Traynor T20/GC

I believe this amp was made in the last year, as I bought it new a couple months ago (it's a Traynor released amp, technically by Yorkville). It's got two channels (clean/dist.) with seperate volume and gain for each channel. Switching between channels can be done by either the switch on the amp, or foot switch. Since I'm too cheap to buy a foot switch (and might eventually make one), I use my keyboard foot pedal plugged in about 3/4 of the way. Does the job only I need to hold it down to get the clean channel. Other features include 3-band EQ, line-out, headphone-out, and chorus. The chorus is kind of odd on a small amp from what I've seen (especially with no reverb too), but I sometimes use it with a very slow rate to get some cool sounds on the clean channel. I use all the features on the amp, although I kinda wish it did have reverb. The 20W of power is more than enough for me (since I only recently started playing). I usually keep the little beast no louder than 1 or 2 to avoid annoying roommates and neighbours (darned student housing!).

I'm using the amp with an entry-level Oscar Schmidt OS/4 electric guitar (three stock pickups, no humbucking). The sound is really good, but not quite as good as a 15W Marshall I looked at. I went with the Traynor because it was cheaper, and had more features I'd use (with instant channel switching being a big one). It suits my style alright so far (which is mostly classic rock). Amp can be a little noisy in certain locations, but I normally run it through my Tripp Lite power bar (for the computer) and it runs quiet. Distortion channel produces some noise when the guitar's quiet perhaps a little more than I'd like. I find the distortion nice as it can go from weak to nasty (based on the gain). There's more than enough distortion for me, although a friend who's played for 10 years thought it could use more. Chorus does a good job, although I've yet to find a need for a sound made with the chorus rate cranked.

I've only had it 2 months so far, but it's been rock-solid. I've lugged it around a little, and have no concerns whenever I do so.

My interaction with customer support was interesting... I emailed Yorkville them shortly after I bought the amp to ask about where the amp was made. I always understood Yorkville/Traynor amps were Canadian made, and their site implies this too, although my Traynor is marked that it is manufactured in Korea. Apparently I was told that all Traynor amps are made FOR Yorkville by some other company. I didn't really like this news, although I still like the amp! I was told by the customer support that Yorkville's slated to produce new Traynor tube-amps later this year.

As far as the speed of getting an email back goes, it might have been 1.5 to 2 weeks so not quick, but not dreadfully slow either.

I've only been playing for a couple months now. All I have besides the amp is the OS/4 guitar, and some misc. hardware. If this amp were lost or stolen I'd definitely buy another. It's got features I like, good sound (although an 8" speaker like the Marshall I saw would probably do much nicer than the 7" the T20/GC has). Nothing I really dislike about it very much, although as I said earlier, reverb would be nice. But as far as bang-for-the-buck goes, this was perhaps the best amp I ran across.