Trace Elliot Velocette 1x10 Combo

I got this 2nd owner in 1998, its green w/1X10 vintage celestion speaker, two-EL84s/two-12AX7 pwr/pre amp tubes. This a very well made class A amp. I love the two knob thing, to me anything over six knobs front panel is a waste of wire and parts. The port hole speaker grill and chrome trim really sets this off as a special jem. I also love the one channel as well, simple and pure, The bright switch is a nice touch over all. I feel if you cannot say your message with one channel what makes you think you can say it with three or four channels. The one thing I wish it had was some form of a pilot light. There is a 16 ohm speaker out for a 4X12 cabinet which is nice for a different sound overall. Everything on this amp is usable not like most of the amps currently on the market. I use this amp for almost all of my gigs and I have use it at a San Francisco Golden Gate Park concert gig mic'd with very good results. As far as power goes well to me it is not about power but tone. Mike Bloomfield was a player with tone. He used a Les Paul, good guitar cord and Amp, his sound was between his finger-tips and speakers was pure tone. This amp is low in RMS watts (15 Class A) but it does have volume. It actually sounds louder than my Mesa Blue Angel 4X10 Jensen amp. Great package and light weight too!

I use mostly single coil pickups with this unit as it seems to sound very clear with a more Vox like quailty but with a little more middle in the overall sound. I play the Blues, Rock, Fusion, Jazz, R&B on electric and jazz-Flamenco,& Pop on nylon and acoustic steel string. The amp is very quite when operating also very warm and clean in the range of 7 to 10 o'clock on the dial. After that it starts to get its bark then growl up to 12:30. At 1 to 3 o'clock I am in tone zone. The sound of the distortion in this amp is very smooth and the sustain was also very good.

I never had a problem with this amp. This is one amp I can trust on the stage. As far as use it without a back up it possible; but as long as I have been at it I always have a back up in case of a lighting strike or power surge out there in the field.

No warranty when I bought it, but I did contact them for an owners booklet back in 1998.

This was a very good buy for a class A amp with great tone and simple operation. The Velocette is a light weight plug(set once)& play amp in an attractive package. I would buy it again if lost.

I saw Mike Bloomfield, once, using a Tele plugged directly into a Fender Twin Reverb back in the 60's and he made it sing, cry, dance and stomp. Ever since then, I always felt this is the way it should be. True. I walked on the wild side and entertained other amps, a few pedals and some effects, but in my mind it always came back to this original set up.

Wait! This isn't a review for a Fender Twin! Yeah, but this little geezer is about the ballsiest little amp since the vaunted Twin Reverb made its debut. Not much to say, two inputs (one loud, one soft), a volume control, tone control, and reverb all sporting epic ivory knobs for your turning pleasure. Purty much straight ahead, I'd say. The Vintage Celestian is pure joy. 16 ohm outtie to a hefty bottom and it is loud enough to swagger in any small club. I bought it from Trish Murphy and it reported David Grisson once thrashed it. Age is unknown.

I play jazz through mine. Love it, love it, love it.

I play fingerstyle jazz in small restaurants, locally. Because the atmosphere is intimate, rarely, can I push the envelope much. I play a Stromberg Montreax and the result is quite nice. I do not have to worry about dents or dings with either and the restaurant's patrons really don't care if they are hearing an ES-175 and a Polytone as long as the music is good. The tip jar bears that out.

I can play very cleanly with mine since I replaced the Sovteks that were living in there with JJ's. What an amazing difference. The sound was full and intense before the JJ's, but now it's like "buttah." I opted for the gold-series tubes from Eurotube and that made a significant addition to the tone.

My son plays his ESP through my Velocette when he's in his screamo metal moods and loses it every time. Like the others making comments before me, he opts for the single coil setting on his guitar and manages some very interesting snarls and grinds. The JJ's hold up to the task very well. I, on the other hand, love the humbucker heaven this puts me in. Of course, I play at significantly lower volumes. Recording with it is unique in that I have managed a very clean acoustic sound at very low volumes. Hiss free and very clean. I use D'Addarrio Chromes (12 on top) for added charm and cleanliness. And you thought it was all technique!

This baby blue amp has been in car trunks, airplane cargoes. and truck beds. It's been in the rain and seen a fall in the snow and skittered across the ice. Plug it in and wail away.

I keep hearing Gibson will support me if I need them. So far, that has not been necessary.

I've been playing for 45 years. I've owned and sold more collectable guitars and amps than I care to remember. This combination is what I will take to the grave barring a massive inheritence or lottery winnings. The baby blue Tolex combined with the orange finish of the Montreax has people talking whenever I plug in. My road days are pretty much over and so is this little guy's. He is now sitting well and safe.

Would I get another one? You bet! I would also re-tube it with the gold JJ's I purchased from Eurotubes. Great company, great product!

I'm going to start with my big knock on features here... all the controls are in the rear! There isn't even a power indicator lamp on the front. It's not a terribly big deal because the controls are sort of set-and-forget for me, but I hate to leave it on accidentally. Class A at high voltage is hard on the tubes, y'know. Sometimes I'll turn it around backwards... plenty of sound blows out the back of the mostly-open cabinet and it kills some of the speaker beaming, and then the conrols and purty glowing tubes are visible.

Speaking of tubes, another knock on it is the cheap factory tubes. If you find one and by some miracle the original power tubes are intact, REPLACE THEM with JJ, EH, NOS, anything that can take higher than rated voltages.

A big plus on features is the excellent Celestion Vintage 30 speaker! It's head and shoulders above the cheap speakers in most amps of this class.

For the record, I am NOT knocking features for the lack of channel switching, graphic EQ, digital effects, and all the other crap other vendors use to cover up the fact that their amps SUCK. This thing has tone for days. The only controls you really need are volume, tone, guitar controls, and your fingers.

This is a GREAT sounding amp! Its basic character is old Vox chime, with a loose bottom and a bit more upper midrange snarl. It can do clean if you keep the volume down below about 10 o'clock. By high noon on the knob, the dirt really sets in. Beyond that, it doesn't get any louder, just more and more distorted. The overall distortion character is EXTREMELY good if you like snarly rather than scooped sounds - no metal in here!

