Traynor YCV40

You get three tones (clean, crunch and overdrive). The really great feature about this amp is the fact that although it has 2 channels, there is a boost on the lead channel that really sends it into overdrive(basically a 3rd channel). Also the reverb is great for playing clean stuff.
Knobs are all found on the top of the amp(rear mount), which I find makes it a lot easier to adjust levels when playing..you don't have to hunch over on your knees to get the right levels. Also the knobs are "chicken beak" style, which I find easy, and durable.

This amp is very versatile. For most fo my gigs I play everything from classic rock, blues, and even pop. I would say it sounds best for SRV, and Hendrix style guitar playing(blues and classic rock). The clean channel is absolutely great for blues, very rich & smooth. The lead channel is great for classic rock stuff, and the extra boost option on the lead channel is great for squeezing out that little more overdrive. With a Boss DS-1 or similar pedal, you can achieve even more of a heavy sound(keep in mind though it's not a Marshall stack or 5150 combo).
This is a 40 watt tube amp, so it's pretty loud for a combo. I play smaller to medium venues with a full band, and I've never had a problem with it not being loud enough. I find since it is a tube amp, it really shines at higher volumes.

The thing is built like a rock, very, very solid! I've hauled this to gig after gig, without any problems what so ever.

Never had any problems with the amp(this is my second Traynor I've owned).

For the price, I don't really think you can get a better bang for your buck. I've owned many amps throughout my years of playing, and I can honestly say I'm very pleased with this product. Great for gigs, and gives you lots of tube juice for a 40 watt combo!
I would highly recommend this amp to any player..especially if your into playing blues.

Don't know when it was made. I bought it used for $420. Features are kinda standard 2 channel amp features. The presence control is absolutely necessary. I was surprised to find it doesn't have a footswitchable FX loop, which would have been nice for an amp sold for over $700 new. DUH! I use this amp for everything now, but I must admit the speaker hiss is quite pronounced when it's on, even with the volume turned all the way down. Surely they could have done a better job with that, but hey it's still a low priced all tube amp so I can live with it.

I'm using everything on this amp: Pedals, no pedals, Les Paul, Tele, Strat, hybrid, etc. I give it high marks for accepting all of those inputs so well. That's what is so important to me: That I can have a one size fits all amp that still has character.

As far as sound quality: You've read it all below. Change the worthless speaker to make it into a good amp! I ended up with an Eminence Swamp Thang and figured I could get away it, since the amp is SO bright. (Does it really need a bright switch anyway? It's too bright already) I would have preferred a Greenback or Texas Heat, but this one works.

CHANGE THE PREAMP TUBES at the very least, so you can get a decent sound out of it. The stock Sovteks are very brash sounding. I will change the power tubes eventually, but I can live with them for now.

The clean channel is why I bought it. I want it to cut through anything yet not be shrill. GREAT eq on the clean side! The dirty channel(s) are worthless in my opinion, though I can get a couple of decent tones out of the crunch channel. That has more to do with the power tubes. I love 6l6's for clean stuff because they can stay so clean at high volumes, but I don't like the way they amplify preamp distortion in a tube amp.

It's a slightly less-right Twin sound for sure, but the reverb would have been better off left on the floor. The most terrible reverb in an all tube amp I have ever heard. Dial it above 7 and you experience a huge loss in volume. Junk circuit.

So I like it for the clean stuff and it's EQ flexibility, which is why I bought it.

I'm very confident in this product. Built very well and needs little care. The schematics from the website are by far the best I've seen from amp makers, including revisions. So clear and full of all the little tweaks done on the production line. I'm confident I will only have to call customer support if one of the transformers die. The rest of the parts are generally available.

However, see my note below about changing the tubes!

No idea.

