Traynor YCV40-WR 112 Combo

Two channel, All Tube, 1x12 Combo, boutique look
12ax7/Two Sovtek 5881 Power tubes
Metal footswitch, with lights, channel Switching, boost
Top mounted controls, two ext speaker outs, standby. See specs for more detail.

What this amp has that makes it worthy of being a higher end amp.
- Metal Footswitch, Stereo 1/4' Cable, all but eliminates the footswitch problems that plague other amps
- The right wattage, and sounds good from bedroom to gigging volumes
- Super, duper clean, chimy on BOTH channels
- Lights on everything, to tell you what's on or off
- Protected tubes, Standby, boutique high end look, high end speaker
- Not too heavy.
- Detachable power chord on OUTSIDE rather then stored inside where you yank it out, and bust some tubes.

For a pro, the above make this a solid, good sounding, reliable amp.

I could whine about not having a PA out, or but the speaker out 1/4" could do the same. Or a 5 watt, 10 watt attenuator setting, but it sounds fine on lower settings...I give it a ten, not because it's the best amp that could ever be, but that it's the best I have been able to find so far in a 1x12 combo. Controls are on top, better in front I think but it looks better on top where the audiance doesn't see them I think,...subjective...since I fiddle to get my tone, a front mounted control panel is easier for me...others set it, forget it and get it from thier pedalboard, guitar, ect..again subjective.

As a comparison to my Peavey classic 30, an amp I gig with....plastic footswitch, no lights on the switch or panel, tubes exposed...all issues that have screwed up my songs, leads...this amp should at least solve those problems so I can figure out new ways to screw up my set.

Clean on both channels is chimy, pretty rare.
Boost actualy cleans up the dirty channel rather then add mud, rare
Controls: Plenty of Treble, Bass, and Mid to find your tone.
Reverb, goes from pretty much nada to too much, so you can find your tone.
First amp that is loud enough for gigs, but can still play at low, low, everyone asleep in the house, livingroom volumes.
Distortion? I don't know - That's subjective. It's tight, not sloppy or scratchy, not over the top, responsive. I prefer Marshall distortion as best, but this isn't bad, has a good feel.
Very quiet amp.

As a comparison to the Peavey C30 again...mud with boost, doesn't sound great untill on 5-6, no lights on top, or footswitch screws up your sound because your trying to figure out what channel your on.

See above....has all the features of an amp that shouldn't break down, and if something did screw up, it will be so serious that a tech is needed, like any amp, but it won't be the footswitch 5 pin connector, or the plastic footswitch breaking, or the tubes got nailed because they are exposed...even the power cord is replacable vs hardwired in...and it's on the outside, where you won't yank on the tubes when you yank on the power chord.

Compared this to Peavey C30 my other amp, and you can see all the improvements.

Having lights denoting which channel is on, ect makes for ME being more reliable in getting my tone out, espeally on leads. Rather then being on stage trying to figure out what channel I am on, is the boost on..do I need to turn around and check the amp controls...no, lights on the footswitch tell me right there...

No I expect the amp to work, and let's face it, they generaly do, unless we bust the footswitch, bust the tubes...or something happens that get's in the way of getting out our sound.

So while I haven't had it long enough to tell you how it has held up, it has the features that separate it from the other amps that have broken down due to user induced issues...I think Traynor did thier homework on this on.

Reliability for me, is not just the equipment working, but can I put out night after night and this amp helps me or gets in my way as I try to 'work around it' and 'figure it out'

I want to set up, find my tone, set it, forget, done, worry about playing, not fiddling all night long.

Haven't called them, nor do I want to...should all be on thier website..as it stands, I down loaded the manual, and service manual from thier website...very nice.

Been playing for just under 3 years, I know...don't cringe but I do blues/rock lead

www.propilot.us for my music to guage ability/experience.

If the amp were stolen, I would go gay for 5 minutes just to bone the thief so I can whisper in his ear 'Say hello to my little friend'

First off, most gigging musicians are pretty picky...they want super clean...this has that...they want just right amound of distortion...this has that...they want it to be quiet - this is super quiet - they want to be able to go on the road, plug, un plug, ect and not yank the tubes out, or have the footswitch crap out, ect. -this amp has those exposed or wear areas, protected, and or easily replacable, or the issue eliminated.... they want an amp to tell them what channel they are on - Lights on the footswitch and control board - They want an amp to look high end - this looks boutique - The want an amp that is easy to get thier tone - I am still figuring this amp's sound out, what works, but I like the fact that the boost actualy helps, reverb is nice, clean is nice...nothing seems to get in my way.

About the only think I think someone might not like about it will be subjective - Is the reverb enough....or lack of effects, or the type of distortion - or a PA out - or need 100 watts vs 40 watts - or need metal look, mean and black vs wine red with blond grill - or need some 10 watt attenuation.

