Traynor YCS50

Made in 2008. This is thee most versatile amp that I have ever played. I needed an amp that could do it all and this one delivers. I play in a cover band and I need many different tones without having to switch amps. This one goes from blackface cleans, to pure sweet blues and ripping rock. An amazing amp. Plenty of power with the 50watt and 15 watt switch. Can't go wrong here.

Pure tones. This amp has some of the best clean tones that I have heard combined with just sweet and warm overdrive to aggresive distortion tones. Very clear and clean amp.

Solid amp.

N/A

Great amp. Picked this up for around 850. That was a steal for an amp of this quality.

Has pretty much all you need.
The only feature it has, that I don't like, is the gain on the clean channel (see below).

The two types of effects loops are nice, although you have to 'know' or figure out by mistake that the 'pre-amp out/in' jacks are actually the parallel effects loop (for EQ) if you connect the EQ to the 'eefects loop' it sounds godawful.

I find that I don't even get out of the 15 watt mode as it is plenty loud and sounds better at the low volumes I have to use in the house.

All the buttons: gain - gain boost, modern, scoop; clean - bright, amer/brit, expander. They ALL work and actually DO SOMETHING, which is refreshing compared to many amps where you push a button and - no change - at all.

I'm kind of a picky b@stard so it gets a 9, but could easily rate a 10. Maybe another 12" speaker would give it a 10 in MHO.

The gain knob on the clean channel bothers me to death, it doesn't really get crunchy, but it makes it difficult to use a processor in front for clean tones as it will break it up on 'accoustic sim' settings.
This forces you to dramatically lower the gain and pump the volume on the clean channel and makes it difficult to match volumes on the gains channel. As they will change considerably as you adjust the master volume.
It has a really nice cleasn channel if used alone, and it takes high gain processors well, just not clean processing while matching volumes.

The gain channel is extremely versatile. having adjustments from early cream AC/DC to pretty new heavy metal, all without any outboard accessories needed. The gain boost, modern switch, and scoop switch all actually work as they should, good job Traynor.
If you want death metal, it is really just an outboard EQ away, 'maybe' a dist pedal too, but this thing does have a great modern sounding gain as you find the settings.

I'd give it a 9 if I could get good accoustic or clean stuff out of it with the processor, and I've had it all summer trying. And, I've been playing over 30 years, so this is not my first rodeo.

I will agree with the post that says it sounds brittle at first, give it a week of playing and it warms up nicely.

Although it has a little glitch that keeps me from loving it, I can fully stand behind recommending it, especially at this price point for a real 50 watt tube amp with Celest Vin 30 in it and a rock solid footswitch.

Well built, have had it on an amp stand in a closed room for a few months, so I cannot really give it a rating. I would not hesitate to haul it around to jam sessions though.
No pedals required, except a crybaby.

I think it is a great amp for many, a perfect versatile gigging amp.
It's not really my favorite, and I cannot figure out why. I might not buy it again, but would highly recommend it.

Hey'ya. I would describe myself as a hobbiest guitar player with about 4 years of regular dedication and practice. I was a drummer for a few years before that and I did play a little guitar back in my high school years. Picking up the guitar again became kind of a mid-life crisis type of thing.

So, I'd been searching and researching tube amps between 20 and 50 watts in order to upgrade my current rig. I'd started out with small S/S amps in Marshall's MG series, then upgraded to a Fender Champ 5w tube amps as my primary amp. Of course the Champ sounds beautiful but I wanted a little more power in order to be able to effectively jam with my brother-in-laws 15w Fender Blues Junior. I'd picked my ideal amp, that being a Marshall JTM45 and then set about finding something comparable in sound and power but not so expensive. I also fully believe that the amp should be versatile to inspire your musical wandering, not limit them to a narrow band of styles. Music is Life. Playing music just brings you closer to true inner peace.

After much reading of ads, spec and user reviews...I settled that the Traynor YCS50 was the amp for the job. Being able to run at either 15w class A or 50w class AB is perfect for playing in any situation. 2 effects loops for integrating my effects, a master volume, and other features not found on more expensive makes are well appeciated, especially the separate eq's for each channel.

To read the full specs from the Traynor website :
"http://www.traynoramps.com/products.asp?type=3&cat=63&id=392"

Luckily, I was fortunate enough to get one for my 40th birthday recently from my wife and brother-in-law, (thanks again you two!!)

