Trace Elliot Super Tramp Valve 100 Combo

Made in 1997, now discontinued.
I play a lot of Hillsong and Soul Survivor worship songs in church with the high overdriven guitar riffs and crunchy distorted rhythm. It does not deliver. It has a clean channel and a distortion channels and a gain boost for the 2nd (dirty) channel. Both sections have separate EQs which weirdly are place opposite ways round(treble, mid, bass then bass, mid, treble) which is odd but then this amp does have custom shop printed on the back. It also has reverb and an effects loop on the front along with a two master volumes, the second for a boost. Also Channel/Gain Boost and Master Volume 2/Reverb are switchable. It has one 12" Celestion silver speaker and a ECC83 valve for the preamp section while the rest is transistor. So you could call this amp a hybrid. For rocking out either at church or at gigs this amp has not provided for me which I will say more about in sounds. However with 100w it is very much loud enough and I haven't had to put it past half way with both master volumes turned on. I haven't bought footswitches for this amp so I can't say that it has proved handy but it does have a lot of footswitchable features that should I use would make versitality easy.

This amp absolutely sucks and I am saying this as an amateur that knows very little about amps and trust me it fails the basics. The clean channel has plenty of warm mids which is very nice to listen to however, it has no bass which is ironic for a company that now makes only bass amps and the treble doesn't really make it sound any better. It is like sitting listening to pigs rolling around in sludge. I have used it in bands situations and it does not cut through with the distortion at all. It has no prescence, it just mixes with whoever I'm playing which. I really wish this amp sounded good, I wish that I could get the versitality out of it that other people on harmony central say they can get but I just can't. Also when turned up half way there is a lot of noise while not playing. But the amp is probably not entirely to blame though. I use a Yamaha Pacifica 112 with it and that isn't really great either so I think in combination they make perfect mud. The amp does respond well when the volume is turned up and the master down to produce an ok overdrive on the clean channel but the distortion is unusable. It is muddy the mids overpower and the lack of bass lets it down badly. The bass seems the same from between 4 and 10 and I just put it at 10 the whole time to get as much bass as I can which is not enough. The reverb is decent and sounds alright but to be honest I just want to get rid of this amp as soon as possible.

I haven't had it for very long but I am guessing from the time I have had it it will last for many more years. No problems as yet.

Trace Elliot no longer make this amp so I won't get any help if it does decide to die.

I have been playing guitar for 7 years now and I also own a boss ME-50 which sounds fairly good. You would think the ME-50 could fill in the gaps on the amp but it can't and it really frustrates me. Not because of the ME-50 but because of the amp. I really wish this amp decided to blow up while I'm playing live. That would be really cool and would probably be the most crowd pleasing thing it would ever do. I'm thinking of getting either an Orange Rocker 30 combo or a Vox AC30 CC2 to replace it. I am not sure however if this is just a duff model or not and it well could be. Being a custom shop model who knows what may lurk within its shell. Basically my advice is to stay away from this amp but if you try one and it does the things that i mentioned mine doesn't then it's probably fine. The reason I bought this amp is because of the warm clean tone but it just doesn't do anything else.

Mine is a 1997 Super Tramp, which I bought used from Electromusic in Doncaster. Great shop by the way, which always has interesting used stuff in stock. The amp has a hybrid preamp section with an ECC83 valve in, and a 100w solid state power section. The power section is powerful, loud and clean, and drives the 12" Celestion V12-60 well. It has three channels: a clean channel which is very Fenderish, and two overdrive channels which share the same EQ. The overdrive is very Marshall-like, midrange driven and powerful. It has an effects loop on the front panel. The channels are footswitchable, as is a second master volume and the reverb. The footswitchable master volume is a very useful feature, as it can be used to give a clean boost for solos, and the three channels mean that you can set it up to get a wide variety of tones.