For me, most equipment seems to find a way to 'get in my way' Like if it has too much bass, like many closed back solid states..or the midrange doesn't really work...like on the Peavey c30, or the tubes rattle out, or bust off when pulling out the power cord, or the switching doesn't light up. For me it's hard enough to sound great, and find that magic, let alone the amp or guitar making my life more difficult. I play through a variety of guitars..from Strats, PRSs, Les Pauls, Squiers, OLP, and again, it's mainly blues rock rythem and lead.

Certainly, if your a pro, you want it all, and your probably going to have to pay for it, but I like that this amp isn't really that much, and it's not vintage, and it's not missing anything, and it seems not a throwback but an upgrade to all the things that went wrong with amps in yester year. It's not too much power, it's not too low, if you need more then 40 watts, mic it up, if you need effects, get a pedal board.

Now overall, I think this amp fits the gigging musician arsenal, to be realiable and find his tone, easy to use. What would be better, something really specific to his needs, and to be fair, not every amp, can be everything to every player.


I have a Marshall TSL halfstack, a Peavey C30, Marshal MG50, Fender Frontman, played with everything at the guitar center, and other stores...this fits me so far...

Made in Canada in 2007. Company has been around for decades. Known for their ruggedness, but I don't gig, just home studio.

Very versatile all tube amp. 3 tube pre, 2 tube power. Won't do Metal, but will do Jazz, Rock, Blues, Country, etc.

Has 2 Channels, effects loop, has reverb spring. Can drive another cabinet for more bottom end. I do another 12 inch to get a stereo effect. Sounds just awesome with an extra cabinet. Has foot switch for channel switching and distortion/clean.

Here's the specs:
Specifications
Type Tube Guitar Amplifier
Cabinet Impedance (Ohms) 8
Power @ min. impedance (Watts) 40
Minimum Impedance (Ohms) 4
Speaker Configuration - LF (Size / Power) 12 inch / 40 Watts
Inputs 2
Channel 1 - inputs 1/4 inch phone
Channel 1 - controls Gain, Volume, Treble, Bass, Middle
Channel 1 - switches Boost
Channel 2 - inputs Shares ch 1 input
Channel 2 - controls Volume, Treble, Bass, Middle
Channel 2 - switches Channel Select, Brightness
Channel Switching Yes
Main Tone Controls Presence
Line Out (type / configuration) 1/4 inch TRS / Rear (Effects Send)
Effects Volume Yes
Effects Loop / Location Yes / Rear
Effects Footswitch / Function Yes / Channel Select, Boost
Internal Reverb / Effects Spring Reverb
LED Indicators Channel Select, Boost, Power, Standby
External speaker output / location 1/4 inch / Rear
Other Features Standby Switch ??? Activates standby mode to keep the tubes warm while the amp is not in use.
Auto Tube-matching Circuit
Preamp Tube - 3x 12AX7WA Dual Triodes (Russia)
Power Amp Tube - 2x 6L6GB Beam Power Tubes (Russia)
DC filaments on preamp tubes eliminate hum
Fully regulated power supply with tube rectifier emulation
Perforated Steel Grille
Dimensions (DWH, inches) 9.5 x 23 x 18
Dimensions (DWH, cm) 24 x 58 x 46
Weight (lbs / kg) 49.8 / 22.6

I replaced the tubes with JJ tubes. Really, I can't tell the difference. JJ's a good outfit. The standard Sovteks are good too. Maybe the difference is on Distortion. I don't use that much, so read other's reviews for distortion.

Versatile, but can't get that heavy metal crunch of modern hard metal rock. I play blues/rock/pop/country so it works for all. Has a guide on setting for Classic Rock, Blues, Modern Rock and all are very useful and on spot. I tape it by the amp to refer to.

The sounds is a very toneful, deep, tube tone. You can make it sound like a Beatles Vox (the 7120 if I got that right) and just excels for Blues tone.

The "Presence" knob is useless. The Reverb is a bit hot and you don't go past 12 o'clock really. The "Mid" knob MUST be turned down to 9 o'clock for this amp to sound awesome. The Mid turned higher just gets muddy. The Bass and Treble sound good on 12 o'clock.

Volume starts getting very loud at a setting of 2. You can go deaf in front of it. So it's a GOOD 40 watts.

I put on an attenuator so I can put overdrive gain to very high settings and not blow my ears. The distortion is very pleasing.

I think it's a great sound at a good price. No complaints. Once you know how to set the "Mid" knob. And don't expect Metal guitar.

Because I don't expect ONE amp to be every sound I'm giving this a 10 because it can do Blues, Rock and Jazz with equal aplomb. The inability to do Metal was give to me upfront. And ALL amps have their knobs that are either useless, or have to be turned to a setting to minimize harsh tonality.

