Traynor head

[Hellbat]

Has anybody tried out their YCS50 head? The local store has one and the price seems quite reasonable but they don't have an amp room and I have a thing about playing in front of people so I was hoping to hear some opinions.

It appeals to me for the same reasons as Made in USA appeals to to the US brothers and it seems pretty versatile too. I'm not looking for something to do modern downtuned metal, more of an 80's modded Marshall type sound, but with flexibility to do clean tones and crunch/grind tones too.

This is the one I'm looking at...

http://www.traynoramps.com/products.asp?type=1&cat=60&id=404

[Rupe]

I play through the combo version of that when we rehearse at my bass players place (he's a guitarist as well and recently bought one). When he told me that I didn't need to bring an amp I thought it was cool until I saw that I had to play through this POS Traynor...I wasn't happy. Then I fired it up. As someone who has had (and still has) numerous boutique amps and preamps, I can honestly say that it sounds amazing...especially for what you are looking to do with it. The gear snob in me didn't want to like it, but I was able to dial in a great 80's hot rodded Marshall tone (think "Lay it Down") and my solos cut through the mix nicely. It easily sounds better than my old Bogner Shiva (dirty, not clean)...really no comparison. One of the best "bang for the buck" deals out there IMO.
My one complaint would be the boost function...it ups the gain but not the volume. If you want a true volume boost, you'll need a volume pedal (or similar) in the loop.

[Hellbat]

Thats exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for Rupe, thank you. I was rethinking the head and cabinet purchase and am now actually leaning towards the 2x12 90w combo. It's overkill for my purpose which is just a versatile tube practice amp and I'll probably always run it in 25W class A mode, but I want to have a set up where I don't have to boot my computer up to play my guitar.

The series AND parallel loops and the direct out make it even more of a cool amp for me. If I need the uber metal tones, I still will have my Line 6/computer set up which seems to handle the crazy gain tones okay.

[FastJunkie]

Traynor makes great stuff, definitely and underrated amp brand. I have one of the YCV50 Blue's, very Marshall-like.

[goodwood]

I can say a little bit about Traynor quality as someone who had one of the 'pos' ones in the 80s. They were ok for someone just learning (which I was) but as soon as you began to know a little more about sound it was easy to see that they weren't too great.

The new Traynors? Different story. I don't have experience with the exact model that you are talking about but I have had the YCV40 WR for about 4 or 5 years now and it is fantastic. Think Fender clean but maybe not the greatest gain channel (nothing an excellent tube screamer can't fix!). I got the extension cab about 2 years ago before they ran out of the 'old style' covering and went to the 'rougher' stuff that's on them now. The combo is open back as most combos are and the extension cab is closed back. The extension cabs bring these amps up to another level aside from the fact that more speakers almost always equals better.


I recently traded some things that I wasn't using for the YCV50Blue with extension cab which 10 watts more and 'in the world' of Marshall dirt and not such a great clean (relatively speaking). Virtually new.


They sound great and definitely look fantastic!! Everyone says that they sound better retubed but I haven't changed any tubes. I'll wait until they start to go bad and put JJ tubes in them.

[FastJunkie]

Nice I was considering getting the extension cab for my blue but decided not to and opted for a 70's Traynor 212 extension cab with either Celestion greenbacks or classic leads in it. Good results so far.

[mjtripper]

I also have a ycv50blue and it's a great little combo. The gain is very marshall like but somewhat dark for me. I use a boss pq4 in the loop and boost the presence by 2. The clean is a good solid clean but nothing really outstanding. Built like a tank.

[Cygnus X1]

I was given a YCV80 out of a combo with a fried power transformer.

Just wondering if it's even worth the 100 dollars a new PT would cost.
Just asking, since I have never played one of these.

And how much would a rebuilt YCV80 custom built head sell for?

[Hellbat]

The YCV80 2x12 combo sells for around $950 retail new in Canada. Thats about $850 US.

[Cygnus X1]

The YCV80 2x12 combo sells for around $950 retail new in Canada. Thats about $850 US.

Yikes!
I'll have to search Fleabay to see what they are going for in the used market.

Thanks, HB.

[goodwood]

I was considering getting the extension cab for my blue but decided not to and opted for a 70's Traynor 212 extension cab with either Celestion greenbacks or classic leads in it. Good results so far.

I think that is a fine way to go!! I rarely ever argue with more speakers.

[BenoA]

Nice amps Goodwood and FastJunkie!

YCV40 (the grey model) owner here! Bought it when they came out a few years ago. At that time these were cheaper than some SS amps out there! Awesome bang for the buck! And as Goodwood said above: "not the greatest gain channel (nothing an excellent tube screamer can't fix!)".

I don't know for the others here but they Traynor amps need to be crancked to be truly discovered! My YCV40 screams and gets better as you push it to louder levels!

I had seen the YCS50H head in some magazine but never really cared about it but I clicked on the link above just to discover this:



Looks pretty cool and classic looking! And made in Canada too!!!

[Rupe]

And made in Canada too!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPmMmr-TTUA

[Hellbat]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPmMmr-TTUA

Take off, eh buddy!

So I have now swung back to the head and a 2x12 cab. I'm thinking the YCX212 cabinet. It's a closed back with Celestion 70/80 speakers. Any opinons on this speaker? Would I be better off with a 1x12 with a vintage 30? While a 4x12 would look badass, I think it would be kind of overkill for the den.