How Tough Is Trace Elliot? An Amp, A Crane And A 15 feet (4.5 metres) Drop!
United States
English
30 November 2006 — How tough is Trace Elliot? Of course we design our amps to handle the rough and tumble of life on the road. Of course we undertake rigorous bench testing of every Trace Elliot head we build. But that’s not quite the same as testing the thing to destruction in the field is it? So we did...
The field was a rugby pitch in north-east London. Play Music Magazine were there, along with a photographer to ensure fair play. We also brought a crane. Needless to say, this was one of these “Don’t try this at home” moments because chucking an amp head off a crane would make your warranty void and useless (If you didn’t know this already, seek help!!!). But......what if your amp accidentally fell out of an upper story window? We loaded the bass head onto the crane, took it up 15 feet (4.5 metres) and dropped it. After a painful thud, the crane operator then lowered us to the ground, we picked up the head, plugged in* and played. Minor damage to the fan, but other than that, one bass amp head in perfect working order.
Realising 15 feet wasn’t high enough, we had to then ask ourselves, “What if it accidentally fell out of a second story window?” At 25 feet (7.5 metres) the head bounced when it hit the ground, but when we plugged it in it still played! Realising the scientific and humanitarian importance of our experiment, we then thought to ourselves, “What if it fell out of a block of flats?” At 40 feet (12 metres), the fall was enough to shake a control pot loose; that was it. Five minutes of tinkering the and head glowed back into life. If one green bass head should accidentally fall* it would probably still play just like new.
The field was a rugby pitch in north-east London. Play Music Magazine were there, along with a photographer to ensure fair play. We also brought a crane. Needless to say, this was one of these “Don’t try this at home” moments because chucking an amp head off a crane would make your warranty void and useless (If you didn’t know this already, seek help!!!). But......what if your amp accidentally fell out of an upper story window? We loaded the bass head onto the crane, took it up 15 feet (4.5 metres) and dropped it. After a painful thud, the crane operator then lowered us to the ground, we picked up the head, plugged in* and played. Minor damage to the fan, but other than that, one bass amp head in perfect working order.
Realising 15 feet wasn’t high enough, we had to then ask ourselves, “What if it accidentally fell out of a second story window?” At 25 feet (7.5 metres) the head bounced when it hit the ground, but when we plugged it in it still played! Realising the scientific and humanitarian importance of our experiment, we then thought to ourselves, “What if it fell out of a block of flats?” At 40 feet (12 metres), the fall was enough to shake a control pot loose; that was it. Five minutes of tinkering the and head glowed back into life. If one green bass head should accidentally fall* it would probably still play just like new.