I play a 97 Epiphone Les Paul Classic Birdsye, and have also played a Yamaha Pacifica and an Epiphone Dot through this amp. I play alternative/indie rock mostly, and some classic rock when I'm jamming. It suits these styles well; the clean channel is very Fender-like, and it overdrives nicely with a Boss SD-1 in front of it. The overdrive has a wide range on the gain controls, making it versatile enough for most rock sounds, and the EQ is highly dynamic and responsive, meaning that more modern metal sounds are achieveable. I keep the gain at about 1/4 on channel 2 and 1/2 on channel 3, and between the two I can get all the crunchy tones I desire. Overall, high quality sounds throughout, particularly the clean channel.

The amp is now 8 years old and, other than some dusty pots, I've never had a problem with it. I bought it from a shop used, and when they received it the EQ on channel 1 was not functioning. Turned out to be one loose soldering joint, easily repaired by their tech. Just like all the Trace gear, it seems this is well built and easily maintained.

Overall, a great amp. Well built, reliable and great-sounding piece of gear, which I really enjoy playing through. It's versatile enough to be useable by a wide range of players, and because Trace no longer exist, it's becoming rarer. I like to play gear that's a little different to most peoples', and this stands out from the endless Marshalls and Line6s that populate the midrange amp market in the UK. Sounds better too, in my opinion. I compared it at length to my bandmate's Marshall AVT150, and I prefer this amp's clean and overdriven tones. I played a Laney LC30, Fender Hotrod Deluxe, Marshall DSL401 and Line6 Spider II before coming across this amp 2nd hand, and I prefer it to all of them. If you see one used, try it!

As far as i know, this amp was made in the early 2000s, but im not sure. I play pretty much everything, rock, blues, metal, punk, intrumental, jazz, ethnic, religeous, ect. and this amp can handle everthing I need to do. It has two and half channels (clean, od, and od boost)and is footswitchable. The only thing i dont like is that you have to keep your foot on the frickin pedal and cant just turn it on or off. It doesnt have a head phone jack, which is ok for now coz i have a small battery powered amp for practicing in my room. This amp is probably more powerful than im ever going to need it to be. A real tight valve-state amp.

i play an ibanez rg series with dimarzio PAFs. The tone never comes out muddy, unless i want it to be. The clean is simply amazing. One thing i dont like is the od boost does affect the way it sounds in a bad way. there is unnecessary reverb and buzzing in the background. That is the only realy problem i have had. I plug my guitar through a zoom gfx4 processor and a morley bad horsie. The Eq is really nice, but i use a rack eq, so i dont mess around too much with the clean channel. I have nver played this at really high volumes (probably around seven, which bordered on the TOP) but the amp has never fuzzed out on me. really nice distortion. bluesy or heavy, what ever you need, its all right there.

I havent had this for too long (2 months now) so i cant really say anything bad about it. I will be replacing the tube, however, and hopefully, that can only help. i'd gig with it in a second, but it is really heavy to lug around.

This is a really nice amp, but i would use an od pedal, just to be sure. of course, there are other amps out there (all tube) that could be better but i am going to stick with my trace. If it was stolen, it the theif would have to be pretty strong to get it out of my house quick enough, but i would get another one, depending on availability, since they arent being made any more.

The combo was made in 2001 from memory although I bought it new in 2003 - last of the old stock after Gibson bought them.These amps are not being made at the moment as Gibson are still trying to get it together and are concentrating on the accoustics at the moment I believe.
The unit has a 3 channels, in reality 2 - 1 clean, 1 overdriven valve and the third is just adds more ss distortion to the second channel.
As it is a combo it has 2 x 12 inch Celestion speakers in a rather large cabinet. This makes it a large size combo and rather heavy to carry around but the awesome sound makes up for the carrying hassle.
It is a 100 watt MINIMUM ON CLEAN and uses a valve preamp with a mosfet power amp and you get a footswitch with it - very useful. It also has an effects loop which I am about to try out with a Digitech rp100 but does not have a headphone socket hence purchase of RP100.
It has a more than usual amount of controls which can be a bit confusing till you get used to it as they are all very interactive.
This unit is very powerful - have tried outputs on 7 maximum which is just below the pain threshold but it is also musical at low volume

