Trace Elliot Speed Twin H50 Head

Bought it second hand for 1000??? inkl 4x12 cab.
I play stoner rock, and rock'n'roll/hardrock.
2 channels with 2 preamp styles - great.
triode / penthode mode (25/50Watts), very flexible.

i use a fender jaguar hh with two p94 style pickups from leosounds.
fender twin clean and fat distortion sound - only use a booster and an old sovtek muff.
do not need any other effects.
love that sound.

Don't have any backup for this amp, because it never brokes down.

consulted it fpr information about the amp.
fast answer, many information - great.

i play guitar for 5 years, 3 years the speed twin.
if it would be stolen, i'd buy it again :)

I'm not sure of the year. Bought it used in mint cosmetic condition.
This is a very versatile amp. All tube with two channels. You can also change the preamp style of channel two for more gain. Serial/parallel effects loop. Triode/pentode mode will cut the power in half. i use the amp for Alt. covers and in an AC/DC tribute band. It has more than enough power to cut through.

I use mostly Les Paul Standards w/JB and 59 humbuckers. My gold top has P90's. I also use a Hammer Chaparral and an ESP SC500. All the guitars sound great through this amp.
It can get a bit noisy at high gain, but no more than any other amp.
The clean is rich and clear. You can get it to break up nicely if pushed.
The distortion channel is great. I can go from AC/DC to Disturbed.

Here is the rub. I bought it and within minutes blew the output transformer. It might have been on its way or something during shipping. The amp was not neglected. Anyway, I will bring a back-up and replacement tubes.

This makes up for the trans. The Trace Elliot folks in Elgin, IL. did a great job on the repair. They were great to work with and returned my calls. You can get the contact info off their site.

I've been playing 27 years and have owned or tried about everything out there. I went away from tubes for a while, but I'm back. I run this amp through a Johnson 2x12 cab loaded with Celestion Vintage 30's. I also have a Trace Elliot full stack that sounds great. Either way, tons of tone. If it were stolen...I'd be out of luck. They are near impossible to find. I didn't mind the repair considering what I paid for it. I am also confident that the Trace Elliot tech went over the whole amp. This is a great amp. A friend turned me on to this head and I knew I had to have one.

Made in england in 1999; basic two channel setup with midi controls for optional 5 button footswitch

Channel 1 is a beautiful fendertwin sounding sound; you can change the preamp style to include reverb
Channel 2 is where the action is. it sounds like a combo of a Matchless/ Soldano amp. when the preamp style is changed all hell breaks loose. did you ever wonder how angus young gets his sound with no pedals just amp? well now I know. Imagine having 10 marshall heads turned to the max and having the volume on you guitar max out. that is the distortion sound at any volume level
I have a taylor 410, american strat with dg20 emgs( david gilmour emg set), boss gt3 and have a speedtwin 2x12 cab with celestions

Had a very simple question I emailed them and had a response within the hour and a name and number of the person if I just wanted to talk about the amp

I have own a peavey, hughes and kenter, and many sizes and shaped fender amps until I bought this. I actually was in the store to buy a marshall stack that day before I played this. The normal price was higher than the jcm 2000 tsl1000 that I was going to buy over $1700 can ( msrp $2299 can)but trace was clearing out some amps before gibson took over.

Mine dates from before they changed the toggle switches for channel selection etc... to push-pull buttons, I would guess 1996 or 1997 (I bought it second-hand). Features are what other reviewer(s) already said. Previous owner complained that it didn't have a stereo effects loop, but I have no need for one. Previous owner also complained that the Trace-Elliot footswitch was a piece of crap (I made my own footswitch). Too bad you can't control reverb with the footswitch...

