Traynor YCV80 212 Combo

actually i have the YCVQ 80 - 4x10's instead of 2x12's. made in canada - def' a feature these days. expander, brightness and boost are kings. the scoop, although useful, creates a sort of stereotypical 'heavy.' I have found that taking the time to listen to the tones created by playing with the hi/lo/mid pots can truly produces some heavier, more threatening sounds. then again, when i first purchased the amp, i was in it for that button...(whahm-whahm-whahm).

there are a lot of posts that say this amp can't do metal - you can definately do sludge metal with it! use channel volumes to set levels, and keep the master cranked. leave the scoop button off and just crank the bass, about 6 on the mids, and 7 or 8 on the highs. and why turn on the dirty channel of the boost isn't on? -) holy **** it's heavy.

the guitar doesn't really matter that much unless it's a *really* crappy one - but i play a 2006 gibson faded cherry V. however, my ibanez artcore hollowbody also sounds killer through it. awsome surf/ ska/ reggae sounds on the clean with the reverb. again, keep that MV cranked and it breaks up just oh so nicely.

i've even put an old DR Heartfield bass through it to record out the balanced XLR line and discovered some quite favorable results. no digital emulation here -)

haven't tried switching out the tubes or the speakers yet - imho, that just seems like an aftermarket money grab, but that's because i already think it sounds exactly the way i want it to. of course, adding some upgrades won't make it sound any worse, and that's why the aftermarket exists -p.

i bought it used, played a bunch of shows, did a little tour, and it's still kickin' just fine. really, it's not *that* heavy - just put some castors on it and hug-carry it up the stairs to the show - it'll warm you up for your pre-show stretch/ inform the opposite sex of your totally sexy strength-power and they'll forget that you don't have a roadie!

i doubt it will ever '**** the bed' - i also have an early 80's traynor that really should have died years ago, but will not succumb to the grave. therefor, i have never had to use customer support.

great sounds, perfect for (home) recording (speaker defeat switch and direct XLR out) - damn loud (really, 80 tube watts - you'll be mic'd if you're playing a gig that needs more than your amp at 7 with the MV at full), and i hate to include this because it should really be about what sounds good - but it is also inexpensive (just get one used! it'll be all worked in for ya'!). if it doesn't come with the footswitch cable, know that you will need a stero 1/4 jack (two stripes on the plug) in order to access the two switches independently.

Bought this direct from the factory this year so I assume its a 2008. Read other reviews for a full list of features. The ones I enjoy are the XLR direct out, the speaker bypass switch for playing with headphones and recording, the trim pots on the effects loop, and the different tone modulators like the scoop function on the drive channel and the brightness and expander switches on the clean channel.

My biggest complaint would have to be that the reverb isn't independent per channel nor is it footswitchable. Wish the clean channel had a volume boost, but I guess thats why I bought the volume pedal in the first place (sometimes I get distracted by the fancy swells you can do with it, and forget that it has other functions on stage)

I play mostly fusion, funk, jazz, and blues. Basically anything with soul. I'm always searching for a tone thats somewhere between Gilmore, Hendrix, Scofield, and Eric Crasno from Soulive, but with slight variations given the genre I'm playing. This amp covers them all. Blistering gritty high gain leads all the way to soft warm fluttering chordal melody's. Can hit Hendrix and Gilmore tones on the drive, and Joe Pass and Pat Matheny on the clean. For the money, you won't find a better all tube amp. I tried out Fenders, Marshalls, Peaveys, the new Bogner Line 6, and a Messa Boogie Lonestar Special. To tell you the truth, the Lonestar won my vote for overall versatility and tone. However, I didn't have the 2 grand to spend for that amp. The YCV80 was the second best.

I play this through too different guitars. One is an Ibanez AF95 Full Hollowbody for jazz stuff, the other is a Schecter Corsair with a Bigsby (Schecter's version of a ES-335 copy) which is my main workhorse. The Schecter is awesome because of the coil taps, allows me to nail tones from Strats to Teles to Les Pauls and of course the 335 its modeled after. Between the Schecter and the YCV80, I can hone in on almost any tone I'm looking for, giving me a truely versatile set-up.

The clean channel is amazing, can't beat it. Blows Fender out of the water. The drive channel is heavy enough for me, but I could see a real Metal head having a problem with it. If you're into metal, stick to your 300w solid state and a good pedal. Or maybe do what the other guys are saying and switch out the tubes. Im thinking about switching out the speakers because they are a little muddier than I like a 212 to sound. Thought they just needed to be broken in, but they definitely will need a swap out soon. The preamp tubes might go too, but honestly, for now they sound great.

I've gigged this amp at least 20 times since I bought it and have turned a lot of heads. No one believes the tone that comes from the name on the grill cloth. There are a lot of other reviews on here that say its not loud. BS! If you needed to be louder, you'd be mic'd into the PA anyway. I usually dime the master to get the tubes cooking and adjust the channel volumes to the situation. Never have had to take it much higher than 6 to tell the truth. Never had the desire to blow out my ears with it all the way up either. For good cleans, I bring the master down to 6 and raise the channel volume to about 7. Gets the tone real warm and solid.

My biggest complaint in this section is the XLR out. Really really noisy when it comes into my DAW. Its actually quieter when I mic it with a SM57. Hey Traynor, how about a noise gate?