One last thing: Design is still a little weird. Case in point: The preamp tubes are behind a shiled held up by 4 or 5 screws that are WAYYYyyyyy too over-torqued. It took me 30 minutes to remove the power tubes first, then the shield with it's super tight screws, then finally get to the preamp tubes. Lesson is: Don't plan on being able to swap out tubes in the middle of a gig. The power tubes will have to be removed to get to the shield, and they will be hot. Then you'll need a solid #2 Philips screwdriver. It would be best to "break" those screws open long before you actually need to. ;)

mine is a 2002 model 2 channel but its realy a 3 channel amp with the boost switch,it as a great effects loop ,bright sw on the clean channel,reverb is weak compared to my fender princeton reverb,thats why i give it a 9 and not a ten cause i realy like a good spring reverb,other then that the amp will do it all and with class, from super fender blackface clean to fender reverb overdrive to marshall super lead crunch to jcm 800 lead and realy agresive metal if you use a booster if front of the drive channel i use a tonebone classic distortion on overdrive setting and it sounds great a la modded plexi.

try one out youll see what i mean its not a plug and play amp it takes a bit of time and tweaking to get it to what you want just like anny good bootique amp its not bootique but it sounds freaking better then allot of bootique amp i owned and that lotsa,em,the clean channel sounds amazing like a cross between princeton reverb and vibrolux kinda thing, the dirty channel is kinda vintage sounding on its own but with a good booster in front of it and a bit of eq tweaking and a eq in the loop i get the best distortion or crunch i have ever got from anny amp from peavey to bogner and everything in between ,and the best part is its made right here in canada but i dont see it ever breaking down and it shows that canadian engenering is far superior than many in every way LOL.. ok im getting ahead of myself sorry,in sumary this amp sounds freaking great the complexity and harmonics of the tone is to die for.

the best waranty in the buisness, i dont think it will ever break down built like the persone who actualy made it cared..

i emailed them about the reverb thing and they emailed me back the same day best customer service ever..

at half the price of a marshall a quarter of the price of a soldano or bogner you get 10 times better tone then marshall 2 time better tone then a soldano and just a bit better tone then bogner xtc , that reminds me the distortion channel with my boost and tweaks sound incredebly close to my bogner xtc red channel with ts 808 in front of it to tighted it up a bit,,the amp is very dynamic to pic attack and nuances from you fingers, very punchy and the mid complexity is out of this world , its the best channel switcher combo i have ever had the pleasure to play it does fender vox and marshall all with the flick of the switch.....

and at this price range i dont know how they can do it, its an incredeble amp the rewards you with the best all tube tone ever created...

very loud 40 watt, 2 channel,2 EQ,reverb, boost for even more distortion, presence, bright switch, external cabinet input.All the great features that every amp must have.

The quest of the sound....I had a Marshall JCM900 head and 1960 cab, after i bought a pricy Koch multitone 2x12 3500$, it was not my kind of amp,a fender blues deville, too loud and the overdrive was just overdrive. I also had a fender superchamp xd 15 watt, low cost and a lot of features but not good to play with a band and finally i gave a chance to the traynor YCV40. WOW! I have a clean with a lot of bass, less brighter than a fender, very responsive like a boutique amp, you will forget fender clean after this. Because what you have with that clean, it's a blend of vox and marshall distortion, again , very responsive, a la hendrix and when you need that extra boost in that song or the entire song, you have it. It's simple to get a good sound too. I set the gain around 6 and it bring me back with a vintage marshall or a hotrodded with the boost. A nice clean and a nice distortion in one amp. Combined with my cabinet of 4 celestion greenback, it's the paradise. That's what i need !

Auto-bias. No need for a tech if you know a little on tubes.What can i say more. Very solid construction. Made in Canada in toronto.

I wish the canadians are as good as the french canadians ;)

For the price of around 800$, it's hard to find another amp with a nice clean and a nice distortion. I am plenty happy with the traynor. That's a hidden secret for the quest of the tone.

