Traynor YCV20

2004 model.

As versatile as it gets for the money. This little guy, with a few mods, is capable of producing pretty much any tone you'd like.
All the features have already been covered. My only wish would be a master volume.

I bought the amp for mostly home use with the ocassional jam or small gig in mind. Other amps I tried before choosing the Traynor were Fender's Blues and Pro jrs, Vox AD30vt, Roland Cube 30, and Peavey Classic 30.

I'd rate it an 8 stock, but with the addition of the blues set of jj's ($45)from Bob at eurotubes.com, and a Weber 30 watt ceramic Blue Dog ($99), it gets a 10. Still a good value. I play Blues, Classic Rock, Folk-Rock, and Country mostly and the little guy handles it all.

Tweak the tone controls and dial up the gain and it produces decent metal tone.

With the treble past 6 and the bright switch on there is some hiss but otherwise it's very quiet.

I use any of 5 Strats, a Nashville Tele, or PRS Santana, and can easily dial them all in.

With a spare set of tubes on hand, I wouldn't hesitate to use the amp without a backup. Having now owned it for 3 years I haven't experienced any problems, whatsoever.

I can only go by Traynor's reputation for quick response and solid customer service.

I've been playing for approx. 40 years and have owned quite a few different amps. If I lost this amp, for any reason, I'd find another one and add the jj's and Weber again.

This has all been covered before.

I have played this with a Les Paul w/57 buckers, and with a vintage 68 strat. I have used a PRS, and a Dearmond Jazz box.
I just can not get "that" sweet sound out of this amp. I can't figure it out. Is it the speakers? or the tubes? Those of you who are giving this glowing reviews must have poor ear quality.
I tried it out because I was looking for a good tube amp to record with, and a friend of mine from north west alabama had this in the studio. There was a reason it was sitting in the corner not being used. I asked why he bought it, and he said someone left it there.
Think about it guys, there is a reason they sold out to yorkville, and why yorkville discontinued this amp in favor of a new model.
sory this is a dud!

Don't know didn't keep it long.

never used them

Started playing in the 70's, had my first paying gig (in a bowling ally) at 17. Never been with any big bands, but have mad a few buck playin in bars with several dif southern bands. It's been fun.
It will not get stolen as it was given to me, but I gave it back. Rember whoever had it before just left it where I got it.
Nothiing I love about it, I was hoping to find a little tube amp to record with ( hoping to find good saturation) because I've seen some well known people use 5-15 watt tube amps just to get that sound, this is not waht your looking for. It may be good for a beginer who doesn't know better.
The Peavey classic 20 is much better, but is damm loud.
The crate palomino comes close, but no cigar.
The Fender pro Jr is nice, but has been used to death.
The champ doesn't have bottom end.
The new gretsch, and epiphone -- Please!!!!!
Guess I'll have to isolate my bigger amps.

I just got this amp from an eBay auction. Mint condition. I belive it's a 2006 madel and probably the last year it was made. The features are well explained in the other reviews.

The amp sounds fine stock. Lots of nice tones. Based on what I read here though I got a new set of JJ tubes from Eurotubes. When you order the tubes you can pick the sound that you're after. I chose to get tubes with maximum headroom. The tubes made the amp sound better with a bit more sparkle and smoother break-up. I then swapped out the speaker for an Eminence Patriot Cannabis Rex. Whoa! The amp really came alive! Now the amp is fantastic. The new speaker is very articulate. Great highs, bassy lows. No hum or noise. I have a Schecter C/SH-1 with dual HB's that has coil taps on the tone contols so that you can switch each pup to single coil. The amp is super responsive to each pup selection. I can get twangy tele sound, rock strat sound, and soaring LP sound. I play mostly pop rock.

I rally can't say, but Traynor has a great reputation. I did notice that everything looks very solid and well put together when I changed the tubes and speaker.

Don't know, but some have said it's very good.