HEAVY!!! I rigged mine out with some heavy duty casters and a pull handle so lugging it around isn't such a workout (don't have roadies...) But then again, the thing is built like a tank. I wouldn't throw it down a set of stairs, but it'll definitely survive a ride in the trunk. Haven't had any problems with it at all. Hoping that streak lasts. Like with all tube amps, make sure you make good use of the standby switch. I usually turn the amp on, then tune-up, plug in, set up anything else, and then turn her on after a minute.

Never had to call them, but I have heard nothing but great stuff about their support and their warranty.

In the market for a tube-amp, but can't afford vintage or Messa? Check this thing out. Rocks my world and Im sure that it'll rock yours. Would definitely buy again if anything happened to it. I've even got a couple guitar buddies thinking about trading in their Fender's for this baby. Maybe when they hear it with the speaker and tube upgrades, that'll push them over the edge. Very satisfied for 700 bucks.

You got clean, and a two button OD footswitch. Independent EQ for the clean and 1 EQ for both distortions. Has a few tone fiddling buttons (Expander, bright, on clean and scoop and boost on distortion).

The features for me make this amp super versatile. I play in a band in which the other guitar player will switch with me doing leads and rhythm licks so we need to be able to shift our sounds a lot.

I use this amp for practices and gigs in small and large theatre halls. 80W of tube power is plenty for most small to medium sized gigs. Has reverb, but its not quite as wet as I like reverb to be, but its good enough.

It has an FX loop I never use, balanced XLR output, and a direct out/headphone 1/4 inch jack on the back.

I play through a 89' (USA) Fender Telecaster, standard lipstick and single coil bridge pickup. I play all over the board from cleans, to light overdrives, to heavy distortion songs... kind of fitting to Matthew Good, Jimmy Eat World, The Weakerthans styles.

The stock Sovtek tubes leave much to be desired with this amp. I followed the suggestion of folks on here and bought a set of JJ tubes for it and it transformed the amp from good to great. I think I'm going to fiddle with different pre-amp tube configurations though when i have more time.

The amp is more quiet when its in larger spaces. I get some harmonic feedback in the 2nd OD channel if I'm too close to it when gigging. At my practice space it picks up a mexican radio station, but i haven't had that problem anywhere but there. With the JJ tubes the clean is easily overdrivable when hammer on the strings. I use a Boss EQ pedal for different tone options in the clean since the Telecaster is a bit limited with tone configurations.

As far as sound variety, I can get pretty much anything except the HEAVY HEAVY metal sounds (I don't have need for shred metal styles since I'm not that kind of player). I enjoy the overdrive tones of which with the gain, I can make it plenty heavy or with a decent bite for any of the music I play.

The JJ tubes make the cleans really really clear... just as good as any fender Deluxe or Twin I've played.

The OD channels leave much to be desired with just the combo amp. I'm convinced that Traynor built this amp intending it to be paired with the 2x12 expansion cab. I bought the cab recently and i finally have all the sound range I've been looking for. I'm still a little dissatisfied with the distortion, but I think I can fix that with a bit of monkeying with tube configurations.
Basically, if you need a versatile sound selection and you don't mind geeking with your amp a bit, this thing is perfect.

The amp is built like a tank. Traynor builds a quality product and they back it up too with great customer service and warranties.

great! Warranty is 2 years even if you break it, plus a 10 year warranty on faulty parts.

I've been playing for about 10 years and have owned a few other guitars and amps. This has been my first tube amp that I've personally owned. I use a few effects pedals (delay, flange, EQ) and the amp interacts with the effects just fine.

If I lost this amp I would definitely buy another one. I'm a fan of the company and their design.

I wish this amp had two seperate EQ's for the overdrive channels, and a switch for the reverb maybe. I'm all about being able to change my tones real time without having to go back to the amp and fiddle with it mid song.

my advice, GET THE EXPANSION CABINET and you will not regret it. I've heard this amp called the poor man's fender... to which I say that this amp has a right to stand on its own as unique.

Rented this amp for some rehearsals while waiting for a new power amp. Rehearsals were in a decent size hall at medium stage volume.

Starting at a basic 8 for features--

-1 for the bizarre trim pots on the fx loop-- interesting idea but really badly implemented. I couldn't figure out a way to add wet signal w/o also adding overall volume that I'd have to compensate for somewhere else on the amp.
+1 for the surprisingly good direct out/headphones
+0.5 for the expander switch
-1 for being pretty quiet for an 80w amp-- at least , w/o sounding like crap.
-0.5 for not having side handles on an amp this heavy

So, a total of 7.

As people have said, it's basically got a Fender channel (ch 2) and a Marshall channel (ch 1), of which the Fender is the best. I'm playing it with a heavy solidbody Yamaha with splittable humbuckers which is basically eqivalent to a nicer early-90s PRS.

The best thing about the amp is that the pick and volume dynamics are amazing-- on both channels, all you need to do to play clean is back off on your picking. Bite down, and you've got gain. Really well done. At middle volumes, channel 2 is really, really nice, big bright cleans with lots of lower mid.

The bad thing about this amp is the horrible speakers and lack of headroom in the power section. Basically as soon as your 'volume' adds up to more than 12 between a volume knob and the master volume, you start driving the crap out of the power section and losing most of the definition in your rhythm work, especially in the bottom end.

You can't play metal on this amp. Full stop. I mean, you could in your bedroom at low volume, but not in any kind of live situation with a drummer. There's plenty of gain to be had, but the bottom end is way too big and loose to get a tight sound at volume. Maybe this could be fixed with new speakers and the closed back extension cab. I bet it would be good for a really raging punk sound, though.

