Traynor YCV40-WR 112 Combo

Two channel, All Tube, 1x12 Combo, boutique look
12ax7/Two Sovtek 5881 Power tubes
Metal footswitch, with lights, channel Switching, boost
Top mounted controls, two ext speaker outs, standby. See specs for more detail.

What this amp has that makes it worthy of being a higher end amp.
- Metal Footswitch, Stereo 1/4' Cable, all but eliminates the footswitch problems that plague other amps
- The right wattage, and sounds good from bedroom to gigging volumes
- Super, duper clean, chimy on BOTH channels
- Lights on everything, to tell you what's on or off
- Protected tubes, Standby, boutique high end look, high end speaker
- Not too heavy.
- Detachable power chord on OUTSIDE rather then stored inside where you yank it out, and bust some tubes.

For a pro, the above make this a solid, good sounding, reliable amp.

I could whine about not having a PA out, or but the speaker out 1/4" could do the same. Or a 5 watt, 10 watt attenuator setting, but it sounds fine on lower settings...I give it a ten, not because it's the best amp that could ever be, but that it's the best I have been able to find so far in a 1x12 combo. Controls are on top, better in front I think but it looks better on top where the audiance doesn't see them I think,...subjective...since I fiddle to get my tone, a front mounted control panel is easier for me...others set it, forget it and get it from thier pedalboard, guitar, ect..again subjective.

As a comparison to my Peavey classic 30, an amp I gig with....plastic footswitch, no lights on the switch or panel, tubes exposed...all issues that have screwed up my songs, leads...this amp should at least solve those problems so I can figure out new ways to screw up my set.

Clean on both channels is chimy, pretty rare.
Boost actualy cleans up the dirty channel rather then add mud, rare
Controls: Plenty of Treble, Bass, and Mid to find your tone.
Reverb, goes from pretty much nada to too much, so you can find your tone.
First amp that is loud enough for gigs, but can still play at low, low, everyone asleep in the house, livingroom volumes.
Distortion? I don't know - That's subjective. It's tight, not sloppy or scratchy, not over the top, responsive. I prefer Marshall distortion as best, but this isn't bad, has a good feel.
Very quiet amp.

As a comparison to the Peavey C30 again...mud with boost, doesn't sound great untill on 5-6, no lights on top, or footswitch screws up your sound because your trying to figure out what channel your on.

See above....has all the features of an amp that shouldn't break down, and if something did screw up, it will be so serious that a tech is needed, like any amp, but it won't be the footswitch 5 pin connector, or the plastic footswitch breaking, or the tubes got nailed because they are exposed...even the power cord is replacable vs hardwired in...and it's on the outside, where you won't yank on the tubes when you yank on the power chord.

Compared this to Peavey C30 my other amp, and you can see all the improvements.

Having lights denoting which channel is on, ect makes for ME being more reliable in getting my tone out, espeally on leads. Rather then being on stage trying to figure out what channel I am on, is the boost on..do I need to turn around and check the amp controls...no, lights on the footswitch tell me right there...

No I expect the amp to work, and let's face it, they generaly do, unless we bust the footswitch, bust the tubes...or something happens that get's in the way of getting out our sound.

So while I haven't had it long enough to tell you how it has held up, it has the features that separate it from the other amps that have broken down due to user induced issues...I think Traynor did thier homework on this on.

Reliability for me, is not just the equipment working, but can I put out night after night and this amp helps me or gets in my way as I try to 'work around it' and 'figure it out'

I want to set up, find my tone, set it, forget, done, worry about playing, not fiddling all night long.

Haven't called them, nor do I want to...should all be on thier website..as it stands, I down loaded the manual, and service manual from thier website...very nice.

Been playing for just under 3 years, I know...don't cringe but I do blues/rock lead

www.propilot.us for my music to guage ability/experience.

If the amp were stolen, I would go gay for 5 minutes just to bone the thief so I can whisper in his ear 'Say hello to my little friend'

First off, most gigging musicians are pretty picky...they want super clean...this has that...they want just right amound of distortion...this has that...they want it to be quiet - this is super quiet - they want to be able to go on the road, plug, un plug, ect and not yank the tubes out, or have the footswitch crap out, ect. -this amp has those exposed or wear areas, protected, and or easily replacable, or the issue eliminated.... they want an amp to tell them what channel they are on - Lights on the footswitch and control board - They want an amp to look high end - this looks boutique - The want an amp that is easy to get thier tone - I am still figuring this amp's sound out, what works, but I like the fact that the boost actualy helps, reverb is nice, clean is nice...nothing seems to get in my way.

About the only think I think someone might not like about it will be subjective - Is the reverb enough....or lack of effects, or the type of distortion - or a PA out - or need 100 watts vs 40 watts - or need metal look, mean and black vs wine red with blond grill - or need some 10 watt attenuation.

For me, most equipment seems to find a way to 'get in my way' Like if it has too much bass, like many closed back solid states..or the midrange doesn't really work...like on the Peavey c30, or the tubes rattle out, or bust off when pulling out the power cord, or the switching doesn't light up. For me it's hard enough to sound great, and find that magic, let alone the amp or guitar making my life more difficult. I play through a variety of guitars..from Strats, PRSs, Les Pauls, Squiers, OLP, and again, it's mainly blues rock rythem and lead.

Certainly, if your a pro, you want it all, and your probably going to have to pay for it, but I like that this amp isn't really that much, and it's not vintage, and it's not missing anything, and it seems not a throwback but an upgrade to all the things that went wrong with amps in yester year. It's not too much power, it's not too low, if you need more then 40 watts, mic it up, if you need effects, get a pedal board.

Now overall, I think this amp fits the gigging musician arsenal, to be realiable and find his tone, easy to use. What would be better, something really specific to his needs, and to be fair, not every amp, can be everything to every player.


I have a Marshall TSL halfstack, a Peavey C30, Marshal MG50, Fender Frontman, played with everything at the guitar center, and other stores...this fits me so far...

Made in Canada in 2007. Company has been around for decades. Known for their ruggedness, but I don't gig, just home studio.

Very versatile all tube amp. 3 tube pre, 2 tube power. Won't do Metal, but will do Jazz, Rock, Blues, Country, etc.

Has 2 Channels, effects loop, has reverb spring. Can drive another cabinet for more bottom end. I do another 12 inch to get a stereo effect. Sounds just awesome with an extra cabinet. Has foot switch for channel switching and distortion/clean.

Here's the specs:
Specifications
Type Tube Guitar Amplifier
Cabinet Impedance (Ohms) 8
Power @ min. impedance (Watts) 40
Minimum Impedance (Ohms) 4
Speaker Configuration - LF (Size / Power) 12 inch / 40 Watts
Inputs 2
Channel 1 - inputs 1/4 inch phone
Channel 1 - controls Gain, Volume, Treble, Bass, Middle
Channel 1 - switches Boost
Channel 2 - inputs Shares ch 1 input
Channel 2 - controls Volume, Treble, Bass, Middle
Channel 2 - switches Channel Select, Brightness
Channel Switching Yes
Main Tone Controls Presence
Line Out (type / configuration) 1/4 inch TRS / Rear (Effects Send)
Effects Volume Yes
Effects Loop / Location Yes / Rear
Effects Footswitch / Function Yes / Channel Select, Boost
Internal Reverb / Effects Spring Reverb
LED Indicators Channel Select, Boost, Power, Standby
External speaker output / location 1/4 inch / Rear
Other Features Standby Switch ??? Activates standby mode to keep the tubes warm while the amp is not in use.
Auto Tube-matching Circuit
Preamp Tube - 3x 12AX7WA Dual Triodes (Russia)
Power Amp Tube - 2x 6L6GB Beam Power Tubes (Russia)
DC filaments on preamp tubes eliminate hum
Fully regulated power supply with tube rectifier emulation
Perforated Steel Grille
Dimensions (DWH, inches) 9.5 x 23 x 18
Dimensions (DWH, cm) 24 x 58 x 46
Weight (lbs / kg) 49.8 / 22.6

I replaced the tubes with JJ tubes. Really, I can't tell the difference. JJ's a good outfit. The standard Sovteks are good too. Maybe the difference is on Distortion. I don't use that much, so read other's reviews for distortion.

Versatile, but can't get that heavy metal crunch of modern hard metal rock. I play blues/rock/pop/country so it works for all. Has a guide on setting for Classic Rock, Blues, Modern Rock and all are very useful and on spot. I tape it by the amp to refer to.

The sounds is a very toneful, deep, tube tone. You can make it sound like a Beatles Vox (the 7120 if I got that right) and just excels for Blues tone.

The "Presence" knob is useless. The Reverb is a bit hot and you don't go past 12 o'clock really. The "Mid" knob MUST be turned down to 9 o'clock for this amp to sound awesome. The Mid turned higher just gets muddy. The Bass and Treble sound good on 12 o'clock.

