Trace Elliot V-type tube pre / solid state power

[selloutrr]

Has anyone else had to work on this amp? I bought one 4 years ago on ebay as is with the complete service manual shipped for under a $100, so i figured sure why not. Well the wife said no more projects until i get my old ones finished. I broke it out this morning and took a look for the first time. I has some impressive transformers and so poorly soldered PCB boards. I think at least half of each board had a cold solder. I'm not sure how far the previous owner got into it since it all looked factory. Lots of hot glue and red epoxy. it's got a mod i'm not sure about it's not on my schematics bridging a diode and cap with a 1M ceramic resistor attatched to a heat sink and epoxyed to the chassis. This could have been factory or a quick way to defeat a burn on R1 ( 470R 2.5W resistor) Just curious if anyone else has been inside one i'll up load some pics in a bit.

[selloutrr]

pics

[Structo]

Interesting.

I like how they have a thermal fuse on the power amp heat sinks.

[selloutrr]

do you think the gold heat sink was stock or aftermarket?

[Structo]

Boy, I don't know but it doesn't really look like it belongs there does it.

What component is the gold heatsink attached to anyway?

The way it is kind of beat up and the way it is fastened leads me to believe that somebody modded it.

[selloutrr]

it's strange because the heat shink is cemented to a 1Meg ohm (measuring .9986 K ohms) ceramic resistor that is then wired to the D9 diode and the unburned lead of R9 (shown in the pic) I contacted the factory for insight and quote for a replacement bi polar version 6 board to see if they had one in stock and weigh the cost / time / $ factor. I've gone threw and fixed all the cold solder points over a dozen comp. were loose. I almost think this was a factory mod only because it was epoxied with the same red goop the rest of the Circuit was gacked up with. but it does feel shotty, so who knows?

[selloutrr]

I couldn't handle it... it was driving me crazy... I removed all the epoxy and hot glue from the cards and chassis. That stuff just rubs me the wrong way, and more times then not the part that is bad is under it.

[Ears]

I have a TE all tube 50W Bonneville. Good amp but it was full of hot glue too, mostly around the plugs they used to connect between the boards and the pots etc. Had all sort of intermittent problems until I replaced all the plugs and hard wired it. IMO it's a dumb design decision putting pcb plug connections into a combo environment.

[selloutrr]

Trace Elliots seem to be like mexican food (no offense to mexican food) but they used about 9 different parts (ingredients) to make all there amps. Most of them have the same preamp with a different Power supply or EQ. It's smart from a design and cost point but just didn't seem to hold up to the wear and tear of the musician. reading threw the service manual I guess they use the same power supply for the guitar as they do the bass with a different level of feedback control and a couple parts moved around.. litterally two parts. I was impressed with the Transformers though!!! they are HUGE!!!

[selloutrr]

well so far the only thing more dissapointing then the solder quality is the customer service.
I shot them an email a week ago still no reply.
Guess it's time to call peavey and get transfered over to tech support. isn't it crazy how this company gets passed around?
If someone bought them who really cared about tone they could easily beef up the build quality and just kick ass on the bass market. I think I read somewhere that a few of the original Trace Elliot guys just got on board with Markbass just recently, but I could be wrong. That would be a great improvement in an enviroment that would really appreciate the designs. If it's true i'm excited! I've worked with the Mark bass products a few times in the past. I found the tone very workable for mixing threw a PA / recording desk, but the build quality to be tempermental at best one day it worked the next it didn't and the day after it would. but they also would burn up on a long hot day, I mean burn! I am the god of hell fire and I bring you..... uh can we get the spare hooked up?
IF someone bought trace elliot who cared and could take them into the boutique market and forget electric guitar and focus on the acoustic amp line and Bass amps. I'd pay $3K for a head if it was a solid build that had that tone. the SM's absolutely kill in the studio!!! Just think if it was built like a tank and had tone you could cut with a knife!!!

[selloutrr]

I spoke with peavey tech support today on the phone. They don't service or stock parts for the older models. They gave me a number to british audio. I'll let you know what i find out they were closed by the time i called. I'll post all the numbers as i get them so if you have a similar problem you'll be a step ahead.

all the best, Mark

[Ears]

Here is another supplier, could just be for Trace E guitar tube amp parts.

From a Harmony central review Nov 2005:

"The main reason I'm posting this is to mention that you can get parts for the Bonneville at http://www.britishaudioservice.com. The owner Shane used to be an engineer for Trace Elliot and he knows his stuff. He's got a great stock of parts and if you don't see what you need listed, shoot him an email. Excellent service and knowledge to back it up."

[selloutrr]

Thank you!

[selloutrr]

Awesome so they have the upgraded replacement board KT6 which is the bi polar boards working replacement they gave up on the bi polar after continued failures. The board costs $169 populated and $10 shipping 30 minutes install time. Next question is it worth the $$$ to repair? I'm $97 into the amp currently.