Trace Elliot Velocette Twin

Volume, Tone and Reverb. Tweak your guitar and pedals for the rest. It's all you really need. A couple of line outs, run it into a cab for bigger stages. Effects return/send that I don't use or need. 4 x el84, 30 watts in a small 2 x 10 enclosure- the perfect gigging size amp-and the main reason I bought this amp. After carrying vox ac30's and hiwatt custom amps around to gigs, this is a dream.

I play a vintage fender starcaster, USA tele deluxe, gibson es 339, epiphone riviera. I play in a folk rock indie band (think Fleet foxes, Midlake, The National etc) The sound quality this amp produces is simply superb. I AB'd this amp with a matchless spitfire, Top Hat Club Royale and Club deluxe, Vox Heritage, and various other boutique amps. The incredible vox meets fender sustain this amp produces and the vintage tones it gives out are just great. The vintage 10 speakers can be a bit harsh, especially with a tube rectified circuit as is the case Here. I replaced the vintage 10's couple of weber alnico's (10V and 10VS), replaced the output trannies with a couple of heyboer goldtone re-issue transformers, and you have a 30 watt, 4 x el-84 amp that rivals any matchless or boutique el-84 amp- really- even with PCB construction, I would say. All for about 800 US dollars. I find that having a quartet of el-84's is better than the 2xel84 amps I tried, it just sounds thicker and more powerful. My amp tech told me that with the Webers, it's the best sounding amp he's had pass through his room, and I believe him!.

II bought the amp second hand, replaced the output transformers. I've had the amp for 6 months. So far, so good - but to be honest- and this is where you need to think about where your $$$ are going- if you are using this amp every day, or on the road, it's not really built for that. It is a great little amp- but probably shouldn't be your only amp. So, 9 for the construction.

I don't think they make these anymore...

I've been playing for 10 years in various Indie Bands, and gig and record regularly in good studios. If it were stolen, I'd be pretty upset, it's quickly becoming a signature sound and attracts alot of comment from gearheads. and it just looks weird, which is cool. This is one of these hidden gems that proves what another reviewer said about these amps- it proves you don't have to spend huge wads of money to get a great sound.

TThe Trace Velocette Twin is the best amp i have ever owned or heard. Not quite sure now when it was made but i bought it about as year before Gibson took over. Thank God for that. I played it once and i was sold. I traded in my noisy Crate amp This was back in 1997. It has the best reverb ever with only 3 knobs to contend with.
I play blues, jazz and rock and run my blues harp through it. I run a Fender 63 reissue and and a fender Ash Telecaster and the sound is just heavenly.. These tubes are amazing, I've never had to mic it on stage, it is grunty as it is.
Its one of those things that you will never part with.
Tom New Zealand

I had the tubes replaced once and maybe soon again

Fender 63 reissue
Fender Ash Tele
Lee Oscar harps
I'll get the person who stole it first. haha
I pray to God that it never gets lost or stolen. Probably wont be able to replace it. The big New Zealand rockshops dont even have it now.
Has become very rare and a collectible

They've all been listed below. 3 knobs, can't get much more simple than that. Besides, how many more do you really need? It's an amplifier - it makes your guitar louder. if it does that well, who needs 12 gain stages, or cabinet modelling or any of that garbage. Put that stuff in the FX loop if you have to, just not in mine. it gets an 8 cause it doesn't have any bells or whistles, but thats a good thing.

I use a Les Paul Deluxe with Seymour Duncan P-90's, and this amp matches it like a glove. All the reviews sum it up perfectly. It's plenty loud for me in rehearsals and most gigs. If the venue is too big - stick a mic in front of it. who really needs 100watts nowadays?
If i could give it more than 10 i would...