My giving this a 10 is based on me going "Wow" when I played it. And me still going "Wow". And a professional guitarist who told me that this amp sounded "awesome" and I should hold on to it and learn to dial in the tones I wanted.

I'm told you can throw it off the roof and only have to replace the tubes. Haven't tried that. I only use for the Studio. Had it 1 year and it's working fine. Ask a Gigger for the real deal on this.

I heard a lot of noise on one of my guitars and thought it was the amp. Found out 2 things. My guitar is noisy. And my house needs a power conditioner. You can't blame the amp as being noisy unless you have a power conditioner. I took it to the store and it was quiet as a mouse.

So I have dealt with Customer service. They give a decent warranty. 2 Years no questions asked. Transferable too. Just keep the receipt, because they go by the Manufactured Date otherwise.

They were willing to take it and have it fixed no charge. And they DID get back to me in a reasonable amount of time.

I've played for about 20 years. This is a superb amp. On Sound I might always think there is a 10 out there, but really, this is a do-it-all amp so not being able to be authentically modern death metal and a quite poor implemented "mid" knob aside, overall this is one of the best sounding amps I've heard. The only thing I like more is a 1200 dollar Fender Bassman (forget the model) but it was almost double the price! Same with VOX famous models like a real tube AC30TB. So, at half the price, you get a top end pro sound. Sweet.

I would definitely replace this. People aren't aware of Traynors so much, so you can probably find it used for a song. And ANY secondary cabinet will work for an amazing stereo sound.

I'm seriously thinking of checking their Bass amp out since this one was so good.

2 channels plus a boost. 3 band EQ for each channel, which is very nice. No master volume, but I don't think it's necessary. I wish reverb was footswitchable (I got spoiled by my old Fender that had channel, boost, chorus, and reverb on the footswitch). Presence is a great feature for dialing in a little sparkle. I haven't used the effects loop yet- still experimenting.

The only thing I dislike is the boost which isn't adjustable. It just adds a set amount of gain, and I've been spoiled by my old Fender which could dial in specific amounts of boost gain.

It does lean backwards a bit, which I find strange. It makes a good design idea (tilt the speaker toward the player), but it also makes it easier to tip over in the car. I think I'd rather see a deeper base to ensure stability.

So far, so good though. It's been able to nail every thing I've asked of it in church and in my rock band. I'm reviewing it after owning it for only a few days, but I like to post first impressions than return in 6 months to a year with lasting impressions.

-2 for reverb and boost issues. +1 for having knobs that sound like they DO something when turned, unlike a lot of tube amps I demoed.

Using this with a Les Paul, Strat, and Hollowbody. I also tried my wife's thin semi hollow, and similar results.

All my life I've been a solid state man. I wanted amps that could deliver the same tone at all volumes. I wanted amps that could handle banging around in a loaded van without breaking a precious tube. I wanted lighter amps, and I figured I could come pretty close to the same tone as tubes.

I could not have been more wrong. TRUE tube tone is something that is never achievable in SS-land. Suddenly, there are nuances that I had never imagined. I never thought I'd find myself using the volume or tone knobs in positions other than 0 and 10, but here it makes SO much difference.

Case in point, church yesterday. I set my dirty gain at about 11 or noon, then volume on both channels at 9 o'clock. I used my hollowbody guitar, and in the bridge position, the dirty channel gave me a great rhythm tone. The boost knob was just enough guts to pull out a lead (which was good because we had no sound man for that service). Next tune was a little slower, so I switched to the clean channel and backed off my attack. During the chorus, though, I dug in and got a great little OOMPH that you simply can't get out of a solid state amp, even with compression and EQ and pedals...

The most impressive of all came when we did our last tune- an R&B style song with me playing thick octaves. The clean channel was just a little too thin for my taste, so I rolled my neck pup tone knob back, dropped the pick for fingerpicking the octaves, and switched it to the drive channel. Thick, CREAMY tones were pouring out. It was fantastic.

The amp takes pedals great, too. I was worried that I had spent so much time buying pedals to get my SS Fender to sound "tubey," I would find them taking away from the sound. Instead, I find that the amp enhances every pedal I own- distortions sound SO much better, compression is smoother, wah takes on a classic character that it never had before, EQs feel more natural, and even my flanger sounds like a champ. In fact, everything sounded so good, I conducted an experiment.

When I first started playing guitar in middle school, I was in search of that crazy distortion sound. Pre- and post-gain on my SS Peavey amps helped me stumble onto it, but I decided to buy a pedal. Thanks to the limited budget of a 14 year old and the limited patience of his mother, I bought a DOD Supra Distortion... one of the most widely hated distortion pedals of all time. I used it until I bought my first Fender SS amp... and I preferred the Fender's onboard distortion (which should tell you something).