I've been playing for over 30 years, but not professionally. I was looking at the Peavey Classic 30, Valve King and Delta Blues. I chose the Traynor because it has a true two channel design (the Valve King does too) and the reviews here were good. I'm somewhat new to electric as I've been playing acoustic mostly. I liked the amp stock but with the new tubes and speaker I now LOVE this amp. I highly recommend the upgrades particularly the Cannabis Rex. If something happened this this amp I'd get another and do the same upgrades.

I was also looking into boutique amps and Mesas, but the prices were more than I wanted to spend (the new Mesa Express is well over $1K). This amp has all of the sound that I need. It's got real balls. If you have one or are looking at buying one DO THE UPGRADES. The improvement in sound is enormous.

I believe it is a 2003 model. 15 all tube watts, does have some solid state but not in the signal path. Has modern features with two channels and an extra boost. Doesn't have separate tone controls for each channel but I've never seen a little amp that does. Price at $640 was a little steep, but worth it. I'd give it a 10 if it had separate tone controls.

I like Fender tube sound. I have a Twin which is too heavy and loud for basement playing, this one is just right. I made some changes though. The stock Celestion is crap, get the Vintage 30, huge difference, much more Twin like, tons of mids and lows, sounded a little tinny stock. Also dumped the Sovtek tubes and replaced with Groove Tubes. Much sweeter sounding, again more mids and bottom end plus more power. Absolutely love the tone of it now. Likes Les Pauls as it is still quite bright. I love the sound of Duanne and Dicky, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Duanne Eddy, Keith Richards--you know, guys who actually play something musical and part of the song. With Les, it has a sweet rhythmn sound on the clean channel and the gain set low. Leave the volume at about 7 to get a little power tube distortion. Lead channel is a little more aggressive with nice sustain. Turn up the volume to about 8 to 9 and the gain low again. It sings nicely. Kick in the boost switch if you want to get plain dirty. Lots of versatility. Has a nice clean powerful bass sound with the treble pickup clean and loads up nicely in the lead channel. With my strat, turn the treble down and the gain up a little and its okay. Have to admit, the strat (with fender custom shop 69 alnico pickups) sounds better through the Twin but they were made for each other. Basically, I love it and it won't break you back either. Again, change the tubes and get the Celestion Vintage 30 12" speaker.

Comes with a great warranty, unconditional in the first 2 years "even if you break it". Traynor stuff is legendary for reliability and I haven't had any issues with it at all. However, I'm not hard on it either, never play it wide open, its just not my style. Its loud for a little 15 watt amp, not that I'm complaining.

Can't say, never any problems.

Picked up a guitar at age 40, been playing for 15 years. This is a basement practice amp, drums will bury it. When I play with drums and bass I use my Fender "The Twin". Have a stock Gibson Les Paul Studio and a modified Fender Mexican Strat. I tried a Fender Blues Junior--same power--but no versatility. If stolen, I would definitely buy another with the Vintage 30 in already and put in Groove Tubes. I really love it for playing solo or with another guitar. Perfect little practice amp for me.

In May 2006 I bought this new amp online through an eBay dealer for under $400. It is the YCV 20. Two channels, clean and distortion each with volume and gain controls. Three EQ controls and a reverb. Nice little footswitch panel to move between channels and to add overdrive to channel 1. One 12 inch Celestian speaker. Pretty simple. Nice piece of furniture with the wine red cover and oatmeal front. This is just your basic tube amp and if you want more dials, switches, toggles, etc. you need something else.

I am not an amp head so don't have much experience with electronics rigs. This is only the third amp I've had in my 30 plus years of playing guitar. That said, I've been around a lot of amps and am aware of differences.

The Traynor delivers a gorgeous sound on the clean channel and a good sound on the overdrive channel. Both channels produce a better tone at higher volume, especially overdrive with the "brightness" switch turned on. I'm playing an Epi Les Paul standard (classic '57 humbuckers) and the sound for jazz or rock is just fine. I'm learning that the biggest element in the tone is my technique.