I bought it cheap so i could forgive the tube rattle in one of the pre-amp tubes. I also replaced the power tubes in it and will probably have to do so at least once a year. It doesn't feel like it would take a beating, so i'll give it a 7. That being said i've used it extensively for the past 9 months and it hasn't crapped out on me yet.

haven't dealt with them. don't think i could find them. we've got a couple of good tube amp guys here in melbourne, i'd probably send it to them even if trace still made these amps.

If this were stolen i'd have to buy a Gibson to replace it. Not only that i'd have to pay about 4x as much for the privilege . These amps are getting hard to find, so if you see one - BUY IT. Don't hesitate, just plug it in and if you're not walking out the shop with it 10 mins later, prepare to spend the rest of your life beating yourself with a bat for not doing so... Despite the reliability quibbles it gets a 10 for sounding so good.

I'm not sure what year this amp is but I've owned it for 6 years now. This thing was sent to me from heaven I believe. I play blues, country, and instrumental jazz. One channel with one high and one low impedance input, a parallel and series effects loop, bright switch, 2-10" speakers that I believe are Celestions. The amp is stereo with 2 15 watt class A amps, 2-el84 & 2 12ax7 in each side. The reverb is the absolute best on the planet. The only thing that this amp doesn't have that I would like would be a triode/pentode switch to lower the wattage because it is LOUD! The distortion is the best I've ever heard, you can play complex chords and you hear every note without any of the muddy odd order harmonics. I have used the amp everywhere and it has never let me down. Many people have offered to buy it from me but I gather that they are very hard to find since I've never seen another.

I play a PRS Custom with humbuckers, a standard strat, and a Gibson SG with p90's and it sounds great with them all. I run it through two Weber Mass attenuators if I need a lower volume application, in my mind it is the perfect setup. If I need real heavy drive< I'll use a tubescreamer in front. This amp deserves an 11 in the tube amp tone category but since it only goes up to 10, I give it a 10.

I have not abused the amp but it has many heavy years of use. I don't have a backup amp, never have needed one. I have never had a single malfunction other than replacing the tubes. Class A amps run hot and really push the tubes to get the sound, so you do have to replace them a bit more frequently than you would with other amps but el84's are pretty cheap

I have not tried contacting them, I am told that Gibson bought the company.

I've been a hard working musician for over 20 years now. If I lost this amp, I'd definately buy another if I could find one. This is one of those rare amps that once you play one everything else pales in comparison.

It's got just about everything I need - except tremelo. It's not to big, it's not too heavy, it sounds great and it's loud enough to gig with. What more could a guitar player desire?
Well... Tremelo, for a start.
And I WISH the controls were on the front, or the top and thus more accessible. I know the idea is that you get your sound and do the rest with the guitar volume control, but even so, it's unnecessarily hard work making changes in mid-gig - or even reaching the standby switch.
The stereo reverb is wonderful and effects loop is a useful extra - you can even run your stereo rack-system or Pod back through it in an emergency!

I play blues, using Strats for normal playing and a fairly high-powered Tele for slide. I use this amp for gigs with my band, usually just playing slide, as we have two other guitarists to do the other stuff and in jams for general purpose work. For the latter applications, I usually put a Tubescreamer or similar in front of it to give the Strats a bit more drive. I really like the pull-boost on the volume control - with the Tele I find this usually gives me enough drive with my Tele, which is a real monster anyway.
THIS IS ONE GREAT SOUNDING AMP! The reverb is wonderfully full and it's my perfect amp for slide - so harmonically rich!!!

I've read what a lot of the other guys have said and I have some experience of the quality issues Trace suffered with towards the end of their time in Maldon, Essex where these amps were made.(12 miles from where I live!) The Gibson variant of this amp - which is bigger, with 12 inch speakers, seems to be more prone to problems.
Having said that, this amp has been a joy to own and has never given me a day's trouble, despite heavy and frequent use (including many all-night jam sessions!) And if it did play up - and you guys would do well to note this address - the guy to contact is Gavin MacLaughlin at GM Audio, who fixes Trace and Gibson stuff for a living and knows these amps inside out. He's a diamond geezer and will be happy to help you out... Check out his website at: www.gmaudio.co.uk

See above. The guys at Trace/Gibson in Maldon were my mates and were always happy to help out with any problems. Gavin at GM Audio now does their repair work and is the bollocks... If you have a problem, he'll sort it out!