Volume starts getting very loud at a setting of 2. You can go deaf in front of it. So it's a GOOD 40 watts.

I put on an attenuator so I can put overdrive gain to very high settings and not blow my ears. The distortion is very pleasing.

I think it's a great sound at a good price. No complaints. Once you know how to set the "Mid" knob. And don't expect Metal guitar.

Because I don't expect ONE amp to be every sound I'm giving this a 10 because it can do Blues, Rock and Jazz with equal aplomb. The inability to do Metal was give to me upfront. And ALL amps have their knobs that are either useless, or have to be turned to a setting to minimize harsh tonality.

My giving this a 10 is based on me going "Wow" when I played it. And me still going "Wow". And a professional guitarist who told me that this amp sounded "awesome" and I should hold on to it and learn to dial in the tones I wanted.

I'm told you can throw it off the roof and only have to replace the tubes. Haven't tried that. I only use for the Studio. Had it 1 year and it's working fine. Ask a Gigger for the real deal on this.

I heard a lot of noise on one of my guitars and thought it was the amp. Found out 2 things. My guitar is noisy. And my house needs a power conditioner. You can't blame the amp as being noisy unless you have a power conditioner. I took it to the store and it was quiet as a mouse.

So I have dealt with Customer service. They give a decent warranty. 2 Years no questions asked. Transferable too. Just keep the receipt, because they go by the Manufactured Date otherwise.

They were willing to take it and have it fixed no charge. And they DID get back to me in a reasonable amount of time.

I've played for about 20 years. This is a superb amp. On Sound I might always think there is a 10 out there, but really, this is a do-it-all amp so not being able to be authentically modern death metal and a quite poor implemented "mid" knob aside, overall this is one of the best sounding amps I've heard. The only thing I like more is a 1200 dollar Fender Bassman (forget the model) but it was almost double the price! Same with VOX famous models like a real tube AC30TB. So, at half the price, you get a top end pro sound. Sweet.

I would definitely replace this. People aren't aware of Traynors so much, so you can probably find it used for a song. And ANY secondary cabinet will work for an amazing stereo sound.

I'm seriously thinking of checking their Bass amp out since this one was so good.

2 channels plus a boost. 3 band EQ for each channel, which is very nice. No master volume, but I don't think it's necessary. I wish reverb was footswitchable (I got spoiled by my old Fender that had channel, boost, chorus, and reverb on the footswitch). Presence is a great feature for dialing in a little sparkle. I haven't used the effects loop yet- still experimenting.

The only thing I dislike is the boost which isn't adjustable. It just adds a set amount of gain, and I've been spoiled by my old Fender which could dial in specific amounts of boost gain.

It does lean backwards a bit, which I find strange. It makes a good design idea (tilt the speaker toward the player), but it also makes it easier to tip over in the car. I think I'd rather see a deeper base to ensure stability.

So far, so good though. It's been able to nail every thing I've asked of it in church and in my rock band. I'm reviewing it after owning it for only a few days, but I like to post first impressions than return in 6 months to a year with lasting impressions.

-2 for reverb and boost issues. +1 for having knobs that sound like they DO something when turned, unlike a lot of tube amps I demoed.

Using this with a Les Paul, Strat, and Hollowbody. I also tried my wife's thin semi hollow, and similar results.

All my life I've been a solid state man. I wanted amps that could deliver the same tone at all volumes. I wanted amps that could handle banging around in a loaded van without breaking a precious tube. I wanted lighter amps, and I figured I could come pretty close to the same tone as tubes.

I could not have been more wrong. TRUE tube tone is something that is never achievable in SS-land. Suddenly, there are nuances that I had never imagined. I never thought I'd find myself using the volume or tone knobs in positions other than 0 and 10, but here it makes SO much difference.

Case in point, church yesterday. I set my dirty gain at about 11 or noon, then volume on both channels at 9 o'clock. I used my hollowbody guitar, and in the bridge position, the dirty channel gave me a great rhythm tone. The boost knob was just enough guts to pull out a lead (which was good because we had no sound man for that service). Next tune was a little slower, so I switched to the clean channel and backed off my attack. During the chorus, though, I dug in and got a great little OOMPH that you simply can't get out of a solid state amp, even with compression and EQ and pedals...

The most impressive of all came when we did our last tune- an R&B style song with me playing thick octaves. The clean channel was just a little too thin for my taste, so I rolled my neck pup tone knob back, dropped the pick for fingerpicking the octaves, and switched it to the drive channel. Thick, CREAMY tones were pouring out. It was fantastic.

The amp takes pedals great, too. I was worried that I had spent so much time buying pedals to get my SS Fender to sound "tubey," I would find them taking away from the sound. Instead, I find that the amp enhances every pedal I own- distortions sound SO much better, compression is smoother, wah takes on a classic character that it never had before, EQs feel more natural, and even my flanger sounds like a champ. In fact, everything sounded so good, I conducted an experiment.

When I first started playing guitar in middle school, I was in search of that crazy distortion sound. Pre- and post-gain on my SS Peavey amps helped me stumble onto it, but I decided to buy a pedal. Thanks to the limited budget of a 14 year old and the limited patience of his mother, I bought a DOD Supra Distortion... one of the most widely hated distortion pedals of all time. I used it until I bought my first Fender SS amp... and I preferred the Fender's onboard distortion (which should tell you something).

Fast forward to now. I pull the Supra out of a drawer, plug it in and... it sounds better! Turned up, it still has the white noise nastiness that I hated, but turned down, the tubes warm it up, creating a nice fat sound that I could definitely be happy with. If this Traynor can make THAT pedal sound good, well, I'm sold.

Okay, now down to specifics. The amp was retubed before I got it with JJ tubes from Eurotubes- the Blues Option set. When I got it from UPS, the V1 tube had been blown. I replaced it with one of the Sovteks that came with the amp stock and rearranged the order. Even with the Sovtek in there, it sounds great. I do like the clean channel better (in my understanding, it bypasses the Sovtek), but the dirty channel is still great. It'll be even better once the JJ tube is replaced.

I found that the clean channel starts breaking up around noon on the volume. Even at this volume, though, it's VERY quiet. Distortion is even quieter, strangely enough. I'm not sure if I could get a good heavy metal out of it right now (it does have BLUES tubes in it after all), but if I wanted that sound, I have total confidence that another retube could accomplish it. For now, though, I have pedals for that.

It arrived from UPS psuedo-DOA. I turned it on in standby, let it sit for a few minutes, and took standby off. Nothing. No sound. After a bit of tube-newbie troubleshooting, I discovered that one of the preamp tubes was shot. Replaced it and rearranged the tubes a few times... magic.

I've only had it for a few days now, so it certainly hasn't died on me. Time will tell, though. I'm still working out what my backup plan would be should I need it at a gig. I don't like that the chassis has to be removed to access the preamp tubes. I guess there's not really a better way to do it, but it would be hard to do a quick change at a show.

When my amp was dead out of the box, I called Yorkville/Traynor USA immediately to ask how to go about troubleshooting it. They were very courteous and gave me some great instructions which led me straight to the problem in short order. The amp is out of warrranty, but they even pointed me to a (sort of) local authorized repairman who we both knew by name. I didn't need him, but I thought it was cool that they knew him by name.

So far, so good.

Been playing now for 13 years, more than half my life. I don't buy into the high end "boutique" gear, so I buy gear that sounds great, plays well, and yet doesn't break the bank. This Traynor delivers on that. A guy came last week to buy a guitar from me. He brought along his hand wired $2500+ single channel custom tube amp... and this Traynor still sounds better, IMHO.

I play an upgraded Epi Les Paul, a Fender Strat, and a Ibanez Artcore hollowbody through this thing. I've also got an Alvarez Artist acoustic, a Washburn Taurus 5-string bass, and a handful of other rinky dink guitars. I own GMS drums with (mainly) Zildjian cymbals and DW hardware. I've got a 130W Fender 2x12 SS combo, a 1x12 25W Slingshot amp (SS but very warm), and a Peavey Combo 300 bass amp.

If the Traynor were stolen or lost, I think I would cry. And then I'd buy another. I'm a little worried about durability since just the ride through UPS was enough to kill a preamp tube (and it was double boxed with three inches of foam in the inside box and 6 inches of corrugated cardboard on the outside box), but so far so good. It even fell over (on to soft things) twice in my car, but no problems. I've learned to put the backside of the amp to the wall of my car.

I've been coming closer and closer to buying a tube amp for years. I was put off by the inconsistency in Fender tube amps- I'd like one in the store, and then I'd come back again and hate the exact same amp 6 months later. I tried Marshall's combo offerings, but I could never get a sound that wasn't "Marshall". I guess that's great if you're looking for it, but I wasn't. Crate and Peavey were too sterile sounding. Dr. Z makes a fantastic amp, but it was out of my price range, and the one I tried was a single channel. I really felt that I needed that second channel for live work. I was even considering Epiphone's offerings, but could never find something I liked from them.

