Traynor YCV20-WR 112 Combo

Two-channel, all-tube, 15-watt combo. Single twelve-inch speaker. Master reverb and three-band EQ. Boost switch on overdrive channel and bright switch on clean channel. Clean channel has both gain and volume knobs. Effects send/return. Latching footswitch included. Sturdy plywood construction with burgundy pleather covering and tweed speaker grille cloth.

Rig: dual-humbucker guitar>patch cable>Traynor YCV20-WR 112. Clean channel is very warm, quiet and clean. Sounds great with just a little dirt dialed in with the Gain control. Overdrive channel is ballsy and hot on low to moderate gain settings; however, at higher gain, it tends to be a little bit too muddy for my taste. There are a lot of great sounds in this amp. If you like Wes Montgomery, B.B. King, Rolling Stones, Allman Brothers, or Stevie Ray Vaughan, you can do it with this amp. If you're into Metallica and Korn, forget it.

This amp is perfect for the kind of music I enjoy. I am really into vintage sounds, and I have found that it helps a LOT if you use celluloid picks and genuine nickel-wound strings on your guitar. (Examples would be Fender 150's and GHS Nickel Rockers.) A lot of the popular strings these days, like Ernie Ball Slinkys, GHS Boomers and D'Addario XL's, are nickel-plated steel instead of pure nickel wound.

I recently purchased a Carvin Vintage Belair 212 which did not live up to my expectations. The Carvin had no top end whatsoever, so I sent it back. The Traynor, on the other hand, has a very even, balanced sound throughout the entire range of the guitar, and the top end is outstanding--fat and brassy, like a saxophone.

I've only had this amp a couple of weeks, so I'm in no position to say.

I've only had this amp for two weeks, so please don't talk about it getting stolen or lost. Up to now, I have only used guitars with humbucking pickups because I hate that tinny, screeching top end you get with single-coils. However, this amp sounds so good I'd like to hear it with a single-coil equipped guitar. Maybe something like an SG with P-90's. Also, I am currently using it with the much-maligned factory-supplied Sovtek tubes. I like this amp a lot, and I think I will like it even more when I get some better tubes in there. I know they are selling this amp online at Musician's friend for over $550, and I think I got a fantastic deal from my neighborhood music store.

15 Class "A" tube watts, 12" Celestion G12M "Greenback" speaker. 1 input, 2 channels (overdrive and clean). Independent gain/volume controls. Master 3-band EQ, Effects loop, Long Accutronics internal spring reverb. Bright switch on clean channel, Boost on the overdrive channel. Wine red leatherette covering (beautiful), "oatmeal" colored grill looks more tweedish yellow to me, beautiful as well. Footswitch included.

Using Am Deluxe Strat with S1 switching. This amp suits my music style just fine, classic rock and Blues. The amp has some hum, but not objectional at all. Clean channel sounds nice and "brown" and will start to break up with gain setting of 8 or more. Stock Sovtek tubes were replaced with JJ ECC83S's and EL84's. This made a HUGE difference in the tone of this amp. Before i swapped tubes with the controls setting at 12 o'clock the amp sounded muddy, now with the tubes changed out it is much brighter and livlier. The clean channel now has real Warmth, texture, and harmonics that were previously missing. The overdrive channel can go from mild overdriven crunch to real Marshall like distortion, and the transition is smooth. The sound in general is much Fatter, and more defined.

This is a new amp, my first tube amp in fact. I do not expect any difficulty, but with a 2 and 10 year unlimited warranty that is transferrable and does not require registering.

I had a question concerning changing out the pre-amp and power tubes and Traynor was quick to respond, telling me that no post change out biasing was necessary.

Have only been playing a couple of years, and have much, much more to learn. I consider myself maybe an advanced beginner??
If this amp were to come up missing i would pout for days, then come up with the money to replace it because this thing is a real keeper!
I was looking for something to use strictly for home practice, and had considered buying a Fender Pro-Jr, but this amp is much more versatile, even if it costs more it is well worth it.

See previous posts. Nice features for a small combo.