I've been playing about 25 years and have owned a huge number of tube amps - mainly Fender, but also Matchless, Marshall etc. This is one of the best-sounding amps I've ever had. Enough said?

This amp is a tone monster! British made, pre-Gibson, 4-EL84's and 4 12AX7's Class A single ended, 2 seperate 15 watt amps so you actually have stereo, tone, reverb, and volume, everything you need, plus an effects loop. The 2-10" speakers give you incredible depth of sound as compared to the 1-12" combos. This amp can goe from mesa boogie to Vox ac30 and all points in between.

The tone of this amp is to die for. You get the cleanest cleans and the overdrive is heaven on earth. I have been playing for 30 years and this is the first amp to reproduce the sound I always heard in my head. Blues, country, jazz,rock, even metal if you use a pedal. Best of all, you can control it from your guitar, set the amp settings and forget about them. The stereo reverb is just nirvana.

Haven't had a problem in 4 years now.

Haven't needed any, so I don't know.

A most definate 10. This was a hard to find little gem, if you spot one, buy it! I've used mesa boogies, old fenders, new fenders, vox, matchless, etc, this is boutique amp in disguise for a whole lot less money. There's no wonder why Gibson snatched this company up.

Great sound, great versatility, and good looks as well. The only problem I have is an annoying tube rattle, in spite of having new tubes fitted FOC two weeks after buying it. I use it with a Boss OD1 in line sometimes, and occaissionally a Zoom 2020 in the efffects loop, set to parrallell setting, and can get virtually any sound imaginable with a bit of tweaking. The gat is either a Yamaha SF500 Superflighter or an 84 Jap Strat.Very versatile, and the ideal amp for the once a week medium sized gigs I do

Very good sounds on its own, great blues distortion, and good rock tones. All off the sounds are controlled from the guitar with the amp set to just over half volume, distortion knob out and reverb on full. I use two footswitches to control the amp's effects loop, reverb and overdrive. With a BossOD1 set in line this thing does just about every thing I could possibly want it to. I also sometimes use it as a head only playing into 2X 12 inch seperate speakers, and then you can REALLY here the advantage of the stereo set up..Awesome

I've had it a year and so far have had one output transformer replaced FOC, and it has always had this annoying tube rattle, no5 tube just rattles, the only way to stop it is by manually holding the tube in question. I emailed Trace Elliot in the UK..twice and they are supposed to be sending me a tube holder as installed on the Gibson GA30... 4 months and I'm still waiting... bloody hopeless. It sounds like my dealer is going to organise one for me .. once again FOC, but I've been waiting 3 weeks for that to show up as well. If it wasn't for these hassles I'd rate the amp very highly all up, but because of them I can only rate it as 2 here... Pity as it's brilliant otherwise

My Dealer..... absolutely brilliant, he deserves better support from..
Trace Elliot.....absolutely hopeless they need to get their shit together, and live up to their promises

I had a Fender Blues Deville and never found a way of controlling the volume on it before the Velo, It's all that the Fender could have been ..plus some. I just wish that someone would sort out the bloody tube rattle.. then I'd bee the happiest owner in New Zealand.. what there is of us.
I'd buy another one, and probably will if I can't sort this one out, providing the new one is OK rattle wise.