Fast forward to now. I pull the Supra out of a drawer, plug it in and... it sounds better! Turned up, it still has the white noise nastiness that I hated, but turned down, the tubes warm it up, creating a nice fat sound that I could definitely be happy with. If this Traynor can make THAT pedal sound good, well, I'm sold.

Okay, now down to specifics. The amp was retubed before I got it with JJ tubes from Eurotubes- the Blues Option set. When I got it from UPS, the V1 tube had been blown. I replaced it with one of the Sovteks that came with the amp stock and rearranged the order. Even with the Sovtek in there, it sounds great. I do like the clean channel better (in my understanding, it bypasses the Sovtek), but the dirty channel is still great. It'll be even better once the JJ tube is replaced.

I found that the clean channel starts breaking up around noon on the volume. Even at this volume, though, it's VERY quiet. Distortion is even quieter, strangely enough. I'm not sure if I could get a good heavy metal out of it right now (it does have BLUES tubes in it after all), but if I wanted that sound, I have total confidence that another retube could accomplish it. For now, though, I have pedals for that.

It arrived from UPS psuedo-DOA. I turned it on in standby, let it sit for a few minutes, and took standby off. Nothing. No sound. After a bit of tube-newbie troubleshooting, I discovered that one of the preamp tubes was shot. Replaced it and rearranged the tubes a few times... magic.

I've only had it for a few days now, so it certainly hasn't died on me. Time will tell, though. I'm still working out what my backup plan would be should I need it at a gig. I don't like that the chassis has to be removed to access the preamp tubes. I guess there's not really a better way to do it, but it would be hard to do a quick change at a show.

When my amp was dead out of the box, I called Yorkville/Traynor USA immediately to ask how to go about troubleshooting it. They were very courteous and gave me some great instructions which led me straight to the problem in short order. The amp is out of warrranty, but they even pointed me to a (sort of) local authorized repairman who we both knew by name. I didn't need him, but I thought it was cool that they knew him by name.

So far, so good.

Been playing now for 13 years, more than half my life. I don't buy into the high end "boutique" gear, so I buy gear that sounds great, plays well, and yet doesn't break the bank. This Traynor delivers on that. A guy came last week to buy a guitar from me. He brought along his hand wired $2500+ single channel custom tube amp... and this Traynor still sounds better, IMHO.

I play an upgraded Epi Les Paul, a Fender Strat, and a Ibanez Artcore hollowbody through this thing. I've also got an Alvarez Artist acoustic, a Washburn Taurus 5-string bass, and a handful of other rinky dink guitars. I own GMS drums with (mainly) Zildjian cymbals and DW hardware. I've got a 130W Fender 2x12 SS combo, a 1x12 25W Slingshot amp (SS but very warm), and a Peavey Combo 300 bass amp.

If the Traynor were stolen or lost, I think I would cry. And then I'd buy another. I'm a little worried about durability since just the ride through UPS was enough to kill a preamp tube (and it was double boxed with three inches of foam in the inside box and 6 inches of corrugated cardboard on the outside box), but so far so good. It even fell over (on to soft things) twice in my car, but no problems. I've learned to put the backside of the amp to the wall of my car.

I've been coming closer and closer to buying a tube amp for years. I was put off by the inconsistency in Fender tube amps- I'd like one in the store, and then I'd come back again and hate the exact same amp 6 months later. I tried Marshall's combo offerings, but I could never get a sound that wasn't "Marshall". I guess that's great if you're looking for it, but I wasn't. Crate and Peavey were too sterile sounding. Dr. Z makes a fantastic amp, but it was out of my price range, and the one I tried was a single channel. I really felt that I needed that second channel for live work. I was even considering Epiphone's offerings, but could never find something I liked from them.

Finally, about a year ago my wife and I walked into a music store and saw the standard black and grey version of the Traynor YCV40. I had never heard of the company, so I plugged in, expecting to laugh. Instead, I was really impressed by this stock amp. Great tones all across the board and my wife agreed that it sounded better than the Fenders. Of course, at that time, the money wasn't available, so I tucked the information away. Thus, when I had my money together, it was natural for me to go back to Traynor, and I have not been disappointed in the least.

Mine was made in 2007, picked it up used but in great shape. Two channels plus a boost on the drive channel. Effects loop is great, speaker extension jacks is great but awkwardly placed as people mentioned. I do wish it had a control on the boost like the YCV50, since at lower gain levels the boost is a bit too much to really be usable live (it kicks up the volume A LOT). At higher gain levels, the extra saturation doesn't increase the volume as much, but again, this would be easily solved with a boost volume control. I might try swapping in a lower gain tube like a 12AU7 once I figure out which one is used in the boost circuit...that might help things. Other than that, I'm totally happy with its features. It has plenty of power...if you need more than 40 tube watts, you're in a big enough venue to be able to properly mic it and use the house PA.

