MusicRadar

It may not be cheap, but it sounds fantastic.

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• Review

In 1989, Trace Elliot created the acoustic amp genre with its Trace Acoustic amps. Suddenly, acoustic guitarists had their own PA-in-a-box and, like Trace Elliot's bass backline, the new amps were highly spec'd.

Trace Elliot eventually floundered - the brand sold to Kaman, then Gibson, before finding its current home with USA giant Peavey. It's certainly taken a while for the new amps to appear - they were originally announced back in 2008 - but then they have been completely redesigned and had to be: the market is now flooded with acoustic amps.

"This is not a cheap unit - our review sample costs as much as many small PAs, which is exactly what it is, really."

These are not cheap units. Even the diminutive TA100 tops the £1,000 mark and our review sample costs as much as many small PA systems. Which is exactly what it is, really. It's also feature-laden and boasts a hugely informative 30-page user manual!

But it's still nicely sized, bigger than an AER, with a gently sloping front, metal grilles protecting the four five-inch speakers, a top carry handle, and a light, easy-to-lift weight. Included in the price is a carry bag, as well as the six- button footswitch with eight-pin DIN connecting cable.

In simple terms, it's a dual- instrument and instrument/ mic channel stereo amp with 100W per side of fan-cooled power. The control strip is sited midway on the front - an unusual placement, as even on a necessary chair or stand, the controls aren't exactly handy during performance.

Channel one has gain, lo-trim, hi-trim and notch with piezo switch (for passive or low-level active systems), pre-set shape (treble and bass boost with a mid cut) and phase switch. Channel two has no EQ, just gain and notch, a +V (phantom power for either mics or instrument preamps), shape and phase switches.

One of the many clever features is the input configuration: if you have, for example, a dual- pickup system (piezo and mic), using just a single stereo lead will send the dual outputs to the TA200's individual channels.

Then we get the effects section with two rotary encoders - parameter and setting. The digital effects are stereo chorus, stereo flanger, phaser, tremolo, analogue delay simulation, 1/4 note mono digital delay, 3/16 note mono delay, and stereo ping-pong delay.

"We received nothing but compliments in various gigging sitations, both with a band and solo, backing a singer."

Modulation depth and rate, delay time (via the tap tempo function to a max of 1100msec), plus level and feedback parameters are all tweakable, and these settings are stored automatically.

The master section features a six-band graphic EQ with corresponding frequency location LEDs - handy for identifying any troublesome frequencies - plus an overall master level and mute switch.

Round the back, it's equally well spec'd: along with the power switch plus mains and foot controller inputs we get stereo send/return FX loop, stereo balanced DI outs with pre/post switch, tuner output, earth lift and a handy front panel light on/off switch if you - or your bandmates - find the illuminations too Blackpool.