I play a Hamer USA Artist with P-90s through this amp. With the neck pickup vol on 7, tone on 8, played through the amp's clean channel gain at 5.5, volume at 6, bass at 3, treble at 5, mids at 5, brightness on, reverb at 3.5 = ultimate tone. I haven't gigged with it yet, I will likely keep the same settings and mic the amp, we all like to keep a reasonable volume on stage and this amp delivers at a reasonable volume. This amp is very sensitive to your guitar's controls, allowing variance from glassy clean to dirt under the fingernails grind on the clean channel. The lead channel does a convincing imitation of a Bluesbreaker Marshall. With this amp, I can find the Steely Dan tones I've been seeking all my life. Words cannot do this amp justice - play a seventh position E7#9 adding the open E string and you'll be awash in a layer of sound colors and textures that will literally take your breath away as you realize the potential in this little box.

Regular maintenance on a tube amp is to be expected. No reliability issues so far - have heard good things about Traynors solid build.

Two year even if you break it warranty - deserves a 10 just for that.

I've been playing for close to 20 years. I've bought / sold / and traded more gear than I care to remember (with quite a few items I will forever regret letting go). After all that time, I've never found the right combination of guitar and amp to really satisfy me until now. If lost or stolen, I'd get another in a heartbeat.

Standard 2 channel set up w/clean and overdrive with boost. See other reviews for details. I thought that I liked this amp until I changed out the tubes. Now I absolutely LOVE IT!! There is about a 1 second delay when switching from the overdrive channel to the clean channel which is annoying.

When I first started playing this amp, the first thing that I noticed was the lush reverb. You just can't beat a great reverb tank. The clean channel was nice and crisp but got dirty and started losing definition at higher volumes. The dirty channel started out dirty and just got ridiculously dirty as the gain was turned up. The extra gain boost was almost unusable except for the most totally overly distorted styles. I have been playing since 1966 and have played every kind of music except rap (is rap really music anyway?). My main rig is stereo Kendrick 2410's. Also '66 Fender Reverb, Mesa Boogie Mk 4, Fender Dual Showman. Pedals include 2 Klons, Keeley compressor, Real McCoy Teest Wah,TC Choruc, Boss DD3 delay amd Voodo Lab power supply. Guitars - G&L ASAT Classic, 1960 LP Classic, Parker Artist, SRV Strat, Custom Shop Clapton Strat, 1959 LP Jr., and a few others. So I am used to a LOT of gain and TONE, TONE, TONE!!!
After reading other reviews on THIS fine website I changed out the tubes to Groove Tubes 12AX7C and EL84s with a "5" rating. I was totally blown away!! I couldn't believe the difference in headroom, clearity and "Spankiness". Man did that wake this little amp up! Surprisingly louder. The Sovtecs that came in it are crap! Made me wonder why they would even ship such a great amp with such lousy tubes. Even the overdrive channel was radically changed. It is now very usable. The boost now goes from clean to expressive crunch with just a flick of the guitar volume knob. I can even clean up the overdrive boost channel with guitar volume adjustment.
I didn't have that much trouble changing out the tubes. Granted that they are not in the most accessable area, with a phillips socket on a 90 degree swivel wrench I got them right out. Again, I cannot emphasize enough the change in all parameters of this amp with a tube change. I am giving it a "10" WITH the tube modification.

I mainly play this when I'm just messin' around and don't want to kick on the big boys. I also drag it to church every Sun where we rock out pretty well at decent volume. We use the loop out/send into the PA and it is very quiet. It is the perfect size to lug around to jams, sessions etc. I got a slip cover which is really nice thick rip-stop nylon and protects it very well. I've had it for about 6 months and have not had a bit of problems.

With a 2 yr "even if you break it" transferrable warranty - it doesn't get much better that that. Great website with plenty if good info.

Again, having played for 35+ years and having gone through uncountable rigs, I consider this amp essential equipment. No matter whatever else that I change out the Traynor stays. Prefect size, all the tone you could ever want, really plenty of volume for all but larger venues and at a very reasonable price.

See everyone else's reviews for features. I will say that in it's class it has more than anything the competition has. Also, the features all work well. Very good.

This amp is a very, very nice sounding piece of equipment. Won't do heavy metal/ thrash tones, but if that's what you want you won't look twice at this amp anyway. Sits well in the classic rock/ alternative vein. The reverb is nice, with both chanels sounds natural.