Guitar-wise, it prefers single coils. Humbuckers tend to make the soft bottom downright muddy. Using a closed or ported cabinet rather than the built-in speaker only helps some... ultimately, the soft bass is a function of the circuit. I mostly use Dimarzio Virtual P90/DLX pickups, and they're just KILLERS through this amp. Brighter Strats and Teles can be a bit TOO bright through it, but rolling off the tone control a bit usually fixes it.

The touch sensitivity is amazing. It plays like a MUCH more expensive amp. Clean sounds are available by just rolling off the tone a bit. It's also remarkably loud. In fact, if you're thinking "15 watt practice amp", think again... it's really too loud for that.

It can work with overdrive/distortion pedals, but it's picky about them. I've had phenomenal results with a Keeley-modded ProCo Rat, a Maxon Distortion Master, and a Prescription Electronics Germ. I tend to just leave the amp at in the 12-2 o'clock range volume-wise, and use either the Rat or the Germ to get more drive if I need it.

The amp has a bad reputation for reliability, but I've owned two and neither failed me. I would recommend replacing flimsy stock tubes (plus it's a good enough amp that tube changes make a real difference). Apparently the transformer problems were only a small run of them, but it doesn't take a lot to give it a bad rep.

For value, these things are a 10, even at their somewhat inflated used prices. They CREAM every other budget EL84 amp I've heard sound-wise. They're lightweight and look good. I used to use two as a stereo pair and could carry both with one arm, one stacked on the other! Except for the problem I mentioned of controls on the back, I have no complaints at all. They're fine in the studio or onstage, loud enough to match (sane) drummers, and they accurately represent the character of any guitar played through them and the subtleties of your technique.

The features are straight forward.15 class A watts with a volume, tone and a bright switch. No tremelo or reverb, such a natural sustain. This amp plays well at any level and it will play wide open all night long.

I own 2 Velocettes.These amps use 2 el84's. The sound of these power tubes is very distinctive compared to el34's, 6l6's & the like. It is a brighter sound.On 1 amp I replaced the rectifier diodes with FREDs,replaced the transformers with a set of MATCHLESS transformers, insulated the cabinet, & recessed the speaker with a baffle board. What a difference. NOT better or worse,just an incredible variation on a theme. I think these amps sound best with a Strat and vol & tone about 3 oclock with NO pedals.What a screaming tone machine. What you hear is what you play.

I went through the transformer issue. The original ones sound great but are a POS. After replacement the amp goes everywhere without a backup. Totally reliable.

I bought used & never used customer support.

I own 2 of these amps. I've been playing guitar for better than 35 years and this amp is the best bang for the buck ever.

probably mid 90's made, green one ten celestion vintage spkr, 2 el84s, 2 12ax7 tubes, very well made, handy comapct little amp. i got two of these at an estate sale. they are in perfect condition. i dont know if these are the ones that had some trouble with the ttansformer or not. they do not have the gold grill on the back. bright switch is a very very cool feature. one volume and one tone control. this is a poor mans carmen ghia. very loud little amp. very smooth tone. a great great find. made in england. just pick it up and go. i love this amp for home use and could take it to any small gig, and do.

strat user, but i pulled out a terry mcinturff polaris and using the bright switch, this thing is a keeper all the way. it has that roaring overdrive when you dime it and whisper quiet at low volumes, i use a small reverb with it and it cuts through great. it has a 16 speaker out and really sounds big when you hook it up to a 2 12 cab. a small room filling amp that is easy to move around. course there is not much bottom in a class a amp like this, but for the money it is fantastic.

i just dont know about this, someone told me to have the screen resistors changed froom 1/2 to 1,, or was it 1/4 to 1/2 i dont know enough about this. i have to of them theya re exactly a like and they are small enough to take both of them with you. i need to get a good a/b/y amp switcher and run them in stereo. cheap tubes,,, stock el84s are still cheap for a pair ... one reason why i bought the amp.

can tfind much about them on the net. bought out by gibson,, this is the old goldtone....

i have had boogies, dr z's, (and still do, two of them? hughes and kettner, soldano, rivera, blues pearls,fenders (many) about 25 amps over the last 6 or seven years,,, these are a great find for portability and class a tone,, 15 watts that sound way much bigger than they are,,, i also picked up a peavey classic 20 tweed combo at this sale, and while it is a pretty good little screamer, this trace elliot velocette is far far superior... for what this amp is i give it a 9. not one hair lower, though. great find... i would probably pay 50 bucks more for it,,, this rivals the carmen ghia in many ways, it really does, esecially for lower volume,, the ghia is much cooler when you dime it than this amp, but this one is a sweet little box. if you have some info on these amps please email me,,,,

I love the simplicity of this amp! I use it for recording and do not need onboard reverb. That being said, class A amps have their place and are not great at everything. But when used for their strength, they are awesome. This one is a s good as any.

I use this amp into an outboard 1-12" Celestion-loaded, closed-back cabinet (16 ohm, of course). While I have tried numerous guitars and pedals with it, it seems to be 'at home' with a Strat, with no pedals and cranked all the way up, for styles like Funk, Blues, and R&B.

For any styles demanding a tighter low-end, you will be unhappy with a class A circuit... It's not what it is meant for and will produce spongy low end. The trick is to use the right tool for the job. This amp is a tool that works best with a Strat or equivalent, without help from stomp boxes. When used like this it is a definite 10. Less is definitely more in this case!

Bad transformer syndrome here. Gibson fixed mine for free too. Aren't they great! Has worked perfectly ever since.

I love this amp when it is used for what it is meant. It is not my only amp and I rarely use it live. I use it for some sessions -- when I feel it is the best tool for the particular job. Again, I feel it is at it's best full on and straight up with a Strat, but into a 12" speaker.

