Traynor Custom Valve 50BLUE

Bought the 2009 model. Same features 2 channel, bass, mid, and treble controls for each. Gain and channel volume on the drive side and just a volume on the clean side. Master volume and Master reverb controls.

Sound out of the box was okay. Warm cleans, harsh gritty distortion. It takes a little time to set this up for every different place you play. Every time I go somewhere new I set all my tone controls for 12 o'clock and tweak ever so gently from there. On the drive channel my channel volume is almost maxed @ about 4:30 but the gain is set to 12:30 (I get a warm crunchy but still transparent tone, kick on the boost and it screams). I set the clean channel volume around 1:00 and the master around 11:00. This usually gets me a pretty close to unity between channels. There is definitely a break-in period for the speaker and tubes on this amp so give it some time if you can. I play in a 90's cover band and our music ranges from Goo Goo Dolls to STP to Filter this amp alone takes care of it all for me with some tweaking on just my guitar's volume and tone knobs. ( I play a Parker Fly so I have the choice of magnetic and piezo or a blend, so I may be a little spoiled with my tonal possibilites there) I love this question "How brutal is the distortion?" crank the channel volume and the gain ... without the boost on.... brutal --> with the boost = Dethklok Brutal :-D
For me, too much brutal, not enough tone ( it loses transparency when you crank it that high)

Everyone says its built like a tank or something similar. It's not an armored war machine, its a combo amp and a tube amp at that. It is a well constructed cab (PLYWOOD mind you, not crappy tone dead MDF everyone uses because its cheap. I hate MDF) with a protective metal grill for that beautifully rich Celestion Vintage 30, and a metal cover for the power tubes (the pre-amp tubes are internal in the chassis). So yes its road worthy and it will take more than its fair share of beatings, but it is a TUBE amp and they are somewhat delicate (though this one may prove otherwise) Great 2 yr warranty though, can't beat it.

Haven't dealt with them.

I took a chance and bought this amp blind and had it shipped to my local Yorkville dealer (they don't carry Traynor usually), based only on written user reviews and some youtube clips. I have been more than impressed with this amp ever since I picked it up from them. Like I said before there is a break in period. I accidentally left it on standby for a week (oops), but my tubes are broken in fairly well now. The cleans are clear and rich. The distortion is not the greatest, but that could be the factory tubes (Electro-Harmonics 3 12ax7's and 2 EL34's). I wish it had metal on/off and standby switches and on/off reverb switch. And I wish that the gain control was a little more manageable, its super sensitive and it can get really sweet to uncontrollably wild in about 2 mm of movement.

10 on value 10 on construction 9 for the clean channel 5 for the distortion and lack of certain features mentioned above. a solid 8.5 amp. Hands down its the best all tube 50watt amp you can buy for under a grand. Try one!

50w guitar combo amp. 50w power section with 2xEL34s; preamp section has 2x12AX7As. Clean & Drive channels each have their own 3-band eq, and separate level controls. No gain control on Clean channel. Boost function on Drive channel. Global Reverb control. FX loop - no mix/level control. Plastic footswitch & stereo cable supplied for channel switching & Drive Boost function. Open-back cabinet design with 12" Celestion Vintage 30 speaker.

I use a variety of guitars: Am-Std Strat with Kinman Avn Blues p'ups; Am-Std Strat with S.D. Little'59s; stock PRS McCarty; Gibson LesPaul with S.D. JB & '59; stock 1973 Gibson SG. Pedal board with Fultone Clyde wah, Fulldrive 2, Distortion Pro, Fat Boost, Choralflange, Keeley Compressor, etc. These are my observations of this amp:

Drive channel: clacky, like a broken speaker, with no depth. Agressive drive sound, but no mid detail of any sort, & very two-dimensional sounding, like a transistor amp. Bass control is eq'd WAY too low - probably in an attempt to keep thashers happy, but a single Vintage 30 in an open back cab isn't gonna be able to handle such low frequencies, so low notes disappear or fart out. Turn the Bass control from '0' to '3', & a frequency introduces itself which sounds like traffic rumbling in the distance. That's it. From here to '10', the bass control has no more effect, and the traffic-rumble is useless; it's just distracting - if it suddenly came on at a gig, you'd be turning around, scowling at your amp, wondering what had broken inside. All this means that you can't add any depth or warmth to your flat-sounding, tranny-type overdrive. It takes some genius to make a Celestion Vintage 30 sound this bad.

