal stucture of the amp to add gain stages-don't know how durable this'll be, but it's a cool idea). Otherwise, modern style overkill-preamp, b,m,t,p tone stack, two master volumes (footswitchable), parallel/series effects loop (footswitchable), 4/8/16 ohms output, tight/loose bass knob, EL34/6L6 with external bias pots, mute switch, pentode/triode. The chassis and all the transformers/tube shields etc are chrome plated and the whole thing is done up in green tolex-very chic. Only drawback is that the voicing changes are not footswitchable and there's a moment's drop out when the switch takes place.

Fender-more compressed than a blackface, pretty authentic sounds with 6L6s however. More gain than vintage Fenders, can get pretty loud.
Marshall-excellent 100 watt master volume tone.
High Gain-sorta Marshall 6100, Mk IV with EL34s tone, enough gain for modern metal or hard rock.
Excellent tone, if you like a little compression.

Blew a fuse when it was flat out, otherwise seems just fine. No instructions, though, so I haven't figured out the footswitchable effects loop...

They haven't called or emailed me back about the manual, so I'm not sure.

Very cool amp. I own 40, mostly vintage, and I've only kept 3 channel switching high gain amps (Fuchs, Marshall 6100 and this) so it's pretty cool. My son who's just putting together his own alternative band had one too.