The tone also seems to be changing with time, something I've read other people claim about tube amps.

I don't gig, but this equipment feels very well built. Nice and solid with no surprising sounds (like the box is coming apart or a spring just sprung). It's heavy without being back-breaking and if I had to move this thing around at age 54 it wouldn't be a problem. Other amps I've been around require a hand cart and a teenage boy. This is very manageable. It also has a great 2 year warranty that states even if you break, they'll fix it. I can't imagine having to call them on it.

I've had no experience with Traynor, but other comments here have been favorable.

This suits my needs to a T. If it "disappeared" for whatever reason, I'd get another YCV 20 right away. I don't need more watts or speakers or effects. I just need to improve my technique. I enjoy both the clean and the overdrive sounds when my wife is out of the house and I can crank it up to 11. I got a good price on it and if you shop around you can too. It's a tube amp and while I'm not a professional musician I can hear and feel and appreciate the tone quality a tube delivers. This is a real good amp for what it does.

My third posting regarding this amp
Iv`e done some serious digging about info on this amp and here`s my take:
First off I`ll start out by saying that I have modded mine with J&J blues package tubes & Reverend Alltone 1250- Big improvement -Read my earlier post for more on that

My Findings on the YCV20 ( Correct me if I`m wrong)
This amp is not a "Class A" tube amp
- It is a Class AB push pull, it has a phase inverter tube, the tubes run slighty hotter than "normal" AB push pull amps, that`s why Yorkville claims Class A
- The schematic shows at least three Op Amps , I`m no electronics guru but that generally means "solid state" for some of the circuitry,
I`m guessing an op amp for the Rectifier circuit, reverb control and an op amp for the boost switch.
If you really want to get very technical you can say this amp is a Hybrid SS/Tube to a certain degree. And I`m sure many of the popular name brand "all Tube" amps on the market fall into this catagory due to their circuitry that probably includes op amps in their schematics.
I`m not putting this amp down, I`m only looking at how it`s built and how it`being advertised.
It does have a tube pre-amp and tube powersection which does provide genuine tube tone. But there are some bells and whistles that are SS.
I bought into the hype and I love my Traynor but I still don`t own a true Class A single ended tube amp. IMHO
I have emailed Traynor asking them to explain why they call this a Class A amplifier and I am awaiting their reply.
I`m sure I`m not telling everyone something they don`t already know but just in case there are peolple out there lke me, I want to help calrify this amp a little bit.
Again, correct me if I`m wrong.....
I will either build a true Class A PTP wired amp or buy one from one of the many "boutique" amp builders out there.

It still sounds Great

It still built well

They still back their ****

I`d still buy one but I wouldn`t call it "Class A"

Oh and by the way, The infamous Vox AC amps are not Class A either, they are Class AB push pull just like my Traynor YCV20. Oh no !!! I said it !!!
Don`t believe me? Go to the link below
http://www.aikenamps.com/VoxAC30classA_2.html

- Sorry Brian May !

The Traynor still a great little amp for the money but plan on sinkng another $100 bucks into it or go for the YCV20WR istead. They can be had on e-bay for @ $350

Read all the previous reviews.

This amp is used for Jazz. Great clean Jazz tones.

This is a guitar amp, but it's built tough.

I purchased the amp from Music-Go-Round in Chicago. I had it for a week and one of the tubes went out. I brought the amp to Suburban Music Center in Wheaton and they went through it, Traynor paid for all the benchtime. Well the amp has JJ Electronic tubes courtesy of Bob Pletka at Eurotubes and the tubes made a world of a difference. I want to give special thanks to Kim at Suburban Music Center for the support, great person and store.

This amp will last forever since I only play Jazz maybe one or two hours a week.