Clean channel: again a very transistor-amp-like quality, as if you'd plugged straight into a PA head. No warmth, character, or sustain; tweak the mid control to try to overcome this problem, and a different terrible sound assaults your ears: a flat, honky midrange with the same frequncy as someone hitting two frying pans together at the bottom of a well. Max the master volume & turn the channel volume down to a useable level, and the power-tube distortion that you are rewarded with is flabby and unfocused. At all settings the signal from the low 'E' string clips, making it not only unacceptably nasty-sounding, but also three times as loud as the other 5 strings on the guitar. I was just starting to think that this amp must have a very cheap, inadequate output transformer when...(read on)

...20 minutes into its first gig it started to die. I played two more songs with it farting and fizzing, and then it broke down completely, with only the tiniest scratchy sounds coming from the speaker. I got through the gig with a Hughes&Kettner tranny amp (unspeakably bad Drive channel, immeasurably superior Clean channel), plugged it in again, and it seemed to have fixed itself (which is to say, it was working, & but also unfortunately sounding the same). I obviously can't rely on it.

I should point out that I'm not a thrash player or a nu-metal-head; I play classic rock, blues, rockabilly, & some country when I'm forced to. I managed quite happily with a 30w MesaBoogie Maverick for several years. When I gig, I have my amp on top of its flightcase AND my pedal flightcase, with the top of the amp level with my shoulders, so I have to have it pretty quiet to hear my vocal monitor.

I'm only just about to start dealing with the company, so I'll keep you posted. Should imagine their warranty department is pretty busy though, if this is representative of the quality of the products leaving their factory gates...

I play professionally, and have been playing music for 34 years, guitar for 20 of those. I own 19 guitars (the most interesting mentioned above), and my amps include a Rivera Knucklehead, Rivera Fandango, MesaBoogie Maverick, and Cornford Harlequin. Ok, I was never expecting this amp to match up to the sonic qualities of those above; I just wanted a back-up for the Maverick (my current gigging amp).

But this is a cheap valve amp, built down to a price. Valve amps can't be made cheaply without cutting a lot of corners. The drive channel isn't so bad, I suppose, although you should remember that, with only 2x12AX7As in the preamp section, you're not getting pure valve overdrive by any means.

But the clean channel is unuseable, unacceptable. Perhaps if you use digital multi-fx, you could may be able to compensate to some degree for the complete lack of sustain and awful tone with compression & some amp modelling function or other. Digital multi-fx strangle the qualities of good amps, so they may just cover up the awfulness of a really bad one like this.

And I can't forgive the unreliability; I may well have been shipped a bad one, but 'bad ones' should never make it through quality control. If it were lost, I wouldn't go back & look for it. If it were stolen, I'd catch up with the thief & give him a free one-way plane ticket to get it as far away from my life as possible.

I just sold a Line 6 Vetta 2. After reading the phone book sized "Pilot's Handbook" I realized I don't have the time to spend tweaking every possible cab, mic, effect, gate, compression, reverb etc...it was crazy!

This amp is where it is at. Simple, easy to deal with and functional. I love it!

The amp has tonnes of power, I am still waiting for the extension cabinet to arrive. This thing really comes to life at live rehearsal volume.

I will use this amp to slug around sweaty bars and clubs, this is my main squeeze now. I looked at MESA combos that do not have on board reverb, this was a deal breaker for me.

I think the standby switch is a little bit strange, but I will get used to it.

It has the British sound for sure. Lead singer says it sounds like a Marshall 900. I think the clean channel sounds better than anything I have owned or heard from Marshall.

Clean channel has headroom to spare with the loudest of drummers.

So far the amp is quiet and tight. I use a Les Paul with stock running gear and it sounds fantastic. It also sounds lovely with my Ibanez Artcore AF105.

I plugged into a Peavey Valveking, then into the Custom Valve 40, then into this amp and back again. There is absolutely no comparison. I went into the store to buy a Valveking 2X12 until I tried this thing.

Brand new. So far so good.

Brand new, so far so good. This amp was built in Pickering so if it breaks down, I will drive it to the factory and start crying on the front door.

