Trace Elliot Transit A

The Trace Elliot Transit A is an acoustic preamp and effects pedal, part of the Trace Elliot Acoustic line sold through Peavey. It is built for the acoustic guitarist who wants one floor unit to shape a piezo or magnetic pickup signal and add time-based effects before it reaches the PA¹.

Inside, the Transit A covers the whole acoustic signal chain. Trace Elliot describes the built-in compression, notch filter, pre-shape and simple EQ controls as ensuring great basic tone, while user-definable boost, chorus, delay and reverb provide the tools for artistic expression¹. The maker positions it as including the right features for a professional acoustic player without over-burdening the user with extra controls that hinder quick and easy tweaking¹.

Where it came from

Trace Elliot unveiled the Transit A at NAMM 2017 as one of two standalone preamp pedals, the Transit A for acoustic guitar and the Transit B for bass. MusicRadar reported that both pedals were designed with practicality and portability in mind, offering EQ, built-in effects and what the publication called studio quality DI, each at a US MSRP of $399.99².

The Transit A is a Trace Elliot Acoustic preamp and effects pedal, a designation Acoustic Guitar noted when it reviewed the pedal in August 2017¹⁴. Trace Elliot positions it as a preamp pedal that "includes the right features for a professional acoustic guitar player without over burdening the user with extra controls that hinder quick and easy tweaking"¹.

Outputs and the built-in tuner

The Transit A's output section is its most distinctive feature for a gigging acoustic player. The pedal provides pre and post XLR balanced outputs, a dry output and a headphone output¹. Having both pre and post XLR sends means you can hand the engineer an uneffected signal while keeping your effects on a second line, and MusicRadar noted the player uses the stereo output to feed their tone directly to the engineer².

The tuner is unusual. Rather than a separate display, the backlit control panel becomes the chromatic tuner, so the entire panel of knobs acts as the tuning scale¹. MusicRadar called this "a novel and useful tool" at launch².

For players comparing acoustic preamp pedals, the Transit A sits alongside units like the Boss AD-10, the LR Baggs Session DI and the Tech 21 Acoustic Fly Rig in the acoustic pedals category, and in the broader preamp pedals family.

What reviewers said

Acoustic Guitar reviewed the Transit-A in August 2017, describing it as a preamp and effects unit tailored specifically for the acoustic guitarist, and listing its price as $399.99 MSRP with a street price around $300 at the time³.

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