Traynor YCV20-WR 112 Combo

Two channels--but for the chicken-pickin' stuff I play--the clean channel is the only one that I need. It sounds similar to a Dr. Z Prescription if you dial it up right (I did an A/B test). The direct XLR mic-sim out is nice, but you need a pad switch at the sound board if you get the volume above 5. This is my only complaint.

The distortion channel is horrible sounding, but the clean channel with a decent pedal (I recommend Indyguitarist stuff) gives you some nice dirt!

I have gigged with it once, but it handled a five piece band (including a steel guitarist running two Nashville 400s) with ease. If you need more volume, run it through your monitor. Anyway, it survived a roadhouse just fine....Should be more than reliable.

I use a custom tele loaded with Joe Barden pickups. The tone was great running a guitar straight into the amp with no effects. It almost gave me chills. As with previous reviews, I sold my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe because I could never get the volume above 2.5 without killing someone. It had better low end, but it wasn't real tight. Very booming. The Traynor has very tight low end. I have owned Bandmasters, Twins, Deluxes, HR Deluxes...this Traynor is my favorite amp EVER!

Same features as previously posted. Both channels are very useable and react well to eq and gain/volume. Tried DIing out at a gig yesterday vice micing and the tone was warm, but a little too bright for my taste. Wine red color is retro and cool. Nice metal frame underneath grill clothe provides excellent protection for the greenback 12" speaker. A very affordable and quality made product.

Sold my overpriced and very heavy Orange AD30TC combo amp for this little guy. 15W is more than enough. I play at the largest clubs in San Diego with my indie-rock band, and I barely have the gain cranked to 4 and it is plenty loud. While I liked the Orange, it lacked reverb and the tone was fairly one dimensional (and it was around 80lbs!) At 35lbs, the Traynor's tone is very similiar but more diverse and responsive than the Orange. It responds to pick attack and breaks up very much like a Vox. It is a very bright/trebly amp, so if you play a Tele like me, you'll find yourself EQuing differently than you ever have before. Reverb is good up to 4 (beyond this it is too mushy). This is a good match for pop, indie-rock, classic rock, and modern country, but probably not for head-bangers.

Got this used and haven't owned it for very long, but Traynor products have a good reputation. Appreciate the transferrable warranty (and without paperwork or website applications!). The cabinet and overall design looks and feels very solid. I use it w/o a back-up.

Haven't dealt with them, but others I know have had very positive experiences.

Been playing professionally for 10 years. I gig at least twice a week and my gear gets plenty of play and travel so I tend to go w/ reliability and quality over the-next-new-thang. This amp is awesome and probably the best $300 I've spent on guitar equipment (and I'v spent a lot). I've owned Vox, Fenders, Marshall, and Orange amps. I've liked and disliked each of these amps for various reasons, but the Traynor is my favorite of the bunch. I sold a $1900 amp for this $300 one. If you like the British crunch of a Vox and the bright clean sparkle of a Fender Twin, you'll dig this little guy.

I think everything has been covered sufficiently, but I'll give a quick run-down. 2 Channels, shared eq, spring reverb, effects loop, DI out, headphone out, external speaker out, Celestion Greenback 12", 15 watts.

Let's be clear on the sound. Sovtek tubes are junk, they are the cheapest thing out there for a reason. Why Traynor thought they are a good match is beyond me. I upgraded to the JJ tubes, and it has made a huge difference. Before the retube, the gain channel was junk. The low end just sputtered. The tubes have cleaned that up considerably. That said, the gain channel is not for metal. This is a 1x12" 15 watt amp, not a half stack. I engage the bright switch on the clean channel and then set the gain channel at the same volume with just a little dirt. Then I hit both of them with my OD pedals. It gives me two different voices on the amp. With the Greenbacks, you've got a British feel, but the bright function can really take you into Fendery territory.

Got this one used, and have had no problems. Traynor/Yorkville has a 2-year transferrable warranty. You can't beat that.

The only concern under reliability is the changing of tubes. They are NOT easy to get to. In fact, I couldn't get my screw driver in a good enough position to get the V3 cover off, so I had to pry it. No biggie, I'll just have easier access next time.