I'm using this amp with my Epi Les paul with stock pickups. (Although, I have plans to try running my Takamine acoustic through it and see how it sounds as well) In the 15w mode, it's super easy to get the tube saturation as reasonable levels and therefore dial in many of the sounds from classic 60's and 70's artists. Not so good for clean sounds in this mode though, but switching to the 50w setting and ahaa! Cleans to die for as you have to get the volume up pretty loud before the tubes get saturated. By varying the setting & channel selection dependant on what sound or what artist you're going after, it shouldn't be to hard to cover Jazz & Blues to Hard rock and Metal guitar styles.

The amp, (assuming you're not silly enough to leave all the gain controls on full when you're not playing is much quieter than my brother-in-laws Blues junior. Sometimes I have to do a quick glance to make sure I didn't leave it on stand-by. By integrating the presence and resonance controls I can get a sound like a wall of cabs even though it's just 1-12" speaker. I can't wait until the Celestion V30 is a bit more broken in.

Of course reading compared with hearing is no where near the same animal. Check out the audio and video clips link below and decide for yourself if this might be right for you:
"http://www.traynoramps.com/default.asp?p_id=3"
as well as non-traynor endorsed user clips at:
"http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=traynor+ycs50&aq=2&oq=traynor"

Ok, so here's where we get to the meat and potatoes part. In fairness I will mention here that I've only had the amp a couple weeks now so yes...I'm still in the "honeymoon" phase, however. I believe that this amp would perform at a gig without any issues so therefore a back-up would be unnessary, however as with all all-tube amps, a full set of back-up tubes would be required when gigging, just in case. While Traynor does not have the mysticism associated with it's name like Marshall or Fender, they do have a superior reputation for quality products that stand the test of time.

The amp comes with a 2 year, transferable, unlimited warranty. Short of intention damage or stupidity like leaving it out in a thunderstorm...it's covered. I challenge any of the big name amp companies to beat that.

It came perfectly in it's box and was pristine when I took out and plugged it in. Comes with 2 button footswitch and cable, manual and suggested settings to get you going.

I'd happened to e-mail Traynor to say that I loved the versatility and design of their amp and received a nice personal e-mail back in a couple hours. (Not a standard "Thank-you for your enquiry...") The added bonus is that I happen to live less than 10 minutes away for thier world headquarters in Pickering, Ontario, Canada so I can just pop in the van and drive over to get it serviced if I need to.

As I said above, I've been playing as a hobby for about 4 years or so. A few of the boys get together for jam sessions but nothing more serious than that yet. Compared other amps in it's range, it is definately superior on paper for the price. Now we'll see if it stands the test of time.

My list of effects to integrate with it is as follows:
- Planet Waves tuner pedal
- Boss Ge-7 EQ pedal
- Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive
- Dunlop Cry-baby Wah
- Seymour Duncan FX-3 twin-tube pre-amp pedal
- Digitech RP-80 multi-effects pedal
- Boss RE-20 Space Echo twin pedal
- Digitech DSP256xl multi-effects rack-unit

The current signal path I'm experimenting with is:
- Epi Les Paul (tone controls set at 10 as they are treble roll-off)
- tuner pedal
- Boss Ge-7 (set in a "frown" emphasing the upper mids to eq raw guitar tone, level set a titch up to make the signal hotter)
- Wah
- Rp-80 (noise gate, whammy or volume pedal settings)
- to amp input (Sd-1 and Twin-tube pre-amp set aside for now)
- (using amp controls to set channel, amp eq, etc.)
- amp parallel effects send into...
- Re-20 (delay-echo settings)
- DSP256xl (reverb settings, I especially like #22 "sweet hall", set to fully wet signal)
- into amp parallel effects return.

Sound amazing. If anybody has any comments or ideas e-mail me.

Finally, I fully realize that the amp came with a full set of Sovteks. According to my research these are standard starter tubes used based on their shipability and indestructablity. I plan to swap these for Tung-sols sooner rather than later. Anybody else with this amp that has swapped these out yet? Anybody experimented with other tubes in the 6L6/5881/KT66 tube family?