This is an important point to make, I think, because this a good amp for the money and might attract young players who are more likely to try to play metal through it.

I'm rating this quite low because the low to mid-volume sounds are great, but I'm a very experienced player/tone tweaker and had a hard time getting good 'real volume' sounds out of it in three days of trying.

No idea, only used it for three days.

No idea.

I'm giving the amp a 9 here despite having ripped on it a fair bit, because I agree with other posters that a retube and speaker job would turn this from an okay amp into a great amp. And you'd only have spent around $1400 Canadian in total, new!

The basic voicings are terrific for blues, classic, '80s rock, and 90's alt-rock, and reward a player with good dynamic control. Just don't buy it thinking you can play metal on it!

Despite being seriously unimpressed with some of the amp's capabilities with its current power section and speaker load, it's a great value.

Well the options u have with this amp are awesome. You got the brightness control (which isnt overly bright) for fendery stuff, the expander switch is awesome and i have it on all the time, mid scoop for those metalheads who only want to be heard when no one is playing, and boost channel for those without a decent boost pedal. I dont really use any of the stuff on the gain channel but i use the brightness and the expander. Its not as loud as i thought it was going to be. My crate 120 watt solid state is about the same volume as this 80 watt tube cranked on volume and master. Needless to say this thing is very versatile

Well i like the way this thing breaks up with the expander switch. The expander switch must be on for me because it actually seems like the signal is being expanded across the room if that makes any sense. The clean has a very warm sound and it doesnt ice pick at all. If im playing some country i turn on the brightness switch but for everything else i dont really find it useful. Even with the brightnes switch engaged it is still warm though. Thats why i didnt get a fender because of that ice pick sound so many of them have. I dont care for the overdrive channel at all really. Sounds kinda like a toy to my ear but thats probably because i spend hours a day listening to amps online. The bottom end is way mushy and it doesnt sound very balanced. Everything i have right now is stock and i plan on getting the JJ tube replacement kit, some new ted webers for it, and a custom ted weber extension cab (he makes great speakers). It takes pedals very well and i am looking forward to seeing how a delay sounds in the effects loop. The Breakup is great for blues but i do wish it had a little more headroom. I say the drive is a 6 and the clean is an 8. The clean would be a ten if not for the mushy bottom end and earlier breakup than i expected. Remember i am rating this thing stock unlike many reviewers on here and it is pretty much exactly what i expected. I expect it to improve ten fold with some upgrades though. My gear is Custom Japanese Strat or a Ibanez SG copy with Seymours (Soon to be Godin LG Signature)> Vox Clyde McCoy (god that thing needs a new pot)> Boss SD-1 (Its all i got for rhythm)> Ibanez TS-808> Volume Pedal> Some modulation effects i switch out> Traynor.

Seems solid but i havent owned it for very long. It doesnt seem like it will break but i will definitely bring a backup based on some of the reviews ive seen.

Seems alright. 2 year warranty but i have never dealt with them so im not going to rate it yet.

Good bang for the buck but it isnt the best tone right from the store. For $840 new it is excellent but be ready to do some upgrades. It has great features and can be use with many genres. With a decent pedal it can do some metal stuff, but i wouldnt recommend it. I play all styles but i try to mostly play blues, funk, and jazz. If it were lost or stolen i would probably save up and get it again if the upgrades sounded good. If they didnt improve it enough then i would look for another option. Ive been playing for 4 years and there arent really enough music shops around here to try everything i want to try out but i listen a lot online and look over the internet. The tone is just a hair under professional IMHO but that is the case with most stock amps in the price range.

Great! The only thing it lacks is a separate eq for od and dis channels. Other then that it's perfect!

Sound is great too! Clean channel can go from glass clean to a bit dirty depending on the volume control. Dis/Od plenty of mids, scoop comes handy for that extra bass. Very nice!

No issues so far, had it for nearly a year.

Never used but I take people's word on that it's exallent.

Overall it's a great amp, it's not the best (mesa roadster seems to be the ultimate amp at least for a fellow like me, but out of reach money wise) I use it mainly for recording, so far it satisfies all my needs( and I've got a lot of those:)As you have probably guessed I'm into various features, and this amp has a lot to offer. Check it out! Great Amp!

This review is an update to a posting I did about a two years ago.
The amp has been re-tubed, and also a speaker swap. This follow-up review will focus on the sound improvements with these changes.

Quick summary: if you buy this amp, make it a killer amp by spending about $250 on Hellatones and Eurotubes.

I play a 1991 Strat Plus Deluxe with Jason Lollar pickups (Vintage Blondes) and a blocked bridge. I also have a Reverend Charger HB (dual humbuckers). Occasionally I run a TS-9/BD-2 in front of the clean channel, with a Boss chorus in the serial effects loop.

I've had my Traynor YCV 80 for a little over 3 years. It has been extremely reliable, is built well, and I've had absolutely no problems with it.

When I first purchased this amp, I was very pleased with the sound. It is a very versatile amp and can cover a lot of ground, from almost a "Fendery" clean to a Hot Rod Deluxe. However, I did find that the bass response is lacking (see my original comments on this, especially the clean channel) and the high gain settings can be somewhat "harsh" or "brittle".

I first tried to remedy this problem by changing the speakers. I replaced one of the 70/80's with a Hellatone 30 (aged G12H 70th anniversary, about $80). This made the a HUGE difference in the low and mid frequencies. A lot more "chunky" as well as being defined. While this speaker change did smooth out the top end a little, it still was a little harsh.

