Traynor YCV20-WR 112 Combo

I purchased this amp in 2005 (has the Greenback speaker stock). This amp comes with many features, including a "lead" channel. Because the lead channel is pretty useless, I give it a "6". Please note: the reason for my post is to warn people that SPEAKERS OTHER THAN CELESTION MAY NOT FIT!! Very tight fit for the speaker, and the preamp tubes and U-bracket hit the frame on my Eminence replacement speaker. I note other people saying how changing out the speaker improves the tone, but be forewarned that this is problematic. With the "no return policy" on speakers, I'm now stuck with an Eminence Legend speaker that I can't use and can't return!

Clean channel is pretty good; lead channel is useless to my ears. No amount of tweaking has produced musical sounds. After reading many reviews, I changed out the speaker to a top-of-the-line Celestion Blue and JJ tubes. This improved the clean channel, but lead channel still useless. I'm going to sell this amp. I've take the blue out and sold it on ebay. I ordered a replacement Eminence, which is when I discovered different that there are different measurements for 12" speaker frames (depending on the mfg). I've tried an Eminence Legend and a "Specially Designed for Fender", and neither will fit this amp.

No problems in this category

Pretty disappointing. I play through a fiends 15W Fender Princeton Reverb, and there is no comparison... the Fender kicks butt!

Really versatile for an 18 watter. Channel switching; standby switch; comes with footswitch; Separate volume and gains for each channel, master treble, mid and bass. A decent reverb rounds out the features. Compared to its competition I considered (Fender Blues Junior, Crate v series, Peavey Valve series, some lesser powered boutiques like Bad Cat, etc.), it's got it all. Plus, North American made and a handsome looker in wine red tolex.

I use a Fender American Delux Tele with two buckers. I play Christian rock and we mic the amps when we play in church. The Traynor gets a great clean sound, put the gain on about 4 and the volume to taste. Add in a bit of reverb and away you go. Sounds very Fendery and lots of top end gliss, not at all harsh. The dirty channel is ok, particularly for power chords, but I'll continue to use distortion pedals (Boss DS1 and Tube Screamer) to give me lots of options for more bite. Overall, the little amp gets it done, both clean and dirty. It's probably got enough pop to use without going through the PA, but that's not a factor for me.

It's still relatively new, but seems to be made like a tank. Plus, it's made in Canada, not another piece of junk coming out of China. It's got a two year, anything goes, warranty should any problems arise.

They originally sent me the wrong amp (the 40 watter). Once I alerted the dealer, the factory had the right amp delivered in a few days. So far, no need to use any repair or warranty issues.

I've been playing for about 20 years. My first serious amp was a Peavey Classic 50 4x10, but it was way too much for use in church. For the last two years, I've used a U.S. made Roland JC55, surprisingly good for a solid state 2x8 box. But I yearned for the warmth of tubes and selected the Traynor after a lot of research. The clean sounds are exactly what I wanted and while I'll never give up my pedals, the Traynor can get down and dirty. I'd definitely replace it if stolen. For the price, this is a all-tube bargain.

Just to avoid confusion, this is the YCV-20WR, dark red color covering with the Celestion greenback speaker. I paid 550 USD for it new from a local shop, plus tax, it was brand new. For a mid priced amp they sure put a lot of bells and whistles on it. 2 channels, bright switch, boost switch, comes with a nice foot switch, LED lights, stand by mode, speaker defeat button, headphone jack, FX in/out, nice reverb, 3 band EQ, Direct out connection, plywood cab, dressed up cosmetics, etc. For a Tube amp in this price range it???s a 10.

Well I have to say this amp looks great on paper, looks sweet in person but the tone just didn???t leave me satisfied. I think this should be a 1 channel amp since I found the dirty channel practically useless and the boost even more useless, if you turned the gain up pass 10 o???clock the sound became very uninspiring and the boost only made things worst. I???m not comparing it to a Mesa or anything like that either, it just didn???t break up well at all, maybe it???s the Celestion greenback speaker. I???ve heard other Traynors sound much nicer than this one. On the cleaner channel the sound was descent and fairly good, again you had to keep the gain down pass half or forget it, with a TS-9 pedal and some reverb it made some nice bluesy tones. With my hollow body jazz guitar I think it sounded best but I was running the thing almost clean with the gain around 8 o???clock and a touch of reverb. The amp is not loud, I know it???s only 15 watts, but I???ve played 5 watt and other 15 watt amps that feel like they have more head room then this, maybe it???s the small cabinet size or something, but you???ll need to turn the gain up to get any volume out of it. My best results with my Tele was to run the volume almost wide open around 3 o???clock and using the guitar volume to act as a master volume. The clean sounds are nice but lack any serious shimmer or chime. I too tried the tube upgrade route as well, and it made a small improvement but I don???t think any tubes are going to get this amp where I wanted it to go. I???m not trying to trash this amp, I really thought hard about keeping it, if the cleans had a little more depth that I was looking for I would have kept it but after trying some Fender & Vox amps I couldn???t justify keeping it. Sorry Traynor, fewer gadgets more focus on tone next time and you have a winner.

