Trace Elliot Speed Twin C30

This amp was made in 1998, or so the warrenty information has stated it was inspected. Amp is versatile enough for all styles i play (blues, rock, metal, punk, ska). 2 channels (Clean and distorted) Effects loop included, but no headphone jack. (With a sweet Celestian (12") speaker, who cares?!?!?)
This is a quality tube amp, hand made in Britain.

I play this amp with a Fender Deluxe Strat, using all pickup combinations. All sound good. Never had any need to turn past 1/2 volume, as that is sufficient for any jamming situation. This helps by making sure the speaker stays tight for good quality.

Purshased in may 200, this amp hsa been serviced twice. Once for fuses that kept blowing, another time for a mysterious crakling sound that was fixed with new tubes. Other than that, it hasn't been any real problem.

Musicstop, the store that sold it to me, provided quick (2 weeks tops) and painless (warrenty) servicing. Never had to deal with Trace myself....

I love this amp. Please feel free to contact me for more info if interested in buying a Trace Elliott amp.

This is a new British-built 30W class A all valve combo, with a single 12" Celestion speaker in a ?" plywood cabinet. Small, compact, and a manageable 23kg. There are four EL84 output valves and five 12AX7 pre-amp valves. It has two/three channels. Channel 1 is a clean channel, volume, bass, middle and treble controls, with a push-pull switch on the treble control for extra zing. Channel 2, accessed via a switch on the front panel, has gain, bass, middle, treble and level controls with a push-pull switch on the treble control - to allow control over the high mids instead - and a switch which alters the pre-amp style to boost the gain and volume, almost a third channel. The master section has master volume and reverb controls, and a switch to activate the effects loop. The Accutronics three-spring reverb tray is located in the floor of the cabinet. The rear panel contains the jack sockets for the effects loop which has send and return level controls, and which can be switched to operate in series or parallel mode. There are three extension speaker sockets, one 16 ohm (to which the Celestion speaker is connected) and two 8 ohm in parallel. Footswitch sockets allow control of the switching via either a two-way footswitch which is supplied (to select channel one or channel two, and to select the pre-amp style on channel two) or via an optional five-way footswitch (to switch channels, pre-amp style, reverb on/off, effects loop on/off, and mute). Not much missing then. The larger models in the Speed Twin range have two additional controls in the master section: a presence control; and a second master volume control - with the five-way switch the mute function switches between two preset master volumes instead. Nice. But the design of the C30's power amp is rather different: it's the only Class A amp in the range. I haven't really missed the two additional controls.

This is what really counts when you're buying an amp, and this little cutie delivers! I use a Fender USA Standard Strat (1990-ish) for single coil sounds and a fairly new Fender Japan '72 Telecaster Thinline Reissue(twin Fender humbuckers) for fatter tones, playing mostly pop/rock/indie/funk covers. Both guitars sound great through this amp. The clean channel is crisp yet warm and full, and if you turn up the channel volume and reduce the master you get a lovely vintage-style overdrive to add some edge to your chords. Channel two is wonderfully crunchy in a smooth sort of way, particularly on the lower gain settings where chords are clearly defined and there is a total absence of mush. Really a classic sound, and one which my previous amp, a Fender The Twin red knob 1991 model, failed to deliver (plus it was too big, too loud for home use, and too heavy to shift around comfortably at 36kg). Switch in the extra drive and you have an excellent lead tone - thick, smooth, fluid, compressed etc. In fact, it's difficult to get a bad tone out of this amp! Another plus: all the controls operate smoothly and effectively over their whole range - a rare thing in my experience - so you can really set the exact tones and levels you require without the delicate balancing acts often required (i.e. volume controls which go from full off at 0 to full on at 1, and don't do much subsequently).

Only had it a few months, but no problems so far, and the quality build suggests there won't be any. It feels reassuringly solid, and seems very tidily constructed.

No contact with Trace Elliot so far, but they appear to have a good reputation here in the UK. They were recently bought by Gibson; let's hope that's a good thing.