I have owned this amp for about 5 years now, and bought it used from someone who had it a few years before that, so it's been put through the paces. I love the size of this amp! It is just the right size cabinet to give a big enough sound without being a huge pain to haul around. I play mainly modern Alternative Rock and Blues Rock and I strive for a tone as close as I can get to John Mayer on his Continuum album. I also love the versatility the amp has. My favorite overdrive is when I have my clean channel cranked up to about 7 and let her scream. The overdrive is also very good and I tend to leave it on the OD channel without the boost most of the time. Generally, for the size of venues I play, which are usually small to mid-size, I leave my drive at about 4 and my volume anywhere from 2 to 5. It is MORE than loud enough for any venue I've played. I generally just love to rock out on rhythm and throw in an occasional screaming lead line.

I actually took the suggestion from reviewers here and put in a Celestion Greenback, and WOW. My amp went from great to even better! I like how the tone became more edgy but without any harshness. I like my sound anywhere from super clean, to a nice blues-rock crunch or even with a little twang. I always play through a strat so the sound is bright and driving. I generally use my beefy neck pickup and switch to the bridge for bright soloing. I rarely turn my overdrive past 5 because I don't really care for that much drive. It gets so driven that it nearly gets a Marshall-esque hard rock tone, but that's not really my bag. I think the amp is more in the Fender league to compare to a popular vendor. As others have said, think Fender Deluxe with better overdrive built in and more character. There is also a boost channel, which actually really rocks, but I rarely use it because it gets really crunchy. I also can't forget the spring reverb which I like to turn up and I love!! I prefer using this amp withouth any effects, but all I need is a tube tremolo and I'm set!

This amp is a trooper. I was stupid several years ago and left it in my cold basement during the winter. One day during practice it suddenly started billowing white clowds of smoke!! I had it serviced and $100 and a tube replacement later, I had an ever better sounding amp than when I cooked it. The repair tech said that if I would have played it 5 minutes longer, it would have been on fire. Other than that incident, which was my fault, of course, this amp has been lugged around all over the place without a hitch. I've bashed it all over the place and it still looks and sounds great. I also like the the tubes are very protected and won't get jolted around.

Never dealt with them and don't really see a reason that I'll have to.

I've been playing guitar for fun for about eight years now. I'm actually a college graduate in recording, so I am very picky about tone and getting good sounds, not as a guitar expert, but just as someone with good ears. The Traynor really fits the bill for me. I like having an amp that is really attractive and different from what everyone else has. As I said, I don't really use effects even though I crave a tube tremolo and I am considering adding a tap tempo delay. Other than that, I love sticking to the spring reverb. This amp is a great choice if you want to perhaps stray away from the Fender world. I don't know if they've changed over time, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the tone and versatility that this amp has to offer.

Just an update to my previous review from about 2 years ago. I just replaced the speaker with a Celestion Vintage 30 (actually I ordered it from Avatar speakers, I got the broken in Celestion V30, which they have rebranded as the Hellatone 60). Wow, what a difference!! The improvement in both the clean and dirty channel is so huge, I wish I would have done this change earlier. That weird nasally sound from the 70/80 speaker is gone. The clean channel now sounds huge, clear and spanky, and the dirty channel sounds gritty (in a good way) and more articulate. If you don't have an extension cab with good speakers, I strongly recemond the Vintage 30 for this amp! Changing the speaker makes a much bigger difference than changing tubes.