well constructed, good warranty, never let me down

Never used it, don???t know, website has good info on it

I ended up selling this amp so overall I can???t rate it too high, I bought it because I didn???t know much about tube amps or the tone I was seeking and it fit my budget. I ended up buying a Vox AC15 tube amp and I???m very satisfied with it, basically for the same price as the Traynor, the Vox has a larger cab, it???s made in China, 1 channel and it has fewer bells and whistles, trade offs from the Traynor, but it has better tone IMO. It???s all personal tastes, someone else might love this Traynor. I would try this amp out or it???s sister model if your looking for a mid priced tube amp but I would certainly play a few other brands side by side to make sure that it???s what you want, I would not buy this amp off the net unless there is a good return policy, don???t make the same mistake I made! Speakers and tubes are going to modify and enhance your tone but they will not make your amp sound like a different amp, if you are unsure about what you are looking for in a tube amp, take your time play through everything you can find!

Purchased new in 2005, just after they switched to the line out and headphone plug (neither of which are used often). 2.5 channels w/a bright switch on the clean channel. 15 tube watts is plenty for my non-gigging hobby and maybe even a bit much. The only things I think Traynor could do to improve this line is offer a YCV w/a tube rectifier and tube reverb &/or tremolo. Overall this amp has way more features for the price range at the time I purchased it (which is a big reason it came home w/me).

With a couple of pedals the amp is very versatile. I think it's strong suit is definately the clean channel though. Very musical and responds well to most drive/fuzz pedals that I've played with. Tend to play it with the bright switch on and I can get great sounds w/lipsticks, single coils, and humbuckers. As it's an open back, low watt combo it's best suited to roots, classic rock, country and blues; not that I try to play much heavy metal or anything needing a lot of gain. Just a little crunch from the amp or a lot of fuzz from a pedal and this amp will do you just fine for most music that won't alienate your dad. The reverb isn't anything to write home about but I've heard way worse. It is a spring reverb and you can get some great sproing out of it, but most folks will just want to leave it at 2 or 3.

I've had no major problem with this amp in the 2 years I've had it. It's well taken care of, mostly hangs around the house but has been out and about a few times. The real reason I'm writing this review is to address previously posted rants about the difficulty in changing the tubes. I switched out the Sovteks (one of which was going bad after about 4 hours of play) for the JJs; custom ordered to boost the Fendery clean sound of the amp. While the tubes are cased away and not intuitively placed, if you read the manual it's really no big deal to change them. Essentially if you can thread a bolt without looking directly at it you should be fine. Additionally, the JJ tube swap is completely worth it and they are a great company to work with.

E-mailed Traynor/Yorkville with questions before and after I purchased, all were quickly answered and the folks I dealt with were knowledgable about their product. The warranty appears to be great and it's a North American product. I strongly support them as they've surely supported me.

Overall this amp has been great. There are a lot of classic sounds that you can pull out of this thing. The clean sounds great and it's got way more functionality than almost any other amp in it's price range. It looks great, it sounds great, it's really well built. If you're looking for a first tube amp that will last you well into your playing career this should be at the top of your audition list. It's very well priced and very versatile. Don't let the fear of it's difficult engineering deter you, it's not that bad at all.

I purchased the amp in 2005 from L&M. As previously mentioned it has 2 channels, loaded with Sovtek 12AX7's and EL84's, effects loop, 12" Celestion Greenback speaker etc... I use this amp at home for practice and it has tons of power for my needs.
NOTE: Tubes are a pain in the #$& to change. You almost have to take the whole amp apart.

Stock, this amp sounded pretty nice. Very quiet. It had all the acoutrements I was looking for and it was Canadian made. After a while I realized it didn't have the tone I was looking for and it didn't respond well to all pedals - things sounded kind of muddy. Plus the dirty channel sounded like crap. I read the HC postings and swapped the Sovteks for JJ's and threw in an Eminence Red White and Blues for a speaker change. The sound improved quite a bit but I found with the RWB speaker it sounded kind of shrill. I threw in an Eminence Governor and OMG! NOW it's perfect. Sounds amazing with all of my guitars (Strat, ES335 and Yamaha AES620) and my OD's sound magical. The dirty channel has improved but I still prefer my pedals for a great OD. I heard a lot of good things about the Greenback but it just didn't work for me. The Governor rocks!