This is easily the best amp I've owned, and, within the price range I'm working in, quite easily the best I've heard (I compared it with Peavey's Delta Blues, a number of Laney tube amps, Fender Hot Rod 112). In the past I used a selection of pedals to augment the excellent clean tone from the Fender, including a Boogie V-Twin valve preamp for the dirty tones. With the Speed Twin I just plug in the guitar and get going. The quality and range of the tones available makes all the pedals seem a bit superfluous. You hardly need chorus when the clean tones already have that warm valvey shimmer. I occasionally use the V-Twin for hotter crunch tones, and a dash of delay here and there for those U2 moments, but 95% of the time it's just me, a guitar and the Speed Twin. I had a few reservations about the 30W rating, whether that would be enough to keep up with a live drummer in rehearsals (I always mic up to the PA for gigs), but 30W of class A tube power goes a long way. It's plenty loud enough, and the sound quality when those valves are really working hard is just magical. Seriously, if you love valves - but don't have an unlimited budget for some over-priced boutique amp - you really need to check out this amp. And no, I don't work for Trace Elliot.

THIS IS A GREAT 1X12 COMBO,4 EL84 RUNNING IN CLASS A,5 12AX7 PREAMP TUBES,TUBE SPRIN REVERB.THE AMP HAS TWO CHANNELS AND THE DRIVE CHANEL CAN FURTHERMORE SWITCH BETWEEN VINTAGE AND MODERN OD MODES. SERIES AND PARALLEL EFFECT LOOPS,CELESTION SPEAKER. AMAZING FEATURES FOR THE MONEY,NOTHING COMPARES TO IT!

THIS AMP IS A REAL GIANT KILLER!I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR A LONG TIME FOR A REASONABLY PRICED,VERSATILE AND LIGHT AMP THAT I COULD USE IN GIGS AND RECORDING.THE AMP HAD TO HAVE THE SOUND THAT I AM USED TO (I ALREADY OWN A 68 FENDER TWIN.A 63 FENDER SUPER AND A GREAT PEAVEY CLASSIC 50) WITHOUT THE WEIGHT.I A/B/D THIS AMP WITH EVERY MESA BOOGIE,RIVERA,VHT AND FENDER AMP (MOST OF THESE AMPS COST NEARLY TWICE) AND IT ALWAYS CAME OUT A WINNER!THE CLEAN SOUNDS ARE VERY FENDER LIKE BUT WITH A NICE ?VOXINES?,THE OD CHANNELS KICKS ASS AND THE REVERB SOUNDS AS GOOD AS THE HOLY GRAIL (MY 68 TWIN). I THINK THAT THIS AMP HAS THE BEST SOUND IN ITS CATEGORY.

VERY WELL BUILT,I ONLY WISH IT HAD THE METAL KNOBS OF THE COSTLIER TRACE ELLIOT MODELS BUT I GUESS I AM ASKING TO MUCH AT THIS ALREADY INCREDIBLE PRICE!!

I HAVE NO IDEA THIS IS THE FIRST T.E.PRODUCT I BUY.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR.DO YOURSELF A BIG FAVOUR AND BUY THIS AMP!!

This amp is a 1x12 Celestion equipped valve 30 watt combo. It uses 4 EL84 output valves running in class A and five 12AX7's in the pre-amp. It has two chanels the first channel is primarily a clean channel and has volume bass mid and treble with a pull bright switch on the treble control. The second channel has gain bass mid treble and level controls with a pull treble shift on the treble control and a switchable pre-amp style push switch which puts an extra gain stage in the circuit. there is a master volume and reverb control in the master section. The rear panel contains an effects loop which is switchable series or parallel with level controls for both send and return. This loop can be switched on or off from the front panel and two extension speaker sockets. The amp is very sturdily constructed using 3/4" plywood and the whole amp looks great. It comes supplied with a two way footswitch which switches the channel and the pre-amp style on channel two but an optional 5 way footswitch is available to switch channels, reverb, pre-amp style, effects loop, and mute.

I play a PRS standard 22 with no effects and the range of tones I can get is superb. The clean channel sounds similar to a blackface Fender but can be made to overdrive in a vintage style with the volume high and master set low, it has a lovely deep sound which works well with both the full humbuckers of the PRS or the coil tapped sounds. The overdrive channel give a wide range of sounds that are very smooth but always responsive the pick attack with individual notes standing out well within chords even at very high gain settings. The switchable pre-amp style is almost like a third channel.

Not had the amp long enough but the quality of construction indicates that it should be reliable. The transformers are very large for a 30 watt amp.

Have recieved responces from Trace Elliot both by email and fax and they have always been helpfull.

The best amp I have owned and very loud for its rated output. It looks superb. I tried as many amps as I could before setlling on this and it was streets ahead of the competition in all respects