I have never heard of Traynor products failing just the same.

I have blown a small handfull of Fender combos. Went with the big Marshall stack and found them too huge both physically and sonically for playing bar gigs. I then went to a Line 6 Flextone and loved it, but it had a soft speaker and no power. So I then took the "Throw money at it" approach and got the Line 6 Vetta 2, which addressed the power concerns but sounded worse the louder you turned it up. I learned to hate that thing. It was like the dashboard on the space shuttle. I am a guitar player not a brain surgeon!

I am back to tubes. I have a small amp I can move around, it has more power than you think and it is easy to operate and adjust.

I struggled with the fact that I bought a Traynor. I didn't want to tell my friends, so I got over that and am letting the amp do the talking.

Don't let the price fool you. I got mine used (Basically new)and saved a couple hundred bucks. The extension cabinet is a few hundred more but worth it for the stereo effect.

If you can't afford a Soldano, Boogie or Bogner et al....this thing will do the job beautifully.

These days, to find anything under 1000 bucks not made in China or some other Eastern region, is rare. Canadian made, gotta love that, good relative value in consideration of the labour costs.

This thing is like a cross between a JCM900 and a Deluxe Reverb. The gain boost is a cool addition and will provide more gain than you could ever need. An independent control for the boost would be nice. Still, if you add a OD or Distortion pedal to your signal path, you have in effect, a 4 channel amp. Pretty good for 700cdn. Amazing in fact.

The Vintage 30 Celestion is a smart choice, I've used V30s for years and that fact alone help sell this amp to me. Great speaker that definitely adds to the tone.

THe effects loop should and probably will get modded, it's a little suspect. The standby switch will be replaced as well.

The bright switch kicks in some harsh 2.5k+, I'd leave it alone unless you're using the reverb heavily, which, even though I don't use it alot, is on par with what they stick in a Hot Rod Deville etc..the bright switch can help cut through a heavy reverb.

Great overdriven sounds, either with my Les Paul Classic or Strat. My Parker Fly's sound like they always do, bright, but do work very very well with this amp. A big reason I liked the amp, actually.

The clean sounds are not Twin like, it will break up like a Deluxe...it's seems voiced like a Boogie in this regard. I like it, and I can select guita rs to change it enough...the Strat clean sounds beautiful, the Les Paul of course, is darker.

No probs thus far, 2 year warranty, I know the retailer well and he supports me without question, so I know he'll replace it if I have a problem.

Traynor/Yorkville is a good co. I've dealt with them on other products and never had a problem

Its very portable, just heavy enough to begin to cause grief after a block of carrying it.

I've had Marshalls, Hiwatts, Boogies, Soldanos, and some early Krank things...they were all cool but I had help in using them (tech).
Portability was and is really important to me when I have to deal with my own gear and these really answers that well.

Most processing is done front of house, but I do use a Yam UD Delay for some delay/modulation (great piece of gear) and a TC Chorus, TC Line Driver/Dis sparingly as well.

Been playing over 20 years, touring and recording, sessions, you name it. Mostly rock stuff but lately more self serving in the fusion side of things. The lead tone keeps me a nice faux Holdsworth honk and allows for a easy legato with lots of articulation amdist the swills.

I'd buy another. I looked at Boogie (too heavy) Soldano Atomic (under powered for me) The Bad Cat, a Marhsall combo...I really wanted to buy a 'boutique' like amp, but nothing really out did this thing to my satisfaction.

I've been playing long enough where I pretty much sound like myself no matter what I'm plugged into, this thing makes my job easy. I was used to playing through 4x12s and wasn't sure how a opened back single 12 would work. I'm not missing the 4X12's at all.

One last note, I did re-tube with Groove Tubes EL34L, a hotter tube, this thing will self bias (nice) and it made a noticeable improvement in tighting up the bottom end.

I rec

50 tube watts, dual channel, master volume control, Celestion Vintage 30 speaker.

I use a Carvin DC127M, and a Godin LGT. The Carvin has dual humbuckers, and the Godin has SSH. The amp is super quiet and the clean channel is very wide ranged (vintage Fender or Vox). The drive channel can be manipulated to be American style or British style, depending on where the gain is set.