Finally, about a year ago my wife and I walked into a music store and saw the standard black and grey version of the Traynor YCV40. I had never heard of the company, so I plugged in, expecting to laugh. Instead, I was really impressed by this stock amp. Great tones all across the board and my wife agreed that it sounded better than the Fenders. Of course, at that time, the money wasn't available, so I tucked the information away. Thus, when I had my money together, it was natural for me to go back to Traynor, and I have not been disappointed in the least.

Mine was made in 2007, picked it up used but in great shape. Two channels plus a boost on the drive channel. Effects loop is great, speaker extension jacks is great but awkwardly placed as people mentioned. I do wish it had a control on the boost like the YCV50, since at lower gain levels the boost is a bit too much to really be usable live (it kicks up the volume A LOT). At higher gain levels, the extra saturation doesn't increase the volume as much, but again, this would be easily solved with a boost volume control. I might try swapping in a lower gain tube like a 12AU7 once I figure out which one is used in the boost circuit...that might help things. Other than that, I'm totally happy with its features. It has plenty of power...if you need more than 40 tube watts, you're in a big enough venue to be able to properly mic it and use the house PA.

I'm using this with Fender guitars, both humbucker and single coil models. This baby handles them all like a pro. Single coils through the clean channel can be funky, surfy, or just plain sparkling. Humbuckers through the clean channel are smooth and silky. I run this amp with a 2x12" extension cab and the bass response on the clean channel is MASSIVE if you want it to be.

Single coils through the drive channel can be bluesy or straight up rock as you dial in more gain. Humbuckers sound nice and thick with the drive. If you max the gain, low-output pickups can sound a bit fizzy, but high gain pickups drive the channel well and get some nice thick distortion. I don't find that the overdrive has enough "thud" for big palm-muted power chords, even with an extension cab. If that's what you're looking for, a generic JCM or Mesa will probably suit you better.

This amp covers all the clean, funky, bluesy, and hard-rocking tones I use it for. Its only weak point is if you want that kind of big, chugging, feel-it-in-the-chest distortion that you'd want for metal or things like that. With the massive bass response of the clean channel, maybe you could run a nice pedal like the Satchurator through it to get that kind of chug going. The tube overdrive I use with it certainly sounds brilliant through the clean channel, so I'm sure a higher-gain pedal would yield great results and help it cover that last type of tone.

Seems sturdy as amps costing a whole lot more. Solid pine cab, wicked tough (gorgeous) wine red tolex, metal speaker grill for protection hidden under oatmeal grill cloth for looks. Traynor/Yorkville makes wicked tough gear.

2 year insane "even if you break it" warranty. I e-mailed them with a random question about ohmage of cabs and power output of the amp, and got an e-mail back in a couple of days with all the info I needed and more. This is how a company should be run. These people make better amps with better service for a lower price than the 'big names'. I really hope their prices never go up!

Been playing for 12 years, covering everything from funk to indie rock. I A/B'd the clean on this amp to a '68 Fender Dual Showman and Hot Rod Deville. This blew them both away (HUGE surprise vs the Dual Showman!!). The gain was smoother than a JCM900 in the shop and beat the crap out of the Hot Rod. Reverb was a bit weaker than the Fender, but that's not such a surprise. Other than the boost control, it couldn't be more perfect. The tones it produces and the quality of its build are almost criminal at this price, it's one of the best kept secrets in the amp world.

Features as listed in previous reviews.

A+++ For the beautiful Wine Red Tolex and the Oatmeal Grill.
The Stock Vintage 30 sounds great through this amp.
Also another A++ for the external speaker jack. I wish it was easier to reach, though.
Gave it a 9 because you can't switch the reverb on and off with the footswitch and placement of the external speaker jack.

I jammed with this amp for an hour before I bought it. First my opinion on the distortion.

I tried a Fender Stratocaster with red lace sensors through it first. Very smooth even liquid like distortion. Rich in harmonics and sustain.
Next was a LTD Les Paul Copy with a JB in the bridge. Sounded like Ace Frehley.

Then a Texas Special Strat, sounded like SRV.
After a hour of jamming through it I bought it, took it to sound check, and proceeded to have one of the best gigs of my life. This amp has trasformed me. It is not a high gain amp but with a little knowledge of pickups and some digging on the strings it wouldn't be hard to accomplish high gain tones.
With the boost off and the gain at 12 o'clock and the volume at 12 you can nail Love Me Two Times with my Texas Special Strat.
With the boost engaged and the gain at 9 o'clock and volume above 3 you can play just about any hard rock song(new or old). I haven't tried it yet but I want to play a guitar with some seriously hot pickups in it to hear how metal sounds through it. I don't want alot of effects coloring my sound. They are neat and a little delay on leads can expand my groove to some degree, but for rhythms I only want to hear screaming tubes and speakers.

The CLEAN CHANNEL is very VERY clean and does break up high higher volumes if you really dig into the strings. Engaging the bright switch Turns my Strat into a TELE and the amp into a VOX. If you want BRIGHT SHIMMERING ear splitting cleans this is the setting for you.
THe reverb is not fenderish sounding but it is tastful. Not twangy and annoying like a Peavey or Crate.

But the clean without the bright switch pushed is very nice and clean. I can go from lush squishy clean to bright in your face clean.

After owning at least 25 amps over the past 20 years, I can say that I am thoroughly impressed with the solid craftsmanship and quality put into the design of this amplifier. It's as solid as a butcher's block. It's not too heavy. The tolex seems very tough and is very resistant to scuffing and tearing. I am a little concerned that the oatmeal grill may suffer some scuffing/tearing, but it is reinforced with a metal speaker grill so the speaker IS protected. The metal corners are not the cheap type and the chrome plating on each seems very well done. Rubber feet on the bottom keep it from dancing across the stage. The input jack is metal with a metal retaining nut. The effects loop and footswitch jacks on the back have plastic retaing nuts. The power tubes are tucked neatly away from harm with spring retainers to keep them from rattling out of their sockets. The preamp tubes are mounted inside the all steel chassis. It would require removing a cover plate to change them out, but any idiot with a screwdriver can do that.
The footswitch is metal with plastic sides. The jack on the footswitch is plastic as well. It you are easy with this amp, as you should be with any expensive piece of gear, then these issues shouldn't be a big deal.

TRAYNORAMPS.COM has owners and service manuals available free for download in .PDF format. Just click on the support link.

I have been playing for 20 years. I have used inexpensive, crappy sounding guitars and amps and I have owned the cream of the crop. I used to think I suffered from Gear Acquisition Syndrome. But what i was suffering from was Immediate Gratification Syndrome. I would want something, I would buy it and then use it for a few weeks/months and then dedcide I don't like it as much as I thought I did. I've wasted alot of money over the years on bad amps and guitars.
I can rest easy now knowing that Traynor has answered my prayers for a verasatile tube amplifier that I can finally settle down with. I have played it all from 50's Elvis to Killswitch Engage. I just wish I would've found this amp sooner. This is going to be a solid part of my bacline from now on. I will always have a use for this amplifier. It's part of me now.

Made 2007 in Canada.
Very versatile styles. More on that later.
2 Channels, with switching and comes with footswitch.
Effects are Reverb, and has Presence.
Has a boost for the Lead Channel and Bright button for the Rhythm Channel. Almost always have to leave the Bright button on.
I wish it had a Headphone jack.
I use it at home. Too powerful for at home.

I play Gretch, Fenders, MusicMan into it. Take effect pedals perfectly.
I changed the tubes like everyone recommends and I don't really notice any amazing sound difference. Probably because I don't have the volume up to 8-10 where it breaks. So tube changes are only important if you're going to go all out on distortion.
It's noisy on the house electric, quite elsewhere, so you might need a power regulator, but that isn't the amps fault.
The tone is killer. As good as any Fender tube and much more versatile.
You can play Blues to Classic Rock. Not the best for Metal. Good distortion otherwise. I play on 2 and it hurt my ears, so if you like loud, this is way fine. I personally find it too loud. Might have to bump down or only use it for recording. (I do home recording only)
Personally, this is the best sounding amp I've played, but there is one thing to note. It's a "bright" amp. If you want more bass, you've got to buy the accompanying amp this drives to get the bass more. But I don't want Bass from my guitar, so that would probably affect a live performer more than me. Like I said, I have to have it on 2 to get the tone going, but it literally HURTS my ears at 2. Not at first. You play for an hour and you walk away with pain in your ears. This in not meant to be an At Home amp, word to the wise needing a practice or home recording amp.
The manual with how to ring in Blues or Rock sounds is minimal but VERY useful. Good Idea.

You can throw this thing off the roof and only have to change the tubes. Seriously. It's got a 2 year warranty. Not bad. But I don't have a lot of experience moving amps and haven't had it long enough, so I won't rate it. But if I had to rate it, so far I'd rate it as a 10.