I'm using this with Fender guitars, both humbucker and single coil models. This baby handles them all like a pro. Single coils through the clean channel can be funky, surfy, or just plain sparkling. Humbuckers through the clean channel are smooth and silky. I run this amp with a 2x12" extension cab and the bass response on the clean channel is MASSIVE if you want it to be.

Single coils through the drive channel can be bluesy or straight up rock as you dial in more gain. Humbuckers sound nice and thick with the drive. If you max the gain, low-output pickups can sound a bit fizzy, but high gain pickups drive the channel well and get some nice thick distortion. I don't find that the overdrive has enough "thud" for big palm-muted power chords, even with an extension cab. If that's what you're looking for, a generic JCM or Mesa will probably suit you better.

This amp covers all the clean, funky, bluesy, and hard-rocking tones I use it for. Its only weak point is if you want that kind of big, chugging, feel-it-in-the-chest distortion that you'd want for metal or things like that. With the massive bass response of the clean channel, maybe you could run a nice pedal like the Satchurator through it to get that kind of chug going. The tube overdrive I use with it certainly sounds brilliant through the clean channel, so I'm sure a higher-gain pedal would yield great results and help it cover that last type of tone.

Seems sturdy as amps costing a whole lot more. Solid pine cab, wicked tough (gorgeous) wine red tolex, metal speaker grill for protection hidden under oatmeal grill cloth for looks. Traynor/Yorkville makes wicked tough gear.

2 year insane "even if you break it" warranty. I e-mailed them with a random question about ohmage of cabs and power output of the amp, and got an e-mail back in a couple of days with all the info I needed and more. This is how a company should be run. These people make better amps with better service for a lower price than the 'big names'. I really hope their prices never go up!

Been playing for 12 years, covering everything from funk to indie rock. I A/B'd the clean on this amp to a '68 Fender Dual Showman and Hot Rod Deville. This blew them both away (HUGE surprise vs the Dual Showman!!). The gain was smoother than a JCM900 in the shop and beat the crap out of the Hot Rod. Reverb was a bit weaker than the Fender, but that's not such a surprise. Other than the boost control, it couldn't be more perfect. The tones it produces and the quality of its build are almost criminal at this price, it's one of the best kept secrets in the amp world.

Features as listed in previous reviews.

A+++ For the beautiful Wine Red Tolex and the Oatmeal Grill.
The Stock Vintage 30 sounds great through this amp.
Also another A++ for the external speaker jack. I wish it was easier to reach, though.
Gave it a 9 because you can't switch the reverb on and off with the footswitch and placement of the external speaker jack.

I jammed with this amp for an hour before I bought it. First my opinion on the distortion.

I tried a Fender Stratocaster with red lace sensors through it first. Very smooth even liquid like distortion. Rich in harmonics and sustain.
Next was a LTD Les Paul Copy with a JB in the bridge. Sounded like Ace Frehley.

Then a Texas Special Strat, sounded like SRV.
After a hour of jamming through it I bought it, took it to sound check, and proceeded to have one of the best gigs of my life. This amp has trasformed me. It is not a high gain amp but with a little knowledge of pickups and some digging on the strings it wouldn't be hard to accomplish high gain tones.
With the boost off and the gain at 12 o'clock and the volume at 12 you can nail Love Me Two Times with my Texas Special Strat.
With the boost engaged and the gain at 9 o'clock and volume above 3 you can play just about any hard rock song(new or old). I haven't tried it yet but I want to play a guitar with some seriously hot pickups in it to hear how metal sounds through it. I don't want alot of effects coloring my sound. They are neat and a little delay on leads can expand my groove to some degree, but for rhythms I only want to hear screaming tubes and speakers.

The CLEAN CHANNEL is very VERY clean and does break up high higher volumes if you really dig into the strings. Engaging the bright switch Turns my Strat into a TELE and the amp into a VOX. If you want BRIGHT SHIMMERING ear splitting cleans this is the setting for you.
THe reverb is not fenderish sounding but it is tastful. Not twangy and annoying like a Peavey or Crate.

But the clean without the bright switch pushed is very nice and clean. I can go from lush squishy clean to bright in your face clean.