I have been playing for 34 years. I use a Epiphone Dot Deluxe, Yamaki Deluxe Folk, and Fender FAT Strat. All three are great guitars. The Epi and Fender are rather new purchases, within the last 5 years, but the Yamaki I have had since 1972.

The Epi is the Jazz box, Fender is the Blues machine, and the Yamaki is used for that CSNY, Bread, Jim Croce and other niche.

The Fender Strat is used with a Bluesboy 5F1 amp. Great little amp for that Blues tone. Thanks Steve Greve for the Bluesboy, sounds better everyday.

n/a - Followup review

I wanted to chime in with another take on the YCV20 after having recorded and entire CD and played several gigs with it.

The YCV20 has a voice and it can sing. YOu do have to make a few changes to get it. Agreeing with the previous reviewer, the stock speaker is basically not well suited to this amp. (If you have the Rocket 50). I have not heard the Greenback version but I would say a low watt, Alnico speaker like a BLueDOg, RedFang ,ToneTubby or Celestion BLue would be a requirement.

I replaced the power tubes with JJ tubes. ANd replaced the pre-map tubes with Groove Tube 12AX7-C (China made). These tubes now may not be as good as they were some months ago but I find the "c"s are very nice and inexpensive. Tube replacement makes a big difference. Also I use a Emminance RedFang Alnico in a closed back 2x12 cabinet. I wired a switching jack for this model as it did not have the external speaker jack.

You have to keep in mind that this amp is not forgiving to mongo's that crank the pre-gain all the way, plug in a bunch of effects and go. Not the amp for you. SIngle Coils is what this amp was made for. Simple and straight in, no pedals. Over doing the gain, and pushing the mid's and treble too much can blow out the tone. This is not a "high gain screamer" you have to dance it between clean and dirty. Popping the boost switch opens up the sustain but can cause muddiness as well.

If you take the time to get to know this amp it will do what you want. If you don't want to invest and "thinking" then get a amp modeler, call it a day and sound like every other 14 year old kid.

If you want a platform to express yourself with a unique tone with a dynamically expressive amp that responds to the touch of the strings then this is the amp for you. Keep in mind it will take time and practice to find your tone. If you do the results will be musical and expressive.

Listen to "Shove" on our site http://soul-amp.com in the discography section. THis tune features a Tex Mex strat played straight into the Traynor voiced with the Emminace RedFang in an external cab, miced with a SM-57. No effects. All I can say is it works for me.

TIps: don't raise the bass EQ above 2. Use an external cabinet, replace tubes with flavors of your choice. Don't over drive beyond halfway. Use the clean channel's ability to breakup early to go from clean to dirty with just your hands and the guitar volume. Use single coils.

Amps are a creative tool, use it to find the sound that works for you and your style.

If you are musical you can find a voice in any amp if you take the time.

The Traynor VCV20 is not an "easy" amp to play. But any decent tube amp requires a player to be very keen of pressure, attack and string control (i.e. deadening certain strings with fingertips and the butt of your right hand)

If you aren't prepared to to do that then maybe this amp is not for you. If you are ready then a EL84 based tube amp like the YCV20 will make you a better player....period.

There is nothing to hide behind with this amp.

Had no problems with it after 8 months of gigging and recording.

n/a

IN a nutshell...

Great into to EL84 based low wattage tube amps.

It will make you better player if you can find it's voice.

Is it the best...no. But it's more flexible than anything else in it's class..(2 channel footswitchable, 1x12 EL84 based combo) for under $500.

Basically I wanted a LIGHT (40 lbs max) tube amp with decent clean
channel, reverb, effect loop and if possible interesting overdrive.
I play blues and some jazz. For jazz I usually go for Polytone amp.
I also have Rivera 212 amp but it is too heavy (90 lbs) to move
comfortably round you need to crank it up to get full sound.
So I wanted small, light and somewhat versatile amp. On the surface
YCV20 looks like one. I was considering both YCV20 and YCV20WR which
has XLR output (preamp), headphones, speaker defeat switch and diff
speaker. Otherwise amps are identical and rental place only had YCV20.
For full feature description check www.yorkville.com.