Traynor has answered my questions very quickly. Can't complain.

When judging this amp, you're really talking Blues Junior, ValveState, etc. as comparisons. For list price, I probably would have at least given a run at a Fender Deluxe Reverb. Since I got this used, features and sound are certainly way beyond anything else out there in the $300 range. This amp is very versatile, with a great tone (with the retube of course). I'm definitely considering other Traynor amps in my future.

Bought this amp in October of 2005, it was made was made in Canada or in NY, but I'm really not sure.

Features 2 channels with a master volume on each channel, the 1st channel (the cleaner one (has a bright switch, the 2nd Channel has a bit more gain and also features a boost switch. The boost switch does not work on the clean channel. The Amp has effects loop/ send and return jack. It also has an ext. speaker out, a headphone out and a direct line out so you can run it to a mixer.

The tubes are 2 EL84's in the power amp section a 12ax7 in the preamp section. It is classified as a Class A, amp, but has a phase inverter, so it's really a class AB amp.
The 2 EL84's put out 15 watts

It has reverb, which is available on both channels, yet is not foot switch able.
The foot switch that comes with the amp controls the channels 1 and 2 and the second button the footswitch controls a boost on the second channel only

The Cabinet is plywood and with what Traynor calls Wine Red Nubtex finish with oatmeal grille looks very nice.

The speaker in it is a Celestion "Greenback" G12M 12 speaker

For more details you can read about it at http://www.yorkville.com

I have many guitars to test this amp out with, and have used Fender Telecasters, Fender Stratocasters, a Gibson Les Paul and SG, and an ES335. I have even played my Rickenbacker 330 through. All seem very good and have their own vibe.This amp is more Vox-ish in tone as opposed to Fender-ish. My Musical style is Rootsy, blues, Americana. I did not buy this amp for high gain tones, yet it delivers a nice glassy crunch, but is not a shredders amp, by any means.

I tested this amp against, and few others, including the Fender Blues Jr, and an Ampeg jet. All amps were new with no modifications and were ordered through Musician's Friend.

Here, were my results. The Blues Jr. has the cleanest of all three of these amps and stays cleanest the longest. I did not like the crunch or distorted tones of this amp at all. There were many that love this amp and others that had done many changes to get the Blues Jr to there liking, you can read the review here on Harmony Central

The Ampeg, I did love, but lacked features I wanted a smaller practice amp. The Ampeg Jet is as simple as it gets, but here's it's down fall. The sweet spot on the Ampeg is about 10 to 3 o'clock on the volume dial, which is pretty loud and not really bedroom/ living room practice level at all.There is also no foot switch on the Ampeg to turn off/on the tremelo, making that feature it pretty much worthless in a live setting.

Now he's the deal about reliability. I have had this amp for 6 months and never had a problem. But if you?re doing a gig with any tube amp, I will suggest you bring a back up.

You are not easily going to take out tubes in this amp and do a repair on the spot, and here's why. The power tubes have a bracket and are mounted very close to the speaker; you need an off-set screw driver to get at em. The pre amp tubes are mounted inside the amp, and you can not get at em at all with out removing the chassis from the cabinet. When I replaced the power tubes it was just as easy to unscrew the 4 screws from the back cabinet support bracket and then remove the 4 screws that mount the chassis to the cabinet. After this there are 2 screws to remove the bracket that mounts the power tubes. I thought this was rather a strange design, and spoke to the guy at Traynor that designed the amp. With all the things that this amp does, there were some design compromises that had to be made.

I take care of my gear real well, In my 30 years of playing I never had to use a warranty, and probably have been a bit on the lucky side there.

The guy that I spoke to a Traynor was very nice and informative. The amp has a very nice 2 year warranty, "even if you break it", you are covered.

I have been playing for 30 years and own many electric guitars by Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker, and amps by Mesa, Marshall, Fender, SWR, and Ashdown. I decided to keep this one over the Ampeg Jet II, because of the master volume, that would make it much nice to play at practice level volumes and still achieve a decent tone. As I have mentioned I did like the vibe and tone of the Ampeg, this was similar in tone. The Fender Blues Jr. had a nice Fender clean tone, but I did not care for the distorted tones. There?s a whole lot of folks out there that have some suggestions for making the Blues Jr. sound better, so check em out.