Solid. No problems yet. Enough said.

I've emailed them a few times and my emails were responded to very promptly and the tech were really helpful. Kudos.

I've been playing for about five years now. I mainly stick to blues and classic rock but I've been known to play around with heavier riffs like Metallica etc... If there is one thing I don't like about this amp it's that the dirty channel is relatively unuseable as is. You can make it work with some pedals etc.. but it's kind of a pain. That being said, it's an awesome value. It's a great little amp for the money. If you want a relatively inexpensive 15 Watt little power house you just can't go wrong with this amp. With a few easy mods you can tailor it to your needs. If it were stolen I would consider getting it again - but since I have a few more bucks now I would investigate other (more expensive)low wattage amps before making my final decision.

The features are well covered. I got this used on Ebay. I guess it's a year or two old. It was listed as the model with line out, speaker out etc. but the amp I received doesn't have those features. This amp sounds best at about half volume, which works well for me since I just play around my apartment and don't need a lot of volume; basically an expensive practice amp. I'm a rythym and blues, swamprock-boogie kind of white guy and the YVC20 gives me the tone I crave.

This is a neat little amp. Like others, I don't much care for the gain channel; it's too muddy. I love the clean channel with the gain on 6 and volume at 5 or 6. With my self-customized Strat and recently acquired Squire tele I can get the clean sounds I want with slight changes of the guitars' volume knobs and I can get the crunch and sustain with my Sparkle Drive. Blending the clean with the Sparkle Drive's dirty side works nicely since the clean channel has pretty good sustain and punch the way I set it. I almost always use the bright switch to get a more Fendery sound. The amp has a lot of bass and can be somewhat muddy unless you keep the bass knob down. Sometimes I kick in the gain channel with gain and volume at 5, running the Sparkle Drive into it for more grind and sustain. You can only do this with the bridge pickup. It can scream pretty good without sounding the least bit like heavy metal or 80s hair bands, which is cool. The stock Celestion Greenback gave the amp a Brit flavor. It sounded best for Led Zep type stuff and could nail "You Really Got Me" quite well. I like that kind of music but being an avowed swamprocker and white bluesman, I Americanized the amp by buying a used Weber 12F150-O 50 watt speaker. Now, the amp gives me the sounds I really want; miss the Brit thing sometimes but the crunchy tweed sound is me. The reverb sounds luscious if you set it between 1 1/2 to 2. Essentially, the sound is Fendery but spongier. It'll really sing and scream with a good stomp box. I'm amazed at the diffence of the sounds from the strat and the tele. A crappy amp makes them both sound the same. The YCV20 sounds much better than the Fender Blues Junior I once had ( with a Weber speaker too). It's snappier and brighter with more sustain. I'm finally happy with an amp.

I really dig this little amp and it looks cool too. My GF thinks it looks like a suitcase. One thing that bothers me is the way the chicken head knobs spin so freely. My cats change all the setting as they walk across the amp at night. I always mess up the reverb setting when switching the standby on and off. The standby switch is a tiny little black button on a black surface; didn't know I had on for a while. Swapping speakers is a snap since the speaker is front loaded. Just lay the amp on it's back and pop 'em out and in. Done in 10 minutes. I haven't done the JJ tube swap yet since one has to remove the chassis to accomplish the task. I've retubed two amps with JJs from Eurotubes and I've found that the JJs will improve the tone of an amp about 20%.I'll welcome the improvement when I get ambitious enough. The YCV20WR is a great little amp but not perfect. It's rather pricey too. If you can pick one up for $400 or so it's definitely a better deal than the Blues Junior at the same price point.

The amp does all the good stuff; it's a non-issue. Mine was manufactured in 2005. The features are to me just fine.

This is where we get queezy. As new, the YCV20WR uses Sovtek tubes which are, even in this day and age, typical Russian garbage. A thread here suggested JJ tubes for the finals. Worse still. The Sovteks are worthless, and the JJ's are worse.

What I have done is spend a couple hundred bucks on good tubes. I put a NOS set of RCA 6BQ5's in the final sockets, a Mullard ECC83 in the first pre-amp place, and NOS RCA 12AX7's elsewhere. It makes all the difference. Pre-tube change (6); post tube change(9).

