Traynor YCV20

Bought it new. Played it for 1 month, extensively (perhaps for more than 20 hours) Yep, that's extensive for me as I am working and have family to take care off, guys!
I needed a small wattage tube amp and was looking for the Carvin Vintage 16/5 but not convinced with the crappy 100 Watts speaker. Update to a celestion vintage being 100 bucks, I came to consider slighlty costlier amps. The YCV20 was not available in shop so I tried a YC 40 from afriend and !!!!YEP!!! warm, incredibly versatile, ok maybe not for metal as everybody says but not even sure. As every feature you may need for a small gig/studio 15 Watts class A amps. Go to Yorkville.com (poor website) to get the features:two very discrete footswitchable channels with true independent gain and volume controls on each (!). A master three band EQ, effects loop (line output) as well as an internal spring (GREAT)reverb
. Additional controls include bright switch on the clean channel and boost switch on the lead channel. Three Sovtek 12AX7A''s and two EL84''s

I play it a Gibson LP special with humbuckers. Nothing special. Playing mainly blues, little bit of jazz and some good pieces of rock. Far enough for my needs.
It is INCREDIBLY silent for a tube amp:almost no hummm, non "pop"! nothing.
Actually this amp is very versatile, much more than the Ampeg Jet 50 Watts I owned. Very progressive distortion can be achieved at low volume, which I particularly appreciate.
They say on their website that it has "awesome punch with great tones". I think that's quite true. the 15 watts are no no no to be compared with any solid state 30 watts. Anyway, power is not everything.
Overall, it is a very clean amp, easy to overdrive so you can play almost whatever you want on it but with a great, high quality, smooth and parasite noises free. I do not know what could compare to this amp as I am no expert but for a hobbyist like me who plays 3 to 5 times/week and needed low volume but fully playable amp, that s a good match

Looks very solid, very well built, nothing loose or suspect. Got it new, came with UNCONDITIONNAL warranty for 2 years (I called them and this means that even if you just do not like it, you have 15 days to return it without reasons or 2 years for any kind of problems):All plywood enclosure. ? Heavy gauge perforated grille with cloth cover. Tolex looks great.

Well, I was reading the reviews for a reliable amp, so you must understand solid state. I almost made my mind on a Roalnd Blues Cube 60 that was available for 80 bucks less. I tried it but really could not achieve the sound I wanted. As told, I am no expert so anyone else could probably do this but I could not. Felt really tubish, reliable with good tones but I was not totally seduced.
I was bored of my Ampeg Reverbrocket, a very good amp but, Oh! tube amps are sometimes problematic when they starting buzzing, humming, poping and so on.. It had no main volume, which REALLY is a problem.
The Traynor YCV 20 is just a great amp, looking nice, (OK it does not have the reputation or the names of the FAMOUS tube amps but anyway I cannot afford so..)warm, sweet powerfull enough for my needs, very easy to set up, well built, not too expensive.
Why this amp? For me, it seems to be a good compromise between reliability and tone. Because this amp is all about this: Tone, Tone and Tone.

Latest offering from Traynor (2003). I was looking for a decent class A tube amp for bedroom/small venue use, and did not want to pay an indecent price. Here's a list of the features: 15 watts, 2 channels (lead (with boost switch) and clean (with brightness switch)) - one shared input, 12" Celestion, 2-spring reverb, effects loop, footswitch (channel and boost select), standby (led changes colour), tone (B-T-M), master volume. The amp is self-biasing, and nearly hum free, all plywood enclosure, with metal perforated grill cover and silver tweed over that.

I use a variety of guitars and pickups: tele, strat, 355, L6-S, and acoustic. I like to play clean (country/jazz), and that is what sold me on this amp. There's a surprising amount of headroom on the clean channel. The brightness switch adds "sparkle" to the tone. The reverb is excellent. The 12" celestion handles bottom end very well. And you will notice how quiet the amp is -- it's only when you really crank the reverb past noon that you get a wee bit of background hiss.

For that saturated tone, dial in a little extra gain and you can still play at low volume, or let the volume drive the tubes.

I'm taking one point away here because I didn't like the distorted side of the lead channel as much, but I've only had the amp for two days, so maybe with some tweaking it will sound better.

It's a Traynor! They're reliable and nearly indestructible.

Got mine at Long & McQuade in Toronto. They remind me of the old Eaton's. You can return/replace stuff if you're unhappy.

I've been playing off and on for over 30 years.

These are early days with the YCV20 so I may post an update a bit later regarding this amp, but for plain and simple value, this baby is hard to beat. I could have sprung for a DR, but why? There's no way the tone is twice as good and at twice the price! I guess I want players to be aware that there is an affordable alternative in your search for a small, decent amp with great tube tone. (BTW: I have no affiliation with these companies.)