For the price, it does a lot and does it very well. I have not played with this in a live setting, nor a jam session, so I am not sure how it would hold up with a drummer and if there would be enough power, but I think it would hold its own. 15 watts is louder than most people think.

If you doubled or trippled the price you were willing to spend, you could get youself a nice Dr Z, Budda, Carr, Matchless, Top Hat, Victoria and the list goes on. For the pirce I paided, it does everything I wanted a small amp to do, and sounds very good too.

I may change out the preamp tubes and see what happens from there. I will try to get the cleans to stay clean a bit longer.

See reviews below... 15 W tube amp with reverb, footswitchable channels, etc. The 2006 YCV20-WR comes stock with a Celestion Greenback 12". [NOTE: Different Traynors come with different speakers (Wine Red vs. Black, etc) and speakers change from year to year. This could explain the variation if reviewers comments.] I've been playing through a Fender Blues Deluxe (40 W) and Fender Vibrolux Reverb "Custom" (also 40 watts), so I use these amps as my baseline for comparison. I bought this Traynor through Musician's Friend about 4 months ago.

My 40 watt Fenders are too loud to really crank to obtain natural overdrive through the power tubes. My bandmates frequently complain the two guitarists are playing too loud (which is true), so that's how I ended up with a 15 W Traynor. It's not quite loud enough for my taste (I think 20 W might be perfect), but I have the option of micing into the PA, which overcomes this problem.

My main guitar is a Tele Am Standard with Duncan single coils. Nothing fancy, but a great guitar. Some observations about this amp:
-Pedals that sounded really good through my Fender amps don't sound as good as through the Traynor, and pedals that don't sound as good through the Fenders sound better through the Traynor. Bottom line: I've re-adjusted my pedal board with pedals that sound best through the Traynor (for example, the Full-Drive II sounds killer through the Traynor).
-This amp doesn't seem to like to have the gain setting adjusted high on either channel 1 or 2. Others have noted this and it is a major concern. I figured I could crank up the gain and get some great natural power tube overdrive... NOT the case. Sounds farty, fizzy, decidedly not musical. However, if I set the gain lower (say 3-5 range) and use the Full-Drive to overdrive the amp (pull up on the vol. knob), the amp really starts to come alive. I can get some most excellent sounds.
-I took the advice of others and replaced the stock tubes, but found only modest improvements. Don't be in a big hurry to run out and buy new tubes.
-The reverb setting isn't voiced correctly... you want to set it somewhere between 0 - 3. Anything above 4 is over the top.

Overall analysis: this amp takes some getting used to, reacts to pedals differently, and the use of the gain setting is limited to low settings. However, with all this being said, you can dial is some of the best sounds and tones I've ever heard come out of an amp. I have completely stopped using my Fender amps. The Traynor has spoiled me completely. The Fenders now sound like they are missing a key ingredient when I play through them. I am trying to sell my Vibrolux Reverb, and once this is sold, I am seriously considering purchasing the YCV40. If it sounds as good as the YCV20 (only louder) I'll be in guitar amp nirvana!

No comment; no problems or breakdowns, haven't had to service, etc. Appears to be really solid, and the two year unlimited warranty is excellent.

Have not dealt with the company.

I love the small size and weight, and (after some experimenting) the excellent tones. The fact that I'm in the market for a second Traynor speaks volumes. Price is a bargain compared to boutique amp prices. This amp is solidly in the 8-9 range. Because this amp was not a "plug-and-play" and I've had to work to find it's sweet spots, I rate it an 8 overall.

You all know the features. This is about tubes....I bought a new set of Sovteks. Installed them. Then I put in the JJ Tubes. Put in JJ Tubes. That's it. Amp is now incredible.

Get the JJ Tubes....What are you waiting for? JJ Tubes all the way. The others have said it and I wouldn't have thought it would work but the stock Sovteks are so generic it's incredible.

Very reliable.

i emailed them the other day as I had found a mistake in their on-line manual for this WCV 20WR. They had the wrong ohms for the external out. They had in the manual 4-ohms but it is really 8 -ohms. I received an email the next day. he did check into it and I was right. They should have it changed on thier website soon. he was embarrased but thanked me for the info.

