Traynor YCV40

I bought this amp secondhand a few months back. It is about 5 years old and was owned by a bedroom only player who only used it occasionally...so it was like new. Previously I owned an Ampeg J12-T which I was very dissappointed with and I bought this as a replacement.
There are about a million reviews here listing the features, and yes Traynor could have done a few more simple things to improve the design...but compared to anything else out there for the money this amp is SWEEEET!! I use it with a '52 Tele RI, a Patrick Eggle New York Broadway and a Washburn Falcon and this amp only ever sounds great. Clean channel is sweet, not raspy and the dirty channel is perfect. Stomp on the boost ant it gets nasty....I never use overdrive pedals anymore. Whether you play softly at home or crank it up for gigs, it just sounds good.

I love to play Jazz, and that's why I previously bought an Ampeg...apparently Jazz players love them...but the clean sound from the Traynor sounds much better, more subtle with better tone. I also play in a covers band that does everything from funk to hard rock, and I never feel the need to play through anything else. I don't have a lot to spend on gear as I am full time music student, but even if I spent 3 times as much, I would doubt that I would get a better amp. I guarantee this thing sounds better than any equivalent Fender (a few if my friends have Fenders...Blues Juniors, hot rod Devilles and twin reverbs).The other good thing is that this amp is very quiet no ugly hisses or hums...nice.

Have giged with it on several occasions without any problems....and always without backup.....who takes a backup amp?
Shortly after I got it, it needed a tube replaced...but it is 5 years old so that would be expected, and luckily it wasn't during a gig. I put a set of JJ's from Eurotubes in and it sounds great....not a problem since.
I'll have it serviced regularly and don't expect to have any problems.

Never needed so can't really comment....I did ring to speak with the Australian distributor once and he was very friendly and helpful in answering my question.

I've been playing for 10 years and studying music full time for 2 of those...I've listened to lots of amps including some of the legendary brands and honestly believe that there isn't anything as good as this amp for the money. I would also say that some of big name amps that cost 3 times as much as a new Traynor don't sound any better. The only gripe I have with this amp is that around the control recess, on the top of the amp the tolex covering is not applied very well. There is a very tight curve at each end and the tolex appears to have been cut to go around the bend and is showing some of the timber through the cuts...not a real big deal...and a very small thing considering that this thing is like having a budget, boutique amp.

I don't know what year this amp was made in but bought in June 2004 for 500 used because some guy bought it the upgraded the tubes and speaker himself and played one gig but decided to return it but had to sell it to the store second hand because he tampered with it himself and he wasn't licened to do that.
Its Got two channels clean and overdrive both sound awesome except if you have brightness on the clean and turned up high it makes a very wierd sounding feed back but if you just keep the brightness off on the high levels it won't happen.

I use dual humbuckers on my barracuda les paul copy.
I play alot of older rock like Rush, Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Thrown in with some Van Halen Stevie Vai Joe Satriani Yalming Malmsteen and Iron Maiden.
Since I live in The middle of nowhere I play basically all day so ill take the amp out side and put it around four since im 40 feet away from it when hooked up to my Dunlop Crybaby But this thing is plently loud @ 40 watts tubed. The distortion isn't very crazy but i don't really like it that way but if i want it to ill just hook it up to my Dan Electro overdrive.

very reliable Can't say much more since i live in nowhere ive only play in a few parties with it

never had to talk

Ive been playing since i was 8 and im 15 now so thats 7 years and am entirely self taught but use guitar pro on my computer. I also Own a 25 year old Yamaha jx50 75 watt version and this blows it alaw but i bought that for 75 bucks. this amp is unbelivable and I highly recommend it to anyone Thats starting to take guitar seriously or a step up from a practice amp

Amp was made in 2004. Before the speaker and tube changes, the amp didn't sound great when turned up, but was still better sounding and more versatile than a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.. and it is very ruggedly constructed. The gain channels are both really nice and really useable, you don't need an overdrive pedal to sound good with this amp.

Once I replaced the tubes (SED 6L6s, EH 12AX7's) and speaker (Eminence Private Jack), my dream amp was born. It sounds exactly the way I want it to sound.

I am using it with either a Gibson SG or a Standard Telecaster or a Godin LG Signature. The amp makes the tele sound just like the Stones and then with the right pedal in front of it, I can get a great sound that has been described as the "meatiest tele ever".. but still British-like sound.