I called them for noise I heard. Found out it was my house electric. You can't have TV's and Computers on and NOT have noise on the line. Plus some can come from the electric company, so a Power Regulator is a good idea. But I called Customer Service and here's the long and short of it. They have people who can fix these things, and as long as it's in warranty, they'll fix it. But the best place is the store you bought it from. Also, they fix it if it's withing 2 years regardless of the owner. Sweet! One bad thing is they have it listed by when THEY made it, not when YOU bought it. So if you don't have your receipt, you're screwed by 1/2 to a year. I have my receipt, so it's no problem for me. BUT KEEP YOUR RECEIPT is my point. Got that, and they were really nice and had no issues having it looked over. They took a few days to get back to me, hence the 9, but that's better than most places.

First, I want to say that I couldn't give a 10 to sound and other things because I know they're not perfect. But overall, this Amp stands out as an amazingly perfect amp. So it's the sum of it's parts. Hence the 10 here.
I've been playing for over 20 years. Have tons of guitars and a few amps, Fender, Rolands, Peavey. This IS the cat's MEOW on sound. The closest amp I ever heard that was this good was a Blues guitar amp from Ampeg (played, but didn't own) But this is way more versatile since it can do Classic Rock. Blew away the Peavey. Tubes way better but perhaps less versatile than the COSM of the Rolands (non tube Cubes)
If it were lost, stolen, or I sold it, it would be for a quiter amp. In fact, I'm thinking of getting something that reduces the watt ouput to the speakers so I can keep the killer tone, but drop the amp to say a 20watt amp. THAT would be perfect for me, but for most people, they could go with this. DO look into the cabinet for bass that you should probably put with this for live performance. As for wishing it had more than a reduction in wattage switch, the only way I can imagine it being better is maybe Traynor's two 10 inch speaker amps. For a more stereo sound. The stock tubes are fine with me, but I get my distortion from pedals, not overdriven tubes. Maybe that will change now that I do have JJ's as the last guy said, Eurotubes is the BOMB helpful and accomodating, go Eurotubes. My opinion is that Traynor amps deserve the Reputation Fender, Marshall, and Ampegs have. This amp is one of the best I've ever heard.
I bought this amp new.

Just got mine used tonight with the extension cabinet.

If you have read more than one review, you know the feaures. Two channels. Pristine clean, good presence control and decent reverb. Boost on the gain channel that quite frankly should be left on all the time if you have stock tubes or they are worn out.

Plug location for the extension cab kinda threw me. It aint under that little arrow I will tell you that much. I am playing on about 1.5-2.0 so I don't wake anyone. Plenty loud at this level and the tubes are just starting to get going a tiny bit. Enought to get a wicked sound.

I am using a 1989 American Standard Strat with Light Blue Lace Sensors in the neck and Bridge. Stock pickup on the mid.
I play everythig from country, to semi-jazz (semi because I am a rookie) to roots to heavy metal to folk to pop... Whatever floats the boat... Tomorrow will be some Rage Against the Machine to test how it grooves....

Not a lot of noise at these volumes. Only gets noisy with my Boss SD1 which is a little bit of a tone robber. In fact, I have dialed it down to just provide a little more boost (yes, on top of the other boost).

As so many have done here, I retubed my power stage with JJ 6L6GCs. I bought these tubes to put in an old Peavey amp that never got played so I yanked them and threw them in the moment I got home. Since the amp is used the tubes were noticable tired. They lacked some sparkle and the response was just not there to the touch. It sounded alright but only alright. I knew with old tubes that this would be improve the moment I changed them out. And man did it change the sound.

Now let me tell you another story. I work in IT can I got a call on Sunday night for hardware failure at a customer site at 11:30 PM. Today is Tuesday morning. I have slept one hour between then and now. Yep. 48 hours of straight work. (IT is great). Anyway, when I got this amp home I threw the tubes in for the hell of it. Despite having no sleep for nearly 2 days, I cannot go to bed. The retube totally changed everything on this amp. Dynamics are there, compression, excellent crunch, and the amp even cleans up with a change in finger style and volume knob. I am not sure what grade of 6L6GCs I wound up with but they are meant for this amp. (Eurotubes just got a customer for life).

Tonight I played everything from Van Halen (just add a tiny bit of chorus) to Kings X to Queensryche to Audioslave to George Lynch to Silverchair to Megadeth to Trace Atkins... Anything I threw at it was just a couple of tweaks away on the gain stage/EQ and the guitar and the fingers. I am totally amazed. The effects loop is pretty darn quiet too. I have some very humble DOD pedals I have thought about trashing but I am shocked to say that as long as they are used sparingly, they sound pretty damn good in the loop.

The clean channel is pristine. You can chunk it along for shuffle, whatever you want. Great sound. I attribute all this to three things.
Traynor made a good overall design. I got the extension cab which fattens the bottom end. I got a great set of tubes to replace the original tired Sovteks. Any good quality set will make a good difference I am sure. I will say this though. Eddie and Bob over at Eurotubes are class acts. They treat you right. Eddie must have answered half a dozen of my emails before I purchased. Great guys, great product. I will be getting some ECC83S Gold Pins from them for the Pre stage... Assuming they come back and tell me it would be a good match... They actually help you find what yo uwnat. Customer service... Ole~

With my current pickups, I dig in hard and add some extra boost and get some pretty good distortion but the pickups are not real hot. Kinda p90-ish... I am gonna toss in a Lace Red in the bridge I think. This thing will really scream as it is like a hot humbucker...

SOund rated a 10 after retubing. Astounding difference and I have not even done the Pre stage yet. Tired tubes suck.

Well, I have had it 6 hours and it still works. Reverb seems a little weird. Hardly any verb until I get to like 9 then it is just awash in reverb. Oh well, I don't surf anyway....
But I have to get that figured out...

No idea yet I got the manual from their web site.
Can be confusing if you do not know that Traynor is Yorkville.

Been playing for 20 years seriously and about 25 total.
Gigged in college but got responsible and employed after that.
Still play and write but just to fill my ADAT with what I love...

My electric rig is down to the following items which to me can pretty much anything you want...

DOD Chorus
DOD Flanger
DOD Delay
Boss SD1 (which shall go to Keeley)
ProCo Turbo Rat which I have not tried yet...
Crybaby Wah

If I ever lose this amp I will freak. I have been looking for this sound for a long time. Your fingers feel connected to the strings and any flaws become apparent. This is a good thing. When you get a good amp, you will hear your flaws, not have them hidden in the muffle. I am frankly shocked at how great this thing sounds. I can get a SRV groove (Mary had a little lamb), or very Marshall sounds (see list above) out of it... Or make it sound Fenderishand country twang... All with zero or very low noise levels. Great stuff.

I am a believer. Top recommendation from me.

2007?.Playing blues,rock,touching harder stuff sometime.This is the right amp for me.2 channels,footswitch.Effect loop,no headphone jack,
i wish it had one.It is very loud,altough it sound's nice at lower levels,perfect for silent practice.

Using a strat copy,it sounds beautiful,i cant see how some guy's
can't get the sound with this amp.Maybe youngsters looking for a metal amp do not dig this Traynor.Still,there is gain enough for Van Halen or similar.Perfect for AC/DC stuff.
Replacing the tube's are necessary and easy,i took the amp section out,working on a table is easier than
struggling inside the amp.Before retube i did'nt like the distorsion,
the Sovtek's are thin and harsh,with JJ's it's a beauty.You can taylor the amp with different tube's,playing loud or at lower volume,more headroom and so on.The clean channel is very nice,using it more than ever.Had a Telecaster with bad pickups that did not sound good at all with this amp,with the strat,o'boy.With right guitar you'll find the tone.Have no pedals,plan to try a tubescreamer for more juice.

When i got this amp with courier the box was clearly abused,the footswitch was loose inside the amp,i thought the amp was recked,but not a scratch,works fine.They seem built to last.

Traynor seems helpful,e-mailed them before i bought the amp,responce pretty fast.No repair or warranty issues yet.2 years warranty.

Playing as a hobbyist.Stolen or lost,would buy another 40WR.There is nothing i dislike with this amp.Even smell good when it's hot,strange.
One thing,footswitchable reverb would be nice.

Good features. Has everything a person needs for small club gigs. I gig with this amp pretty often and it has plenty of power fo my needs. Tubes were replaced with JJ's although I thought the Sovteks were fine. I kept them for backups.

IMO the clean channel sounds great and when pushed with an OD, it's pretty decent. I'm not sure why people are giving bad tone reviews. Maybe there is a problem within the circuit in their amps. Mine sounds fine. I'm going out on a limb here but I A/B'd it with my 72 Fender Silverface deluxe reverb and the tone is not much different with the reverb off with the volume on 4-5. Obviously the Fender cranked to 8 sounds pretty unbelievable and the Traynor doesn't have that lush Fender reverb. With regard to tone, the Traynor is really pretty good. I've been gigging steady for 7-8 years and I can tell you that this is a solid club amp. I push the clean it with a Maxon OD9 modded by Analogman and Keeley BD2. Both OD's sound really great with the clean channel. I don't use the gain channel at all.

