Trace Elliot Tramp Tube

This has 3 channels and Volume BOOST, 1 Clean, 2 Gain and 3 HI Gain. ECC83 Valve pre-amp, effects loop and is 65 Watts.

The 3rd channel and two gains is really helpful for getting different sounds, and a volume boost. They really had everything covered in this area.

When I first heard this amp at a local music store, it was in a really small room, so when I played it (in the small room), there was lots of low end and I had to have it. Now once taking it home, and change the room area setting, there wasn't as much low end as before, but still had a good sound. I have a Mesa Boogie Single Rectifier so I'm forever hooked on Mesa amps now, but with my Trace Elliot, I was still looking for a way to improve the sound???. The quest for the almighty sound improvement.

I picked up the Trace Elliot Super Tramp 100Watt Head after, and that was a really big mistake. With only having one ECC83 Valve pre-amp and 100 watts, the sound isn't really there, and going thru a cabinet it was lacking low end still.

So back to the amp, I opted to close up the back of the amp to help increase the low end of the amp. So I picked up some black vynal for the wood, made a little hole in the additional wood to keep the amp from over heating, and there is more low end. The sound did improve I have to say. It's the simplest way to help increase the low end of the amp.

I???m not liking the clean channel too much, it keeps cracking up when the guitar volume is up on 10, but this might have been from one time using it a bit too loud,.. but not totally sure.

I would use it at a gig without a backup,... only if it had a good sound when being miked, and not sounding too solid statey,..

This isn't a bad practice amp to pick-up for a low price. I wouldn't bother with anything above 65 watts for this,.. If it was lost or Stolen, I'd get something else. I wish it had more than the ECC83 Valve pre-amp tube, maybe add a 12AX7 tube at least to help get that tube sound and beef up the low end more without having to make alterations yourself.

If you have this amp, close up the back, it'll help improve the sound to get a bit more low end.

My amp was made in '98 or '99. This is the most versatile amp that i have owned (my style ranges from Death Metal to SRV and Joe Satriani)
It appears to have two and a half channels, the other gain adds to the first gain, so it supersaturates. i wish that it had a footswitch though, it has the capability. i use a marshall jcm footswithch and it works well, but its very limited. 65 watts tube hybrid.

i use this amp with an ibanez S470 with the Axis1 and Axis2 humbuckers with the Axis single coil in the middle. this amp can cover all ranges of my music. it is slightly noisy when really cranked, but most amps are, unless u use a comp or noise gate. like i said this amp's tonal rage goes from Cannibal Corpse to Jimi and SRV. like any tube amp, the clean has lots of headroom. as long as u dont have high gain pickups, and ur volume is rolled back a lil, then the clean stays clean all the way to ten. distortion has the potential to be brutal, if u have an eq to get the sound u want. but by itself, the eq isnt sufficient.

This amp is pretty dependable. i used it as a backup in a few shows, and my main went down. so i plug this one in to my crate cab and it shined the whole time. i would definitely gig on this amp without a backup, its the first amp i ever owned, and for good reason! i did play this once at my friends house and we were all drunk and playin some loud ass metal. one of my friends walked by and tripped over the cord goin from the output of my eq to the input on the FX loop. after that, the amp would never play unless u put a patch cord in and manually connected the FX loop.

to the last of my knowledge, Trace-Elliot went out of business, so no tech support ne more. :(

if this was stolen, id go "test drive" somethin else. but id prolly end up buyin the same thing again. i compared this to the Peavey Ultra 212 and amps in that same league. this one was far superior. i wish it had bout 15 more watts, so it could push the hell out of a half stack cab. like i stressed earlier, make sure u opt for some type of eq pedal, graphic or parametric. once u do that, then ur golden.