All tube combo with a vintage 30 celestion speaker. It has an effects loop and a pre-amp in and amp out. I can not think of one feature this amp lacks. The 15 watt class A option is perfect for the studio and normal gigs. I only ever use the 50 watt class AB option when playing outdoors. I have heard plenty of other amps and this is the only combo in which I REALLY like the overdrive channel. It has a full tone with smooth overdrive. Very nice feature. I don't use the scoop button as much because it sounds a little too much like a mesa, and I prefer overdrive with some mid-range frequencies.

This amp sounds amazing with any guitar I play. I play a schecter C1 classic with dual Seymour Duncan humbuckers and also a Ric dakota 650D. I can get a smooth overdrive sound for rythm but also an amazing bluesy lead tone with the more single coil sounding guitars. One thing I would highly recommend for this amp is the MXR 10-band EQ placed in the pre-amp in -amp out loop right before your delay pedal. When trying to get a nice crisp clean tone, you get a few harsh high-end frequencies without this EQ. With the EQ it's flawless.

Its extremely reliable!

Never dealt with them

In my opinion, its a perfect amp. My friend spent several hundred dollars more on the messa 25 watt combo that has similar features, and he wishes he had bought the Traynor. It really all comes down to the overdrive channel. It has a such a full tone that you don't usually find in smaller wattage amps.

Unbelievable. This amp is absolutely incredible. 2 independent channels (footswitchable), master volume, reverb, boost on the crunch channel ( footswitchable) bright button on clean channel. WISH THIS WAS FOOTSWITCHABLE!! The amp also can operate at a class A 15 wattage or flick a switch and its a 50 watt A/B. this is very useful. it has a modern switch and scooped switch on the crunch channel and the clean channel features an "expander pedal" which acts somewhat like an acoustic simulator(sounds amazing for traditional open chords and what not)and also a brit/USA switch. this is a neat feature that i feel adds even more versatility to the many sounds you can get. Fender cleans to everything short of death metal.

I play an American Telecaster with a Joe Bardon Humbucker in the neck and a Joe Bardon single coil at the bridge right into the amplifier. THe guitar, upgraded how it is is very expensive and plays and sounds unbelieveable NOT similar in any way to my playing, BUT i tried the amp with an old dean electric, an epiphone les paul classic, my Fender mini jumbo acoustic, and this amp delivers a wide variety of tones that just moved me. My Tele sounds so good i cant even think of a word to describe it. IT doesnt seem to hum much at all even at loud volumes. THe clean has tons of headroom even on the class A setting and the crunch channel can match about anything. I also dialed in some great reverb tonews on both channels. I dont think there is another amp that sounds so good in so mp is better than any other musical experience ive been a part many different ways on the market.

Ive had it for a few weeks now and it hasnt done anything to make me worry yet. How can you worry with a 2 yr unlimited warranty traynor issues with the amp. Its even transferrable. They obviously dont mind putting that type of warranty onto it so they must have some confidence in its craftsmanship.

havent needed to contact them but their webpage is very useful.

This amp totally changed my view of myself as a musician. I never had a nice amp until now and it has opened up a whole new world. Ive been playing an unsteady 7 yrs with a Solid 2 yrs going. Id say im advanced by the compliments i get on my playing and variety of music and styles i can adjust to. This amp makes it all the easier to change styles with the turn of a few knobs and pushing in a switch. I am a pretty experienced guitarist and hazve played through a few many amplifiers. I would choose this amp if it were stolen i would first check to see if they got my TELE too and then go on a man hunt with coonhounds and my 7mm. (western PA) kinda redneck. i would totally recomend this amp for ANYONE with a wide variety of music styles or someone who wants a crystal clean underneath unbelievable crunch and distortion.

great amp, the clean channel is warm full and clear, the rythm crunch
has got the sound , the boost gives more drive too make solos smooth
and sweet. Then i pushed in the scoop button......right on , chug a
chuga heaven.............ya

SOUNDS LIKE AN AMP SHOULD , MUSICAL , RICH, HARMONIC FUR
very noise free amp ,nice portability .........top score keeper

ITS TRAYNOR , GOOD REPUTATION

only ever called once, for info , no problems. reply same day

ive got marshall, fender, peavey, vox,.......all good amps , but this one has that missing left kahoona the others lack.

This is my second review of this amp. It has been nearly a year with this amp and I just have to write another one to update my findings.