Recently I re-tubed the amp using the "standard" kit for the YCV80 from Eurotubes (they also have blues and high gain kits, or anything in-between...call them). This cost about $100, and is worth every single penny. The low-end and midrange growl is even more noticable, and the gain channel is phenomenal. The overdrive is almost "singing", and the normal gain channel (boost OFF) is very usable, whereas before it was not worth using. The high-frequencies are very smooth and articulate. It's almost like this amp "breathes"...VERY responsive. With full gain and boost on, this amp is a monster. Incredible overdrive. Beware that you will need to spend alot of time adjusting your EQ after these changes, but it is well worth it. Also, I didn't expect a lot to change on the clean channel...however...it is "sparkly clean" and dynamic. I now use this channel much more than I did in the past.

I plan on ordering a Hellatone 60 (aged Vintage 30) as a replacement for the other stock 70/80. While the speaker changes will drop my expected wattage down to 60, I rarely, if ever, go higher than 4 on my master volume (with gain channel volume dimed). The amp is LOUD. If you need it louder than that, go ahead and mic the cab.

Another thing...regarding the reverb. As others have stated, the reverb is somehow tied into the master volume. Therefore, if you have the MV down around 2-3, you will not get a substantial reverb effect even if the reverb is adjusted quite high. Spend time adjusting the channel and master volumes to dial in the appropriate reverb that you want.

Finally...the scoop switch. As others have posted, I occasionally use the scoop switch with the middle EQ at 3 o'clock. This really "fattens up" the sound. I don't use this all the time, but you might find it gives another option for your tone.

I've had this amp 3 years with absolutely no problems. When swapping out the tubes and speakers, I had a nice look at the circuit board and wire harnessing, etc. VERY well done. The tolex is expertly cut and glued. Overall, this amp is solid and very dependable.

Excellent...I called their office and asked a couple a questions about speaker impedences and removing the grill cloth. Immediate assistance and friendly service.

I've been playing 25+ years. I own a Strat Plus Deluxe and a Reverend Charger HB, various pedals, a Boss GT-8 (for church band) and a Taylor 814 Brazilian.
If this amp got stolen, I would consider replacing it with the same, but honestly I would probably go a different direction with my tone...maybe a THD Bi-Valve with a nice Avatar 1x12 cab with a Celestion Alnico Blue. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the YCV80 and it is a great amp for the $, especially with the tube/speaker upgrade. But I've found the amp a little too much for me to lug around (its heavy, and I'm getting old). Also, I'm getting to the point where I really like to experiment with my sound, and the THD will let me do that easily. I may be getting a THD hot-plate to use with the YCV80 to keep the wife happy.

You can buy this amp used on e-bay for less than $450. For about $250 more, you can have an extremely versatile amp that rivals amps costing 2 - 2.5 times more.

Yorkville...if you are reading these reviews: PLEASE ship these amps with JJ tubes and decent Celestions. Customers will flock to this amp even if the price is a little higher. At least make it an "upgrade" option. The Sovtek tubes are medoocre at best, and the Celestion 70/80's lack bottom-end and mid-range punch.

Love the "expander" button on the clean channel. I play jazz and when I use my solid body PRS and hit that expander button, the tone really fills out for that full jazzy tone. The gain channel can dial in a real nice med/light gain to real heavy - but I don't do a whole lot with that channel - a little growl for some blues. But that expander button is magic.

My hollowbody is great with this in a small combo - it does feedback quite a bit when turned up too much, but the tone is great at lower settings. And, as I said before, the expander button is just outstanding on my solid body. Works great for blues, jazz, country, classic and heavy rock - full range.

This thing is built like a tank - I do depend on it and it hasn't failed me yet. I've had it for a year, and bought it used - it's about 5 years old and runs as great as the new models

Since I bought it used, I didn't get any of the documents that hang on the new amps. Traynor does have the manual on line, but I know there is a sheet showing suggested settings. I was checking out a new model of this amp at a store and fell in love with it, then found a used one at Guitar Center. Since then, the new amp I was checking out has been sold and I haven't seen another one with that document since then. It may be petty, but my 2 emails requesting that "suggested settings" document to Traynor have been ignored. If anybody has a copy of this document, I'd like to get the settings :-)

No other dealings with them - and I don't really plan on needing to contact them regarding any repair service.

I've been playing for about 20 years (dinking around for 16 of them). I would definately buy another if it were lost or stolen - no questions. All the Traynor amps are great. I might get a 20 watt one just to save my back - the 80 watt is heavy - but that adds to the tone! Absolutely great value - especially if you can find one used.

We all know the features.

I posted a review of this amp a year ago. Initially, I was very disappointed in the sound quality. Very thin and harsh. The build quality was first rate though. The amp is extremely quiet. I replaced the speakers with Celestion Greenbacks and this improved the sound tremendously.

I just recently re-tubed it with some vintage Sylvania 6L6 GC's and Sylvania 12AX7's. IMHO, this is the ticket for getting these amps to sound great. Forget about the dirty channel. Just crank the clean channel volume and use the master to get your level. Absolutely heavenly. The stock Sovtek's have no character. The Sylvania's (6L6GC STR415's and 12AX7 with green lettering)I got were from an old amp of mine but you can get some NOS versions of these for 40 bucks a pair (6L6). Not sure about the price of the 12AX7's.