Great sound, great versatility, and good looks as well. The only problem I have is an annoying tube rattle, in spite of having new tubes fitted FOC two weeks after buying it. I use it with a Boss OD1 in line sometimes, and occaissionally a Zoom 2020 in the efffects loop, set to parrallell setting, and can get virtually any sound imaginable with a bit of tweaking. The gat is either a Yamaha SF500 Superflighter or an 84 Jap Strat.Very versatile, and the ideal amp for the once a week medium sized gigs I do

Very good sounds on its own, great blues distortion, and good rock tones. All off the sounds are controlled from the guitar with the amp set to just over half volume, distortion knob out and reverb on full. I use two footswitches to control the amp's effects loop, reverb and overdrive. With a BossOD1 set in line this thing does just about every thing I could possibly want it to. I also sometimes use it as a head only playing into 2X 12 inch seperate speakers, and then you can REALLY here the advantage of the stereo set up..Awesome

I've had it a year and so far have had one output transformer replaced FOC, and it has always had this annoying tube rattle, no5 tube just rattles, the only way to stop it is by manually holding the tube in question. I emailed Trace Elliot in the UK..twice and they are supposed to be sending me a tube holder as installed on the Gibson GA30... 4 months and I'm still waiting... bloody hopeless. It sounds like my dealer is going to organise one for me .. once again FOC, but I've been waiting 3 weeks for that to show up as well. If it wasn't for these hassles I'd rate the amp very highly all up, but because of them I can only rate it as 2 here... Pity as it's brilliant otherwise

My Dealer..... absolutely brilliant, he deserves better support from..
Trace Elliot.....absolutely hopeless they need to get their shit together, and live up to their promises

I had a Fender Blues Deville and never found a way of controlling the volume on it before the Velo, It's all that the Fender could have been ..plus some. I just wish that someone would sort out the bloody tube rattle.. then I'd bee the happiest owner in New Zealand.. what there is of us.
I'd buy another one, and probably will if I can't sort this one out, providing the new one is OK rattle wise.

I have a NOS 1996 model - one of the last available - bought Fall of 1999. The previously rater listed the features reasonably accurately. Mono input and preamp Output to stereo (Twin) poweramps and speakers. There is only a tone and brite switch - but I find I get tones of different sounds using different pick-up settings. The Series or Parallel Effects Loop is very useful, especially if you have a modern digital processor - Lexicon MPX 100, one of the Alesis Verb, etc. You need a special (stereo plug) foot switch for the Gain / Reverb Loop, and a seperate standard switch can turn on-off the Effects loop. I use all the features except the stereo speaker outputs; they say it becomes huge with a couple 4 x 12's on each side of the stage - I believe it.

PLENTY of power - actually, just right for a medium size club or a louder jam session. A bit too much for the Living room - but I wait until the familiy is gone.

I'm giving it an "8" because it is much more versatile that one would first suspect, and it's way more so that, e.g., a standard Fender. Perhaps a Tone King or Carlson is more versatile, but they are 3 x the price.

I use a Gibson 347 - which is a 335 with a double / single coil switch. This amp seems to prefer the single coil setting - but I can get a nice sound with the dual coils too. My music style is Punk-Rock-a-billy, and this amp goes from Vox chime chords to searing leads at an increase of the V knobs on my guitar - It'll cut paper in the bridge / single coil setting at 10 mode - real cool sound. I can't get the "smoke-on-the-water sound, but I hate that stuff anyway.

I've had this s few months, and have gone through some evolutions. Initially, I bought a stand for it, and mounted it backwards, and facing the wall so I could get to the knobs (and muffle it a bit). But I've found it likes to sit on the floor - is plently loud and brite for that, and I generally set the tone at 9 with the brite switch on, and the V at about 7 - and I do all the tone from the Gibson. Maybe I'll evolve elsewhere.

I do have a problem with the speakers. They are Celestion Vintage 10 G30's, and I can get a deep sound that I farts them out. I replaced one with a custom Eminence made for Nothin' Shocking - a much better speaker for only $34, and I'll be looking at replacing the other Celestion soon. I have played with tubes a lot - a NOS RCA 7025 was A BIG improvement inthe first hole, and a 12AT7 is now in the second hole for a less gain when the gain switch is on. I replaced the second 12AX7 with a 12AT7 for a bit less gain when the second stage gain is kicked in. The sear I described above it with-out the gain on. The variety is fine to a point - if you want clean to moderate distortion - you got it. I should say, I do not use any boxes between the guitar and amp.