I think of this amp as a head with a built-in practice speaker. While a Vintage 10 is no joke of a speaker, this amp really sings through a 12" Celestion -- whichever one fits your preference.

If this were lost or stolen, I'd almost certainly buy another. I wouldn't seek the Gibson because it is the same thing but with reverb... I would also not seek the one with a 12" speaker... For sessions, I really like having a separate speaker cabinet mostly because I can put it in the sound-room and have the head next to me in the control room where I can easily tweak the sound as needed. The 1-12" velocette is more than twice the size of the 1-10", and to me, it would still only function as a head.

If you're looking for a cool amp to add to your collection, the Velocette is awesome. Would I recommend it as your only amp? That depends on what you need. It is pretty much a one-trick-pony, but it does its one trick very well. For the peanuts you can get them for on eBay, you can not go wrong. In fact, one day we may see these become collector's items as the eventually will become scarce.

Made in 1996. Very cool, compact, very well built British amp. Single channel, 15 Watts, no bullshit, 2XEL84 tube monster. This amp wails. I play blues, jazz, psychedlia, garage, and the Velocette is excellent for any of these styles. Basically, you can tailor your sound with guitar volume alone, with minimal or no effects pedals. This amp drives your guitars natural sound very well. Keep the Volume at 12:00 to 3:00 and Tone pot at 12:00, and vary your sound with guitars' controls. Simple, clean, classic Class A amplifier. If you need to put pedals in front of it, an MXR Micro-amp is fantastic. Huge, transparent boost that drives the tubes into sweet distortion. A little side note. If you want a great overdrive pedal-seek out a micro-amp. They kick ass over those overpriced $200-300.00 ones.

Main guitars are '86 Ibanez Artist AM, '63 Fender Jaguar, and RI '63 Telecaster with various PU's. The Ibanez into the Velocette is jazz heaven. It also sounds great in fuzzy overdrive mode. The Fenders sound amazing as well. Especially the Tele. (Early Jimmy Page!!) It's as noisy as any tube amp out there. A little hiss. No big deal. This amp will respond to whatever guitar is plugged into it. Put a nice guitar into the V. and you're there. Plug in a crapper, and it'll suck. I love this amp set at: Vol. 12:00-3:00, Tone 12:00, and Bright switch off. What the hell else do you need? Easy. Crank your guitar volume for luscious tube overdrive, and tailor your tone controls! This amp is great for recording. It is loud enough to gig with at smaller clubs. You can also drive another cabinet with it, but I haven't tried that yet. This amp sounds like a good old Marshall or Vox. Chords and soloing are both great sounding.

This amp is in great shape for being almost ten years old. The construction is top-notch, as is the circuitry. I switched out the Groove Tubes for Sovteks and it really came alive. I have gigged with this amp. Spare tubes always. Very dependable.

Trace Elliot got bought out by Gibson. I had some questions for them, and they got back to me within a day via e-mail. The warranty is long gone, but I think they will honor certain repairs. Somebody else said their repair facility is in Illinois. I'm sure they could do repairs if something happened.

Been playing for 20 years. I also play a Carr Rambler. Fantastic amp. When I play the Velocette and Rambler in stereo, it is amazing. Have gone through many, many guitars and amps. Too many to mention. After being a gear hound for a long time, I finally realized one very important thing. Don't buy a bunch of shit you don't need !! Take some advice. The main things you should spend your money on is a good guitar and a decent tube amp. And maybe a couple pedals for color. I see and talk to all these people with a hundred effects pedals, digital rack mount crap, attenuators, and everything you DON'T need. The best sound to my ears is a good guitar overdriving a good tube amp.

Wow! A new discovery??? Thank goodness for the reviewer a few reviews down who shed the light for the rest of us sheep -- use an overdrive pedal to add soft clipping!!! Really? I couldn't have figured that one out on my own!

As long as we're sharing obvious tips here, you might try: putting gas in your car before you run out, paying your bills on time to establish a decent credit rating, and... here's one I'll bet you never thought of: When you break a guitar string, you don't have to throw the guitar away and buy a new one -- you can put NEW strings on!!! Who would've thunk it???

Anyway, a very simple amp that even us sheep can operate with out the anonymous assistant's advice: "Volume," "Tone," "Bright." Oh -- one more obvious tip... The amp definitely sounds better if you turn the power on!!! Just thought I'd share that tip that no one else could possibly have figured out... Oh, and I have this new invention coming out and I'm thinking about calling it a "wheel..."

While this amp may be thin in the "features" department, it's sound is extraordinary. It sounds great by itself, or... let me go WAY out on a limb here -- you can actually put an overdrive pedal in front of it for some soft clipping! No shit! It's not illegal or anything!

Lately, I seem to prefer a Danelectro Daddy O because it allows for more tone shaping -- seems like a logical combination with the Velocette. I have tried several overdrives with it including a Boss SD-1 and an Ibanez TS-7. For mild gain (or "soft clipping") I prefer the Dano, but for a bit more I prefer the Boss. I'm sure a TS-9 or a TS-808 would work well with it also...

The Velocette is a bit picky when it comes to distortion pedals though. I have so many, but only like a Boss DS-1 in combination with the Velocette.

Mine went through the transformer issue, but since being repaired it has been tough as nails!

Gibson is the source now and the helped me out when I needed to have mine repaired. Cudos for Gibson!!! Yeah!

I've been playing since Moses parted the Red Sea! I own countless guitars, 4 or 5 basses, 5 or 6 synths, a recording studio, a 4000+ watt live sound system, many tube amps, a few solid state amps, two drum sets, countless mics, and more... All my gear is pro from companies like Roland, Korg, Emu, Yamaha, Fender, Carvin, Premier, and so on...

If it were lost or stolen, I'd seek another one just because it's so cool... And get this: you can put an Overdrive in front of it!!!

I love that it is really compact, sounds as cool as it looks, and that it was really cheap! Did I compare it to other products? No -- there's nothing like it except the Gibson version for triple the cash. The Crate and Fender amps like it are toys...

Simple class A tube design with just a volume and tone cotrol and a bright switch. Actually, that's all you need, right?