This is a very nice amp which I "stumbled" upon by accident. I wouldn't have bought it because of a wee bit of brand snobbery but close your eyes and find out for yourself ! It looks great though!

i chose this over a Fender Blues Jr. same power but many more options.
A lot of options for sound, outputs, controlling things in general. This amp has plenty of power for most gigs. If you need more volume, just have them throw it in the monitors (I've never had to). I've never used the speaker cancellation and DI, but had a hum the only time I tried hooking up the DI. Not too worried about that as I probably won't use it.

I play with a couple guitars and have found that my active electric pickups don't sound near as good as the passive ones. I love the clean tone of this amp, a lot of tone control in your picking. You can have sparkling clean and some dirty grit just by adjusting your picking. The variety of sounds is great.
The amp has been very quiet with my humbuckers, never had a problem. The gain channel is a little too harsh, but I just got some JJs which I hear are much better. I get a lot of variation in sounds with amp placement (floor, stand, etc.) but that happens with any amp. The reverb is pretty ridiculous over 2 or 3, that's the only thing I really haven't cared for.

My amp was pinned under the back gate of my wagon after a truck crushed my car. Worked perfectly (but I did charge the insurance company for a new set of tubes- just in case).
And if that wasn't enough, it fell out of my van couple weeks ago, straight to the ground. Again, no problems.

never ahd to use.

I've played for 13 years, doing lots of gear upgrades lately and knew this was the amp to use for years until I get something that will probably cost 3 times as much (when I'm in my fifties and my kids are out of college).
I know it's not a boutique or the worlds greatest amp; but for the price, features and everything else, it's an awesome amp. I was interested in Fender style amps and this one jsut gave me a lot more for my money.
I'd replace buy another in a heartbeat if anything happened to it.

2004, Not versatile at all, 2 channels, w/ Footswitch......I never feel I have time to write a review, but I made time here to save others time and money.

Gave this Amp a 4, because it had a reverb, and two channels, even though the two channels hardly showed any differences. One Channel was clean and crappy, and the other was Supposedly a bit overdriven, and was, a very little bit overdriven and crappy.

Oh, by the way Traynor, its cool to support the tubes, but putting them in the amp so that it takes a day and a half to change them is deffinately the wrong idea.....If these manufacturers would just quit building the amps with the tubes upside down, we might not have to worry about this anyway.......we can send a space shuttle to the moon, but we cant get a combo amp with the damn tubes and electronics placed right side up.......sheeeeeeesh

This was the worst sounding guitar amp I have ever used, I decent electronics only amp has more tone, more sweetness, and more versatility than this thing. I wish I new what Traynor was thinking when they put this thing on the market. Of course my opinion is purely subjective, but my ears don't lie, this thing was crap.

I gave this amp a 2, because it made some sound

Dont know, Sadly, it appears to be made well all around, but I must say, the pots were the crapyest pots I have ever layed fingers on, the spin if the wind blows too hard. Even if I could find a good sound, I'd never be able to stay on it, as the pots spin with almost no resistance.......

Who cares, I wouldnt even try another one......

I own lots of other to name gear, and usually as the rule goes, you get what you pay for, sure, not all of my 1000+ guitars feel right for me, but they are still made well, and sound good, I use mostly Marshall amps, but was looking for a small tube practice amp, I'll stick with the hybrid Marshall ATV20, I learned my lesson.
Overall, the Traynor worked, and looked nice, so I gave it a 4 since it would also make a great shelf to put drinks and crap on.

Model yr. 2005. It was back ordered and I had to wait 3 mo. for it. I bought this amp for a home practice amp because I needed an amp that would fit under my office desktop. My Fender Deville 2x12 went to the garage along side the Marshall half stack. So the feature I wanted was small size and tone big enough for a 12x14 room. I got a lot more. It is available in Black or Wine Red tolex. I held out for the red.