This is an absolutely fantastic amp. The versatility and tone cannot be beat, certainly not anywhere near this price range. I can find every type of tone I would care to in this amp (that leaves out death metal) and it sounds great a low volumes as well. They (Traynor) did a great job with the Master volume control.

Very good. I would put this amp up against anything else out there in terms of tone, especially with my picked out tubes. I currently have an RFT ecc83 in V1, a Ruby Chinese 12ax7 in V2, a Tung Sol 12ax7 reissue in v3, and Tung Sol 5881 reissue power tubes. To me, this really brings out all the best qualities of the amp and there are many.

I have had it for a year now and no issues, it just keeps sounding better and better.

Very good, I contacted them a couple of times to inquire about tubes and a revision I found in their service manual and they answered my questions, although I did have to email them back twice to get a satisfactory answer about the revision.

I have been playing for 17 years but only a few of these have involved much dedication. I own a Vintage V100mrpgm that I've modified a bit to my liking (new Tusq nut and RS guitarworks electronics). I recently purchased a Digitech HARDWIRE DL8 and it sounds great through the series FX loop. I was worried that my tone would suffer when bypassing the pedal but it does not. Honestly, I love everything about this amp, it's all there. If it were lost or stolen I would buy either this one again, the YCS90 2x12, or the YCS50 head.

I usually do not offer my opinion until the "honeymoon period" is over but I've been playing for 20+ years and I know exactly what I'm looking for in an amp.

The amp I'm reviewing was made in Canada in 2008. This amp covers allot of musical styles including Clean Blues, Country, Rock, Hard Rock and some Heavy Metal areas. In terms of features this is taken from their website:

Selectable 50-watt Class-AB / 15-watt Class-A output
1x12-inch Celestion Vintage30 Speaker
Footswitchable full Two Channel Configuration
Brit / USA Voicing Switch on Clean Channel
Modern & Scoop Voicing Switches on Lead Channel
Parallel and Loop-thru Effects Sends and Returns
Vintage style Accutronics Long-Spring Reverb
Master Volume, Defeatable Presence and Resonance Controls
Solid Plywood Cabinet Construction
Aluminum chassis

I like the dual reverb options for channel switching between clean/ drive but I wish it had a foot switch included with this feature. However, nice touch Traynor.

Due to the lighter weight of this amp compared to my Hot Rod DeVille, I feel this amp offers plenty of power and portability, certainly enough for medium sized venues when using the 50W switch and home use at the 15W switch.

I have a variety of guitars, both with HB's and Strats with SC's. The amp covers all sounds from The Stones to Van Halen and all points in between.

The amp is dead quiet, it must be very made and insulated. I like the corner protectors since I banged my Hot Rod amps a few times and scratched the tolex on their corners...thats gigging and **** happens.

The clean channel ain't no Hot Rod Deluxe/ DeVille territory but it is good, clean with plenty of sparkle. If your looking for that LOUD clean Fender headroom I would recommend a Fender Amp. If your looking for decent headroom and a great gain channel which Fender's don't have than this amp covers it. Personally, I believe this amp is better made than my Hot Rod Deluxe and DeVille. Compare them side by side at any store and see for your self.

The OD/ Distortion is quite good offering that Brit sound on both the clean and dirty channel. The American sound (meaning fat Fender) is darn good too...although not as load as some may prefer.

I have a 1969 Traynor Bassmaster thats never had a problem and the store I got this amp from has had little problems with Traynor tube amps. They are easily the best kept secret in the guitar world but many Canadians know all about them. Many club musicians and professional musicians use Traynor and Yorkville products so I know their reliable.

The tubes are well protected, as is the speaker.

I sent an email to Traynor and they emailed me back in 20 minutes. Can't complain about that.

The product has a 2 year warranty covering everything so nothing to complain about there.

I've been playing for 20+ years and have around 15 guitars.

I'd buy another Traynor in a hearbeat.

BTW, I wish it came with a damm cover!!!

I chose this amp for the Fender/ Marshall clean and Brit OD/ Distortion. My Fender Hot Rod amps are great but I need to lug around too many pedals for different sounds. This amp covers those sounds. Once miked up...it's perfect.

I probably covered this in a previous section but have a good look at this amp and compare it to others...not just the sound but the build quality. I would not need a backup amp when using this one. It's rock solid.