Never failed me. Very solid and affordable.

I've contacted them about other products and they get back to you within a day or two. Very cool.

I own a few other amps and I never hesitate to bring this one out. I mainly use my Fender DR silverface but for gigs where I need a little more headroom, I take the Traynor. I think it's the best amp around in it's price range. You may want to change out the tubes for JJ's but like I said, the Sovteks didn't sound bad IMO. I think people tweak too much in general to find their sound. A lot of tone starts with the source (person) GUITAR >pickups>then amp. If a person is playing a thin/bright guitar with crappy pickups, that sound will translate.

As described by other reviewers. I think it was a 2005 model. Good features. Nice distortion. Not much reverb.

This is where this amp falls down. I could not get a good tone out of this amp. I heard someone playing a non-WR model that sounded terrible. I figured he didn't know how to adjust it. Guitar player mag rated it as editors choice, and I liked the looks of it and the features and the company so I bought it. Then I tried for a year to make it sound good with no luck. There is no bass response what so ever. It sounded ok on a few country leads where you need tons of treble, but other than that it was a disappointment. A friend bought the smaller version of this and took it to get it repaired because he thought the bass wasn't working correctly. I have since bought a Hot Rod Deluxe and love the tone. The Traynor does have a smoother distortion, but what good is that if you can't stand the original tone. Check out Bob's comments from Eurotubes.com. Most of his customers don't like the tone.

I'm sure this is a very reliable amp. I had mine for a year with no problems.

Taynor sounds like a good company to deal with. They have a great two-year warranty.

You've been warned. Don't buy this amp. Looks great. Great features. Good company. Lousy tone. I sold mine on Ebay.

Bought this baby back in 2005. Great looks, reliability, price and sound. Solidly built. No noise problems. Effects loop, reverb, presence control.

I play mainly in a church praise band. Some soft stuff where I need a nice clean sound and some classic rock type music where I need a good solid crunch plus a singing lead. It's great for all that.
This puppy is really too loud for what I do, I would buy the 15W model if I had to do over. I use a Marshall Power Brake to push the amp for a warmer sound and give me some room with the volume controls. Otherwise I am fiddling with the volumes between 1 and 1 1/2 in my environment.

I would not recommend it for real heavy metal shredding unless your using a distortion pedal to get your tone. If you want more of a Marshall tone go for the Traynor YCV50 Blue with the EL34 tubes.

It's got 2 channels, clean and overdrive. The overdrive has a boost switch to get you some more gain for leads. The footswitch has two buttons, one for clean/OD and the other for OD boost. The clean channel sounds great and warm, if you crank the volume past 5 or so it it gets a touch of bluesy crunch to it. The OD channel sounds great but if you push the gain past 5 or 6 (depending on your axe) it gets a little harsh sounding. The boost switch boosts the input from your axe to pump up your leads and get more of a singing tone to them.

I got a replacement tube set from Eurotubes which improved the sound. Highly recommended.

I have a Fender Strat and a Gibson Les Paul Classic. It sounds good with both, but especially with the Strat.

It's real solid, as I said before. I do use it without a backup. Never any problems.

No problems so no occasion to deal with the company but they have a great warranty and I hear they're great to deal with.

Been playing on and off for 35 years. If stolen I would pickup the 15W model (wine red) instead. I love the tone, don't hate anything except lugging it up and down stairs.

I compared it to a Fender Hot Rod, I liked the tone and features better.

I wish it had an anti-gravity device so it wouldn't be a bear to lug for my 47 year old arms.

The looks of this beast rock as much as the sound.

This is a basic combo amp, and has most of the features a serious player would need. The built-in reverb sounds great, and it has an effects loop and standby switch. My only complaint on features would be that the included footswitch does not turn the effects loop on and off. It changes channels and turns on the boost. It would be great if it'd control the effects loop. Other than that, no complaints! And mine came with a Traynor cover too.

This amp sounds fantastic. However, I do have to qualify that statement with one caveat...it really is true that you need to retube it. Some might say "why buy an amp that I have to immediately spend money buying new tubes for?" Well, even after purchasing new tubes, you get a great value of a tube amp. Any other tube amp with this kind of quality sound would cost much more than the price of this amp with new tubes. I'd read the reviews and saw that many suggested a retube, and I thought that might be unneccesary. I ordered the amp, and when it came in, I started tweaking with it and found that it sounded brittle. The factory Sovtek tubes just lacked that warmth anf fullness I was looking for in a tube amp. I was a little disappointed. And I decided to take the advice of my peers and try a retube. However, I did not "follow the wave" and go directly for JJs like so many. I'm sure they would sound alright, but I've read that the JJs are LOUD but lack some of the dynamics of other choices. I loaded mine with Electro Harmonix 12ax7EH preamp tubes and a matched pair of SED Winged C 6l6gc power tubes. And this amp came ALIVE!! There is no comparison to the amp that was delivered. The headroom increased dramatically. The clean channel had that great clarity and chimey quality, is very percussive and warm. You can strum, pick, tap...it all sounds great. Turn this thing up to about 2 and just let it go! I LOVE IT. The distorted channel has that creamy rich groovey sound. It's a growler. Love it...and I'm not using a very distorted guitar either. I have an American Telecaster HS, and I usually play in the middle position so that I'm playing with one humbucker and one single coil. Sounds great on both channels. If you want an affordable tube amp that will give you all the vintage tone, tone for days, GO BUY THIS AMP! It makes you want to play just to hear the tone.

I can't say much to the reliability since I have only had the amp about a month. No problems right out of the box. It is well made and sturdy. It should hold up over time.

I have not had to have any customer support.

I've been playing over 20 years and have tried several amps. I owned a Carvin 100 watt 212 X amp, and most recently a Vox 50watt Valvetronix, and have played on a variety of other amps both solid state and tube. This Traynor amp is the best tone I've had, and I love it. If it were stolen I'd buy another and retube it just the same. I do wish the footswitch controlled the effects loop. The 40 watts is perfect, it can get loud enough to jam with a live drummer in my studio, but also sounds great at low volumes. And you can turn it up without getting ridiculously loud, a problem I had with my Carvin. I never got that thing above 1. I can crank this one on up to 2 and push the tubes without being super loud, which is awesome. Also, for other varieties of distortion and special effects, I run a Digitech RP150 into the clean channel, and the amp responds well to it. The amp's distortion (with my SED retube) is a creamy retro sounding distortion, very groovey and awesome. If you want to get that more brittle dark british type distortion, you either want a different amp or a multieffects pedal. For the times when i want that kind of distortion, I just dial it up on my RP150 and the amp gives it to me! I suppose if that is your preference in distortion, you might want to go with the Traynor Blue amp, which has EL34 tubes in it and will go that direction more. If you want a classic sounding tube amp, the YCV40-WR will give you one awesome tube amp for a great price! You will love it!

*Amp purchesed around late 2005.
*This amp has been vary versite thus far. Been trying to find a low
powered amp w/ 2 channels that sounds good...that doesn't cost a
grand....wow is that almost impossible. would love a Koch!! but
whew..pricey little dude.
*2 Channels, effects loop & reverb.I wish it had a Master Volume and
independent Verb and Presence.
I rarely use the boost. For me it's just over the top. To loud,
adds way to much bottem...like a mutant fuzz pedal...just not my
thing. I think this is a Mod for the future. Probably put in a
resitor and seperate volume control. Amp has plaenty of power..still
to much. I like to be able to push the power tubes. Can do that
somewhat on the clean channel, not on the Lead.
*Mostly in a church setting playing comtemporary Worship...don't
worry...we rock. I rock out w/ some buds playin Blues and classic
rock stuff.

*I get nice cledan sound, vary Fenderish..not a lot of bottom. I
find the EZ controls pretty unresponsive at low volumes...at least
the bass control is. Heard other reviews that it has to much of a
high end tone no matter what you do...not so. You can cut the highs.
*The distortion channel ( It's more overdrive...but that's OK! )
Could use a little more bottom...but it crunches nicely. I deff. use
a boost pedal for leads. The stock boost is way to loud...to fat.
To much like a Fuzz. You might like that but not me. It's just
really out of character for the amp.
*I play a hand made guitar from Paul Beard of Beard Guitars. It's a
Strat body (Mahog/Maple Cap), modeled a 65' Strat neck..Ebony
fretboard..huge frets. Pearly Gates in Bridge (tapped),
Fender Silver Lace in Middle, S. Duncan SH2 in Neck (Tapped)
Only electric he ever made...I put it against any PRS, Tom Anderson,
Terry Macin...whatever and it's as good if not better. Also play a
Jimmie Vaughan Strat (Mex Neck) on a American Body with Texas
Special Pickups. Several other Guitars but these are the Mainstays.
As you can see I'm pushing good tones into the amp.
*Amp sounds great with Blues, Classic Rock, Alternative. Doesn't
do New Metal well...without out some crazy pedals and an EQ in the
EZ Loop.
*Don't find it to be noisy.