It would be cool if you could switch to a lower watt setting like you can on the Gibson Goldtones.

It's good for clean and once you go beyond half of the volume there's a really sweet break-up. I never went past this point though cause then it's also really loud. Nice overall tone but it's a bit on the bright side and can get pretty harsh.

Had no problems with mine but I only had it for one year and never ran it really hot.

Never had to deal with them.

Pretty good amp but not for me since it was impossible to play it really softly and it was a bit too bright.

As is obvious from the other reviews, the layout of this amp is spartan; volume, tone, bright switch, on/off/standby. Single channel, of course, single 10" speaker (unlike the rest reviewed here, mine is an Eminence, which may be non-original, since I bought it in a pawn shop). Spare though it may be, I don't think I'd change a thing. Appearance-wise, it totally rules: British racing green "tolex", solid front baffle with a 10" diameter hole for the speaker, edged in chrome...too cool for words. The one drawback is, as others have noted, the placement of the controls, to wit, in the back, on the bottom. Not great for onstage tweakery.

The sound of this amp is a revelation. I had been accustomed to using Fender Pro Juniors (which superficially are very similar - volume, tone, 1 x 10, 2 EL-84s, 2 12AX7s) for low-volume gigging behind a female singer/songwriter, and loved them, but this amp puts them to shame. It has more low end than you would believe coming from such a small box. By comparison, the Pro Jr. sounds cheap and midrangey. Using a Strat on the middle pickup and an A/B box, when you switch from the Pro Jr. to the Velocette,it sounds like you've switched to the neck pickup. Very punchy, loud, and full, especially for a 15w, 1x10 amp. I do think, in contrast to the majority opinion, that it does best with clean and semi-clean sounds; turned up much past 12 o'clock, it sort of "blats out". This is the one area where the Pro Jr. still holds the edge. Run clean, however, it's superb. And quiet! Even turned up halfway, it barely makes any unwanted noise.

I'm sure glad I didn't read the other reviews before buying and gigging with it. I've had it for about 18 months, rehearsed with it every week, gigged with it dozens of times, and have had absolutely no problems. Maybe it's just clean living!

I bought the amp used, no warranty, and as I mentioned, never have needed service.

I've been playing more than 3 decades, and have experience with loads of amps. The Velocette is one of the best for sheer tonal quality. I especially appreciate the fullness it imparts to Strats and Teles, which I mainly play. I bought it on impulse due its cool look and a vaguely remembered review in GP, and couldn't have been happier when I got it home. I would love to have something just like it, with 2 speakers and 30 watts, and maybe a gain control or lead channel. While it does fine for moderate-volume gigs, at 15 watts it's a little underpowered for really kicking it out. But you can't argue with the tone! Several times I've used it along with a Pro Jr. at gigs for extra power, and the two amps seem to complement one another very well; but if I'm only going to use one, it's always the Velocette. If something were to happen to it, I would most definitely try to get another one. A Telecaster through this thing is magic.

Very basic design. Works well for what it is. Left out the bells and whisltes. It does have a bright switch, but I never use it on purpose. I am not really into bells and whistles, though -- I've seen too many crappy amps that have a ton of features, yet sound like junk.

I like the tone of this amp through a 12" Celestion -- it's pretty good for just about any style, heavy styles included, this way. Not every stomp-box works well with this amp, but some seem to shine through it. A boss DS-1 works nicely through it, but an Ibanez SM-9 does not. All-in-all, a great sounding amp.

Mine blew the output transformer about two months after I got it. After being repaired, it has worked perfectly for more than three years.

Gibson replaced the transformer at their factory in Elgin, Illinois -- it was done in a few minutes while I waited. No charge.

Great amp for the money. Obviously, try to avoid the problematic ones or hope you live near a Gibson factory. I hadn't heard about the problems when I traded around $125 worth of gear that I was no longer using to Music-Go-Round for it. If I lost it, I'd buy another -- I don't use it that often, but I like having several different types of amps to choose from in my studio.

It doesn't have features, but you know that going in. Reverb and effects loop would have been nice

This is the EL84 sound I've been looking for. I've owned a Peavey Classic 30 and a Soldano Atomic (which I traded for this one- paid $400 for the Soldano). Great complex tones with excellent definition. Very lively response that holds clear as the notes decay. Although it gives you better than expected bottom, for a 10" speaker you get what you get. The amp came to life whe run thru my Avatar 2x12 Celestion V30 cab. Unreal! This one is a keeper.

I made sure I had the transformer was replaced before I purchased. It's worked flawlessly for me. I left it on for a few days once (I know- WTF). Kind of easy to do because of the rear contols. It does run hot, but has never let me down. I'm using it live now, so it's taken a few bumps

I've read many great thing about Gibson taking care of folks. That goes a long way and has leaned me towards them, in the future

I wish it had more bells, but even with that I give it a 10. I have a few quality amps that I've swapped around from night to night- this one's been in the rotation for several gigs now. Granted, I need to run it with my 2x12 cab, but I never have to turn it past 2:00 with my 5 pc band. Also, sure is nice to carry it into a get together or open mike night swinging back and forth with ease. Way light. If you can find one- buy it! Like others have said, TE made some design mistakes so it's critical that the transformer was replaced before you go there. This may be my 1st "10" amp rating.

This is an update to my previous review because: I just found a very simple way to greatly increase the tonal versatility of this amp ... stick and Overdrive pedal in front of it (see below)!