I have had no difficulty with this amp, and it is used almost daily.

I have not had any problems, so I cannot rate this catagory.

I use a pedal combination of a Korg AX processor, and a T-Rex Tremster. I had another Traynor (YCV-80) tube amp. This sounds different, but it still is just as well made. It plays just as loud as the 80 watt Traynor did. I would like to see an auxillary speaker jack, and impedance switching capabilities on the 50 Blue.

2005 model. 50 watt EL34 tube amplifier. 2 channels, bright switch on clean channel and gain boost (footswitchable) on overdrive channel. effects loop, spring reverb, master volume. 12 inch celestion vintage 30.
I use this amp for club gigs. Blues, classic rock, pop, etc...

The clean channel is loud and fairly dynamic. You must set the clean channel volume up to 5 to get a good bouncy feel or else it sounds cold and too thin.
The overdrive channel is tricky. The Mid EQ is too drastic to be useful, and takes away most of the necessary frequencies and punch. Keep this control on 10 and roll back the overdrive channel volume to around 5. The treble is annoying and must be turned down. The boost is nice and can deliver nice violin-like sustain.
Still, this amp delivers volume if not a refined tone.

The YVC50 Blue at some point started losing power in the middle of gigs. It seemed to be overheating and sounded ratty and crappy. It got me mad as hell of course, since it was just one year old. A technician bypassed the effects loop and took it out of the circuit and it hasn't done so since.
The amp compresses a lot when pushed to a healthy level for rock which cn be pleasing or not depending on your taste.

no opinion

Been playing 20 years. I would not buy it again. I would go for the Mesa F-50.
I got what I paid for. A cheap tube amp that sounds okay.

I bought the Custom Valve 50Blue a year ago. It was my main clean amp for a year. With 2 seperate channels having seperate EQs and nice reverb, I think it has enough user-friendly features to satisfy most guitar players. The boost on the overdrive channel is nice. However, it may be too dark for most players looking for an amp with smooth mid-range. Even though I play very loud, it stays fairly clean. The overall master volume is a plus.

The amp has a nice clean channel. I play all styles (blues, rock, jazz, country, and cajun music). I use a Fulldrive and a good compressor for overdrive. It's an excellent recording amp--not harsh and very easy to mix. But, if you play loud, maybe you should consider another amp or get a good monitor engineer. I'll explain later. The amp seems to like strats and telecasters better than Les Pauls. It used to be a quiet amp, but now it's making popping noises quite often, even when I'm teaching a guitar lesson. And it rattles when I play open chords.

After a year of owning it and playing 4 nights a week on it the amp has never broken down, but I worried alot. I never play a gig without a backup amp. The Custom Valve 50 must have a governor in it that won't let you get too volume happy. Sound men love it! When the master vol. is on 6 or 7 and the preamp is on 5 or 6, it shuts down for about 15 seconds even on the clean channel in the middle of solos.

Yorkville/Traynor has a reputation for making great products, especially professional sound systems and bass amps. Since I teach at a store that carries Yorkville, I talked to a few reps about the amp. They spoke very highly about the amp. They must not play live very much. However, Yorkville has a great warrany.

I've been playing professionally for 20 years and have been through alot of amps. I play all styles and use Strats, Les Pauls, Teles, PRSs, and various old Gibsons. I currently use a Bogner Ecstacy and a '72 Marshall JTM 45 for rock shows combined with the Traynor for my clean. On a country gig, I'll use a Tele and the Traynor by itself. That's when the problems start. I am currently trying to sell it.

The features of course are well noted elswhere. I have fooled with modeling amps and solid state amps over the years and despite the capabilities of units like the LINE6 Pod and BehringerVAmp2 etc. I am astounded at how versatile this amplifier is. AC/DC, Van Halen, Guns and Roses, Chuck Berry, Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, country twang, Prince-like funk, you name it this amp can give it to you. If you can play it, you can get it. For Metallica and Megadeth-type tones you will need an overdrve/distortion unit to blast it into even heavier realms of crunch. But that's what Zack Wylde does with his JCM800's isn't it? I really like the linear taper pots, which means that when you turn it up it really is a true incremental increase in loudness and power. This little bugger is very LOUD for a little combo. The foot switchng of the reverb would be nice, but I cannot criticize the amp for this minor detail. Get yourself an EH Holy Grail reverb pedal and voila there you have it.