I've expeimented with several...many pedals...good ones...to cheap ones. Haven't re-tubed yet. I like to do a lot of study before I do that. I'm getting close.
Currently I plug into a Radial Tone Bone Over-Drive pedal..into a Arion "Tunulator" Over-Drive...don't laugh! Only 25 bucks but it's vary quiet, and works well for subtle breakup. Then at end of that chain I use a Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster cranked about half way...this makes this amp sing. I leave it on all the time. It will push the Power Tubes w/out changin the tone. I also use a Full Tone Full Drive II...this works good but the Radial Tone Bone is the Bomb!!! w/ In conjunction w/ the S.D. Pickup Booster it's amazing.

Any one having done a Mod? Love to know what you did.

So far vary reliable. Only thing that has happened is the nuts keeping the jacks for the effects loop vibrated loose and fell off. That's no bif deal. Tubes hard to get to...but on the other hand well protected.

Haven't needed it

So far been a great amp. I've had Fenders...Boogies...well this amp for the money I paid is awesome. I read about it in Guitar Player...they gave it an Editor's Pick of 5...they go 1-5. Never played it, just bought it off Mus. Freind. How good is that. If I keep this amp there are mods in the future.

Just taken delivery of this little 2 channel 40w monster(ette). Not a flawless piece of kit, but loud, solid and at times simply gorgeous! global volume control would be nice from an ease of use point of view, but then we need to get those valves cookin' don't we?

Sound wise this is tricky. On best behaviour it sounds superb. In clean mode (a bit hissy but nothing too scary) it can sound glass-like, ultra sensitive, responsive, warm and balanced in a way that wees all over the fender equivalent and sounds fairly near some decent "boutique amps" and certainly doesn't disgrace itself against the ubiquitous Twin which we also use (in fact i think I prefer it).

It seems to work wonderfully with my washburn semi which has been tweaked with some seymore duncan alnicos. The overdriven channel is however "sat on" lacking punch and definition and tricky to get sounding anything other than crappy. This oddly is not true when you kick in the boost switch at which point you get smooth, creamy, singing distortion which brings the amp back to life, once again being responsive and deep. Oddly despite other reviewers comments, i can't get it to crunch nicely, the guitar is as blues crunch orientated as you like but the amp seems to break up in a very civilised way lacking that bit of edgey ballsiness that you need- not one for metal. I recommend getting pedals to generate the sounds you are after because it is not a complete solution, but then this is true of all good amps. It has a certain character, and a community of people with suggestions on tweaking it. It not only shows up some its fairly illustrious competitors, but at this price point proves that amp modelling is dumb, crass and pointless. Really tasty genuine tube amps are now available to the masses. Worth trying other valves/extention cab.

Bare with me here- this amp is like a german car. It is superbly engineered and finished, but maybe not totally reliable. It will probably outlast most people/buildings but is inclined to chuck in the odd gremlin. There are reported probs with effects loop, hissing clean channel and hot valves in enclosed space means reduced tube life but that probably won't damage the PCB- The engineers are smarter than that. I will use this amp without backup until it gives me reason not to. It is certainly very solidly put together and uses some good components.

Very fast off the mark with assistance and highly personable and friendly with it- no corporate cow poo here. The warranty is excellent. Who else offers circuit diagrams and suggested tweaks with mid-priced amps these days?

As a musician of many years who has been through a lot of kit I can honestly say that I am totally chuffed to bits with this amp. It is not perfect but it does have that special something which makes you love it. Its more versatile and reliable than the vintage fender workhorses. It sounds better than the hotrods and equivalents. If you could get it to crunch a bit more and sound a bit fuller on the distortion channel you would have one hell of a piece of kit on your hands. As it is though, if someone nicked it i'd track them down and do something very nasty to them! The icing on the cake- it is the same colour as red wine- delicious!

I bought this amp and it was used, it was already a year and a half old BUT, it totaly kicks ass. It is versatile enough for any style of music, trust me. It has 2 channels and the overdrive channel has a boost button that really kicks the drive up nicely, but be careful, if you crank the gain it can get a little farty or muddy with the boost on. The reverb leaves a little to be disired but a least it has reverb. The one thing it does'nt have is a master volume and I would really like to have one but it sounds great without. I'll give it an 8 because the reverb is'nt the best and it does'nt have a master volume, but everything else is a 10.

Like I said before, this amp has every kind of sound you could want in it, you just gotta play with it a bit. To describe the clean channel I start like this. The morning of the day I bought the amp I went and bought a Fender Highway One Telecaster and I played it through a Fender Deluxe Reverb and man I thought it was one of the best clean sounds I had ever heard. The only one I had heard that was better was a Tele Deluxe Plus through a Fender Vibro King from the Fender Custom Shop. So with that said, this amp sounded better then the deluxe reverb with my Tele. It totaly screams with clarity when I use my Les Paul and I don't have the time to even get started on how good it sounded with my American Standard Strat, Jimi would've used one of these amps. I play hard, modern rock (Breaking Benjamins type stuff) and classic rock and the blues for fun and it suits me just fine, mind you I only use this for my clean sound and for a little bit of a gainy clean, for distortion I use my Marshall JCM 800 1x12 combo. No complaints at all this amp strives for perfection, mind you I should let you know that the original Sovtek tubes were all switched for JJ's. I'll never use anything else again but JJ's.

No problems, runs great, sounds great and its built like a tank. I am skeptical about tube amps so I always have a backup set of tubes but not a backup amp but, I can't see this amp failing for a long time.

It has a 2 year eve if you broke it waranty! Enough said.

This is probably the lowest priced amp in it's class and they could probably sell them for more then the competition sells there's for. I have been playing for 14 years and think I at least know a little bit about this stuff. I play it with a Fender American Standard Strat, Fender Highway One Tele and a Gibson Les Paul Swamp Ash Studio, a good selection of guitars and sounds. I tried Fenders (blues deville, hot rod de ville , hot rod deluxe and even a blues junior) for the sound I wanted and I was'nt half as satisfied with Fender as I was when I heard this beauty. I'll put it to you this way, as soon as I bought it I got insurance on it, in case it gets stolen or damaged, so I can get the money to get a new one. I love everything about it and hate nothing. I espescially love the look of it, with the brown tolex and the gold grill cloth. If you are a tube amp person this is a must have, actually any of the Traynor YC series for that matter, and if you are not you're an idiot. BUY THIS AMP!

2 Foot-switchable channels, series FX-loop, shared-presence & reverb.

the stock tubes (sovtek 3 12ax7 & 2 5881) sounds ok but i noticed that it breaks up so easily. both channels gave very usable sounds, especially the clean. there is a "brightness" switch on the clean channel that is quite nice on low volumes, but as the volume goes up, i find that the sound becomes sterile & harsh. the dirty channel has a boost switch. it's a little bit too loud for my taste once enganged.

like many others, i did invest on some tubes for both preamp (v1 & v2), phase inverter (v3) and the power tubes. so be prepared to spend another $100 for this. is it worth it? simple answer: if you want a better sound than the stock, yes! i didn't really notice much difference at first. Not until I put the old tubes back. There is a lot of difference, the distortion is a lot cremier and the clean just sparkles. oh yeah, the hiss on the clean channel is virtually gone.

here's what i use as an fyi ...

v1/v2 - TungSol 12ax7 (re-issue)
v3 - JJ ECC83-S (balanced)
power - JJ 6l6GC (matched)

my simple setup is:
LesPaul Studio -> TU2 -> SD SFX-03 -> YCV40 -> (send) DG-STOMP (return)

the DG acts as my master volume. too bad this amp did not come with that. but not an issue, the amp still sounds good even at low volumes.

btw, for those people complaining about the bottom-end, they are partially right. the clean does have the "oomph", but not so much the other channel. however, there is good news. i tried hooking up an Mesa closed-back 1x12 cab, and let me tell you, it's like magic.

unfortunately, you have to spend a lot of money to get the best out of this puppy. you might end up spending as much money as buying a named-brand amps. hence, not a perfect score.

seems stable. but i'm worried about the heat on top of the amp. since it's a PCB amp, it might break one day. there was a little bit of a hiss when i replace the tubes. but after swapping them out, the hiss is gone.

i tried contacting them via email about the hiss on the clean channel. the first email bounced-back and the other, i don't know if they received it. never heard back yet. warranty seems super. 2-year on anything even if you break it and 10 years on the cab. can't beat that!

i mainly play in a christian praise/worship band. we do cover a lot of genre and this amp seems capable of coping. i originally purchased this amp to amplify my PODXTL and as a backup. It ended up that my XTL is now collecting dust as backup! i'll probably look into buying something else if it ever breaks, not because i don't like it. just to have a fresh new sound! this amp seems a keeper if treated well, though! i'm not worried.