I use it as a home/practice amp. For this purpose it ought to last forever with regular attention to tubes. Since I don't gig and never have I can't give a rating for that type of use but for me it gets a 7.

Never dealt with them.

Been playing for 14 years as a hobby. I love this amp and can't see myself getting rid of it anytime soon. I use it with a Gibson SG junior and a Fender start (Jap). Love this amp. It makes me smile and want to keep on playing.

2004 model
2 channels - channel 1 has gain and volume with boost, channel 2 has gain and volume with bright switch. Both channels share treble, mid, bass and reverb controls. Effects loop and foot switch for changing channels and selecting boost. 15 watts all tube power. Great for practice and small gigs

Use a modified MIM Fender Strat with Duncan pickups and 70?s gibson SG Deluxe. Play mostly classic rock and blues and this little guy fits the bill perfectly. Channel 1 serves up distortion from mild to something just short of triple rectifier. Clean channel nice and sparkling and with gain turned up will give nice bluesy grind.

Amp is very quiet with stock Sovtek tubes and I would rate the tone as a 7-8 in stock condition. I?ve since changed the 3 - 12AX7 tubes for old US made tubes of unknown pedigree. The improvement in tone was very pronounced. I would recommend that you get rid of the Russian tubes ASAP if you buy this amp. I would say the tone now is a solid 9 and I plan on changing the power tubes to JJ?s first chance I get. This amp sounds so good that I don?t like using any pedals with it and I am playing with a much cleaner tone than before.

I read the posts that warned about the difficulty in changing the tubes in this amp but found it not to be hard at all. Unplug the amp and put it upside down on a work table and the metal plate covering the 2 preamp tubes can easily be removed with a Phillips head screw driver. With the main plate off, the metal straps holding the other 3 tubes in place can be removed. Access is not as easy as on say a Fender amp but not that difficult and how often are you going to change them anyway.

Have only had it for a month so too early to tell. Have noticed split second loss of sound when switching from channel 1 to channel 2.

2 years unlimited warranty. Bought amp from Long and McQuade in Calgary. Only one they had was slightly damaged. They found another one at their Victoria store and shipped it to me at home (100 km away) no extra charge. Have not yet followed up on channel switching problem.

Have been playing on and off for 30 years. Have had Fender Deluxe Reverb and Marshall MG-CDR 15 amps. This Traynor is by far my favourite. Flexibility of 2 channels with boost, great Celestion speaker and tone to die for after a tube change.

Nothing to add to previous posts. It has everything I want.

My main guitar is an american std. strat (stock) that I use to play mostly blues and rock. I rarely use pedals with this amp. This amp is relatively quiet. I've found many "sweet spots" with this amp on both channels, from clean to distorted. It's plenty loud enough for a practice amp. Great tone. I like the reverb (in moderation). For the price, I have to give it a 10.

I have had it for 5 months and have had time to bang it. No problems yet. Actually, the sound has improved (that greenback now has some mileage...)

Don't know. Will give them a 9 for the warranty.

Before buying it, I compared this amp to a fender pro junior (good tone, low on features), the fender blues junior, the YCV20 (not the WR), and the YCV40, + a few solid state models). Buying the WR was a very easy decision. I really, really love this amp. Great tone, quite versatile but in particular, I think it nails that clean slightly overdriven tube sound. If stolen, I'd buy another asap.

2003 Traynor YCV-20WR. 15 tube-watt "class A" (so they tell me) amplifier. Good 'ole Greenback in the uh, back. EL-84s. Two footswitchable channels with footswitchable lead boost on one. Master 3-band EQ. Seperate gain and volume controls for each channel. Nice spring reverb, and brightness switch on clean channel. FX loop that I never use. No headphone jack. The headphone jack thing may bother some, as it really is practice-amp volumes (though a loud practice amp), but I bought this amp to put that Greenback to good use! I give it a nine because it's got what counts: tubes, gain, volume, EQ, reverb, and a nice speaker.