When I first tried the amp I did not need to touch the tone controls to achieve a rich and full sound. Sweet! Whether clean or distorted, that valve saturation with those even-order harmonics began to jump out at me filling my ears with sonic sweetness. Imagine one little amp that can sound like a Fender (and a Vox!) for cleans, yet crunch and sing like a JCM800/900 for under $800 Canadian (before taxes of course). How cool is that? Just try and buy a new Mashall or Mesa-Boogie for that price (let alone a Bad Cat, Matchless, Bogner etc.). I admit I am biased because I am Canadian, but for the price I can't believe Yorkville Sound can sell this amp at this price with that warranty. Rock on Traynor! I would give it an 11 out of 10 if could.

I hope this won't be an issue, but Traynor has a legendary reputation for reliablity and a terific warrantyso I amnot too worried

Haven't had to deal with them

I have been playing for about 25 years and have aways wanted a "valve" amp. I have a old CRATE GX60, Behringer VAmp2, Fender Strat, Yamaha AES620, el cheapo Yamaha Bass, and a couple of nice acoustics. Alesis Midiverb-III, Boss DD3, Dunlop CryBaby, Ibanez analog chorus. All kinds of recording equipment.

I certainly would buy another one. I compared it to a number of other amps Line6 Flextone III, Peavey Valve King, Vox AC30CC, Vox Valvetronics. All of them sound good in their own way, but when I tried the Traynor I knew I had found my sonic soul mate. I think the Peavey is very similar and almost the same price, but the Traynor had a better clean channel and reverb. The AC30CC is a sweet amp as well, but is a fair bit more money than the Traynor (at least in Canada) and less versatile out of the box. I think I would like to have an AC30CC at some point for recording etc., but overall the Traynor can cover many more styles (escpecially heavier tones). The modelling amps had great versatility but they were lacking the sweet tone and elegant simplicity (especially compared to the AC30CC).

Very old school features, which is exactly what I wanted: low-mid-high EQ, reverb, master volume (VERY important), two channels, and gain boost at foot pedal (also VERY important). Knobs on the top -- very cool and retro. Three preamp tubes, two power tubes -- easy enough to get at, if you know what you're doing.

As for me, I've been playing for 30 years, and have had/played-thru virtually everything. This is easily the best amp I've owned, full stop. The powerband is smooth all the way up -- no hissing or cracking, save for the nice feedback when close up.

My rig is very simple: Gibson Les Paul Standard, Boss DD6+CH-1+Tuner & MXR M-134 stereo chorus, all into the custom valve effects loop.

Two things to remember: 1) I retubed with Bob's Traynor high gain set of JJs from Eurotubes. Bob is the tube guru -- trust this man. 2) buy the extension cabinet. It really fills out the low end, and adds a gutteral (sp?) growl. Two Celestion Vintage 30's are better than one....

See above -- my rig sounds awesome. All the punch and bite of a JCM 800 at human (practice & low level performance) volumes. Attack & sustain are bright and full, even at the middle (two pickup) selection. I play Led Zep, the Floyd, some Halen -- pretty much anything similar or in between. It serves up hard rock steaming and full of juice.

Clean channel is good. When I say good, it's as good or better than it needs to be. But let's be honest: no one buys this type of amp for the clean channel. Some tone tweaking on the guitar, shift down to rythym and add chorus, and PRESTO!, we have smooth clean tones.

If you need any more than that, think about a Roland Jazz Chorus instead.

This amp is all plywood, hand wired, solid but not to heavy, and lovingly hand-crafted by those blessed Canooks in Canada. I'm an architect and actually care about detailing, materials, etc. And this amp is the exception to all the particle-board, slapped-together products flooding the market. Very well designed and manufactured.

Also, it has auto-biasing (which I think is wonderful). Just put in your new tubes and go - no muss, no fuss!

I had some issues/questions with another Traynor amp, and found them to be friendly and responsive.

Like I said, this is the best amp I've owned. I'm considering buying a new Custom 50 with extension cab in order to fully realize the stereo potential of my Boss and MXR chorus units.