I played Gibson SG '61 Reissue and Ibanez AS 120 (with 14s TI
Bebops on it) thru it. Both guitars have Classic 57s pickups.
Amp was not noisy. It had a slight hum but that was the least
of it's problems. It had perceptible rattle noise which I could
not locate or eliminate.

Reverb - that some folks here describes as "lush" - was JUNK -
sounded like bunch of springs rattling in metal box on any
settings above 1.5.

Clean channel at bedroom level was OK - but only if you took
reverb out and hooked Holy Grail instead. I liked the bass -
it seemed airy and somewhat deep on low gain - you could comp
some chords with walking bass lines and it sounded fine although
somewhat overpowering. Trebles were less convincing and cold.
At louder volume all was OK but clean channel was not breaking in
any spectacular way. Boost did not seem to make much difference.

Dirty channel was horrible. All lows and highes gone it sounded like
a cheap fuzzbox thru AM radio. No definition. No way to dial any
kind of singing tone. No usable for me at all - I tried it back to
back with Blues Jr and if I was looking for a small amp just for
blues I would pick Blues Jr (despite farty bass and midrangey tone)
at least it was a tone one could use - I cannot imagine anybody
wanting YCV20 tone - it was a poodle trying to roar like a lion.

Dunno - seemed solid and well made - but I only had it for a week.

Decent customer support (at least sales folks) - would reply
to emails within a day or so but without a lot of enthusiasm.
People at rental place told me that Traynor honors warranty no
matter what - even if your amp gets submerged during a "100 yr"
flood.

I would NOT recommend it except perhaps as practice amp
but then there are better choices out there. Dunno, perhaps
I had bad luck and got it was just a badly beaten rental amp
with blown speaker and couple bad tubes. But I also took it
to a friend who repairs tube amps for a living a let him crank
it up and play for an hour. He thought clean channel was Vox'y
and dirty one was "unbelievable piece of junk".

Cathode bias, two EL84 power, three 12AX7, two pre amp and one for phase splitting for the two power tubes. Stock tubes are Sovteks. Reverb is a accutronics full length reverb. Controls; Gain and Volume for each of two channels. Boost on gain channel (Chan. 1), brightness on clean channel (Chan. 2), Standby switch, colored Jewel power light, Treble, Bass and Middle master controls. 12" Rocket 50 from celestion is stock speaker. This amp was purchased off eBay and was stated to be manfactured in 3/2003. Older versions of this amp do not have the headphone jack, external speaker, internal speaker defeat switch or DI output. So make sure you knwo what you are buying if it is sight unseen.This amp does have the footswitch, cable and effects loop.

I am giving this amp a 9 on features as you just cannot find a two channel low wattage tube with individual gain and volume controls at htis price. All other amps in this class of features are hundreds of dollars more expensive. The only feature I would of liked is individual tone controls for each channel, but that is really a high end feature that would require a complete redesign of this amp.

I play a Mexican Standard Strat with Tex Mex pickups. I had been playing a Fender Champ 12 that I modified and wired for a external 2x12 cabinet. I bought the Traynor as a stage backup because I was worried about the reliability of the Champ 12. The Champ is a class A single 6L6 two 12ax7 12 watt two chanell amp. the issue I had with the champ was it's gain channel lacked any control. It was on full boar and the clean channel had tons of headroom and did not break up as easily as a EL84 tubeed amp does. I was reluctant to replace the Champ for recording and performance as I was pretty used to it. I changed my mind after playing the Traynor.