This amp is clean and bright and nuanced (it also has amazing bass response for such a small package), but if you want to make the most of that gorgeous warm overdriven amp tone you need to crank it up, and for a small amp this baby can be very LOUD. However, I just stumbled upon a cheap and simple way to make this amp great for all of your needs, including rock and heavy blues at low volume, as well as jazz and clean blues) - put an Overdrive pedal in front. Overdrives produce "soft-clipping" - however with my powerful pickups (DiMarzio's passive SDHB) I can go from clean to blues to classic rock to hard rock without the need for a distortion pedal (which produces harsher "hard clipping"). A Boss SD-1 or any Tubescreamer would probably be ideal. I have a Snarling Dogs Blues Bawl pedal (it has wah, linear pre-amp, overdrive and distortion features) and I jsutused the Overdrive feature of that distortion way down at 2 (distortion has to be on for overdrive to work) -- I couldn't believe how good it sounded, sort of dynamic and alive. I thought using a pedal would make it sound synthetic or solid-state like but it doesn't. Plugging the same pedal in to my (very good) solid state practice amp sounds nothing like the Velocette -- perhaps because of Velocette nuanced Class A behavior. I felt I had to share this discovery because I am sure others will find it useful.

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Good looking, all tube, a quality speaker and with a $50 Overdrive pedal a very versatile and exciting sound proposition. Its compact design means that you can easily carry this in one hand and a guitar in the other without getting a hernia. Apparently it also meets airline hand luggage size restrictions!

Late model with the "improved" output tranny. For a single channel, class A tube amp, it's verasatile enough for me. No effects loop, no headphone jack, no reverb, no digital DSP stuff, no amp modeling. It does have tone. What more could you want? It sounds so good, I don't miss the reverb. I play classic rock and blues and this is just the ticket for me.

I have a Fender Classic 50s with Fat 50s pickups, a Peavey Firenza with P90s, a Godin Radiator with Dearmond 2Ks, an old Kay semi-hollowbody and a Kramer Pacer. All sound great.

Time will tell. Just got it recently but had been jonsing for one since playing through one a while back.

I don't expect to deal with the company since the amp is no longer made.

26 years of playing. Solo, groups, church but no gigging per se. My only real comparison for this amp is trying to acheive what I have in my head vs what my past amp experiences have been. This is closest yet. I say "yet" because it's never really over. The only thing I wish it had was an 8 ohm impedence rather than 16 ohm so my speaker cab could be compatible with my other amps. Big, toneful sound in a small, tasteful package.

1996/7 New Old Stock. Simple, affordable, Vintage-style all tube amp. Volume, tone, bright-switch, speaker output. Celestion Vintage 10 speaker. The excellent power-to-size ratio will allow this amp to go where others would be impractical, such as carry-on luggage for example. It is the size of a practice amp but more powerful. Famous jazz/country finger-picker Adrian Legg used a Velocette to record his recent Master Class in Guitar Techniques magazine. Damon Gough of Badly Drawn Boy apparently uses one too. I have heard of pros. using two together as a small, powerful stereo setup too.

I use it for blues. It would make an excellent Jazz amp -- a tube alternative to the solid state mini brute for example. It has a clean, bright sound and being a class-A amp, it will capture all the nuances of your playing. At higher volumes a subtle, warm overdrive can be achieved.

As with any tube amp, change the output tubes once a year. The original Tesla output tubes work well. I would gig without a backup, but would take a spare pair of output tubes.

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I have been playing 4 years. If it were stolen I would buy it again. Fine for home use, even better for small gigs/studio use. Good value.

This amp has only a volume and tone control plus a bright switch (for "scooped" tone) and standby switch. That should be pretty much all you need. Oh yes, it has a Celestion Vintage 10 speaker -- very nice -- a good speaker is a very important feature. Oh, one more thing this is perhaps the greatest looking amp I have ever seen (bar maybe only the hyper-expensive Belov) - mine is bright red -- looks awesome. This amp is the predecessor the the current Gibson boutique-style Gold Tone GA15 amp ... the circuit is basically the same (3 minor capacitor value changes and 2 new protection diodes are the only differences I could see) although I think construction quality may be a little higher (e.g. the use ceramic tube holders -- as if you cared!). Oh, one more thing, having the controls on the back makes adjustments inconvenient -- they did it to keep the authentic vintage vibe (it looks great)-- so either set it and forget it or just use and external pedal to control it (e.g. graphic eq, overdrive, volume pedal).

Using it with a Gibson Les Paul Standard and a Japanese original (sort of Les Paul style) with DiMarzio SDHB pick-up. This bright and clean sounding amp is a good complement for the more mid/bass -rich sound of the Les Paul. The amp works well for blues (think BB King tone), but would probably be awesome for Jazz, Brit-pop, Queen-rock (or Country even)...or any music where a clean/bright Vox/Fender sound might be desired. I use it at home as a practice amp -- although this amp is really designed for (and plenty loud enough for) live use -- you could blast out the local coffee shop with this & mic it for big gigs. You get "tube tone" at all settings but to get that desirable overdriven sound you really need to crank this up beyond the #1 volume that I normally use at home! I researched tubes a bit and now use chinese 12AX7 (from the Tube Store) to warm-up the input and Sovtek green-code EL84s for medium break up at lower volume levels. In truth the change is subtle especially at low volume, but pleasing. I tried using the blues distortion/overdrive of the Blues Bawl -- only problem with that is that it really pushed the volume up a lot even at low settings. I also tried using my wah, which seems to produce gain and that seemed to work better (for home use). The amp is very bright ... it can be piercing (it would be interesting to see what a Telecaster bridge pick-up would do through this!). I hear that one famous amp-building Vintage Gibson amp fan often uses a graphic eq. pedal (which can also act as a clean overdrive) to get the most out of the amp with any guitar. I normally prefer a more distorted, mid-range based sound -- but after playing the Velocette I find myself turning up the Contour switch on my (wonderful) Marshall practice amp... because it sounds dull by comparison!