I own a Jackson 7-string, Epiphone 7-string Vee, Tokai Love Rock (Les Paul Copy sumwhere between Epiphone and Gibson), and a Fender Tele with P90 neck. The first three guitars are humbucker instruments, and this amp overdrives beautifully with them. I don't like the overdrive sounds as much with the tele single-coils. I use a BOSS EQ to well, EQ, and also as a clean boost into the front end to force out more singing tube overdrive. That tube crunch is worth every cent I spent on this amp. The cleans sing with hums or singles, but hums just push the overdrive better. On the "clean" channel I push it a bit to give a wonderful blues tone. Greenbacks were born to blue-rock. While some say you can't play metal on this, they are wrong. You can play all the good metal: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Slayer, old Metallica. Just not nu-metal high gain blitz. I love to boost the mids and crank up the gain. The BOSS EQ sends it over the edge and I sound like Kerry King from Slayer. It's like I've got my own little Marshall/Vox hybrid that can get all the best tones of either amp . . . and at a sensible volume level! I give it a 9 because the overdrive is too British for single coils, and because it can't go mega-high gain like a Mesa or something. Everything else is unforgettable.

I've gigged with it before without a backup. I couldn't use it at a metal gig, it isn't loud enough, but for blues-rock with a light-handed drummer it can cook. Ain't shown signs of failure yet, but it's only a few months old. I have other Traynor gear though, and like the rest of my stuff, this is tough-as-nails. (Metal grille over speaker - brilliant!) The warranty rocks too.

Dealt with them a while back, they responded promptly. Not had to get any actual servicing though so I'm leaving no opinion here.

Playing four years a believe? I get in 3+ hours a day, which is key to sounding good. I can't afford a collection of old-school British amps like I dream of, but this amp seems to be parts of everything from a Marshall JTM-45, Vox AC-15, right up to (almost) a JCM800. I have a bigger rig for live stuff, but for those long hours I log in my basement I want real, true tube tone at a volume that won't deafen me and a price I can afford. This amp delivers. I wanted to buy a lower-priced solid-state amp. Maybe Crate, Behringer, Pignose, Fender, Vox, Marshall . . . but none of them are even close to that tube drive. I'd get it again in a second, I want to be buried with this amp. If I can save up the cash I still want a Plexi or JCM800, but this amp still cooks!

2004 Model, other features as noted elsewhere.
A truly awesome amp .. the tube access is stupid.. but doesn't really take away from the value of a very versatile (and LOUD for 15-watts) amp. Two completely independent gains are a great feature, and I find that the reverb is surprisingly pleasant and useful when compared to other tube amps I've worked with.

I use a mid-80's Epiphone Korean PRS clone with EMG select humbuckers as well as a recent Mexican Roland-ready Stat for playing out. I also have a 1975 fully stock Mahogany Gibson Flying-V with absolutely KILLER humbuckers. I play mostly all styles in the studio or as a hired gun, I play 'da blooz with my band.

This amp has an almost telepathic response to the Strat and the "V". Whatever sound I want I can get - clean (bell-like - think Country or Popp-y stuff), slightly overdriven (that jazz-blues area), or "close your eyes, look to the sky, and wiggle that note for a week" over the top. I'm working on the Epiphone with the Passive EMG's it seems a little muddier and less defined than the Strat (of course) but so far he tone seems like it's going to need a little more work and nurturing to get it just right.

It IS a low wattage amp, when playing in a larger club against a drummer with some "oomph" - mic the sucker. Without the extra help it can be real difficult to get a well defined sound because you'll drive either channel past their cleaner, or more usable, sounds before you'll hear it.. We ARE talking about 15-Watts. This is a TONE machine. TONE, TONE and more TONE.

With set of JJ's for a retube, this thing is an ultimate example of an uncompressed, fully retro, tube experience. The "gain" knob in no way will give you the response you get from the control with the same name on a Hot Rod Deluxe, for example. The dirt creeps in organically as it ups the level in a real intuitive way, and it has a different effect on the sound depending on where the Volume control is set. This hold true for both channels.

Seems to be built like a tank. The chassis and reminds me of my father's old Victrola record player (smell and all). The metal chassis, the heavy cabinet, and the PROTECTION of the tubes is first rate.