I use a Fender Stratocaster (Mexican) into which I have installed Seymour Duncan vintage pickups and have just bought a Digitech RP100 as a bit of a toy.
I am more interested in blues and rock than anything else for which this amp is most suitable. Great creamy tones can be had out of the clean and dirty channels and the controls allow you to dial in the just the right mix.I don't really use the 3rd channel much as I haven't spent much time trying to get the right sound out of it yet because it can sound a bit hissy. Probably just a matter of spending a bit of time trialling the levels.
The overall sound is very musical with a lot of depth partly due I guess to the large cabinet and speakers I .It sounds fantastic for blues and rock but not that great for metal due to the single coils in my guitar more than the amp, a case of too much tone.
One thing I did straight away was to put the bass settings on full as the cabinet is open backed. Sometimes this is a bit much on clean but is normally fine.
The only down side is that when you are not playing and in a quiet room you can hear a faint crackle which I have been told is caused by the tube and is considered normal. I will probably replace the tube with a groove tube later on.
Compared to other amps I have listened too including Fenders,Marshalls,Peaveys etc this amp sounds so much better. The sound is warm and lush sounding but still dynamic.

It has been reliable the only nag is the noise I get from the tube sometimes

Have tried to contact customer support at Trace Elliot with a technical question but they were a bit slack with their response

I basically bought it as it was on sale and I considered it a bargain
for an English large great sounding combo that was also very versatile.The fact that it is a large unit and rather heavy would have put some people off but as it sits mostly in my study it is not a concern.
I am very happy with this and I know it sounds a whole lot better than most of the more common brands. Nice to have something a bit different.

Kao prvo pozdrav ekipi from Croatia! moj trejs proizveden je 1999. godine i prvo je pojaealo koje zadovoljava sve moje potrebe. svi?aju mi se dva dupla foot-switch-a. Sviramo (grupa IZVAN ZAKONA) od rocka preko hard funk-a do heavy-a i cijelo vrijeme sviram na malo jaeim drajvovima. Posebno mi se svi?aju boost volume koji ukljueujem kad sviram solo dionice. ?to se tiee snage zadovoljava prostore do 200-tinjak ljudi bez ozvueivanja, naravno ako ne patite na kvalitetu zvuka. line out i utienica za slu?alice mi uop?e ne nedostaju jer isto i ne koristim. pojaealo ozvueujem preko majka-obvezno.

svaka east na tri kanala i solidnoj distorziji, no kod kori?tenja boost gaina ueestala je mikrofonija.

slu?i me dobro vee dugo i nije se kvarilo. istina pregorijela je originalna lampa, ali i phillipsova slu?i svrsi.

po?to se nije kvarilo servisi mi nisu trebali, a u Hrvatskoj, (Croatia), sumnjam da i postoji ovl. servis. ?IVJELI PRIUEENI MAJSTORI.

do sada sam svirao na puno pojaeala (pevey, marshall, crate, yamaha), no tek ovo zadovoljava moje potrebe kod svirke u?ivo, bez kori?tenja skupih efekata. isto pojaealo bi kupio ponovno kada bi ga mogao prona?i i platiti.

Made in 2002 I asume, I got it in April 2003. It is a valve preamp SS power amp 100watt combo with a 12 inch speaker. It has 2 channels (Clean and OD) with a gain boost for the OD channel. I play mostly metal but at the time I wanted an amp that could get me a good rock distortion, this isn't really an amp for metal (although put an overdrive pedal infront of it to boost the OD channel and you might be in business) but its good. There is no headphone jack however, this is quite annoying. ne feture i like is the volume, it has two knobs one can be footswichable so you can boost your volume for solos or whatever, you can also footswtich reverb.

I play an Epiphone g-400>Boss Mt-2 Metal zone>Boss Ce-5 Chorus ensemble>(soon a boss Ns-2 noise supressor)>This amp.The clean channel is great, the distortion isn't very brutal and dosent appeal to my tapes but would probably be better with an overdrive pedal to push it. The amp is generally is quite bassy, i have the bass quite low and the trebble on full on both channels.

This amp is pretty reliable, the footswitch can get a bit stiff sometimes but taprt from that its fine.