Previous amp was a Marshall 80 W. Valvestate (model 8080) so there isn't much room for comparison. I did test a JCM 900 thoroughly before trying this amp. I was about to buy the Marshall when I found out the reverb didn't work. Thank God (or whatever higher power). The Trace outspec's and outplays it all the way!!! I use lots o' axes, but mainly strats w/ single coils (Gold Sensors, Texas Specials, Vintage Rails, Quarter Pounder, etc...) and a few humbuckers (EMG-81's, JB's & '59's). The clean channel is crystal, amazing, but doesn't distort enough for my taste when pushed all the way. I get a great strat tone out of it, but wish it could go a wee bit harsher. The Push-Pull Treble knob supposed to boost high frequencies doesn't do anything (mine might be broken, the knob on channel 2 has quite a bit of effect). I tried the clean channel with a Duncan '59 equipped guitar, but it wasn't as convincing. That's probably because the strings on the guitar are just WAY too old. The distortion channel gives all the growl you could possibly want, but still expresses every subtelty in your playing style. Brilliant, as opposed to whoever came up with the idea of reversing the order of the eq controls (Bass, middle, treble) from channel 1 to channel 2, making it quite difficult to make quick adjusments without turning the wrong control knob! The pots are very sensitive and it takes a bit of tweaking to find some "sweet spots" in the amp's wide array of sonic possibilities (as opposed to the JCM 900 which could have just had an on/off switch, a gain pot, and a volume pot). I think this has already been said by others, but this amp is QUIET!!
A winner

I haven't had this amp for a long time, but previous owner said he never had a problem. All I can do is believe him and give a 9 (I don't give 10's)

I think I've about covered it. Again, the only amp in its class I've compared it with is a Marshall JCM 900 and the Trace blows it away! A lot has been said about the reverb of Speedtwin amps. Some say it rules, some say it sucks! I tend to think it sucks when pushed at more than 1/4 turn: it sounds ridiculous after that. If you keep it at a low level, it's okay.
Another thing, and this might sound dumb to some, but I find the H-50 to be a very classy-looking amp.
It's a high quality guitar amp with looks to match its performance!

My H50 Speed Twin was made in 1997. The only difference in the new ones are the channel switches (effects on/off) have been changed from toggle to push button - no biggie. Hand made in England. All tube - point to point wiring! Two channels, switchable hi/lo gain and double master volume. Effects damping, Half power switch, and effects loop. Bias Adjust trimmer and output biasing test points. Reverb, presence and push treble boost on both channels. No headphone jack or secondary input (for CD player or ??), but those are features I have no use for. This is a custom shop amp all the way!

I use USA Hamer guitars mostly. Both single coil, and humbuckers. The amp sounds fantastic with everything. The clean channel is 'sparkly' while maitaining a warm tube tone. This channel is absolutely perfect for using as a baseline for effects usage - through the loop of course.
The gain channel is very versatile. Low bluesy gain up to serious crunch.
The switchable dual master volumes help to create individual settings for rhythm and lead in either channel - cool.

The amp is well balanced and has no noticable hum at volume. The reverb is 'different'. I really, really like it, but it is not like the industry standard reverb. What it does, is mix well in live situations.

I don't particulary like the pull treble boost, but that's me.

The Triode/Pentode switch will cut the 50 watt output to 20-25 watts. This is my favorite feature - after all, how often do you get to run a tube amp at full pucker and NOT blow the walls down?!

Here's a little perk: I've had amps that would reach full volume at #3 on the volume knob - after that there was very little difference. Touchy - hard to find the right volume - too soft, oops, too loud. Not so with this amp! The volume knob actually controls the volume - and YOU control the knob! Imagine actually USING the entire range effectively! I love this!

Well, here is where I'll post my biggest gripe of the Speed Twin family. CHEAP TOLEX!! They use thin, rubbery vinyl instead of the tough stuff everyone else uses. Sure it looks nice until the glue gives and is peels - or until it gets bumped and tears. In fact the vinyl was beginning to peel up on my 4X12 since day one! I know, I know, it has nothing to do with the quality of the amp itself, but I'd just like better tolex. It's like a rich, well educated Brit with bad teeth (sorry, couldn't help it).

Put on good tolex and I'll change my '7' to a '10'.

Emailed for some literature on their products and it arrived right away. No problems - hope it continues.

This amp is a world away from the cheap stuff I used when I started playing nearly 20 years ago. I've gone through a ton of equipment over the years, and played a lot of different styles. I've always preferred tube amps, but this particular amp stands high above the others I've owned. I compared it with Mesa, Marshall, Fender and a couple 'boutique' amps. I picked a winner!