A lot of folks here have changed the tubes in these amps with varying degrees of success. I really recommend using the US made tubes. You can get some great tubes these days but the old "Made In USA" Sylvania's, GE's and RCA's are the shit.

It puts out a glorious sound. No effects needed. The clean channel sounds so good cranked that the dirty channel is really not needed. It cleans up great when you roll back the guitar's volume and play lightly. Very dynamic response. I'm a classic rock, blues player and this amp is just perfect. Cranked it has that sweet compressed grit. Incredible harmonics and single note passages have a bloom when you let them ring out. Put the channel volume at 5 and you have the sweetest clean tones around. Gobs of sustain. I can't recommend these upgrades enough. The speakers were about 70 bucks a piece. I'm guessing the tubes would run about another 200 bucks.

Stock, this amp is a good value. Mainly because it's built like a tank. With a few hundred dollars in upgrades though, it will sound like a boutique amp or vintage Fender. My buddy and I did a side by side comparison with this amp, a vintage Bassman and a 74 Marshall 50 watt (JMP). This amp sounded very, very close to the Bassman. In fact, this amp sounded very Fender-ish. Cranked, they exhibited the same sound qualities (compression, gain characteristics). The Bassman was still the benchmark for obvious reasons but the Traynor sounded very close to it. I'm extremely happy with it.

Sorry for being long-winded but I'm passionate about tone ;)

Solid.

Never needed it.

Stock: Great value with room for improvement.

Modified: Tubes and speakers. Outstanding vintage tone with modern reliability.

The amp has all the pro features you'll ever need. There are two additions they could have done though. First switchable effects loop ( there are some pedals like line selectors you can use to achieve the same effect). Second seperate EQ on OD/DIS channel.

Clean channel is very good can satisfy quite a few different tastes.
OD is great and very clean too. DIS is loud and proud and has this brain killing button they call scoop for extra mids.

I had it for just a month so can't say much.

Over all the amp is great for the price there is nothing that can come close.

Here we have a YCV80 made in 2004. features have been covered by other people, so i wont go into that.

this amp is 80W of tone! 212 with celestions, 2 seperate channels with seperate EQ (thank god!), reverb, boost and master volume. if you need anything more, go buy your bogner already.

the extra functions on the clean channel help a lot to give it a very fat and present tone for chord work etc. the distortion does in fact cover anything from light overdrive to metal, it just takes some tweaking.

my only complaint here is that the reverb is not footswitchable. i wonder what they were thinking, but oh well - every room has reverb.

I bet most people look at this amp and go "lovely classic rock machine you have there!" at this point, i give them the finger and proceed to play something like lamb of god etc etc. note: i play a gibson les paul studio stock into my 80.

to make this amp cover all bases, you have to understand that the EQ changes as you crank the master, and that preamp gain and poweramp gain are two completely different things. i can get perfectly clean chords from my neck pickup on a gibbo LP studio at master 7, and if i want that clean breakup then its to the bridge pickup. the channel volume on 2 keeps things going.

these amps CAN AND WILL DO high gain metal. dont believe me? get one,and try: gain 8, volume 6.5, treble 6.5, bass 4, mids 4, scoop on, boost off, MV 7. stand back and be amazed! with metal, its not all gain, its how you play the guitar.

as for other musical styles, you can set the clean up to do funk, jazz, blues, anything. distortion, roll back on the gain to go to classic rock or blues overdrive. I have my metal EQ settings on my OD channel, and by simply rolling back the gain i go from lamb of god to AC/DC tone.

volume plays a big part in how the EQ will respond, so fool around with that.

this amp has only done anything wierd twice in the two years i've owned it, and it solved the problem itself (whatever that problem was).

i've accidentally nudged a few walls with it, and other then some scratches in the tolex it gigged/rehearsed perfectly fine.

apparently some guy dropped an old traynor off the back of his truck (well it fell out off the tailgate), and it worked perfectly fine. i think my amp is going to hold up for many years to come.

i've emailed traynor concerning mods and where those damn preamp tubes are, and they've been quick and helpful.

2 year even if you break it warranty, cant say i have any complaints!

for the price, you just cant beat this amp for what you get. tone for any style, 2 channels, reverb, a footswitch, a solo boost, master volume, 212 setup... its one of the best combos out there (especially for the price). this thing has held its own w/ marshall and mesa halfstacks, people say "that thing sounds pretty good" and i tell them what it is. i take my tone very seriously, and this amp delivers.

my ONLY complaint about any YCV amp is the lack of 'verb on the footswitch. with the new YCS, they still dont have it - baffles me.

this amp rocks with the best of them, and rocks hard. handles what you throw at it, and then throws YOU. i'd highly recommend it. i'd replace it if it were stolen.

find one used and you've just hit the bang-for-buck jackpot.

PS: if you want to hear this amp in action, check out: www.purevolume.com/deathcharge or www.soundclick.com/thebuddaproject

2005 model and has everything I need in an amp. I only use a touch of delay through the effects loop (Alesis Midiverb III). Reverb on 2-3 and that's it.

Has a headphone jack, master volume, parallel and series effects loop, speaker disconnect button and a standard plug in for the speakers so you can use it as a head if you want.

Playing a 2005 PRS Custom 24 and 1991 Strat Plus Deluxe.

I'm into Robben Ford type stuff and clean country sounds too.