An 8 rating is given, again because this is not a Carlson or Matchless - but I get A LOT of complements on my sound, and if you heard me play, you would know it's not due to my skill on the fretboard.

I had a lot of tube rattle problems (threw away the original Tesla's - they were all rattlely), and I think the chassis design is typical british crap. I've had it apart and back together a few times, and have learned to really push the chassis in when I do so - gentle but very firm - to seat it. This solved the chassis rattle. The transformers (aledgedly weak on many of the Velocette types) seem fine on this - no browning like I saw in the V 10 I used to have (which I sold to buy this). I've replaced 1/2 the power amp tubes with Ei's, and have Sovteks in the other side - I want something else there - I'm hoping to get a NOS RCA set soon.

I'm giving it a 6 because of the [initial] chassis rattle and the speaker fart. I've fixed this, but it should not have come to me like that.

It took me a while to get to Trace Elliot - but they've been fine since I got their number - which is 630-972-1981. Gil is Sales, and Shane (?) is the tech guy. Good folks - they swear the Gibson buy-out will not effect them - we'll see. My 8 rating is based on this continued service expectation.

I've been playing Electric Guitar about 3 years, Acoustic Guitar for 25, and Electric / Acoustic Bass for 35 years. I've had a lot of Misc' gear, but much has been sold / traded etc. If this Velocette Twin were stolen or lost, I'd buy another - but probably only a V12R - The V Twin is almost too much amp for me - but usually the family is away when I crank it, and they would complain about a V12R too. The added versatility the V'Twin offers is why I got it, and I plan on keeping it for quite a while. I love the range of chime to searing tones I get from only my guitar knobs, and I like the compact size (easy to haul - only 40 lbs). Things I don't like include the rattle I had to fix and the handle location - if they had it on the side, it would haul real nice. Since the closest thing to this amp is the new Gibson GA-30SRV (same amp in a 2 x 12 box), and it goes for
$1300 steet - I stole this one, and the price effects my overall rating of an 8. I'm looking for another amp to partner with this one - a 6V6 type - maybe a Bedrock?

Stereo Output - 2 EL84s (15 watts) per Channel, 2 Celestion Vintage 10s (1 Speaker per Channel), Stereo Reverb, Series or Parallel Effects Loop, Volume (pull for gain boost) Tone and Reverb Controls, Footswitchable Gain Reverb and Effects Loop. The reverb and effects loop are solid state, the dry guitar signal is all tube.
This amp is everthing I need and nothing I don't. It's got the makings of an AC-30, but the tone is much fuller at low volumes than most AC-30s that I've heard. The stereo reverb is awesome. The gain boost adds another stage of gain to your signal. They could have given you drive and level pots, but I think the went for simplicity and used fixed resistors to set the drive and level controls. Unfortunately, you need to have the amp set at one particular volume for this to really work out for you. I.E. If you're playing at low volumes, the gain boost is really just a volume boost. I haven't used the effects loop since my sound is pretty dry except for reverb. This amp is pretty much a one trick pony, but I like it that way.

The Velocette works great with everything I've plugged into it (SG, Tele, LP Special w/P90s). I'm really impressed with the richness of the sound at low volumes. Also, the volume pot is not too sensitive in it's lower settings. I.E. The amp doesn't reach is max output when the volume is set to three. When you turn it up, it's got that classic EL84 overdrive, and I love the Celestion Vintage 10 speakers! The reverb is very assertive. The gain boost adds a smooth rich tone. Almost Santana like.