Have had this amp on the frying pan in a hot room in summer on a still night in August in Yokosuka. Derta.

Haven't used it yet for this box, but Yorkville WILL give you the shirt off the back service.

Ten with tube exchange. Seven stock.

I bought in '03. One input, one output (I believe the newer ones have a headphone jack which I wouldn't use anyway) It has 2 channels and each channel has a switch for 1.) adding more drive on the first channel and 2.) high end or 'brightness' (presence on fender amps) on the second channel. I rarely use either. It has a ???Middle??? tone control which I find useful when balancing increased Gain on the pre-amp. It has Reverb, an FX loop and a foot switch and it's self biasing. I use it primarily as a practice amp and I've used it at jams and recording.

It's a fairly versatile amp however it breaks up too early for my liking on the clean channel when there is some good volume behind it (no headroom) which is sometimes nice, other times not so much. This amp works well with both single coil pups and humbucker guitars and can come reasonably close (but no cigar) to emulating a Vox, Marshall or Tweed and I've put it next to all three. It's good for someone who is looking for versatility at this price point and Traynor is setting the bar pretty high in its class. I heard it at a show and I played it a few times in the store before swapping it for my Hot Rod Deluxe which I wasn???t that happy with. It comes with a quality speaker and the EQ is responsive.

The Reverb is atrocious above 1.

I have had no problems with it although re-tubing is a pain. For that reason I would definitely have a backup if you plan to gig with this amp.

Good warranty and Traynor responded quickly to an email inquiry I had.

To sum it up this amp is a Jack of all trades; master of none. That said, it favours a slightly overdriven classic rock sound. It's not an ideal jazz amp nor is distortion its forte but each can perform to some satisfaction with the proper tweaking. I would recommend it to the basement player who wants a range of tones until he finds what he is actually looking for. If it were stolen I'd shop around for a good deal before buying this amp again. That said I'm in no rush to get rid of it either.

Basic features, two channel combo. Separate volume and gain knobs for each channel but amp shares the EQ knobs.

Sounds pretty good right out of the box but I retubed it with JJ's and also put in a Red Tone Tubby 12" hemp Speaker plus a beam blocker from Weber. Now it really sounds good. I mainly use the clean channel and pedals. The OD channel is okay but pedals will get you the sound you want better than the OD channel will.

So far no probs. Well built

I have called and emailed Yorkville with questions and they are responsive and prompt; very professional and courteous.

Been playing over forty years now and play everything, all styles. I play my archtops through this at jazz gigs and solid body axes at rock gigs. I love the line out and headphone features. The speaker mute button is also great for late night playing with headphones.

Features have all been stayed in previous posts. I have changed to jj tubes (blues version) and I have also had an extension cab made by weber speakers with a 12" 15 watt alnico blue dog. I was looking to replace the greenback but figured the extension cab would allow me to hear the blue dog before changing the speaker in the original amp (which I've never worked with and have no confidence or inclination to do so. I bring my guitars in to get strings changed etc so I get it right) this allows me to listen to just the blue dog or just the greenback or both together)

I am using this with an ibanez AR2000VV (think les Paul supreme with double cutaway) and an ibanez SA160. I also use a behringer xv-amp effects pedal with it. Clear channel is crystal clear. Before speaker change I felt that with enough volume and gain it had a "honky" sound that I didn't care for. I'm realizing that part of that is my fault due to my inexperience in adjusting settings. The new tubes and blue dog speaker help a lot and by playing through the clean channel with little gain and flat eq settings on the amp and little reverb, with the xvamp the presets make it sound amazing either with the blue dog alone or both speakers together.

I've had it for almost 2 years and have not had any problems. I am just a home amateur and the amp doesn't move anywhere.

I had questions and emails are returned promptly and courteously.

I will have been playing for 5 years this February. Starting at 42 and having no natural talent, I suck but despite that have fallen in love with making music albeit badly and can't forgive myself for not starting in my teens. I also own a Washburn 8 watt practice amp, a Yorkville AM100 acoustic amp, a behringer blue devil ss amp (which using an aby switch I sometimes play with the traynor to drive my wife crazy from the basement) and I have a zoom A6 acoustic effects pedal. I play classic rock, blues, country, Christmas and a bit of classical. If I lost the amp, I might buy another but would investigate some of the "blue" Traynor's or even, if I could afford it, some of the boutique amps. I don't think anything in this price range that I'm aware of, with the mods I've made would compare to this. Any advice from anyone on settings for the effects or amp would be appreciated.