I put in JJ's and junked the Celestion 70/80's for a pair of Weber handmade California Ceramics $90 each (http://www.tedweber.com/) and the difference was huge. I had to wait a month for the speakers but it turned a lifeless amp into the sweetest amp. I can get perfect Robben Ford tones now. My PRS sounds like a Tele if I want it to which I couldn't do before. This thing has harmonics all over the place which just weren't there with the original speakers. My clean headroom went up by quite a bit with the new speakers which I like. The amp sounds more Fender than a Fender now.

The gain channel is sweet. The distortion was greatly improved also because of the harmonics and clearness. Not a metal amp without some kind of pedal. I'm only saying it because before it didn't have the low end but with the new high powered Webers it will do metal with the proper pedals. I dimed it and the speakers handle the 80 watts with ease with the bass dimed and palm muting the bass strings.

I've heard complaints that the reverb isn't good and that's true if you keep your master volume low. It's directly hooked to that so I keep mine at about 7 which keeps the noise low and the reverb works great at that level.

On the distortion channel I engage the scoop function which drops the mids. But instead of leaving it hollow sounding I dime it and it brings the tones into perfect balance. With scoop off it's too midrangy for me. So in essence the scoop function takes the mids from very thin to good balance. If you want more mids disengage the scoop.

The clean channel is the best I've ever heard. But again the new speakers are the reason. Before it was ok at best.

The amp looks very well built and I examined it closely when installing the new tubes. I have all the confidence that it will last a long long time.

The 2 year Unlimited Warranty is pretty much a testament as to the quality of the amp. I e-mailed Traynor several times and have always gotten a reply within 20 minutes or so during regular business hours. Very helpful and I was given a local repair facility should the need arise.

I'm 57 years old and have been playing since I was a Junior in High School. I'd replace this amp and do the mods again if I lost it.

I wish this amp came in a head version because it's a pretty weighty monster (68lbs with the new speakers, 65 lbs stock). I installed casters to ease the movement of it.

I wish the boost was adjustable like Fenders are.

Based on the reviews and price I decided on this amp. I have owned Fenders and to me the price to quality isn't there thus I decided to give Traynor a try and glad I did. I was interested in the Fender Blues DeVille 2x12 but there is no comparison in my opinion after playing it at Guitar Center.

I bought mine on EBay new so for the money I saved I was able to upgrade my amp and get exactly what I wanted.

When I started researching to buy an amp, I read all the reviews here. I ended up purchasing the YCV80. Ultimately, I'm pleased, but I reached that point by doing things different than most. First, I should say I'm playing a Tele with single coils and that may result in some of my problems. I haven't had a chance to try it with other guitars.

But I switched out the tubes with JJ tubes from Eurotubes as suggested by some, and that made things warmer, but it still was too bright for my taste, despite backing off the treble (I tried most of the adjustments recommended in these reviews). Then I recently replaced one of the 70/80s with a ToneTubby hemp cone. I really didn't experience the increase in bass that some people described, but it increased presence, warmed things up, and it breaks up a little earlier.

What really worked for me was to stop using the preamp entirely. I have a Vox Tonelab SE which has a built in tube and simulates vintage amps. I now run it through the effects return loop. I get a nice, warm, fat clean sound, and I can get a nice balanced dirty sound too. I can take the same settings and run the Tonelab through the preamp (which is manufacturer's recommendation) and the sound gets tinny.

I've done this A/B test with a Marshall 9001 preamp I have as well, with the same results: Run it through the effects, sounds great. Run it through the preamp, sounds bad.

So, I don't think any amount of tweaking will get that preamp to sound as good as other preamps. Now I like the remaining 70/80 I have. It's neutral compared to other speakers but sounds really good, even next to the ToneTubby

Look at the other reviews

I have used several different guitars with this amp. Esp EC100qm, Epi Les Paul Standard Plus, and BC Rich NJ Classic Bich. I have not used a single coil on it but the sound from the humbuckers are just soooo meaty!

I play alot of different types of music. As of right now, i am on a blues kick. This amp's clean channel fits the blues sooo well. Reminds me of a clean Hendrix sound. If you tweak it enough, you can also get a twangy southern sound. For the dirty side, well, once again, it is meaty! With the boost off and both pu's in use, you can easily get a Santanaish type of sound, just great. Now, on the other hand, the boost really makes it ballsy. From prog to death to early 80's metal, this channel cover everything.

This is a 80 watt tube amp. If you buy this amp thinking it will not be noisy at even low volumes, you are going to get a rude awakening. Eventhough not as bad as some other tube amps, (Peavey, Crate, Some Marshall) it is still bad.

Try to leave the master volume near ten, because then you will get the best clean sounds on all channels. Just a great amp for the money.

This is a tube amp. Do not drop this amp. Tubes are fragile and will break on impact. But i would definetly bring this to any show without a back up.

Unlike some of the other reviews, i have not have problems with the chassis. But i do not use the reverb, so no help on that one.

Never needed them.

i have been playing for about 4 years now. I have been through a Marshall s/s half stack, Fender combos, and one crappy VOX. This has been the best amp ever for the money. But, I am still looking around for somting, there is always new technology, and ebay always has em cheap. But overall, this amp is about 700 bucks new, about the price of a high end Marshall s/s, but the Traynor is better.

Absolutley hated it when I first purchased it because of the time it took to tweak the amp with my effects board. So much so that I actually took it back and my salesman talked me into giving it one more chance. After doing so and a lot more tweaking, now I absolutely love it......can't play without it. Every gig I play my sound becomes a topic. My group opened for a major recording artist and their guitarist heard my amp and borrowed it for their set (mic'd and tweaked of course). I also use an external speaker which gives a better balanced sound when mic'd. I give it a 9 because it was hell to tweak but it was worth it!