This worries me a little. I've heard that Velocette output transformers are known to fry. The construction does not impress me either. The chassis is only 2-sided. The first time I pulled it out, I didn't realize that the chassis was not folded over on the far end. Imagine my reaction when I realized I was dragging the chassis out as the filter caps were bottoming out against the cab. Pretty lame. There's a few cut traces on the PCB. Another thing -- they fused the heater winding with fast blow fuses. I had to replace them with slow blows. I thought that you weren't supposed to fuse the heaters since you risk applying the B+ to cold tubes. If the heater voltage shorts out, let it take out the main AC fuse. Again, pretty lame. On the plus side, the cabinet seems to be built really well. The knobs are and the handles are nice, too. Oh yeah, the knobs protrude out beyond the cabinet. Very lame. It's too early to tell how reliable the sound will be and how durable the amp will be over the years.

So-so. I've emailed them a couple times, and they responded quickly, but they don't always follow up to the point where the issue is taken care of. I'm sure if I nagged them some more I'd get better results.

Overall, I totally dig this amp. I looks cool, it sounds great. I would definitely buy one again for the same price. Gibson has taken over the Velocette product line and the prices have skyrocketed. For $600, I don't expect it to be handbuilt and indestructible. I highly recommend snatching up the Trace Elliots if you can. Definitely send me an email for any more information.

Stereo Output - 2 EL84s (15 watts) per Channel, 2 Celestion Vintage 10s (1 Speaker per Channel), Stereo Reverb, Series or Parallel Effects Loop, Volume (pull for gain boost) Tone and Reverb Controls, Footswitchable Gain Reverb and Effects Loop. The reverb and effects loop are solid state, the dry guitar signal is all tube.
This amp is everthing I need and nothing I don't. It's got the makings of an AC-30, but the tone is much fuller at low volumes than most AC-30s that I've heard. The stereo reverb is awesome. The gain boost adds another stage of gain to your signal. They could have given you drive and level pots, but I think the went for simplicity and used fixed resistors to set the drive and level controls. Unfortunately, you need to have the amp set at one particular volume for this to really work out for you. I.E. If you're playing at low volumes, the gain boost is really just a volume boost. I haven't used the effects loop since my sound is pretty dry except for reverb. This amp is pretty much a one trick pony, but I like it that way.

The Velocette works great with everything I've plugged into it (SG, Tele, LP Special w/P90s). I'm really impressed with the richness of the sound at low volumes. Also, the volume pot is not too sensitive in it's lower settings. I.E. The amp doesn't reach is max output when the volume is set to three. When you turn it up, it's got that classic EL84 overdrive, and I love the Celestion Vintage 10 speakers! The reverb is very assertive. The gain boost adds a smooth rich tone. Almost Santana like.

This worries me a little. I've heard that Velocette output transformers are known to fry. The construction does not impress me either. The chassis is only 2-sided. The first time I pulled it out, I didn't realize that the chassis was not folded over on the far end. Imagine my reaction when I realized I was dragging the chassis out as the filter caps were bottoming out against the cab. Pretty lame. There's a few cut traces on the PCB. Another thing -- they fused the heater winding with fast blow fuses. I had to replace them with slow blows. I thought that you weren't supposed to fuse the heaters since you risk applying the B+ to cold tubes. If the heater voltage shorts out, let it take out the main AC fuse. Again, pretty lame. On the plus side, the cabinet seems to be built really well. The knobs are and the handles are nice, too. Oh yeah, the knobs protrude out beyond the cabinet. Very lame. It's too early to tell how reliable the sound will be and how durable the amp will be over the years.

So-so. I've emailed them a couple times, and they responded quickly, but they don't always follow up to the point where the issue is taken care of. I'm sure if I nagged them some more I'd get better results.

Overall, I totally dig this amp. I looks cool, it sounds great. I would definitely buy one again for the same price. Gibson has taken over the Velocette product line and the prices have skyrocketed. For $600, I don't expect it to be handbuilt and indestructible. I highly recommend snatching up the Trace Elliots if you can.