No problems in the 2+ years I've had this amp.

good set of features. the reverb is pretty pathetic and can't be activated with a switch, so i'll give it an 8. other than that, the separate EQ for the two channels is excellent.

i'll go in depth here. i've had this amp for almost three years now, so i know it very well. here's the rundown:

clean channel -- very bassy, in a good way. the mids and highs can be a little bit 'spike to the ear'ish, so you'll probably find yourself rolling back the EQ on that and sticking with a bass on 10, mid and treble on 5 kind of setting, and ignore the bright switch altogether. the bright switch adds buzz and hiss anyway. the clean channel at first gives the impression of being shockingly loud, because with the volume on anywhere between 1 and 4 you can really fill a small room with sound. however, when you crank it to 10, it doesn't get a hell of a lot louder. it just breaks up a lot. so i'll say that the clean channel is quite loud, and it breaks up fairly easily. it sounds really nasty when you set it to 10 -- nasty in a good way (think Sister Ray). the clean channel also sounds great with a distortion pedal, because of that bass response.

distortion channel -- much, much less bass than the clean channel. less treble too. it's more of a low mid to high mid sound. sounds pretty mediocre at medium levels of gain. if you want to play a slightly saturated rhythm part, i would recommend a more classic tube amp. as someone below said, the sound you get for that is a little cold. however, if you turn the gain to 10 and hit the boost switch, you get a fantastic lead sound. with the gain on 10, turning up the volume knob really smooths out the tone if you like a brian may kind of tone (i don't).

reverb -- don't bother, it's junk.

re: changing the tubes -- i put in set of 6l6s from the 40s (actually, the ancient predecessor of the modern 6l6) just because i thought "well, if you're going to hear a difference in tone with any tube change, it'd be this one." guess what? sounds exactly the same. don't bother! save your money for alcohol or something.

re: changing the speaker -- never tried it. might be good.

mine has been slowly picking up problems, now including a buzzing input jack and some other little things. i've generally treated it pretty well. something tells me it'll end up in a dumpster someday...

it's a good amp. you can definitely get great sounds from it, and it's more than loud enough for live performance. but the reverb is bad, and a number of the settings yield cold or ear piercing tones. still, i recommend it, with the caveat that you can probably get a 60s or 70s tube traynor for $200 that'll sound like a marshall set on fire. this'll run you three times that new.

Features are well outlined elsewhere. The channel switching is a great feature with two independent Eq's and volume controls. Just hit the (included) footswitch. This is a great players budget boutique amp made by the legendary Traynor brand, in North America.
It is the most versatile amp I've owned and I've owned quite a few, if you need a sweet singing overdrive and fender cleans.

I play rock, country and 80's new wave with this. Just straight in or with a delay sometimes. I use Teles and a G&L Legacy.
I see this amp has attracted a few tweekers. Great. I just play through it. Although I did upgrade the celestion to a better one, i later traded it back out as it was TOO efficient and could not be played quietly at home for the home studio.
I am happy with it stock. Back off the levels to not exceed 5 on treble and it sounds pretty smooth even with a telecaster. Very quiet. Russinan tubes? Same as my marshall replacement tubes.

Tough as nails. Not too heavy. I use a cover ( the one for the fender deluxe fits.) I carry extra output tubes and they are a breeze to change out. No need to rebias and I appreciate that. Solid plywood cab with a hidden speaker grill made out of steel. Looks good too.Traynor stuff is legendary in this regard. Yup it is manufactured using modern production techniques. But it also isn't $20000.00
I'll buy that,,,,,and i did.

I can't say they're the best on the planet as I haven't used everyone on the planet, however they are the best I have ever used. They respond to emails usually in one day and are very helpful when trying to find matching cabinets, and about any other technical question. Also they speak in plain language ( used to dealing with guitar players not engineers.) Mike rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Been playing long enough. I wanted a cross between my marshall jcm 800 2205, and fender super reverb. It comes very close. I still have the super for the studio, but this one is easier to haul around and I don't worry about caps failing or scratchy pots. I use the super in the studio but live, nothing touches this as an excellent compromise. I mean, it sounds good and it's handy. Kinda like me except I'm not handy. Well sometimes I don't sound too good either but you get it.Editor's pick award and under ( substantially under) 1 k . Try one. You'll find yourself in good hands. The best players amp I've ever used.!!!!!!!