N/A

Overall i think this amp is great if you are going to be using it for rock and maybe punk. For metal though i just don't think its the right thing unless you are prepared to use pedals (I use a Metalzone). If it were stolen i would probably not buy another one i would get a nice all tube one, probably a peavey tripple XXX 212 combo (probably cost me twice as much too), but this amp was pretty cheap and in my opinion worth the money, i could probably sell it for a similar price that i paid for it.

I bought this amp in December '99. Two channel: clean and dirty, with a boost channel for the dirty (so, sorty of three). FX loop, reverb, plenty of knobs. A Fair amount of features for the price.
Good Celestion speakers. The cabinet on this combo has a good sound....but that's about it.

I use a Fender Strat, American for Guitar Rock and Pop.
This is the muddiest amp I have every heard. It has absolutely no cut. The clean channel is dull and the dirty is unusable. I bought pedals for distortion. I lugged this around for six months and then I had to replace it. If it ain't bass, don't buy Trace.

The amp crapped out a few times and I had to bring it into the shop, but they fixed it under warrenty with no questions asked. Too bad they didn't come fix it at my gigs....

I can't complain about the service -- they fixed everything under warranty without complaint.

If it ain't bass, don't buy Trace. This amp is useless to any working musician, and more than you need for anyone just practicing. If you need a cheap gig amp for around 400, check out the Fender Hot Rod Delux, which is about the best amp for the money and 100% reliable. Anyone wanting a high-end amp is cheating themselves if they don't check out a MesaBoogie.

Made in late 1990's. 100 watt twin combo. Valve preamp with clean, gain, and higain channels. Solid state power stage. Channel switching, effects loop, and reverb also included. 2 Celestion Silver series 12" speakers. Solid cabinet. Loud. Good for large halls.

Original 12AX7 (ECC83) tube had problems: noisy bad tone; higain was like gain, but with more hiss and white noise. Replaced original tube with JJ Tesla ECC83S. Much better. Very little noise; even higain is reasonable for what it is. I play single coils mostly, Fernandes Strat copy and G&L ASAT. Clean is nice and usable; not fendery exactly, but more than useful with good dynamics and a tone all its own. Gain and higain are great: good controllable feedback, marshall comes to mind. Reverb is good. The Celestions are nice and articulate even at high volumes. Tone controls are problematic, especially the clean bass control: gets too boomy. Solid State output is a what's to be expected. I've plugged Digitech RP-100 directly into the loop return with good results. Overall, a very good sounding amplifier.

Apart from a dodgy tube, no problems at all. I don't abuse my equipment and try to take good care of it. I gig without a backup

A great hybrid combo. The single tube preamp provides a good deal of warmth, and the solid state power stage adds reliability. I think it would be a good touring amp. It fills a hi volume need I have occasionally, although if stolen I probably wouldn't replace it. It weighs too much, but that's to be expected.

basic 2and a half channel, 1 input.hybrid.clean channel (quiet as a mouse) and gain channnel with rather useful footswich operated boost.
the amp is listed as 100 watt but it says it can push to 200 watt.
this i do not dought, as volume it has in abundance.
i use this amp without backup for regular gigging.when i first bought
it did need servicing.it was about 4 years old at that time.cost

the guitars i use are strat and an old eko electric. and i have fallen in love with me eko again.the tone out of this amp are excellent. my fav being the gain without the boost on. very warm and fluid.

as i said when bought it needed servicing.ive owned other trace amps b4 and not yet had to contact the company.

ive been playing for 20+ years and had lots of amps. if this was lost or stolen i wud buy another

Fairly standard 2 channel hybrid amplifier with Split ECC83 @ 100W.
Full eq on both clean and Overdive channels gain and level etc. Belton spring Reverb, switchable channels and switchable reverb and volume. c/w channel switcher similar to that found with Vox AC30. Effects loop.

I use it with an Epiphone LP with seymour duncan pickups and VERY customised Yamaha Pacifica. Clean channel is very much akin to Fender amps. Sounds absolutely amazing with Fender style guitars, paticularly Telecasters. Sound is fair-good with Gibson style Humbucking pickups. The distortion is fantastic with both guitars, although obviously more so with a humbucking guitar. Although I have to admit I can get a very good Graham Coxon distortion sound using my Yamaha. Overall very good sound, responsive EQ, the treble control being particularly 'responsive' on the distortion channel. Have never, nor will ever need to use the FET boost channel. Sounds better still if the ECC83 is exchanged for a Groove Tube for example.