I play a Kramer American with 2 stacked and a dual humbucker and use a Boss GT 5 for effects with the YCV 80. I play a clean effects laiden sound therefore I don't like hum and noise. I mostly use the clean channel and the amp is low noise and clean.

Once tweaked very reliable

20 years. Fender Strat, Jackson Flying V.
After understanding its make up, I would buy it again
love the sound, I hate the time it took to tweak it with my effects board.
I compared it with, Marshall and Fender.
Cleaner than the Marshall and cheaper than the Fender

It's a fairly straightforward amplifier without a lot of bells and whistles to speak of; I've never cared all that much for amps with a lot of onboard effects and whatnot though...it's a personal preference. That said, there are a few points I should mention; the clean channel is equipped with 'bright' and 'expander' switches, both of which I like (especially the expander), although, wishfully thinking, I would prefer to have some parametric control. The overdrive channel also has two switches, 'scoop' (which I never use because I like midrange) and 'boost'. Again, it would be nice to have an extra knob or two for those, but it doesn't really bother me.
I find a few things curious about the effects loop--firstly, the effects loop is in parallel to the dry signal rather than in series, so the dry signal and wet signal are output together. That's terrific for time-based effects like delays and chorus; however I use a Boss GT-5 processor for most of my effects (including certain dynamic effects or EQ, depending on who I'm playing with), and having the amp's natural sound coming through as well kind of undermines that. I've gotten things pretty well balanced, but it's the result of a lot of tweaking I'd prefer to have avoided; but I'm not really complaining, as it's more an issue of my preference of signal chain than anything else.
Secondly, the effects send and return both have a volume control, which I suppose is useful to have (particularly since the effects loop is in parallel), but it's two more gain stages than I really want. Ah well.

In spite of niggling technical concerns (many of which are a matter of preference, as I said), I'm extremely pleased with this amplifier. I've owned it for a hair under a year, and I have played with it on stage, in the studio, and untold hours in my room. In fact, I haven't used my old amp once since I got this one.
In particular it records absolutely beautifully; I've cut an EP using this amp for all the electric guitar parts, and started work on another recording likewise.

My main guitar is a Jackson superstrat of indeterminate model with a humbucker in the bridge position and two excessively dark stacked single-coil pickups. On occasion I also play a cheapo Strat clone (as well as a handful of others, but those are typically for specific applications--alternate tunings, a 12-string...that sort of thing).
I'm a real whore of a musician; my main gig is playing guitar (among other instruments) with a female singer in more or less of a pop format reminiscent of U2, or Tori Amos, or whomever. I've also recently been playing really extreme jazz fusion with a group of guys from my school; I've played with blues bands, experimental rock bands, punk bands, &c, and I've done a fair amound of session work for a bunch of disparate artists. On my own, I like to play complex instrumental music similar to Rush or King Crimson. This amplifier suits me for everything I play (I should mention that I'm not particularly interested in copping anyone's sound precisely, although my tone is somewhat similar to Alex Lifeson's in the early 80's). But nevertheless, I can get nearly any sound I please with some amount of twiddling the knobs around.

As for my complaints, the amp is somewhat noisy, but my use of fairly heavy compression is partly to blame. It's particularly apparent in the overdrive channel's boost setting, which I should mention is slightly fuzzier than I'd like--I'm comfortable with the gain set at about 6; it may be more or less apparent with different gain settings--but I still think it's brilliant for solos or, to a lesser extent, for heavy rhythm work. It would be nice if that were on a separate channel alltogether but, hey...
The clean channel is extremely bright; it complements Fender-ish tones quite nicely with brightness and expansion turned off (which tend to make such instruments sound shrill and hollow, respectively); I haven't quite found a clean tone with my Jackson that really excites me, but engaging the expander does add a really nice character to it. I'm sort of on the fence about the clean channel, really...I think it's probably not for everybody, but one's choice of instrument is, of course, at least as big a factor as the character of the amp.
My biggest complaint has to do with the EQ's. They work, but they're pretty mediocre. I have not bothered to really figure out what it is about them that I don't care fore, but they just don't strike me as being very 'musical'. It is a much bigger issue for me with the clean channel than with the overdrive channel (on either gain setting).

That said, I think that it is a terrific-sounding amplifier all around. I can get some very nice clean tones out of it (albeit sometimes requiring a bit of experimentation), and the overdrive channel sounds excellent. Without the boost setting engaged, the dynamics of my playing honestly come through better than any amp I've played through to date (including heavyweights such as high-end Marshalls and vintage Fenders); complex chord voicings, except for the very most dissonant, sound beautifully; and in general the tone is very clear and bright and warm. With the boost engaged, the tone is significantly compressed and fuzzed-out, which tends to squash picking dynamics and obscure complex chords somewhat; but as I said, for solos, especially with long, sustained notes, as well as simpler rhythm styles based on power chords, octaves, and triads, it sounds superb. With the scoop switch engaged, it produces a good 'metal' sound, but I really never play with it on.

I'm inclined to give it high marks as it's never given me any trouble yet, but I don't feel I've had it long enough to really get a meaningful sense of that.
Seems sturdy enough. But I do try to take care of it.

I have not had to deal with them.