After owning at least 25 amps over the past 20 years, I can say that I am thoroughly impressed with the solid craftsmanship and quality put into the design of this amplifier. It's as solid as a butcher's block. It's not too heavy. The tolex seems very tough and is very resistant to scuffing and tearing. I am a little concerned that the oatmeal grill may suffer some scuffing/tearing, but it is reinforced with a metal speaker grill so the speaker IS protected. The metal corners are not the cheap type and the chrome plating on each seems very well done. Rubber feet on the bottom keep it from dancing across the stage. The input jack is metal with a metal retaining nut. The effects loop and footswitch jacks on the back have plastic retaing nuts. The power tubes are tucked neatly away from harm with spring retainers to keep them from rattling out of their sockets. The preamp tubes are mounted inside the all steel chassis. It would require removing a cover plate to change them out, but any idiot with a screwdriver can do that.
The footswitch is metal with plastic sides. The jack on the footswitch is plastic as well. It you are easy with this amp, as you should be with any expensive piece of gear, then these issues shouldn't be a big deal.

TRAYNORAMPS.COM has owners and service manuals available free for download in .PDF format. Just click on the support link.

I have been playing for 20 years. I have used inexpensive, crappy sounding guitars and amps and I have owned the cream of the crop. I used to think I suffered from Gear Acquisition Syndrome. But what i was suffering from was Immediate Gratification Syndrome. I would want something, I would buy it and then use it for a few weeks/months and then dedcide I don't like it as much as I thought I did. I've wasted alot of money over the years on bad amps and guitars.
I can rest easy now knowing that Traynor has answered my prayers for a verasatile tube amplifier that I can finally settle down with. I have played it all from 50's Elvis to Killswitch Engage. I just wish I would've found this amp sooner. This is going to be a solid part of my bacline from now on. I will always have a use for this amplifier. It's part of me now.

Made 2007 in Canada.
Very versatile styles. More on that later.
2 Channels, with switching and comes with footswitch.
Effects are Reverb, and has Presence.
Has a boost for the Lead Channel and Bright button for the Rhythm Channel. Almost always have to leave the Bright button on.
I wish it had a Headphone jack.
I use it at home. Too powerful for at home.

I play Gretch, Fenders, MusicMan into it. Take effect pedals perfectly.
I changed the tubes like everyone recommends and I don't really notice any amazing sound difference. Probably because I don't have the volume up to 8-10 where it breaks. So tube changes are only important if you're going to go all out on distortion.
It's noisy on the house electric, quite elsewhere, so you might need a power regulator, but that isn't the amps fault.
The tone is killer. As good as any Fender tube and much more versatile.
You can play Blues to Classic Rock. Not the best for Metal. Good distortion otherwise. I play on 2 and it hurt my ears, so if you like loud, this is way fine. I personally find it too loud. Might have to bump down or only use it for recording. (I do home recording only)
Personally, this is the best sounding amp I've played, but there is one thing to note. It's a "bright" amp. If you want more bass, you've got to buy the accompanying amp this drives to get the bass more. But I don't want Bass from my guitar, so that would probably affect a live performer more than me. Like I said, I have to have it on 2 to get the tone going, but it literally HURTS my ears at 2. Not at first. You play for an hour and you walk away with pain in your ears. This in not meant to be an At Home amp, word to the wise needing a practice or home recording amp.
The manual with how to ring in Blues or Rock sounds is minimal but VERY useful. Good Idea.

You can throw this thing off the roof and only have to change the tubes. Seriously. It's got a 2 year warranty. Not bad. But I don't have a lot of experience moving amps and haven't had it long enough, so I won't rate it. But if I had to rate it, so far I'd rate it as a 10.

I called them for noise I heard. Found out it was my house electric. You can't have TV's and Computers on and NOT have noise on the line. Plus some can come from the electric company, so a Power Regulator is a good idea. But I called Customer Service and here's the long and short of it. They have people who can fix these things, and as long as it's in warranty, they'll fix it. But the best place is the store you bought it from. Also, they fix it if it's withing 2 years regardless of the owner. Sweet! One bad thing is they have it listed by when THEY made it, not when YOU bought it. So if you don't have your receipt, you're screwed by 1/2 to a year. I have my receipt, so it's no problem for me. BUT KEEP YOUR RECEIPT is my point. Got that, and they were really nice and had no issues having it looked over. They took a few days to get back to me, hence the 9, but that's better than most places.