Brand new 2008 model. 2 year UNconditional warranty.

Wanted a quality alternative to Vox Ac30 for use with Ric 330/6 and 330/12. 2 fully-controllable channels with included footswitch, effects loop. Can function at either 15 or 50 amp for practice or floor show. 15 amps at half volume is more than enough, thank you very much. This amp should last forever, and is relatively light weight. Nothing like playing something that is not stressed out and has lots of reserve power.

Tubes are easily swapped without major surgery.

Only thing missing is a headphone jack, though you can run them through the effects loop if you have the extra equipment to plug in between.

Ric 330 6 & 12, Gretsch 5120. Very clean sound in clean channel, distortion channel is great (doesn't offend my hearing at all).

Like all tube amps, you have to be careful about other metallic sound sources being too close.

Music style: think R.E.M. and Beatles. It's an ideal amp.

Not enough experience to complain yet.

Unlike many other tube amps, it's self-biasing, so changing tubes is just that --- swap out the tubes. No need to ship it back to a service facility to adjust everything manually.

No need to get anything repaired or adjusted. 2 year unconditional warranty says it all.

Read other reviews and you get the impression that staff is more than just helpful.

Made in 2007 , picked up from L&M there store is 10 min, from my place
i bought this amp by just listening to it on You-Tube, and thought
if it sounds 1/2 as good i'll be happy,
2-Channels- Lead / Clean (foot switch included) with extra lead boost switch on pedal for lead ,FX loop, Killer Reverb better then Fender, built in DI , and if you put stand by switch on , the preamp
is still active you can line out to other amp or direct into P.A board for recording
I don't think TRAYNOR missed anything on this amp!
Ive been playing semi-pro for 35 years , and this is my main amp
I add a celestion external twin 12 for bigger gigs, lots of power

I use a Epiphone LP Plus, and a 61 SG Reisue w/seymore duncan pickups
I play Classic Rock,Funk, R&B , Country and this does it all (100%)
stop using my Boss OD-1 with this amp no need for it just use a Boss
Blue Compressor for Country and A George Dennis Waw-Waw
the e.q. on all channels are perfect
At age of 15 i studdied electronics because i was a musician in need of my own Amp repair and as a 1/2 tech and 1/2 musician Traynor did there home-work in the design depatment
And born In England i have used British amps All my life Hiwatt -
Marshall - HH electronic -Vox ac30 ,all what people call
"THE BIG NAMES" well i got news for you guitar players out there!
TRAYOR been making tube amps longer then HIWATT and as of now with this new amp YCS50 i think its 5 steps past the old Vintage plexi
after all i have to be honest!
my amp has the 5881 out put tubes so its mor versatile then the 6ca7's thinner sounding tube, but coud be changed if need be
Traynor also used Toroidal power and output transformers marshall and Hiwatt dont even use , more efficient, less heat, magnetic shielded,this amp was also designed to use the new tube design since you have a hard time to find NOS Tubes ... All quality parts in this puppy!! celestion vintage 30 speaker so .... end result good parts good design good sound
Made In Canada
Very good distortion sound ... i find alot of amp builders cannot seem to acheive this ,, right from Blues to Hevey Metal
Traynor exactly did what it said (versitile amp)

so far so good

People seem very help full at Long & McQuade
well the warranty .... 2 year no limmit warranty
Canada & USA humm not to shabby
you can also download your manual,specs,servive manual
at the Traynor website
(it took me 5 months trying to find a schematic for my HH Amp on the net)

Drove my parents nut's playing loud loud rock'n Roll
for 10 years, then an other 25 on my own
I lied to them and told them i wanted to be a ROCK STAR
51 years old and still going strong
If stolen yes ... i would have to get a new one right away
I wish Traynor would promote there amp better ,because if people
new about it they would buy it , I took a chance and am glad i did!
you can not go wrong this amp is very versitile
I still have a british made(HH Electronic) Musician VS 100 watt
as backup collecting dust...
sold my Hiwatt 50 and Marshall plexi for a good amount of money,, to some sucker that thinks old is better!!!
and now playing my new Traynor YCS50 :)
The Only thing I wish I got With this amp is ..... a shirt or a coat
with a big TRAYNOR sticker on it

Good Work Pete Traynor