Overall relatively reliable. The tube went in quite an interesting way taking about 10 resistor with it a little while ago, fortunately a lovely man in Birmingham was able to fix it.

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Marvelmouse

This head is solid state with a valve in the preamp section as with Marshall Valvestate. It was made in 1998. Features (from left to right) are input, volume, treble, mid, bass, gain, gain boost, bass, mid, treble, level (volume for gain channel/s), effects send and return jacks, reverb, master volume 1 and master volume 2. Gain and gain boost are activated by push buttons. The rear of the head has the power on/off switch, two speaker input jacks, and two footswitch jacks. The amp came with a matching angled Trace Elliot quad.

I use this amp with a G & L S500 (strat style)and an Epiphone Les Paul '56 Goldtop reissue. I have also used a Gibson SG and an Epiphone Les Paul custom through it. To start with, it's loud. I compared it with a Marshall VS100 half stack, a Laney TF800 half stack, and a Fender Roc Pro halfstack. The Trace blew the others down in both volume and tone. I intentionally looked at the "valve state" type amplifiers as I felt I wasn't ready for a valve amp with the associated maintenence. I think the amp has a nice warm tone through the clean channel - the G & L sounds beautiful especially in that mid position between neck and middle pickup. The Goldtop sounds nice through the clean too but sounds magic through the gain channel/s. Heaps of sustain especially through the neck pickup. The clean channel isn't noisy at all however the same can't be said for the gain channel. On it's own the gain channel isn't too bad but becomes noisy when the gain boost is kicked in. As other reviewers have said before though, you don't notice it when you're playing so who cares. I have cranked the amp and it handles high volume really well. The G & L IMHO sounds like crap through the gain channel. Clean is it's forte and it sounds great.

I have only owned the amp for a few months so I can't really comment on reliability. Hasn't failed yet but as it's basically solid state, I don't envisage too many dramas with it.

And this is where we nose dive folks. Getting a reply from this mob is like trying to stick butter up a porcupine's arse with a red hot needle. When I bought the amp, the shop couldn't find the accompanying manual. No problem, I thought. I'll contact Trace Elliot by email with any problems. So far, have emailed them 4 times in the past month or so without success. I'd love to be able to tell you what the two speaker input jacks in the back are for but as I can't get a reply from the manufacturer to the same question, we're all in the dark !! The back of the amp states rated at 100 watts, 200 watts peak. I've tried to find out how to run the amp to reach that peak but can't get a reply. I'd sure hate to be dangling by the cojones waiting for these people to reply to an e-mail. Still, they're in England and I'm in Australia so there's not much hope of my meeting one of their so called customer service people face to face is there? Warranty is 12 months - should be interesting.

I've been playing for about 8 months now after a gap of about 25 years so am basically learning all over again. When I first took it up again, I bought a Marshall JCM 600 head and quad (shit) since then have had a Marshall valvestate 8100 half stack and a Peavey Special 212. This Trace Elliot is the amp I've been looking for. It's got tone, volume, and looks. The quad is heavy so I put a set of castors on it to make it easier to move (I'm getting old !) I think every amp has it's good and bad points so any negative points about this amp I can live with because of the good points. It suits me, it suits my playing style( blues and rock). Great amp if a "valve state" type amp is what you're after.

I think the amp was made recently (last year or so).
It has a single input jack, 3 Channels, although the 3rd is really just a 'gain boost' Channels 1 and 3 are FET (solid state) and 2 is tube. Channel 1 is clean, while 2/3 are dirty.
There is a seperate 3 band EQ for each section (clean/dirty). Although the knobs are reveresed (it goes treble-mid-bass on the clean, then bass-mid-treble on the dirty); it's very wierd.
It has 2 sockets for foot switches, although it only comes with one. The foot switches control a)Channel 1/2 & Channel 2/3 and b)Reverb & Volume Boost
The volume boost is a 2nd master volume that, when engaged adds its level to that of the 1st master. It also has a 3 spring reverb.
It has effects send and receive, and 2 extension speaker jacks, although you'd probably keep one attached to the internal 12" Celestion speaker.
Oh yeah, it's a 100W.
I wish it had a headphone jack, as it sounds so much sweeter than my practice amp.
I got this amp on sale, it was $500 off(!), which was very sweet.