And for all you youngsters out there -- don't believe the hype about "tube emulation" from solid state amps. A good tube amp has characteristics and personality that are barely perceivable until you play with it for some time. Then you begin to hear the little growls, moans & squeals that add so much depth to your playing, and can only come from a quality tube amp.

2004 model. Features have been mentioned. I don't know exactly what other features people expect from an amp like this. It's got everything it needs plus a few innovations as well. If you were looking for something else from a 50 watt tube combo..then you should probably have bought something else.

It's tones are versatile, but a tube change was essential I found.

I have to take off a point though because the footsiwtch should have a reverb button on it.

I bought this amp knowing I would likely have to do a tube change. The construction was such great quality though that I knew it would sound fantastic with a few tweaks. Before the tube swap I would have gave the amp an 8 for sounds. The clean channel was ok, and the gain channel was great. After swapping some JJ tubes, the clean channel sounded like an entirely new amp. It warmed up and had way more bass. Before the tube swap it would break up a little easily as well. The gain channel also smoothed out and got a more 'creamy' sound. I'd have to say a tube upgrade for this amp is essential.

The amps overall sound would be comparible to a Marshall. Definitely a great 'classic rock' sound. Before the tube swap I found it sounded a little thin live without using an extenson speaker. Again though, the tube swap seemed to resolve a lot of these issues and give the amp way more bottom end.

SO I basically give it a 10 AFTER the tube swap.

The amp appears to be constructed very well. My only complaint is it would have been nice to heave knobs that were a little more 'heavy duty' to match the rest of the amp.

I have only had to email them once with a question and they replied within a couple of hours. The warrany on the amp is outstanding.

Overall the amp is just a fantastic value. I am not sure how anyone can have any complaints when the amp is such a reasonable price. I have not seen another amp in that price range that can compete quality wise.

I saw one bad review that said 'don't buy without trying it'. Why would you buy ANY without trying it?

Made in 2005, Amp not that versatile (I play Blues, Rock and Jazz). Two channels with Master volume, seperate tone controls, one reverb knob for both channels, boost switch on overdrive channel and bright switch on clean channel.

Clean channel lacks headroom and goes into distortion and does not stay clean. Clean channel sound is the EL34 tube sound (low on bass) and does not sound like a Fender (not that I expected it to). The bright switch is pretty nasty and the amp sounding better with it off. I have had a Traynor YCV40 with 6L6 tubes and in many ways these amps are similar. I have noticed on this amp and the YCV40 that the clean channel can be somewhat muddy (mutted chimyness?). The distortion channel does the Marshall thing quite well but I found that I had the gain up all the way most of the time and when rolling it back I found it lacking. Switching between channels was not that great as it was hard to dial in matching tones and It seemed difficult to dial in a nice low gain setting on the dirty channel to switch to, so it was clean channel switching right to high gain. I had better experience switching between channels on the YCV40. The Master volume knob did not seem to work that great with this amp as on others. I would dial in the distortion to a particulare style and would use the dirty channel gain and volume and have to use the master volume as well but then I found it difficult to get the clean I wanted, usally this is a no brainer but with this amp I had to fuss with things quite a bit. I tried the amp with JJ tubes and various speakers. Emminence Patriot speakers worked well and had a nicer break-up (smoother) than the stock Celestion V-30, a Jensen MOD 50 worked well with this amp. The celestion Lead 80 did not seem to work well with this and neither did a G12H 30. I have found that a well broken-in Celestion V30 works nice on the Traynor amps. This amp does the distortion thing (NOT the ultra high gain Marshal) and if it's the type of distortion you like then you will probably be happy and if your NOT needing a real clean clean channel then this amp will probably do. I find Traynor amps fun to play as they I like the tube distortion they do but I feel this amp is not that versatile and I ended up returning it.

New amp and I did not keep it

Not sure

I have been playing 7 years, I have owned Traynor YCV40, Mesa F-50, Peavy Classic 30, Peavey JSX, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and a Pignose G60V. I felt that this amp is a one trick pony and if you like the trick you'll be happy, I suggest that you try the amp out before buying it.