Made 2004-2005. Very versatile amp for most music I play which includes hard rock - rock - blues. Remember, an amp is only versatile if its sounds are usable, and almost every sound this amp makes is usable. Two channels, switchable clean and dirty with a bright switch on clean channel and a boost on dirty. Series effects loop, no headphone jack. There are only a few minor things that I wish this amp had - a speaker simulated headphone jack like on other traynor YCV models, a parallel effects loop, an adjustable boost level, and switchable reverb, none of them dealbreakers. I use all the features that the amp provides. So far I have only used this amp at home in an apartment - so frankly it is way too powerful for me even with a THD hotplate. However, it does sound pretty good at low volumes, and I wanted an amp that I could gig with so I compromised. This amp is "mostly tube", meaning that power and pre amp are tube, but that some solid state components do enter the signal path . . .it sounds and plays like a tube amp to me.

This amp can make a lot of usable sounds - in this sense it is a hundred times more versatile than a digital modeling amp. That said, its probably not the best amp for metal - but it can probably cover almost all other popular music styles and can do a decent metal impression with boost engaged. The clean channel gives a decent amount of headroom and distorts nicely when pushed. The distortion is great for most rock - you can actually tell the difference between most chord variants and the amp responds well to pick attack. Also the distortion (and clean) channel's character really changes with different guitars and pickup types. With high output humbuckers and boost engaged this amp can get into very hard rock/metal territory, although probably isn't the best option if that is your primary style. I am using this amp with a PRS custom 24 and a MIM strat. With the PRS and this amp you can cover a lot of ground - searing distorted riffs on the high output bridge pickup, bluesy grit on the "in-between" pickup positions, and smooth jazzy sounds with the neck pickup. The clean channel always sounds great, but on some settings I can never quite dial in the perfect distorted tone Also, despite the PRS versatility, single coils probably complement the clean channel best. The amp is not noisy, especially with the noise reduction on my hotplate.

I havn't used this amp hard so i dont know. It is two channel and PCB construction - so there are more parts to break and it is harder to repair - but the overall build quality is very nice.

2 year even if you break it warranty seems good

Been playing around 12 years. This amp and my two guitars are all I currently own. I have also owned an old yamaha solid state combo, a line 6 combo and an Ampeg V4 head/marshall 212 stack. The line 6 was a nice lightweight/versatile amp, but very stale and uninspiring. I used the Ampeg extensively when I used to gig/play in a band. The Ampeg was the loudest amp I have ever heard, but only did one thing well - loud and clean. The Traynor is a perfect compromise, providing punchy tube sound, but also a lot of versatility. I just wish I had bought an amp like this years ago - who needs a stack anymore - mics and PA's have been around for a while people! Just about the only thing I hate about this amp is that it has PCB mounted knobs and tube sockets, and the control knobs turn too easy and look cheap. I compared this to similar amps in the price range(ie Fender HRD) as well as the THD univalve. The Fender's distortion wasn't as nice, and it lacked independent EQ's which I like. The Univalve+speakers was a little too spendy, and based on reviews I was concerned about clean headroom in a gigging situation. I give it a 9, because although it is not a perfect amp, it is one of the best of its type in this price range.

Features have all been stated pretty well. I wont waste your time here.

I used a Epiphone Les Paul Custom all stock and an American Std. Fender Strat with Lace senser pickups. I play all types of music except Metal. Amp ran rather quiet with or without pedals in the line.

Now for the bad news. This amp was EXTREMELY bright. I think its the cab that it comes in. very small and thin. It could NOT be brought down to less than ear piercing even with the bass maxed and the treble on 1. Cleans were good at a lower volume but once cranked it was just to sterile and thin and trebely for my taste. I thought maybe it was my ears until I brought it to rehersal and everyone agreed, it was horridly trebely. The gain is ok but even at that theres just NO bottom on this amp.

Didnt have any issues with it and seemed to be something that would laste, though I didnt keep it long enough to find out.

Didnt need to ask them anything. Didnt use it.

I have been playing guitar for 28 years, Played through Marshalls, Fenders, Peaveys, Mesa's, Crate and a few others. Mostly all tube amps. If it was stolen I would thank the guy that took it. This amp may be fine ran through an extention cab, maybe that would be a way to give it the bottom it SOOOooo lacked. I gigged with it 2 times, miched and non Mich'ed, didnt matter. It was just a BAD sound.

This is a 40 watt 6l6 amp made in 2004. Fantastic clean channel, good overdrive channel. This amp works great for reggae, ska, funk, classic rock, etc . . . pretty much everything that I can throw at it. Has 2 channels, boost on the gain channel, bright switch on the clean channel. Effects loop, speaker out, and reverb are about all that I wanted from an amp. I use this amp to play at home, jam with friends and on occasional gigs. 40 watts is plenty of power to play out, but can be tamed enough for home practise too.

I use an ES-335 with paf-style pickups (Seth Lover Bridge, and '59 Neck). This amp sounds fantastic clean. I compared it to several fender amps (Deluxe Reissue, Vibrolux, Hot Rod Deluxe) and the Traynor really surprised me. It definately has that Fender style sparkly clean sound . . . Cleans are good and strong right up to gigging volumes (although I bought the extension cab and have been using it with that - it's probably a little quieter on it's own). On the lead channel I usually leave the overdrive set to just past the point of breaking up, so that I can roll back on my guitar's volume knob and clean it up a bit. Again I was surprised, this amp sounds sort of like an overdriven bassman - a little fendery, a little marshally. When the gain is cranked up you can get some nice AC/DC style sounds, but to do heavy metal you would probably need a pedal. About my only complaint is that at very low volumes the amp has a slight but noticable hiss on the clean channel. When you turn the volume up to 1 or above, you won't notice it, but if you're practicing very quietly it might bug you. The gain channel is dead silent at all volumes. One other thing - This amp loves pedals! There are a lot of Pink Floyd/Radiohead/Cure sounds that can be coaxed from this amp . . . and the effects loop isn't noisy at all.

The tubes heat up quite a bit in the back of the amp, but that's normal. It would be nice if there was a built in fan blowing directly on the tubes to extend their life, but that's a minor gripe. Nothing has gone wrong thus far . . .

I've sent off a few emails to yorkville sound and always had very quick responses. They're a good company to deal with. The two year warrenty is also pretty decent.

I've been playing for about 6 years. If stolen or lost, I would definately buy this amp again. I don't hate anything about this amp . . . maybe a master volume would be nice (so that you don't have to keep changing settings around when changing volume), and knobs that are a little harder to turn would also be good (you have to memorize settings because the knobs move very easily). This amp definately holds its own against the fender, marshall, and kustom amps that I tested it against. Definately a good buy.

Has everything I need from an amp. I love the auto-bias feature. Other features are already mentioned below.

I love the way this amp sounds. My setup goes Schecter C1->Boss GT8->DBX 215 EQ-> Traynor. The clean channel is beautiful (it can have a little too much treble at times, but just turn down the treble knob), and the distorion is nice. I did change the tubes to JJ's (which helped beef up the distortion slightly), but I also use my DBX EQ unit for tailoring the distortion channel to my sound.

If you want to hear the sound I'm getting from this amp, check out some song samples from my band's site http://daysdrive.com/music.htm The song "You're a Hypocrite" is a good example. The guitar was recorded using a Shure Beta 57a placed directly in the center of the speaker, about half an inch from the amp.

Overall, the amp is not noisy, and it can handle almost any style you want to play (except for metal).

P.S. I highly recommend the matching extension cab. It really opens up the amp. Without it, the amp can sound a little thin; however, once the cab is added, the sound really gets full.

Haven't had any problems with it. I use it without a backup.

I've been playing guitar for ten years, and this amp ended my relentless search for a good amp. After driving myself crazy looking at Mesas, Fenders, Marshalls, vintage stuff, and others, I quickly fell for this amp. It looks and sounds great...is easy to transport...is auto-biasing...and is very affordable.

Features and ease of use are great. The details are all stated in the other reviews so I won't bother.

I mostly play Les Pauls through it, but a Strat sounds great through it too. The amp itself is not noisy at all. Boosters and drive pedals can give it some hum, but that's normal. I don't care much at all for the gain channel. Not bad, but it just doesn't suit me.
I run my overdrive and boost pedals into the input and all other effects into the fx loop. I changed all of the tubes to JJs and they made a difference but it wasn't huge IMO. I have an Electro Harmonix English Muff'n preamp/overdrive pedal that I use with this amp and it totally changes it's sound. Read below for another review that talks about matching this pedal with this amp. He's absolutely right.
I don't use the gain on this pedal at all. Just a clean boost. Lately I've been using 2 overdrive pedals together before the English Muff'n. The sound is spectacular. I use a modded TS-7 and a Bad Monkey. The combination of these pedals really make this amp scream. It's a fairly loud amp, but it seems like it should be louder for 40 watts. I have an old 15 watt tube amp that comes close to being as loud. IMO the clean channel doesn't have a very good natural overdrive. It gets pretty muddy when I crank it up. Works best for me at 5 or under using overdrive pedals. The speaker starts farting and burping if I give it too much bass too.