I almost always run a Gibson "The Paul II" (a no frills Les Paul). I play mostly blues, and this amp is wonderful! The clean sound is rich and beautiful, and the dirty channel is perfect for your down and dirty Chicago sound. I also play various types of rock (rock'n'roll to alternative) and this amp works great for that too. I don't play any heavy metal, really, so I can't make any claims about that. I do know the amp can produce lots of distortion if that's what you're after. Make sure you try it out before you buy it!!

I've only had it for just over a month, and I'm a little concerned about knocking the tube around too much. Everyone else seems to think that Trace Elliot's are really good, but I just don't know.

Never dealt with them, hope I won't have to.

I've been playing for 11 years or so (close to 12, I think) and I've been playing electric for about 6 or 7. This is the second amp I've ever owned, and I love it. I was aiming to spend between 5-6 hundred, as that was my 'surplus' after my first year of school. I'm glad this amp was on sale, as I wouldn't have been able to afford it otherwise, and it's better than anything else for that price that I looked at.

I've only owned two amps in my life but I can say that this is probably by far the better of the two and one of the best amps that i will ever own. The three channels (well, two and a half really) are really handy, and the quality of the "dirty" channels virtually erase the need for any sort of a distortion pedal. I can use this amp at pretty much any gig that I play, it is one of the loudest 100w combos i have ever heard. There is a footswitch for the amp, with two outputs at the back to use it for either the different channels or to control reverb. The only problem with this is that there is only one foot switch! you can't control both reverb and distortion at the same time, which can be drag on occasions.

I am playing a wasburn BT10 with this amp, with two humbucking pickups. This makes the dirty channels sound great, and the clean channel is good also except that when the gutiar volume is at 10, there is a little bit of "fuzz" coming through, so if you have humbuckers you will have to turn your guitar down to about 6/7/8 or so to get a perfectly clean sound.

This amp suits my music styles perfectly- I play anything from jazz to hard rock. I am in a rock band and also I am attending music college (a jazz school), and I can use this amp for both without any problems. There is a little bit of hum coming from the amp, but in most settings this probably wont be a problem.

I was considering buying some variety or a stack before i bought this amp, but I don't see the need for one now- I can play almost any gig without having to be miked through a PA(although I don't play any arenas just yet!)

I just bought this amp about a month and a half ago, and i have not seen any problems just yet, and from what i have heard from other trace owners, i probably never will. I also have a peavey studio pro 40 watt solid state, which i take to all of my gigs as a backup, but i have never had to use it since i bought my new trace.

a 1 year warranty, so far I haven't had to deal with the company yet, as I can go to the msuic shop i bought it from to get it serviced if ever needed.

Overall, this amp is extremely versatile, from jazz to heavy metal it sounds great. The amp is really heavy- I am still considering putting wheels on the bottom just so i don't ever drop it while carrying it.....but it is worth it. With the exception of a few minute design flaws, such as only being able to use one footswtich, and the clean channel getting a tad distorted, it is a great sounding amp and I would recommend it. The price i paid ($1000 cdn) was a bit steep, but in the long run i believe it will be a GREAT investment.