This amp has a clear warm sound on the clean channel. With a little stomp drive here and there I can get just what I want out it. The tone controls work as intended but the reverb is not Fender quality. The o.d. channel is not for me. After tinkering around for a while I found myself in the clean channel, volumn up, maybe a little t.screamer to taste. The volume is the issue. Cranked (and I mean max vol, max gain) the amp is just about right for a full level rehersal. It sounds sweet and the guitars are real but dont expect to win the battle with your second guitarist playing though a Twin or a Lonestar. I found myself hauling out the other amp. Love that tolex, though.

There may be an issue here. I've had no problems but it is widely reported that Yorkville has been less than steller in response to consumer complaints. I have a slight buzz at high gain in the reverb cover box and I intend to find my own fix but if I need to deal with the company I will report back.

The first song I learned on guitar was You Really Got Me (when it was a hit...by the Kinks). I still play out on occasion, mostly popular rock with a twist of R&B. I play an American Strat, a Mex. Tele and a Les Paul through a rotation of effects. When I retired the Marshall I replaced it with a Deville 2x12 which I have been more than happy with. I never intended to use the YVC20 as my main amp on stage but I'm thinking I could. For all the talk about changing out the tubes I dont have a problem with tone. I don't care for the overdrive channel but then again I don't particularly like the o.d. in the Deville. I pre amp with a stomp box so I can clean up as neccessary. I have been using the YVC20 on stage for the wet end of my delay unit. I makes for a great stereo effect in our size of venues. Having said that I do think the YVC20 has enough gain to fill a small hall with say up to 75 seats. I have ran it full out a few times and the tone controls still influence at high levels. However, I don't like playing without some headroom, so I cant see this amp as a main rig. Possibly the YVC 40. I priced a lot of other small amps and read a lot of reviews (still do) and I believe that I would have had to pay a lot more to move up the next level, maybe as much as One Thousand or more. These tubes are fine, my guitars sound like they are supposed to. The Greenback is great (they are in the Deville too). Those that are having trouble may have got bad units though I cant believe there are that many our there. My suspicion is that many guitarists are going for a more scooped out metalic mode that is difficult with this amp. If this amp were stolen I would probably go for the 40 watt just for the headroom. This is a great small amp for low to medium volumns. Did I mention the tolex?

This is my second review. Specs of this amp are listed on my other post below. There is good information about this amp in the YCV20 section of Harmony Central as well. I'm guessing the only difference between the WR is the color of the tolex and the speaker. It was brought up that this amp has solid state circuitry in it. I will add that all tubes amps I've ever owned (Dean Markley, Peavey Classic 100, Crate VC 50) have been in this price range. They all claim "All Tube" and yet they use all solid state electronics in the rectifier, reverb, and channel switching sections of the amp. My crate VC 50 had printed right under the logo "All Tube" as well. IMO if you want a real "all tube amp" be prepared to shell out $1000 +. It was also brought up in the YCV20 section that this in not a class A amp. Of course all pre-amps are running class A. But when an amp is classified A, AB, or B I always assume they are talking about the power amp section. I just pulled out my schematic and would have to agree that it looks like the power amp is a push pull class AB. It does bother me in this day and age that manufactures are less than truthful about there product. I bought this amp knowing it was not "All Tube" however the class AB is news to me.

Again this is my second review and I need to make a correction to my earlier post when I was complaining about the power amplifier tubes (6BQ5's EL84's). I had thought part of sound problem with my amp was related to the power amplifier tubes. For a second time I spent the good part of a day experimenting with different brands of tubes in the pre-amp and power amp sections of this amp. My findings are that I could not tell the difference between the JJ tubes or the original Sovtek tubes in the power amp section. However JJ tubes in the pre-amp did make a difference in my amp. I mail ordered this amp new. I don't know if shipping a tube amp UPS is a good idea, and that might have also been part of my original problem as well. Again the JJ tubes sound great in this amp and I will continue to use them in the future when I re-tube this amp.

The gain and reverb have more turn adjustment than needed. I don't ever turn any of them past 3. Tube access is poor, the other side is you don't have to worry about bumping or breaking tubes when moving the amp around. It's nice that Traynor has channel switching and boost control on the foot switch. With all the good and the bad I've said about this amp I would still buy it again. It's not a bad amp for its price range and I still think it sounds great!