Even stock I was very impressed at the chimey, shimmer that the Traynor had in the clean channel. Turning up the gain the clean breaks up into a nice round crang or bang...A tone I really like. So to make a fair comparison I had to wire a external speaker jack. We were playing a gig the next night after I bought it and it was a good opportunity to put the amp through it's paces at this venue. I wired a jack that cuts the internal speaker when a cabinet is plugged in. Pretty straight forward. The amp's stock speaker lacks any real low end definition or character and should be replaced at first opportunity. Opt for the Wine Red version with the greenback if you aren't planning on using external speaker cabinet. (I am planning on a Weber Blue Dog). I dug into the champ and yanked out the Groove Tubes 12ax7-c (chinese made). I have really liked these tubes they have a nice harmonic shimmer and ping with well defined mids and lows. Removing the chassis on the traynor I loaded it with the chinese 12ax7s. the sound was much better. The sovteks sound good but these are just better. they do have some microphonics isses at high gain, i ussually back off the guitar volume slightly and it resolves that issue with these tubes. For tone the clean and slightly dirty gain settings is where this amp really shines. Pick attack sensitivity is on par with amps costing much more. The amp has a presence and shimmer that made my champ twelve sound one dimensional. I was completly taken back and the difference. I always wanted a EL84 based amp for that sound and this amp delivers. It reminds me of my old HIWATT Lead 20 combo (Sterling).

I have played all the tube amps in this prove range, Blues Junior, BLues Deluxe, Deville, PEavy Classic 30-50, Crate Vintage CLub 15-50, I came away feeling that these just were'nt quite ready to replace my customized Champ. I bought the Traynor based on several favorable reviews and if I wasn't liking it It would be a backup or sold.

Back to the tone...overdriven with the stock tubes at high gain it still lacks the clarity, creaminess and drive of the Champ 12 on high gain. But this is unfair as I don't many amps other than high gain amps Rivera and Mesa can even comapared to the Champ 12 in that area. (Rivera designed the Champ 12). I do some leads in the gain channel of the Champ 12 and I might AB the two amps. retaining the Champ 12 for leads only. Or I am thinking of just changing the way I play leads as the sound of partial breakup on the Traynor is so sweet and musical. Using the closed back cabinet with the EV big cage OEM speakers the tone and texture are amazingly complex. the slightest changes to fingering produces clicks, pings, shimmers and overtones that are fantastic. The bass response on a closed back cabinet is incredibleand I had to compensate at the tone controls. With bass at 3, Treble at 6 and mids at 5 the tone is well balanced and defined. It is almost like you have three of four diffferent amps playing at once. The only issues I have are finding out I need to change they way I play to take advantage of this amp (a welcome change) and the higher gain overdive when in boost and gain up seems undefined. I am going to do JJ tbues in the power section to remedy that. But I feel I will steer away from very high gain leads in the future. The reverb is very

The amp looks well made. Obviously the chassis is where the cost savings come in as it is mostly cheaper PCB and stamped steel and aluminum. It is a bit cumbersome to swap tubes. The pots are smooth and jacks look sturdy. the cabinet feels very solid. the grill has a metal grill under the cloth to protect the cloth and the speaker....good call. Traynor has a very well made quality amp and for the price you can't find anything better. I noticed there was a mod done of the black hole caps that protect the speaker wire and reverb from chaffing on the chassis. Some silicone was placed on them. This must be the source of the buzzing. Not an issue for me as I wired this amp for a external cabinet now.

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stop at http://soul-amp.com to hear recordings using this amp. I should have one up there soon. All in all this amp is a great way to enter into the world of tube amp playing. It has the touch and tone that most players wonder how it is done. Tone doesn't come from a string of pedals. It comes from the guitar and the amp first. I plug straight in and play through low wattage tube amps, I have for years. This amp I think is a great value and is inexpensive enough to make it your own with new tubes and revoicing. It could be a little easier to swap tubes and the PCB makes mods questionable. But if you are needing a quality low watt tube sound on a low budget and an amp that will drive a 2x12 cab. this is the ticket there is really nothing that touches it for under 500...