I think some reviewers comments below may be a little misleading ...please read on. Well, the power tubes went on mine unusually quickly with very little use -- although I bought the amp as "new old stock" and had it shipped. I am very careful to use the standby switch to pre-warm the tubes. That can happen to any amp. However the tubes took out two power stage resistors -- I checked the tube websites, apparently "peripheral damage" is not uncommon in tube amps when the power tubes fail ...that's why they recommend that you re-new them periodically. However I do not think this is a design flaw (as stated by an ealrier reviewer) as I noticed that the output resistors that failed were not up to the Trace Elliot specification (circuit diagram) -- it was manufactured with tiny 1/4 Watt resistors even though the circuit diagram/component list clearly calls for large 1 Watt resistors (which I now have installed on my amp). It seems likely to me that at least one batch of later amps will have this manufacturing defect(judging by one of the earlier reviews). Some have complained about transformers -- apparently only a small number of early models suffered with the undersized transformer, later models (like mine) have a larger transformer (and a safety grill on the back). I found the build quality to otherwise be quite high (despite early comments) -- although they did use a mass-production rather than boutique-level approach. For example, they use a (clean and well layed out) circuit board rather than point-to-point wiring and decent plastic tube holders rather than ceramic -- however the impact of the user is negligible, and on the repair technician small (since the circuit is relatively simple). [Note: tube amps contain large capacitors that can store enough charge to shock and possibly even kill even when the amp is turned off -- have an experienced technician do your work].

Support is very good. Gibson bought Trace Elliot and they stand behind all their products. Gibson is a GREAT company - you pay through the nose for their products but you get what you pay for. They make circuit diagrams available on their website, and the original amp designer in the UK answered a couple of questions for me! The USA support manager also went out of his way to help me -- within reason. I hear that they will usually supply replacement transformers if faulty transformers fail (good for them!). So why not 10 points? Well, I think they should eat the repair costs for the component spec. issues with the transformer and output resistor issues (apparently this was a problem for some previous reviewers)-- the repairs are relatively simple. I also wonder if they "off loaded" some of these amps knowing their were manufacturing problems with them -- we are at the epoch of a new age corporate accountability, so they might live to regret it.

I have been playing for a couple of years (spaced over 24 years!). If it were lost or stolen, I would be upset - it looks great on the wooden floors of my family room! However, I probably would not replace it -- they are too hard to find (I have a nice but rare red one), and I really bought this to learn about tube amps, tube tone/overdrive and tube characteristics -- which it has been great for. By next year I will likely be ready to move to something else (keep your eye on ebay!). I like to play classic rock as well as blues, so I would likely just stick with my Marshall practice amp...and if that were stolen too (likely!) then I would probably buy a Marshall, Boogie or Cornford -- although in truth I have not yet identified the ideal amp for me. I find the overhyped modelling technology underwhelming. I am actually gaining new respect for solid-state analog amplifiers (as well as tube amps) though -- some sound very good and some tube amps sound very "ornary" -- the Fender Blues Junior has an awful speaker for example...wobble, wobble, wobble! The Velocette has a very good, solid Celestion Vintage 10 speaker -- no complaints there. The speaker is a critically important part of the sound.

Bought my amp in 1997 - perfect features, only 2 knobs to worry about and as I chain it through a Marshall classic celestian speaker, no worries about the controls being round the back.

I bought it soley on the sound it made. It's fantastic. So much noise out of such a little thing. I have started using a bigger speaker cab through the speaker output (a marshall classic 12" celestian) to get a slightly more rounded sound.

I've been touring round Europe with it a few times, played probably over 100 gigs with it and used it as my primary amp in the studio, left it dormant for a year, and still haven't had to replace a single thing in 5 years.

Just spoke to Paul Stevens at Trace who designed it, trying to find out where I can get an additional velocette or bonneville from, and he was really helpful.

I've been playing probably about 10 years. I use the velocette with a gain pedal and a Big Muff with a Les Paul and occasionally a telecaster. I love it. I also have a bonneville which is fantastic too, but I've been using that for a pianette in the live environment. Used to use a marshall but that sucked so I flogged it. Viva la velocetter.

Volume, Tone.

Great tone for a "one trick pony" type of amp.

THIS AMP SUFFERS FROM DESIGN ERRORS AT THE FACTORY AND HAS A HORRIBLE RELIABILITY RECORD!

DO NOT CONSIDER BUYING ONE UNLESS YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THAT THE REPAIRS DEFINED BELOW HAVE BEEN PERFORMED! (this information also applies to the Gibson GA-15 line of amplifiers.)

First, the amplifier was designed with a 400 volt high voltage secondary winding at the power transformer. As a result of this high voltage transformer and the excessively high B+ voltages, the amp produces a nice, bright sound, but its design puts B+ voltages on the power tubes that are FAR BEYOND the maximum safe operating specs for the tubes.

As a result, most EL84 tubes that are placed in this amp will ?cherry plate? in a matter of seconds, and they will burn out in short order. The only tubes that will hold-up in this amp are NOS mil-spec tubes. Unfortunately, these kinds of tubes are expensive and hard to find. New production tubes just won?t hold up.

As a result of these excessive B+ voltages, some specimens of this amp have measured power dissipation values of 18-WATTS per EACH EL84. I mean, WTF?!? There is no way that this amp could do anything but blow up with this kind of overvoltage on the tubes.

This results in two problems: 1) too much heat retention in the chassis, and 2) blown output transformers.

HEAT RETENTION and MELTED TUBE SOCKETS -- Too much heat retention in the chassis causes these amps to melt the plastic tube sockets that are mounted on the circuit boards. Later versions of this amp rectified this problem by replacing the plastic sockets with ceramic sockets. Amp techs will frequently install a small fan inside of the amp to help the socket melting problem. Unfortunately, the fan only helps to keep the sockets from melting. There?s still the problem of blown output transformers.

BLOWN TUBES and BLOWN OUTPUT TRANSFORMERS -- The serious overvoltage in the power section forces the tubes to work FAR BEYOND their rated specs. This results in way too much power dissipation and early tube failure. So you end up replacing a lot of tubes. If you get tired of replacing today?s wimpy tubes and spend the extra money to get good NOS (new old stock) military-spec tubes, you?ll fry the output transformer.

The output transformer (OT) is only designed to dissipate so much power from the amp. Unfortunately, when the tubes are overworked, they pass this insult along to the output transformer, which blows up and causes an expensive repair. All of the Velocettes are famous for this problem. The problem has become so prevalent that Trace Elliot/Gibson has redesigned the power transformer and replaced it with a heavier duty unit.