I presume it was built in 1999 as I got it about a month ago and its a great improvement over the succession of amp disasters I had from Crate (Blown transformers, fx loop self destruction and general unreliability I really like the warm tone of this amp, at first I was a bit dubious with it only having one speaker (celestion silver) I am used to 2*12s but cosidering my last crate (GXT100) had 2 of them I was pleasantly surprised to find it just as loud if not louder!
mos tof the time I am a "bedroom guitarist" but i do get out for the odd jam session and my friends have commented on how good this amp sounds I play blues, rock, pretty mainstream stuff AC/DC thin lizzy gay moore and try to play the stuff of my hero Satch but as an idiot who will try anything this amp has stood up to my imitations of Metallica Black sabbath and a few others and then with an acoustic simulator (courtesy of Zoom 505) played a pretty good stairway to heaven

I use a couple of strats one is a squier but its the better guitar perhaps it because of the Kent Armstrong mini humbucker in the bridge and standard single coils elsewhere these are fine on the clean channel but get a bit noisy on the dirty channelI also have an Epiphone SG400 which could have been made for this amp I cant fault it I also have a couple of Epiphone "super strat" type guitars tha also work well.. the next thig I want to do is get hold of semi and sse how it works with that

so far it hasnt broken down but its onlt 2 months still that about 3 weeks longer than the series of Crate amps I had before (ok I'm exaggerating a bit But 5 amps in 12 months what do you think?)

Ive been playing about 4 years I have 10 guitars (been collecting them for about 10 years) I am something of an fx nutter I went through the card on Boss stuff then got into Zoom Ive got a 505, a 508 delay and a 510 driver. the just when I thought I had enough those swine at Zoom produced the GFX707 so I had to and get one its fantastic but thats another story

when I bought this amp it was sort of Hobsons choice I had taken yet another busted crate back to the shop and said No more I want a Marshall or my money back! htat panicked them as they do not stock Marshall stuff so rather than part with actual money they asked me to try this supertramp they had just had in so now they are back in my good books
the only other thing I would like incorporated in this amp is a line level output for recording because I do a lot of messing with computer generated stuff and it would be easier than mic'ing the thing up other than that I cant fault it.
Comparisons Its head and shoulders above the Crate amps I tried
I liked it better than the Fender twin the H&k Hybrid I tried at the time of buying the first Crate I had I also reckon it sounds better than my mates Marshall VS100r valvestate whic is what I wanted originally. About the only amp I would give this up for is a Mesa Boogie but then who wouldnt? oh well perhaps I'll win the lottery...

With two channels, one clean and a two stage drive channel it,s a ideal amp for gigging and recording. This one get's as loud as an 1 x 12" 100 watt combo can get. Though the clean channel ain't tube, it's still nice. With two sockets in the rear for shifting channels or boost and reverb combined with a little DIY you build a floorboard with four switches to control the amp on stage! The two master volumes are great to.

I use a selfbuilt Stratocaster with a single coil sized humbucker (bill lawrence) at the bridge and two original strat single coils and a fixed bridge for better sustain. I try to play all styles, helped by the fact my amp and guitar are capeable to do so. The amp goes from jazzy clean to over the edge in your face heavy metal. Even played extreme loud the clean channel stays clean for a long way up.

Being also a bassplayer and using trace bass amps for a long time, makes me sure there the best in the world when it comes to reliability. They simply never let you down.

Warranty for a Trace.....no need for that! OK you have a one year warranty. The customer support is more then helpful, they build their gear the way the customers want to.....

Owning a homestudio, I own from three guitars, two basses, all kinds of amps and effectgear and all what you need in a small homestudio like mic's and stuff. I certainly would buy trace gear again, for the pricebracket the are in, there is no other stuff like that.

2 channel amp, with boost (3rd channel). (ECC83 powered overdrive channel, boost is non linear FET circuit). Remote channel switching via f/s (supplied :) ) 100 watt, and loud. When overdriven it can supposedly peak at 200 watt. And yes thats about it !!

Used with humbuckers or even single coils, sound is really VERY good. Pretty good for any style of music, I suppose, more rock type stuff. It is reasonably quiet until you crank it, but thats to be expected. The Clean channel is brilliant, its doesn't distort unless you want it too (which is nice). Overdrive is vintage (esque) until you use boost when it can become quite growling and harmoniccy ????!!

I always take spares, but that is no reflection on this amp. It is very solid and reliable (and it smells nice when its new.)

Overall, I love this amp. Its pretty, smells nice, sounds very good indeed, is bloody versatile erm..........OH yeah, its liable to feedback if u get too close which may become a problem on some occasions, but nevermind. I was considering a Marshall VS65 or 100 or Laney GC80 instead, but this is better by far !