First, I want to say that I couldn't give a 10 to sound and other things because I know they're not perfect. But overall, this Amp stands out as an amazingly perfect amp. So it's the sum of it's parts. Hence the 10 here.
I've been playing for over 20 years. Have tons of guitars and a few amps, Fender, Rolands, Peavey. This IS the cat's MEOW on sound. The closest amp I ever heard that was this good was a Blues guitar amp from Ampeg (played, but didn't own) But this is way more versatile since it can do Classic Rock. Blew away the Peavey. Tubes way better but perhaps less versatile than the COSM of the Rolands (non tube Cubes)
If it were lost, stolen, or I sold it, it would be for a quiter amp. In fact, I'm thinking of getting something that reduces the watt ouput to the speakers so I can keep the killer tone, but drop the amp to say a 20watt amp. THAT would be perfect for me, but for most people, they could go with this. DO look into the cabinet for bass that you should probably put with this for live performance. As for wishing it had more than a reduction in wattage switch, the only way I can imagine it being better is maybe Traynor's two 10 inch speaker amps. For a more stereo sound. The stock tubes are fine with me, but I get my distortion from pedals, not overdriven tubes. Maybe that will change now that I do have JJ's as the last guy said, Eurotubes is the BOMB helpful and accomodating, go Eurotubes. My opinion is that Traynor amps deserve the Reputation Fender, Marshall, and Ampegs have. This amp is one of the best I've ever heard.
I bought this amp new.

Just got mine used tonight with the extension cabinet.

If you have read more than one review, you know the feaures. Two channels. Pristine clean, good presence control and decent reverb. Boost on the gain channel that quite frankly should be left on all the time if you have stock tubes or they are worn out.

Plug location for the extension cab kinda threw me. It aint under that little arrow I will tell you that much. I am playing on about 1.5-2.0 so I don't wake anyone. Plenty loud at this level and the tubes are just starting to get going a tiny bit. Enought to get a wicked sound.

I am using a 1989 American Standard Strat with Light Blue Lace Sensors in the neck and Bridge. Stock pickup on the mid.
I play everythig from country, to semi-jazz (semi because I am a rookie) to roots to heavy metal to folk to pop... Whatever floats the boat... Tomorrow will be some Rage Against the Machine to test how it grooves....

Not a lot of noise at these volumes. Only gets noisy with my Boss SD1 which is a little bit of a tone robber. In fact, I have dialed it down to just provide a little more boost (yes, on top of the other boost).

As so many have done here, I retubed my power stage with JJ 6L6GCs. I bought these tubes to put in an old Peavey amp that never got played so I yanked them and threw them in the moment I got home. Since the amp is used the tubes were noticable tired. They lacked some sparkle and the response was just not there to the touch. It sounded alright but only alright. I knew with old tubes that this would be improve the moment I changed them out. And man did it change the sound.

Now let me tell you another story. I work in IT can I got a call on Sunday night for hardware failure at a customer site at 11:30 PM. Today is Tuesday morning. I have slept one hour between then and now. Yep. 48 hours of straight work. (IT is great). Anyway, when I got this amp home I threw the tubes in for the hell of it. Despite having no sleep for nearly 2 days, I cannot go to bed. The retube totally changed everything on this amp. Dynamics are there, compression, excellent crunch, and the amp even cleans up with a change in finger style and volume knob. I am not sure what grade of 6L6GCs I wound up with but they are meant for this amp. (Eurotubes just got a customer for life).

Tonight I played everything from Van Halen (just add a tiny bit of chorus) to Kings X to Queensryche to Audioslave to George Lynch to Silverchair to Megadeth to Trace Atkins... Anything I threw at it was just a couple of tweaks away on the gain stage/EQ and the guitar and the fingers. I am totally amazed. The effects loop is pretty darn quiet too. I have some very humble DOD pedals I have thought about trashing but I am shocked to say that as long as they are used sparingly, they sound pretty damn good in the loop.

The clean channel is pristine. You can chunk it along for shuffle, whatever you want. Great sound. I attribute all this to three things.
Traynor made a good overall design. I got the extension cab which fattens the bottom end. I got a great set of tubes to replace the original tired Sovteks. Any good quality set will make a good difference I am sure. I will say this though. Eddie and Bob over at Eurotubes are class acts. They treat you right. Eddie must have answered half a dozen of my emails before I purchased. Great guys, great product. I will be getting some ECC83S Gold Pins from them for the Pre stage... Assuming they come back and tell me it would be a good match... They actually help you find what yo uwnat. Customer service... Ole~

With my current pickups, I dig in hard and add some extra boost and get some pretty good distortion but the pickups are not real hot. Kinda p90-ish... I am gonna toss in a Lace Red in the bridge I think. This thing will really scream as it is like a hot humbucker...

SOund rated a 10 after retubing. Astounding difference and I have not even done the Pre stage yet. Tired tubes suck.

Well, I have had it 6 hours and it still works. Reverb seems a little weird. Hardly any verb until I get to like 9 then it is just awash in reverb. Oh well, I don't surf anyway....
But I have to get that figured out...

No idea yet I got the manual from their web site.
Can be confusing if you do not know that Traynor is Yorkville.

Been playing for 20 years seriously and about 25 total.
Gigged in college but got responsible and employed after that.
Still play and write but just to fill my ADAT with what I love...

My electric rig is down to the following items which to me can pretty much anything you want...