Unfortunately, replacing the output transformer amounts to treating the symptom, and not the disease. To correct this problem, you have to replace the PT (power transformer) inside of the amp with a transformer that produces a lower secondary voltage, one that does not put an unsafe voltage on the tubes. Replacing the power transformer is absolutely necessary to fix the problems inherent in the design of this amp.

All in all, DO NOT buy a Velocette unless you can assure that all of the following service items have been performed:

1. replacing the plastic tube sockets with ceramic ones
2. replacing the original underspec OT with a heavier duty OT
3. replacing the original overspec PT with a lower voltage secondary PT
4. replacing power tubes and rebiasing the amp.

These are nice sounding little amps, but they are UNSTABLE and UNRELIABLE unless they have been serviced to address these issues. Don?t ever consider buying one that is factory original. Some of these amps in mint condition are selling to idiots on eBay for over $250, even though you could buy them as NEW closeouts for $200. There is a reason that these amps were sold as closeouts at low prices. Don?t pay more than $200 unless the amp has been properly serviced and repaired.

No experience

This is a nice little amp if an only if it has been professionally rebuilt.

I have two Trace Elliot Vellocettes made in 1998 and 2000. My style is that of a beginner. However I can hear. One Channel. No effects loop.I t has an extension out jack but you need a mix board between the amp and the headphones.It doesn't need any other features. I use all the features it has. I use this amp at home in a 50 sq.ft room. With some soundboard to contain the sound. One has more that enough power for me. I have had them in bi-mono and there is an airiness that I like.
It has a bright swithch which works very well. I'm tempted to give it
a ten but I lack the experience with a lot of other equipment.

Yamaha Pacifica HH 112.Seagull SM6 Demo. There is a hum but hardly noisy. I like it. It certainly suits my beginners style. Sounds? Clean yes. It is beautiful to hear. Distortion yes. Just turn it up and quite a range of increasing distortion. I use a Boss OD 2 and or
a Boss 7 band EQ. These two pedals produce a lot of sweet spots. I've
also used a Pandora and the amp seem able to take on what ever I send
it. Fine definition. The point I want to make is: the amp is like a box full of sweet spots.With or without effects. I have not heard a
rattle.

spots with or without pedals and boxes. Or a lot of talent at the strings.

I don't perform. I can depend on it to practice and occasionally play with others. SEE BELOW.

A month after I started playing them they both made bad noise and went silent. I had heard this would happen before I bought them. I called Trace Elliot and was referred to two service centers in my region.
One refused to do the service because Gibson only pays $7.00 to do the output transformer replacement. The other wanted fees in advance. His telephone demeanor did not inspire confidence in me. I called the Trace Elliot people in Elgin, Illinois. There I spoke to person, no
doubt an old hand at self-medication. I wouln't be suprisd if Fender is happy he works for Gibson. A few days later I called Trace Elliot
again and spoke to a receptionist who directed me to another tech.
He offered to do the work if I pay UPS from CAL. to Illinois. I shipped UPS. He called me to apologise to a delay. But within 4 to 6 weeks they were back. Carefully packed. All the tubes looked bad to him and he replaced them with Rubys.(Read Chinese?)

Playing two years. Not much. See above. I would definitly buy again.It makes a beutiful sound. It is just a pleasure to listen to. I don't hate anything about. I compared it with Fender Pro Junior, Blues Jr.,
Pignose, a couple forgotten others.

15 LOUD Class A watts. One input, one volume, one tone, one bright switch. Celestion Vintage 10" speaker. Simple and no frills.

I read about this amp back in '96 in a Guitar Player amp shootout (it won). I use a Squire Jap Tele with Joe Barden pickups and it sounds just fantastic, going into a nice overdrive at 60% of full CW on the volume. I like playing Hendrix and SRV stuff so switched to a Jensen P10R for a more bluesy sound, but I'm thinking about going back to the Celestion as it has that "crang" sound to it, very cutting. What really stuck me about the amp is the "spank" it has. However this is not an extremely overdriven amp, not for the metal crowd.

Not exactly the Toyota of guitar amps. The output transformer for the speaker blew. I followed the advise of another Velocette owner on this thread and contacted Gibson. Even though the amp was 4 years past the warranty expiration they sent me a new transformer! They initially offered to fix it but I'm an electronics tech and just asked for the transformer. Unbelievable! The tech also recommended that I switch out the screen resistors from the 100 ohm/1 watt to 100 ohm/5 watt. Lately I bought an oscope off off eBay and I was checking the amp out and noticed that the output was very peculiar looking, as if only one output tube was working (this after installing a matched set of NOS EL84 Matsushita tubes). Then I noticed that one of the EL84 power tubes was cherry red, appearing to have an internal short! Damn, so much for my matched set of EL84's! Took it apart and discovered that one of the aforementioned screen resistors was blown, but you'd never know it, as it didn't look burned (plus I've never seen normally big 1 watt resistors that are smaller than typical 1/4 watt resistors, this must be a high-tech, but low reliable, resistor). Switched both of the screen resistors with some hefty 100 ohm/5 watt resistors made out of ceramic or something like it. I'm used to point-to-point wiring, and these circuit boards are a pain.

Fabulous! When was the last time you successfully received factory assistance on something that was 4 years beyond its warranty and got it??

I've been playing 20 years on and off. I've got the Squire Japanese Tele with the Barden pickups, '62 reissue Tele, Japanese Strat, Yamaha MG (bought in Japan), Carvin AC-175, Gibson SG. As for amps I've got a bunch of Harmonys (H303, H303A, H303B, H303C, H304A, H305A) I've been collecting off eBay and tinkering with. I've also got a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Boogie Studio .22, and a SF Champ. This amp is just awesome and probably my overall favorite when I want to crank it up (it's loud).

No features, except nice sound. Volume, tone and bright switch.

This thing sounds great. Distorts nicely but sounds great clean. After about half way, it doesn't get much louder but begins to break up very nice.