No problems yet. Built like a tank. I do have a problem with the footswitch though. The plastic nut that holds the cable to the footswitch broke. Don't use the footswitch, but I still want it fixed.

Don't know. Heard it's all good. I'll find out.

I've had this amp for about a year now. Bought it new. Been playing about 18 yrs. Found out about this amp on guitar-jam forum. I have 4 tube amps so I've got others to compare to the Traynor. I recently bought a used Peavey Bravo and in some ways I like the Traynor better, but it just doesn't have the deep body that the Bravo has. The Bravo has a very meaty growl. The thing that makes the Bravo different mostly though is that it doesn't need pedals.
Overall with the right pedals I can make this amp sound just about any way I want. And I've been liking it a lot lately since I've been running 3 overdrives lined up. Until now I didn't think this amp could do metal. For the money, I'd say it's not a bad amp at all. I like it more than the Hot Rod Deluxe by far.

2005 model, all the same features as previously posted. An XLR out would have been nice (read below).

Sounds really nice, but it's not a loud 40 watts. I play in a band and I have to mic it - even with the nifty extension cab. I'm selling it this week on Ebay, which I'll reget later, I'm sure.

I use Gibsons (LP Jr and SG) through a moderate effects board (English Muff'n, TS808, and an EQ). I can really dial in a plexi tone this way.

I like to record with it but I'm still experimenting with mic placement (the sound I hear in the room is always different than what goes on tape). I wish that's why it had an XLR out (and for live gigs, too)

I had some issues with the clean channel before I realized that the speaker had crapped out. Now I can dial it to 6 or 7 before a nice overdrive kicks in. When dimed I still get some rubbish from the speakers, but that's to be expected driving 40 watts.

The overdrive didn't please me until I added the EQ pedal through the fx loop. Now I use it all the time.

This thing is a tank, but I can't afford to keep it and buy a new one.

Once I figured out that my speaker was blown, the Customer Service guy (Carl M) helped me get a new speaker ASAP (it was still under warranty). Thanks Carl! I always received good service from the Traynor/Yorkville crew.

Playing 15 years. I like the tone but it doesn't cut through a loud band's beatings. I say "You know, we can all turn down a little..." only to have the guys return to the same volume five minutes later." An old complaint, to be sure.

It's a good amp. I play with the mids cut, so I'm sacrificing some oomph there, but I don't want to place volume ahead of tone.

I just feel that it's a shame to have to mic it even with the cool extension cab. We never play in places larger than bars and my little wine-red friend just gets lost in the mix.

In another setting I would love this amp. For who I play with, it's just not cutting it power-wise.

Mine was manufactured in 2005. The amp is exactly what I need in terms of versatility. I play old school to modern rockin blues and classic rock - originals also. It's a dual channel amp, each with it's own eq section, bright switch on the clean channel, boost on the dirty channel. All are footswichable (except the bright switch). Only feature I would like to have seen would have been a master volume for both channels. Big deal.
I have been gigging with it since I got it 8 months ago and have fallen in love with the tones this amp creates. For me, both channels are very usable and there has always been plenty of headroom. Unlike some other reviewers, I really like the reverb. A few months aftre I bought the amp, I bought the matching extension cab, and the amp truly came alive! If you own this amp, bet the extension cabinet. It has taken the amp to another level.

I use a Gibson Blueshawk with Seymour Duncan p-90hot pickups, a PRS Tremonti SE with Seymour Duncan 59s and a stock Telecaster Custom.
Thru this amp, each guitar has it's own voice and they are all distinctly different. It's all good! This is the quietest tube amp I've ever owned. The variety of tones covers everything from nice clean and distinct notes and chords to really creamy distortion (the good kind). The clean channel (when driven past 5) breaks up just right - incredible. I think the addition of the ext cab has helped in this area. Same goes for the dist channel - way more musical after the adddition of the ext cab. I use pedals (old cry baby wha, marshall comp, dod chorus, voodoo labs sparkle drive and dod delay). But the dirty channel allows you to grab a nice ZZTop kinda rhythm tone and still throw a drive pedal on top for soloing.

Have not experienced any probs at all - and the warranty is killer.

They are exceptional - when I ordered the ext cab, it came in the wrong covering (they switched the tolex for the 2006 models). I emailed them wanting to know what was up? They emailed me back the next day saying they were making a limited run of cabs with the old stle covering,, and they would handle everything for me to get me the right one. Awesome customer service. (Thanks again Carl)

My overall rating on this is extremely high as I am extremely happy with this amp and cab combo.

Reverb, FX loop, all tube, Auto-biasing (this feature is fantastic and is a time saver too), 40 watts, 12" Celestion G12 Vintage 30, Accutronics spring reverb. Wish it had a headphone jack and another input for a 2nd guitar. Bought my amp new in 2005.

This is a versatile sounding amp (even more so if you have the right tube's in place) with plenty of power for my inside gigs. Pre-amp tubes are a slight pain to change since you have to remove a handful of screws to access them.

For a tube amp it is very, very quiet. I use a Schecter C-1+ and can't believe how fantastic this amp sounds. I ditched the stock Sovtek tubes and slapped in some Tung-Sol 5881's and Electro Harmonix 12AX7EH's. The stock Sovteks sound okay, but don't have a good bottom end or provide player-induced harmonics very well. Replacing them with the above mentioned tubes gave me more sustain, a much deeper bass and allowed me to attain some "modern" type rock sounds, not quite Death-metal however (a pedal can rectify this though). If I want to play some classic rock or blues I just roll the gain back. Clean channel is very nice at all volume levels with either of my tube set-ups, although not quite as good as a Fender tube amp it's still better than most amps I've played through. The reverb section is very good, but the reverb control doesn't kick in until you reach 8 on the dial. For overall sound I give it an 8 since nothing is perfect, but in its price range I feel this amp is peerless.

So far so good. Build quality is great, much better than my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. The wiring inside and out is neatly arranged and the cabinet construction looks very good too.

Haven't had the need to call customer support.

Overall, this amp is a steal and an unbelievable value. I just noticed Traynor raised the price on them so the street price in the USA is around $700+. If I lost this amp I would unquestionably buy a new one, even at the new price. I stress enough how cool the auto tube biasing is. Swapping power tubes literally takes 1 minute, allowing you to change the tonal variety from the amp. There is nothing I hate about this amp, just a few additions I wish were there (2nd input and headphone jack).

2005 model. Very versatile but not for everything. the ususal FX loop, chnl sel, reverb... etc.
40W is plenty for most situations.

I use a knock off archtop that is an old Vantage with Humbuckers. It is a fat hollow guitar that is surprisingly very versatile with this combo. I play in a Christian praise and worship band at a youth centre so the styles range from clean subtle nuance to blues to country twang to heavier rock. this amp is very versatile no doubt. I can get reasonable facsimiles of all those styles except for a real good JAZZ or HEAVY metal sound. I say facsimiles because all the sounds while very good, are not quite the original (if you are comparing to Marshall / Fender et al). That might be a good thing or it might not. I found that this amp, for example lacks the authoratative OD of a good Marshall- sure it's good, but no way can this amp compare to the balls of real EL34 cranked.. c'mon... In addition, when playing country chicken picken and honky tonk,, it's close, but compare it to a vintage or a new Fender all tube unit like my buddie's Super, or a new DRRI... the reverb is No way near as lush and the clean tones are not as good. I agree with one of the guys who compared it to the VOx.. I use a digital delay and it sounds really good for the mid U2 stuff. Having said all that, its is a very good sounding tube amp with the vibe of a good tube amp and responds like it should... it's jut a bit different which is good right? I am giving it an 8 because I am spoiled and compared it to a beautiful Marshall I used to own and also my buddies Super Reverb SLiverface... so those are the yardsticks.. like it or not.

Built like it's a NHL hockey player in the 7th game of the championship .. Made in Canada..

excellent rep.. haven't needed them yet ...

If you compare it to the obvious choiced it is very good but doesn't measure up to the Hallmarks in my opinion. But for a straight forward combo at 40+ lbs to yank and carry to a gig and cover all the basics it's very close. I did replace the dreadful tubes with replacements though which were much better.. I rented 2 units before I bought and have been playing since 1984 in various forms and on various stages... so this amp wasn't a surprise. It is good, infact very good, but if you do compare and you will... you will know what I mean. in the end if you ask soem one in the audience or your wife, they probably wont be able to intelligently reapond which is better or know.. the response i get on this amp is 'good'.. so when I get my new Deluxe I will respond then also for now it's a good amp.