The secret was to put in Flying SED 6L6's and change out the speaker to a Private Jack by Eminence (Red Coat series).

Even though I had to buy the new tubes and new speaker, it was worth it, as total cost came to just under $800.. amazing! I can get Vox AC30 tones out of it, and it is very convincing on stage.

I've been gigging with this amp for just under 3 years now, and it is very very consistent. I take an extra pair of 6L6s with me just in case.

Traynor is one of the best in the business.

I've been playing for 12 years or so. I am tempted to buy a Traynor Blue to compliment the YCV40 .. they are like opposite twins.. but both really awesome sounding. I use a Marshall Shredmaster and a Boss CS-3 for overdrive and compression and boost. That's all that I need to get all of the tones from Jazz to Blues to Rock to Roll to crazy effects through a few other pedals I have.

Amp is well made, distortion and cleans are brillant.. made in 2005 and sounds fine with stock tubes and speaker in its own right. I like the size and the well made cabinet, it's a North American product unlike most small to mid sized combos made by other companies. I believe this to be the best sounding tube amp made for the price for the cleans and gritty channels. It records good as well. Has some hiss on the dirty channels due to no gain control, but a person can dial up grit on the clean channel as well, just not as much. Bought it off an ebay dealer for $475

Sounds great for the price cleans and dirty channels are tops!!

Dont know yet, since I had it a short time

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Best for the price, records well, rugged and if you can find anything close to this price or near for an all tube amp (Traynor has a solid state retefier)then you just bought some junk...it has a real wood cabinet...wish it had 2 plug ins and maybe some casters

This amp is really no frills in the best sense of the word. Just enough to get you good tone + reverb and an effects loop. It is versatile enough in its 3 gain channels for most styles except heavy heavy sounds. I would have liked a headphone jack. The Reverb to me is strange, it goes from nice subtle echo to massive cavelike depths from 8-9. Not very subtle and the volume lowers during this change.

This is the best amp I have ever played, simple as that. I use a Gibson Les Paul and it matches suprisingly well. I had originally thought a Fender would be the only guitar for such a Fender sounding amp, but the amp give my Gibson a new bite I've never heard. I like the Clean channel especially really loud and the first dirty channel is very subtle and nice. The treble and presence is really cutting ( a good thing) compared to most other amps. Really versatile tone when combined with your guitar knobs. Unlike other reviewers, my amp is noisy. Don't know if this is due to old tubes, but there is an audible hiss. The most amazing thing to me was how the tone stayed good even as I turned down the volume to whisper. Loud is still best though.

Only had a for a couple of days but it seems very well built.

Wrote them an email and they responded immediately.

Get this amp first before you try for an expensive Fender, Vox, or Matchless. This really is a player's amp. The cleans are beautiful and the dirty is just right. This really is the best deal I found and I kind of want to keep it a secret for myself. If I could play it loud in my apartment everyday I would.

This is my first Tube amp, so it is an amazing improvement! The two channels, Clean and Gain, are perfect for any set, althought you wouldnt want to rely on only the Gain Channel for a good distortion. Reverb is a bit off on my amp, from 0-1 ther is no reverb, from 1-8 it sounds exactly the same light Reverb, and 8-10 sounds like you are in an empty stadium. But other that that the features rock!

I have an Epiphone Les Paul Standard flowing through it, and it sounds great on both channels, tho ther is a bit of feecdback whil not playing on the Gain channel. It is LOUD! when i play in my room i keep the volume of the Clean channel at 2, and when on stage at 3-4. If you like it loud this is a great amp for you.

Never broken down, of course you have to get new tubes every once in a while, but that is standard.

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A Great quality Amp with just a little bit of flaws taht can be overlooked.

My amp was made in dec 2001. AS such it has the well hidden extension speaker jacks. Effects loop on rear panal, other features as described in other reviews.

As it was (used, worn out power tubes) the sound was OK but there were issues. On the clean channel only there was a lot of hum, hiss etc. Mike the Traynor rep said this was essentially normal because the Ch. 2 is run "wide open" as it has no gain control. I was dissapointed because I believed the low noise hype on their web site. Since I couldn't stand the hum/hiss crap on the otherwise good sounding clean channel I surfed the web for Ideas. This led me to experiment with low gain tubes. After some experimentation I settled on EH 12AU7 tubes in the splitter (V3) and V2 positions and an EH 12AX7 in V1. I now have a quiet amp with lots more clean headroom on Ch. 2 and really smooth and good sounding OD sounds on Ch. 1. The amp responds really well to pedals, but i havn't tried the FX loop. I'm now really pleased with this amp. It is not the holy grail or anything, but is truely a great sounding amp that whips amps twice its price.