Two channel combo. The features have been covered below. A solid set of features for an amp in this price range. The best for me is the overall build quality you get. Compared to other manufacturer's offerings for amps in this class it is tops! Solid ply cabinet, and a metal grille speaker cover behind black cloth make it solid! V30 speaker- nice! Accutronics dual spring reverb. The blue nubtex covering looks cool and seems as tough as rhino hide. This amp is a heavy brute, weighing in at about 50 lbs. Not the best looking amp to my eye, but it is pretty cool looking and lots of people have reported that they do like it.

The sound is why I chose to buy this amp. (Don't we all?) I compared this extensively with a whole host of others in an amp oddysey that lasted 8 weeks, in music shops in 3 cities. I tried Fender; Blues Jr, Hot Rod Deluxe, HR Deville, 59 Bassman RI, Marshall; DSL combo, TSL combo, Orange Rockerverb 50, Mesa; F50, Lonestar, Lonestar Special, Traynor; YCV20WR, YCV40, and this one.

I wanted a combo that would supply me with a wide range of tones from Fenderish cleans to nasty crunch. It wasn't necessary for it to go into the nu-metal range, I have a pedal that will do that. My favorite rock tone is that sweet 60s/70s Marshall crunch.

With a budget of $3000 to spend I narrowed it down to a short list of the Blue, the Rockerverb 50 and the Lonestar Special. Whats not to love about any of these 3 amps? Beautiful sounds from each. All very versatile. The build quality of the Orange and the Mesa are on a whole different plane but they were also 3x the price of the Traynor. Honestly, I would have been equally happy with any of these 3 amps.

When I A/B/Ced them I found something great in all of them. The Lonestar was the most flexible with a whole host of features for you to tweak to get your sound. The Orange IMHO is the best looking of them all. But when I mulled over the sound:price ratio in my mind, the Traynor was the clear winner. It actually was able to capably compete with these two boutique amps and hold its own. And it was 1/3 the price. Decision made.

Should be fine here but only time will tell.

Traynor offers a 2/10 warranty even if you break it. I'm not crazy about the owner's manual (see Mesa/Boogie for a lesson on how to draft one) and I find Traynor's website to be average.

I'm very happy with my purchase. I think I got alot of amp for a very reasonable price. It kicks the crap out of anything in its immediate price range for sure and holds its own in the world of overpriced boutiques. If you're interested purely in tone and not so much the status of owning a pricey amp check this one out if you can find one. I got the last one anywhere in my little corner of the world. Distributors are fighting for them and apparently its in limited production.

It gets a 10 because it truly is a FANTASTIC VALUE!

This amp is very easy to use. There is no crap or gimmicks on it to screw around with. Traynor has concentrated on building a fantastic amp here without ridiculous bells and whistles that most people would never use other than playing around with at bedroom level. There are 2 channels with a master volume and reverb. The first channel is the lead/gain channel with boost switch. It has independant gain, trebble bass and mid controls. Next is the clean channel that has the same controls, but without a gain control.
The blue nubtex is much darker than it appears and feels to be quite tough (not as soft as leatherette) which is a good thing in my books since it wont tear as easy. Also, its pobably the best looking amp on the market right now. I have yet to see one that looks as bad@$$ as this.

Let me start by saying that the clean channel on this amp is actually very very nice. I enjoy it with the brightness switch left on all the time. I prefer it over the clean channel on the YCV20 WR and can go much louder as well. The reverb can also get a great echo sound. Im not big on reverb so this is perfect for me.
The Distortion channel is also awsome! The gain control on its own can get very crunchy and could satisfy anybody not looking to reach Peavy xxx and other metal amp HIGH gain distortion. I use the gain about half way on the distortion ch with either a keeley ds-1 or a pedalworx neo-drive and a very heavy sound can be achieved quite easily. A 10 for sure for being able to dial in both fantastic clean sounds and nasty gain! Most tube amps will only do one or the other.

2 and 10 year warranty... even if YOU break it. LOL i might take them up on this just for kicks! Just kidding. I would hate to loose this amp. Ill give it 10 because it seems to be rock solid.

I emailed them and recieved a response within a two days. Thats a pretty decent turn around time if you ask me.

Listen...for the price I challenge anybody to go find an amp that could out perform this one, because I highly doubt it could be found. For a North American built amp under $800 (both US and CDN) this amp is a steal and it looks killer to boot. It comes loaded with great components and has an unbeatable warranty.