THE TUBE ACCESS IS STUPID. Protected and easy to get at should not be exclusive qualities. So far this is the ONLY negative thing I can say about this amp. Think of it as akin to the stupid screws on the back of some effect boxes instead of battery access doors - unless you REALLY hate delving into the guts of the amp with a screwdriver or nut driver. Spending between $20-$35 (depending on where you live) to have a tech install a $25-$50 set of tubes would bother me. The ONLY reason this rating is not an 8, 9, or 10 is that one should not have to muck around the guts of the amp AND this close to the speaker for regular maintenace or emergency repairs at all.

So far my e-mails and telephone calls aheve been pleasantly handles. Otherwise I have no experience with them yet.

I have a feeling that the response would be good if I were in deep trouble. You cannot beat the warranty, and it's transferable as well.

The sound is to die for. The overdriven sounds are almost impossible to beat, even with just about any pedal I've tried. The Frantone Brooklyn is the closest I've come to a good boost overdrive so far after having used a vintage TS , a Boss OD , a classic original SansAmp and other stuff my friends have.

Think Long and Hard about how you feel about doing the tube swap out thang. If you don't care - great. If it intimidates you to do it yourself - I don't care what the guy at the guitar shop says (or anybody on this board for that matter) you are not a lesser being if it does bother you - decide if it's worth it to pay someone to go at the tubes when needed.

Having given that caveat - this an incredible, awesome value. Truly a boutique / antique - like purchase without the bloated sticker price - and you get a great, transferable warranty.

2004 Traynor YCV20 WR. 15 cathode-biased (psuedo-Class A) watts from 2 EL84s, 3 12AX7s. 2 channel 1x12 with a Celestion Greenback speaker, wine red tolex and wheat colored grill. 3-band shared EQ, independent gain and volume for both channels, boost on drive channel, presence button on clean. Efx loop. For a tiny 15-watt tube combo, this thing is fairly loaded.

I use Hamer humbucker and P-90 guitars, and a Reverend Avenger TL. I play rock of all sorts, a bit of jazz, and some chicken-pickin' rootsy stuff.

The clean channel is spectacular. Just bright, round, deep, and pleasing. As you turn up the gain and/or volume, wonderful shades of the gritty-greasy, creamy-crispy EL84 breakup occur. The presence switch adds nice sparkle and jangle. Humbuckers benefit a lot from this. Without it, the tones are darker and smokier. Very nice.

The dirty channel is classic EL84 dirt. This channel is very old-school classic overdrive. There is no compressed, silky saturated burn here. What you get is a slightly edgy, raw-yet-smooth overdrive that is very open, dynamic and responsive to playing nuances. It really does a great impression of power amp overdrive that would make any vintage nut proud. As such, it maintains this character until the gain is about half way up. Beyond that, and especially at maxed settings, it takes on a bit of a splatty character, sounding like a small amp run wide open with a very hot signal. The boost adds some gain and a touch of volume, but I find that the amp sounds more natural without it. Also very nice.

On both channels, the EQ is very well voiced and effective, and it is easy to get a good balance between the channels. It is important for potential buyers to note that this is not a modern sounding amp by any stretch, but is a killer amp in the classic mold. It's not a very loud 15 watts, but the tone is killer.

I can't yet rate it, but it is built extremely well and has the best warranty in the business. The chassis is thick steel, the PCB is thick and well supported, and all the switch gear is of high quality. I don't forsee any reliability issues.

One niggle I have - the tubes are a bitch to access. There is a plate on the bottom supported by six screws to access the preamp tubes (not to mention the screws are installed with Herculean force at the factory), plus one more screw to access the phase inverter, plus two more to extract the power tubes, one if which is impossible to access without chassis removal due to the speaker frame being in the way. Yes, the tubes are protected, but what a pain in the ass to change them! Forget on-the-fly changes at rehearsal or small gigs, ain't gonna happen. Use the backup.

Can't really rate them. I emailed them some questions before purchase. The replies were quick and friendly, but the excitable gentleman who replied to my inquiries never really answered my questions, even on subsequent attempts. I dunno. I think they would be there with great support if I ever had a problem.

I've been playing for over ten years now, and own a couple of Boogies and a slew of guitars. GREAT amp in the classic mold, great price, great construction, great warranty, plenty of features and versatility. Can't ask for more than that!