I would depend on it as I don't tour or anything like that. If it died on a gig I could use an external preamp into the board to survive. There are issues that I will keep an eye on. The screws that hold the reverb pan down were quite loose and this caused a noise problem. Tightening them down fixed it. I also worry about heat on the circuit boards because the preamp tubes are encased in the chassis with no cooling fan. I'll probably replace the power tubes every year too.

This is the reason I wanted to write this review. I had excellent email support from traynor (thanks Mike!!) and my local store also offered a 90 day warranty. I know from past experience how hard it is to troubleshoot a problem via email or over the phone and would understand if their answer to every email was "get it serviced." It's amazing that they care enought to try, especially considering that I bought it used. Very pleased.

Good features, good sound, good support and well built. What more could you ask for at this price?

I'll start with a little intro. I waited a few months to put this review up. I wanted to make sure I put it through every situation I would put it through before I did the review. I gave the amp a good run stock with no mods. I then gave it another run with a speaker change, then once again with tube changes. Even further, since I play in two different bands with 2 very different sounds, i gave the amp a good workout using 2 different set of tubes, one normal gain, and one lo-gain. I'll explain further below how it all worked out.
Amp comes stock with a Celestion 70/80 speaker (you'll want to change this first thing without a doubt) and sovtek tubes which are ok.

Got the amp stock, turned it on, and I was bummed. Seems it was caught in a (not-so-listenable) mid frenzy. I couldn't dial out that certain "color" i was hearing. Sounded very limited. But, I knew that some amps just will not sound good no matter what you do at lower volumes, so i brought it to band practice. Indie rock/jangly clean natural breakup type sounds/was using the clean channel. Proceeded to rock out. I had the volume at about 5 and during some larger chords the amp's sound and bass response just crapped out. fart central. the 70/80 speaker could just NOT handle normal rock playing. I immediately ordered up a Vintage 30 to replace the speaker. Back to practice...wow. No more fart, the amp can actually handle normal playing now! Still a little too brittle though, and not nearly enough headroom. Clean channel on 5 was breaking up with a pretty heavy distortion for a clean channel. enter Bob from eurotubes. he prescribed a lo-gain tube remedy for me and dag nabbit it worked like a charm. I put a 12AT7 in V1, a 12DW7 in V2, and a balanced 12AX7 in V3, and 2 new 6L6GCs (all JJ Tubes) in the amp. Instant goodness. But, alas, i knew there was more to be had from this amp, so i got a 2x12 cab from avatar and now it sounds killer!
just to add about the two bands... one is pop-punk, relatively good amount of gain (ala green day, blink-182 etc.) and the other is jangly cleans (the clash, the kinks, the jam come to mind). with the pop-punk band i use either a Faded Gibson SG with humbuckers, or another SG with a Seymour Duncan Phat Cat bridge pickup. sounds awesome with both. For the indierock band, i use a Fender Tele with "Vintage for Broadcaster" bridge pickup. that thing rules. I use the normal set of 12Ax7s for the pop-punk band and my low-gain set for the indie rock band. Amp sounds awesome in either configuration. I would have given the amp a higher rating cause it sounds incredible, but I had to make too many mods for this to happen.

Seems pretty damn tough to me. And Traynor has that 2 yr. even if you break the thing warranty, which really can't be beat. I don't treat my amp badly or anything, so I can't tell you HOW tough it is. But it sure feels like a excellently built amp.

When I bought my amp, I registered on their website as a new Traynor owner. I got an email back from and actual representative at Traynor US, Not some form letter auto-reply. I had some questions about the amps configuration and things, and I emailed that same rep back. And he got back to me within hours. I've continued to work with the same rep since. Their customer service is the kind you WISH Fender had. The Customer Support really made me happy that I bought a Traynor. You don't find this kind of support anywhere these days.