I bought it used on Ebay, when it got to me it squealed and screeched, not good at all. Instead of sending it back, (Seller was of no help at all), I ha it fixe for $50.00. Repair tech said it looked very cheaply made and he had to resolder many connections. 2 months after that the output transformer went, even though Gibson and Trace Elliot claimed the amp had already had the transformer upgraded. Another $100 later, everything is fine. I will wait and see how long it lasts this time.

When I got the amp, Gibson offered too send me an output transformer for free, But when I told thing the markings on the one already installed they told me it wouldn't be necessary. When it finally did blow up, they offered to send me a new one but not reimburse me for the one I had to pay the tech for. (I needed it quickly, so I told the tech to just replace it.) They were willing to supply me with the part so I give them bonus points for that, considering the fact that it was a used amp and they didn't build it, Trace Elliot did.

Sounds great, it will stay in the studio and be babied so hopefully it won't cause me any more trouble. Not really loud enough for live work anyway.

15 watts,class A, bright switch, tone and volume knobs. Gave it a 6, it's meant to be very simple.

Using with Riviera/gibson '57 pus, Amer. strat, Fulltone soul bender.
Very nice sounding amp, especially for the money, produces dead-on Zeppellin and Beck/Truth tones with soul bender. However, replace the output transformer and tubes. Trace uses faulty/cheap components.

Once the transformer and tubes are upgraded, very reliable.

Love this amp. If stolen or lost, would search for a new one.

The setup is the simplest I've seen in a guitar amp...Volume Knob, Tone Knob, Bright Switch...that's it but its sufficient if u have stompboxes....read rave reviews abt this amp yrs back....first saw it 3-4 yrs ago at a large musical instruments store (Yamaha) priced at abt US$550...eyed it for a pretty long time, but lost contact around 2 yrs back when the store was clearing its old unsold stocks....then by the workings of a miracle...I stumbled upon it just yesterday, the exact same model...at a small store going at US$200! Apparently they bot it over from the big store mentioned above, and still no one bought it. Tried it out and compared it with the amp I own (Marshall VS15R) they had there as well...and boy...was I amazed by the difference in sound quality. (will elaborate on that below)...Was a stellar deal...no doubts abt that.

Alrite.....first things first....its hard to deny that the words ALL TUBE and Class A probably left a kind of bias in my mind...like "Its supposed to be good, it better be"....I plugged in.....and damn...it WAS good...whether clean or distorted, it blew away all other solid state amps I've played....the Clarity was superb....very crisp and trebly...but at the same time bassy....I guess u could say the tone was extremely well balanced. Another thing is this amp is darn loud! There's no way u're gonna practise on this with cranked up overdrive all the time, grab ur stompbox, it still sounds superb with it...the tube tones somehow shine through watever u plug into it.
This amp showed me just wat gave countless guitarists the orgasmic high from killer tones.

No idea yet man....found out that I'd better get it checked with a technician to see if the electrolytic material has dried out in the capacitors cos it seems this amp hasnt been touched for quite sometime...insides of the amp are quite dusty even though its first hand...and it din come with a box, manual or watever.....but for US$200.....can u haggle?

No idea...

I've played it for a day so far...well not really a day...perhaps a couple of hrs....it sounds great and I'd do watever I can to keep it in perfect condition....this'll probably be the last amp I get for many years to come...heard its no longer in production...so if it were stolen....damn.....I'd freak out!
A Class A tube amp fer 200 bucks....dun think I'll ever come by such a deal again!

class-A tube amp single channel, 1 volume, 1 tone, 1 bright switch, 1 external speaker output. i bought it to use as a recording amp. you can vary the sound quite a bit with the tone control.

it sounds quite good with both LP and Strat (both with single coil pups). it's articulate and has certain immediacy (sp?) to the sound. it may be because there is no reverb. it suite me well since i like simple amplifiers. i was looking for something that resembles my Blue Angel in Class-A mode, just quieter and it seems to do the job fairly well. i did change the preamp tubes to a couple of older 12ax7 i had laying around since the mid 80's and it made it sound a lot rawer. i believe it had 2 Sovtechs and i can't say i was impressed with them at all. it'll start to break up at around 12 o'clock. and i've been using it with the bright switch off. it gets pretty bouncy distortion.

i just bought it used and the previous owner had the poer tranny replaced after 6 months or so. other than that it seems to be fine so far.

as i've mentioned, i bought this amp to use as a recording amp along with my SF Champ and Blue Angel. so far my impression is that it will compliment the 2 in that regard but i'm pretty sure it's not loud enough to take it to a gig without being mic'ed. i doesn't sound as cushy as i expected but that may be due to its solidstate rectifier. i almost bought a Crate 508 but when i found out that it has a SS first gain stage, i passed on it. reverb would be nice but... oh, well. when i changed the preamp tubes, it started to sound a lot more livelier. i didn't expect that from the mid 80's MESA tubes (they were Jolidas, weren't they?). i'm going to experiment with some other tubes as well. i hear it screams pretty well with an extension cabinet, too.

No features, really, except the standby switch (nice) and the bright switch (real bright). But, no features is OK, you spend a lot of time trying to dial something in!

Wow- first note I played went BOINNNNGGGG!!!! It is truly a tone-monster, really clear and surprisingly bass-y for a 10". A paradox: lots of definition and warmth at the same time. Exceptionally responsive to subtle changes in picking dynamics, which is the genesis of all tone (to me). Caution: any flaws in your playing style will become clear to you- be warned!

I'd bring a backup- after all, it's a Class A amp, tubes dissipate 1/2 full power just sitting there doing nothing.... but that gives it its smoooooth sound though.

Hoping for the best, usually do my own electronics work. Try to get one with the upgraded output transformer.

My favorite amplifier. I've been chasing guitar tone for 32 years. THIS one is very satisfying. Do yourself a favor- try one out somewhere (or try any Class A amp, for that matter). I can't imagine needing any other amp for small clubs. "Louder than it looks" just about sums it up. I go near that sucker to turn it on, the cats head for the hills!