made in 1998
excellent 2 and a half channels. Second channel (gain) has two gain settings. Difficult figuring out quite how second gain setting relates to fist (i.e. is it a differemt setting to first, or is it added to the first), but overall almost three channels which is very useful.
Channel switching - It didn't come with a footswicth so I made one. I don't know if one is available. LED's on amp front panel indicate channel status, and volume (there are two volumes - again tricky to figure out if independent or additive).
No LED for reverb though, although it can be switched from foot pedal - you cant tell whether its on or off other than by listening.
Amp used for practice at home and jamming with friends. Would need to go through a PA for a medium sized gig, but have used it in a pub and it is plenty loud enough.
Medium size combo, easy to trasnport by car, and carry in one hand and guitar in the other - although you can't go up stairs this way or you'll break your neck.
Tube input stage and Solid State (FET ) power stage.
Confusing tone controls - on one channel they are basss-middle-treble, and teh knobs are reversed on the other! treble-middle-bass. Seems crazy.
It is a custom shop edition in a tartan cover. Very good build quality.

Similar in sound to vintage Marshall amps, not just my opinion but that of some Marshall owners I know. In particular Valvestate owners seem to prefer the Trace Elliot to their own amps!
Good range fo clean though to very dirty. Crunchy sound is great. Heavily overdirven is also great, but traditional rock sound - not very close to modern metal e.g. Megadeth.
Slightly fizzy sounding with medium level of overdirve.
Tone controls work, but I leave them all set in the middle which seems OK. Not much background noise, unless played very quitely (my baby son sleeps in the next room, so if I practice late at night I keep it low!)
I play a Fender Strat through it (with Seymour Duncan Little 59 pickups), and a Parker Nitefly. They both sound very good. Its fairly easy to get a Gary Moore blues sort of sound, but I can't really get SRV sound (but that seems very tricky on whatever kit). Also very good for heavier overdrive.
Not possible to get a glassy clean sound like a good Fender valve amp, when used clean it sounds very jazzy a bit like a Roland.

Never broken despite being dropped on the way to a gig. I would however never do a gig without backup! (whatever the amp).

never had to call on support as the amp is very reliable.

I have been playing rock and blues for 20 years, and the only thing I woudl swap this very versatile and convenient combo for would cost about 7 times as much (Mesa Boogie), or 4 times as much (Line 6 Flextone).
It is compact, looks and sounds good, and gives enough switching options (unless you're a fan of operating something like Cape Kennedy mission control, which some people are).

This is a pretty looking 3 channel amp. Clean, vintage gain and gain boost. The clean channel is overall quite nice sounding with very little distortion. crank it past the 3'o clock and prepare to go to heaven. I play hard rock, so the foot pedal channel switching comes in handy. The vintage gain is, good but not brilliant. the bass controls are a little dodgy and perhaps out of proportion to the treble and middle controls as a great degree of accuracy can only be obtained through minute adjustments. The third channel however, is L-O-U-D. Though it has a 65w label, this thing will produce more noise than a jet fighter on full afterburners. The Reverb and PA volume controls gives it some edge over close competitors. This amp can be used for almost ANY style of music.

The sound is really amazing for a DIG/VALVE combo. The best music style for it is probably rock/metal, and can easily be heard over a drummer. The amp gives great clean and distorted solo's and punches out the lows and highs with ease, and on the clean channel, hardly any distortion at all, even at max volume. I use an Epiphone Les Paul with the amp, and the sound honestly kicks ass to every other combo i have heard. When you add some effect pedals to this thing it goes over your head.

The amps in general from T.E. seem to be a good buy. I have bought quite a few from them and they gain my trust every gig i play. I would never though go to a gig without spares. This T.E. 65w has had one or two problems within the first 2 months of purchase, mainly with faulty pots. the replacement, after 1 year has had no problems at all.

Trace Elliot themselves i have to say were very helpful, and the home delivery service really helps things move. the warranty for mine is 1 year. E-mail reply was poor though.

I have got a couple of T.E.'s, and all have served me well. This is no exception. i would recommend this too the half experianced player, looking to join a band and have some fun. for serious gig playing, go for the bigger amps. This is, afterall, a very spiced up practice amp, that magically turns to a full blown heart ripping piece of kit within a knob turn. the ability of low level practice without loss of quality due to the DIG/VALVE combo is amazing. Excellent amp for most people. for serious players, the 80 and 100 twin combos may be for you.