DOD Chorus
DOD Flanger
DOD Delay
Boss SD1 (which shall go to Keeley)
ProCo Turbo Rat which I have not tried yet...
Crybaby Wah

If I ever lose this amp I will freak. I have been looking for this sound for a long time. Your fingers feel connected to the strings and any flaws become apparent. This is a good thing. When you get a good amp, you will hear your flaws, not have them hidden in the muffle. I am frankly shocked at how great this thing sounds. I can get a SRV groove (Mary had a little lamb), or very Marshall sounds (see list above) out of it... Or make it sound Fenderishand country twang... All with zero or very low noise levels. Great stuff.

I am a believer. Top recommendation from me.

2007?.Playing blues,rock,touching harder stuff sometime.This is the right amp for me.2 channels,footswitch.Effect loop,no headphone jack,
i wish it had one.It is very loud,altough it sound's nice at lower levels,perfect for silent practice.

Using a strat copy,it sounds beautiful,i cant see how some guy's
can't get the sound with this amp.Maybe youngsters looking for a metal amp do not dig this Traynor.Still,there is gain enough for Van Halen or similar.Perfect for AC/DC stuff.
Replacing the tube's are necessary and easy,i took the amp section out,working on a table is easier than
struggling inside the amp.Before retube i did'nt like the distorsion,
the Sovtek's are thin and harsh,with JJ's it's a beauty.You can taylor the amp with different tube's,playing loud or at lower volume,more headroom and so on.The clean channel is very nice,using it more than ever.Had a Telecaster with bad pickups that did not sound good at all with this amp,with the strat,o'boy.With right guitar you'll find the tone.Have no pedals,plan to try a tubescreamer for more juice.

When i got this amp with courier the box was clearly abused,the footswitch was loose inside the amp,i thought the amp was recked,but not a scratch,works fine.They seem built to last.

Traynor seems helpful,e-mailed them before i bought the amp,responce pretty fast.No repair or warranty issues yet.2 years warranty.

Playing as a hobbyist.Stolen or lost,would buy another 40WR.There is nothing i dislike with this amp.Even smell good when it's hot,strange.
One thing,footswitchable reverb would be nice.

Good features. Has everything a person needs for small club gigs. I gig with this amp pretty often and it has plenty of power fo my needs. Tubes were replaced with JJ's although I thought the Sovteks were fine. I kept them for backups.

IMO the clean channel sounds great and when pushed with an OD, it's pretty decent. I'm not sure why people are giving bad tone reviews. Maybe there is a problem within the circuit in their amps. Mine sounds fine. I'm going out on a limb here but I A/B'd it with my 72 Fender Silverface deluxe reverb and the tone is not much different with the reverb off with the volume on 4-5. Obviously the Fender cranked to 8 sounds pretty unbelievable and the Traynor doesn't have that lush Fender reverb. With regard to tone, the Traynor is really pretty good. I've been gigging steady for 7-8 years and I can tell you that this is a solid club amp. I push the clean it with a Maxon OD9 modded by Analogman and Keeley BD2. Both OD's sound really great with the clean channel. I don't use the gain channel at all.

Never failed me. Very solid and affordable.

I've contacted them about other products and they get back to you within a day or two. Very cool.

I own a few other amps and I never hesitate to bring this one out. I mainly use my Fender DR silverface but for gigs where I need a little more headroom, I take the Traynor. I think it's the best amp around in it's price range. You may want to change out the tubes for JJ's but like I said, the Sovteks didn't sound bad IMO. I think people tweak too much in general to find their sound. A lot of tone starts with the source (person) GUITAR >pickups>then amp. If a person is playing a thin/bright guitar with crappy pickups, that sound will translate.

As described by other reviewers. I think it was a 2005 model. Good features. Nice distortion. Not much reverb.

This is where this amp falls down. I could not get a good tone out of this amp. I heard someone playing a non-WR model that sounded terrible. I figured he didn't know how to adjust it. Guitar player mag rated it as editors choice, and I liked the looks of it and the features and the company so I bought it. Then I tried for a year to make it sound good with no luck. There is no bass response what so ever. It sounded ok on a few country leads where you need tons of treble, but other than that it was a disappointment. A friend bought the smaller version of this and took it to get it repaired because he thought the bass wasn't working correctly. I have since bought a Hot Rod Deluxe and love the tone. The Traynor does have a smoother distortion, but what good is that if you can't stand the original tone. Check out Bob's comments from Eurotubes.com. Most of his customers don't like the tone.

I'm sure this is a very reliable amp. I had mine for a year with no problems.

Taynor sounds like a good company to deal with. They have a great two-year warranty.

You've been warned. Don't buy this amp. Looks great. Great features. Good company. Lousy tone. I sold mine on Ebay.