I traded up to this amp from a ycv20 and it was not a comparable amp. I personally did not like it at all. It rattled alot, could not achieve satisfactory distortion and the greenback speaker bottomed out easily. The clean channel was quiter than a mouse - it was only useful for bedroom playing. Given that I listen to and play 90's rock and alternative + nu-metal music, the ycv20 wr was a bad purchase in the first place but I was on budget. Traynor quality is hard to macth.

The lead channel is a darker, "marshall" sound while the clean channel is much brighter and is useful to me for clearly hearing yourself while practicing and playing music such as the red hot chilli peppers.

I would definately buy this amp again for sure. I would give the line 6 flextoneIII a shot first. HOWEVER if you are "custom/hand-built analog and true bypass pedal junkie" like me, then you would probably never use any of the plethora of gadgets available on the line6 and therefore a quality, no frills TRAYNOR amp would probably suit you best!

PS... want any tips on some of the BEST well-priced pedal builders out there? Feel free to drop me an email. Im confident I could point you in the right direction. And best of all -most you can pick up for the same price as the big name, crappy machine built digital pedals out there.

This amp is, as far as I know, a special run from Traynor. The covering is a blue tolex or leatherette material (as opposed to the black covering) with a black grille cloth. It
is very eye-catching.
The all tube circuitry consists of 12ax7's in the pre-amp, and 2 el34's for power. The controls have your basic treb/mid/bass set-up and gain for the 2 channel operation.
The only fault I can find is that there is no presence, but no big deal. There is a master volume and reverb for both channels. Nice to have for easy on-the-fly volume
adjustments. The master volume also makes it possible to drive the gain in the clean channel into overdrive without excess volume. It's a very basic set-up, but after
dealing with processor patches for a lengthy stint, I find this refreshing. The speaker is a celestion vintage 30. This is the first time I have had one of these speakers, and I
must say, they meet all the hype. The cab that houses the chassis and speaker (1x12) is very sturdy and made of good, solid plywood for a nice resonation at high
volumes. I give it a nine only because of the lack of a presence control.

I have had this amp for about a month now and gigged a few times live and also used it at lower volume settings for home enjoyment. My style consists mostly of
blues/rock instrumental and this amp is the real deal for this application. I also play on a worsip team at church and find it suitable for this as well. The amp is very
responsive with both my Les Paul standard and American Strat. I have looked for quite a while for this type of tone. When I was about 17, I got my first jcm 800 head,
and regretably sold it a few years later.
I tried alot of amps after that to get that kind of sound again, but to my shugrin, never could quite capture that same tone again. What I mean by tone is that nice woody
3-d sound that kind of makes each note run through your body when you play it. Kind of corny but, man, when you capture that in your playing, it makes you not want
to put your guitar down. The dirty channel has a nice glassy/smoke sound that is great for anything from Carlos to Page to Satriani. The real difference came when I
flipped my L.P. into the rhythm position. Un-frickin-beleivable. There it was.........my darker marshall thick sound. This thing compresses like a nice big stack and makes
nuance in my playing really audible. The Strat also has a very warm, almost Gilmore type sound. The clean channel is also very warm sounding. I forgot to mention in
the previous category that the amp has a gain boost (selectable with the supplied foot switch) and a bright switch on the clean channel (accessable only on the panel).
With the gain turned up past five in the clean channel, you can get the warmest overdrive that I've ever heard, and I've tried a abundle of 'em. This amp is the perfect choice
if you are into hearing all the little subtleties in your playing. I don't really have any beefs with the sound. It's exactly what I was looking for and needed for my playing
style.

I have only had tis amp for a month, but the reliabilty has been good so far. I would gig this amp anywhere and anytime. I would also feel quite comfortable with no
backup from what I know of past Traynor products.

Haven't had to deal with them so far. Knock on plywood.

I have been playing for about 25 years. I also have a '57 bassman (real deal), peavey bandit, peavey classic 30,Boss dd-3,Dunlop wah
and my previously mentioned electrics. Oh yeah, I scored a nice '67
Gibson J-50 acoustic a couple of months ago too. If my amp were stolen, I would certainly replace it (if I could find another one).
I love the whole vibe and sound of this amp and hate absolutely nothing !! I need a cover for it, but that's coming.