2004 Traynor YCV40, 12" Celestion 70/80 speaker, Sovtek tubes, external speaker jack and effects loop, standby switch, 3 channel/2 button footswitch, solid plywood cab.

The good? I have a Les Paul and an American Strat so the whole guitar sound spectrum is more or less covered. Its a relatively quiet amp even with settings on high gain. Despite its stock arsenal of the cheapest of cheap pre-amp tubes (Sovtek 12AX7WA x 3)they deliver considerable distortion in the lead channel: (think Randy Rhodes even) The Sovtek 5881 WXT power tubes are considered harsh by many but I rather liked their gritty break-up. BTW, JJ6L6GC as well as most others will make the amp MUCH louder. In most cases, that is a good thing but the nice theing about these Sovtek cheapy 5881 tubes is that they overdrive and crunch at a little over half the volume of higher quality tubes. Bad if you gig, good if you play at home and don't want to go deaf but still want to enjoy some overdriven tube tone. (My Blues Jr. is as loud as the Traynor when both amps are running their stock tubes, and my Blues Jr. is only 15 watts!)So, its basically an extremely well built(solid plywood)Canadian made amp that is attractive in its black tolex skin with useful, although none-too-shiny chrome corner protectors. Fit and finish was excellent. Finally, it has AUTO BIASING, which means you can damn near shove in any tube that will fit in the socket(double check this though!) as long as they can handle the wattage and its supposed to balance them out; a seemingly attractive feature made to draw in those intimidated by the whole tube thing. Finally, the Accutronics reverb tank is the best I've ever heard as its 0-10 dial can make a smooth and consistent transition from no reverb at all to a rather ridiculous amount... and that is only on 9! Put another way, just enough to make it into any Pakistani rock band. So far I bet you think I just love this amp, well, now comes "the ugly".
The Ugly: Maybe not really ugly, if you like a solid state sound. Yes, as I said before, it will deliver some tube tone characteristics, their musical quality dependant on the tubes you run. Musically / harmonically the stock Sovteks are the pits, but they break up with a Les Paul at just under 4 on the volume. The most disturbing thing about the YCV40 is that so many of the "pros" listed above have a bad side to them as well. Any reverb setting above seven sees a drastic loss in volume. Many amps drop volume with increases in reverb but the Traynor does this a lot more than average. Speaker? Usually seeing CELESTION as stock is a great offering. I thought so too until I hit a Pete Townsend open-E chord at half volume. Until that moment I was sure I'd hear a big explosive chord. But rather than a chorus of six strings all shouting out, the speaker just farted out one big flubby fat note. Power chords are a horrorshow when you drive that speaker. Take it with a grain of salt if this is the only place you're hearing this complaint but I doubt it because swapping it out for a Celestion Vintage 30 put an end to that nonsense.
Auto-biasing? Perhaps, but I've never put in anyhting but matched duets in there. Ironically, the Traynor seems extremely sensitive as which tube in the pair can go where which basically means that 50% of the time I swapped out tubes to try another pair there was a lot of low moans and groans, static as if I was turning a dirty volume pot. Swithcing them always solved this.
The Traynor as a tube amp? If you're buying this amp because you specifically want a tube amp DO NOT make it this one. I did, and in retrospect, I wish I tried out the Fender equivalent, most noteably the Blues Deluxe. I always try to give credit where credit is due, and at low volume the Traynor's quiet no-hum running would make it a near unbeatable studio recording amp, its clean notes are glassy clean. But think, glassy.. this is all you wil get with the Traynor. It just feels cold and unedearing - and "cold" is THE LAST THING a tube amp should be described as. Try before you buy. I can see that the Traynor may appeal to some, many even, but not someone whose ears perk up when an amp is described as warm and creamy. Personally, I like those things rather than what the Traynor delivers in comparison to non-hybrid true tube amps. In my opinion it delivers a transparent rather than colorful tone, thin rather than fat sustain and is far too midrangey to my ear: rather shrill despite seemingly effective EQ adjustability.
To sum it all up: where's the bass? The Traynor comes across like a 4x8" rather than a 1X12" with a regrettable lack of bottom end despite a hardy solid plywood cabinet that is well sized for bass response. That's what makes this complaint so notable, it truly didn't have to be that way.
The primary thing you want in an amp is the sound it can make and its an easy thing to lose sight of when so many other things fog up the way. Solid Plywood? Boutique fit and finish? Totally tube with the reliability of solid state? Naturally it goes to reason that the tone will also be outstanding but not to me. It seemed to hit every mark but what good is it if it can withstand falling off a truck or take an RPG beer bottle and bounce it thoughtless from its steel reinforced grill: it sounds cold, shrill and SS (yeah, thats solid state but I'll coin the term right now SANITIZED STATE).
Reliable? Rather complex and touchy if you ask me. IF you want a tube amp get one with adjustable bias. If you're smart and have a healthy respect for high voltage, it is a VERY simple and fast procedure. The wooshing, graoning and static I heard when installing power tubes was troubling because it made me realize how clueless I'd be if it just stopped working. Keep it simple and look for the sound you want : try it first!