Here's what you gotta do... *get that 70/80 speaker out of there and get a Vintage 30 (or if you know another speaker you love, use that instead). *get those sovtek tubes out of there. Bob at www.eurotubes.com was ultra-helpful with selecting the right tubes for my use. If you go with the JJ tubes, i'm sure you'll be pleased. *an ext cabinet will do wonders for you tone. i recommend a 2x12 partially open back like the ones they sell at www.avatarspeakers.com. I got the one with 1 Vintage 30 and 1 G12H30 Anniversary in it. I put the cabinet vertically to the side of my Traynor (G12H30 side down) and it balances out the volume between all 3 speakers very nicely.

This is a re-submission.

You know, after playing through tube amps for over 30 years, you'd think a guy would remember to have a few spare tubes on the gig... you'd think! I had my YCV40 out on it's third gig, and I noticed the great tone I got on the last gig was fading fast. I predictably thought the amp was going south, without even thinking of the preamp tubes - they are good ol' GE 12AX7s! Well the good ol' GEs were finally crapping out. I played the rest of the night, cursing the amp and generally pissed off. The next morning, I went out to the garage and started checking things out. I hooked up the amp, plugged in a cord and my Strat, switched on and a perfect high A began to crescendo immediately! - tube microphonics. I had some EH-12AX7s laying around, they're pretty good, so I began to swap out preamp tubes, one by one. At the end of it all, the only GE that was good was the JG-5751 in the V1 spot and it still sounded like buttah! With the EH-12AX7s, I was hearing the clean bell-like tones from channel two again. Whew!! not the amp. On a lark, I pulled down a boxed Jensen C12N 8 ohm speaker from the shelf, an slapped that puppy in the YCV40. I'm very glad that I did, because the amp took on a whole new character! The low end, although it was full and round with the 70/80, would "fart" at higher volumes. With the C12N, that problem was solved! Also, the high end is clearer and the mids are classic, smooth Jensen. If I were going to make only one upgrade to this amp, I would now change my opinion try a different speaker first. Whatever brand you prefer, make it a high-end speaker. Again, the 70/80 is not bad, but your YCV40 deserves better.
With the changes made, I hope they last a few months, I am again giving this amp a Five Star rating - for the money, you can't come close to the YCV40 tube tone with any other amp.

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I just got mine a month ago, so I would hope it was built within the last 6 months - but that's not too important. As for the features - two channels, seperate EQ for each channel, reverb, blah, blah, blah... features are not what this amp is about.

What this amp IS about is the tone. I have been a working musician for over 30 years, and after owning a multitude of amps (vintage Marshall, vintage Fender, Mesa Boogie, Rivera, new Fender, Peavey-ugh-...), I have in my arsenal only four amps that I use now. One is a Koch Multitone 50W head (pure heaven!), a 1966 Fender Super Reverb (almost original), a Crate VC3112 (what a great blues amp!) and now, my YCV 40! Each of the previously mentioned amps have their own character and I would hesitate to compare any of them with another amp, ie; it sounds like a cross between a Marshall and a Fender.... yeah, right! - except maybe the '66 Super, it sounds like a Fender.
When I brought the YCV 40 home, I plugged it in just to make sure it fired up right out of the box, played a few notes in each mode, and turned it off. Then I replaced the power tubes with late '60s NOS GE 5881s, an old GE 12AT7 in the inverter socket, and two NOS 60s GE 12AX7s in the other two preamp spots. When I fired the amp up, I crossed my fingers that the old GEs wouldn't add any hiss, buzz, or other malicious sounds to this remakably quiet amp. To my suprise, the YCV 40 was still as quiet as before! I cranked up my Strat and heard tonal magic coming from the Seventy/Eighty that comes stock with the amp! Most reviews state that a V30 or G12H-80 works much better in this amp - well they might, but I don't think I'm going to risk it. The highs have that classic chime found in very expensive Class A amps, the mids are smooth and pronounced, but not overbearing, and the lows are full and tight. Even when the Boost is applied to the drive channel, all sonic values remain responsive and consistant! I am very pleased with the real tube tone this amp produces.

I imagine it will withstand the usual loading and unloading due to the solid Birch plywood cabinet - I'll let you know...

I hope I never have to use it, but the warranty is probably one of the best available on an amp - "for two years, you break it - we fix or replace it." Way cool!

For the money, you won't find a better amp with the authentic tube tone the YCV 40 expresses. I truly believe the design and functions of this gem will become the standard that all other new production tube amps will be judged by. Traynor has a definite hit with the YCV series of amps! If it were stolen or such, I woud not hesitate to buy another one.