Gig without a backup? Sure, the beer bottles will be taken in stride by its tough construction if it fails mid-song and its big enough that a six foot man can hide behind it if I crunch myself into a small ball..

I've had to call Yorkville (maker of Traynor Amps) for a few issues and they were very nice indeed. Very personable, no hold times - just about the best I've ever witnessed anywhere for anything. In fact, there's a pang of guilt in me for the frank honesty I've shared in this review, BUT, great customer service and rock solid construction a great amp don't make, so I stand by it.

Stolen or lost? I wouldn't repeat the purchase. I must say though that Traynor should be commended for the attempt and their attention to detail and quality. The YCV40 is a stretching attempt to combine modern reliability while appeasing those that need true tube tone. But somehow, a balance was lost for both. From the things I liked about both the company AND the amp itself I can say this: if they were to put their crosshairs on competing with Fender in an ALL tube amp and leave their modern touches to other models, that Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Deville and Blues Deluxe may be wishing they had a YCV40 to hide behind. I hated the YCV40 but I'll always keep an ear out for what they'll be offering next.

Just got this 3 weeks ago, and now that i have had some time to play with it. 3 Channels, use it at home for now but will be taking it out with me once i get the extension cabinet. Reverb, nice feature is independant eq for each of the 2 channels.

I am using an american tele HH, with seymour duncan custom custom and jazz in the neck. I like all types of music but find myself gravitating towards rock. The amp is relativly quiet, and the eq has a decent range, though it does seem to lack some bottom end. Very bright yet not twangy. I recently added a Krank Distortius Maximus Pedal as there was not enuf gain for me. Though when im not looking for that type of sound the natural breakup up the amp in the clean channel is quite nice. Im thinking of adding the extension cabinet, changing the speakers to the vintage 30's and changing the tubes to JJ's. The amp on its own is a great sound for the money and seeing the price on it, doesnt hurt to make some changes to it. BTW for those looking for some high gain, try the Krank pedal, sounds incredible through the clean channel on this Traynor.

Seems relativly solid, The only thing is i do notice a little ring in the reverb when cranked, i have heard a couple other people mention this, dont know if it is a flaw in design or just the type of reverb it uses.
It is too new to evaluate longevity but i have heard good things, and when i received the amp i can understand why. I intend to use this without a backup.

I have not had to use, and the warrenty is 2yrs

I have been playing for over 10 years now, have only had one other amp that i really enjoyed which was a Mark III simul class 75, have also used a line 6 1x12, marshall, fender vibrochamp, and assorted other amps. I think for the money the best value out there, as i think it is a great clean sound that handles pedals well, and im sure other effect. I dont care for the boost channel as it is lacking imo. If your on a budget and looking for a good, not decent amp, i would reccomend this one.