I've been playing guitar for around nine, nine and a half years or so; I own a variety of guitars, a fretless J-bass, and a handful of keyboards. Prior to buying this amplifier, I have principly played through Peavy (eh.) and Fender amplifiers, although I've also played through the occasional Marshall or Crate (ick.) or what-have-you. If my amp were lost or stolen (god forbid), I'm quite sure I'd buy another--I'm convinced it's the very finest tube amp available for under $1000.
Like I said, I'm not crazy about the EQ's and some of the electronics aren't the way *I* would have wired them; but it's certainly nothing that really bothers me, and the tone and feel of the amp absolutely mitigate such inconsequential concerns.

Everything has been said already.

I use both Strats and Les Pauls and they both sound great (with a bit of tweaking, of course). Being used, the Clean channel seems to have seen better days. Turned up too loudly without balencing the settings gives a bad imitation of a Rockabilly sound. Folks have said the amp is too bright, I say it is not bright enough. The Bright switch does aboslutely nothing and the Expander switch does worse than that. The Clean side of the amp (with all settings dimed; including Master Volume) gives a good Hendrix cranked-non-master-volume-Marshall. The Dirty side (with settings actually tweaked and adjusted) lends itself easily to early-1970s-live-Jimmy Page-Marshall sounds. Basically, a good Marshall sound for cheap.

This amp could be ranked with Marshalls in the halls of road-worthy amps. Every other amp I've owned (Peavey Envoy 110, Pignose G40V, early 1970s Fender Bassman 10) has succumbed to different problems, but this amp is still going strong. I would take this amp as my main squeeze.

N/A

I've been playing for five years and own two Strats (one reversed), a Les Paul, a Jimi Hendrix Wah, and a Fuzz Face. This amp nails Blues, Jazz, and any type of rock (the Boost switch makes sure of that). This is the best amp, tone-wise, in its price range. If you are looking for a good tube Fender or Marshall, try this one next to it, and let your ears guide you.

2004 model. Loaded with features, but I just basically use the two channels and occasionally the boost on the distortion channel--sometimes it's a good boost balance, others it's way too over the top. Like another reviewer stated, it seems to be tied in with the seperate volume pots, I'm still not sure if it's the Master, the channel gain or the channel volume. The other tone sculpting features I don't find musically useful--especially when preforming live, I don't have the time to tweak things on the fly. I play a variety of styles--blues, rock and pop--and primarily use a Les Paul Classic with Duncan Antiquities at home, at jams, at pick-up gigs and every week for contemporary praise and worship at church. I find the clean channel to be a great basis for my rather busy pedal board, and the dirty channel to be very good (after mods) at classic rock crunch and Bluesbreaker Clapton blues.

O.K....here's the poop. When I first got this amp, I couldn't get over how bad the speakers sounded--weak, sterile, boxey, so I decided to swap out for a pair of Greenbacks. That improved things, but not nearly as much as an earlier review has stated (i.e. it's not a "300%" improvement, more like a 50% one). The reason I chose the Greenbacks and not the Vintage 30s is that the HIGH END on both channels of this amp is MURDEROUS, and I wanted to avoid any speaker that could have problems sometimes with harsh highs.
Anyway, I don't understand Traynor's voicing of this amp--I have to choke the treble down to btw 1.0-1.5 on the gain channel and to 3 on the clean channel, otherwise this thing sounds synthetic, thin and harsh. In addition, I don't know what frequencies that the mid pots control, but I swear the spectrum covers roughly what most amps' TREBLE controls cover--I mean this amp is voiced waaaay bright!! I typically like the lower and middle range of the mids to be covered--especially for the gain channel. For the most part though, I CAN get a good musical sound out of both channels--apart from the lack of that part of the mid range frequencies that any other amp I've played through/owned has had.
Another beef--Traynor included some kind of solid state "tube rectifier emulation circuit" in this amp to immitate tube sag--This is the same type of circuit which Roland put in their solid state "Blues Cube" amplifiers--I know, I had one. The only thing that this circuit manages to do is muddy the signal, especially if you engage the "scoop" switch.
One more beef--there is a bit of an issue with the bass level balance between both channels--the clean having considerably more low end than the dirty channel. Part of this comes from the Fender (clean)/Marshall(dirty) design of each channel--classic Marshalls didn't have as much low end as Fenders but emphasized the mid range more (that is, without a closed back cab). When I made the speaker swap, things balanced out a bit more...BUT...here's what really breathed new life into this amp and has resulted in my not dumping it:
I changed the tubes to JJ's--a full set of preamp and power amp tubes!!! I talked to the guy at Eurotubes, who has different types of tube "kits" that you can swap out with the stock (shiite) tubes, depending on the sound your after. I decided on the "Blues" kit which has a lower gain for v2--this took away a lot of the stupid emulated rectifier mud (unless you use the scoop switch)on the dirty channel. These new tubes really tightened up the bass response in both channels, smoothed out the high end harshness (except if I turn up the treble beyond what I stated above, it still turns into a synthetic ice pick) gave it more warmth and richer harmonics and more musical clarity on the gain channel and warmed up the clean channel. Heck, even the reverb sounds better--not as clangy and 'strangled' sounding--it actually reminds me of a Fender now. This really did improve things a lot!!! Just so you know, now the gain channel can do an almost spot-on Bluesbreaker Clapton tone!!
Another trick you can do is pull the two outer 6l6s which cuts the power in half (to 40 watts) and warms things up a tad more.
Anyway, the circuitry is what it is and could stand some improved voicing--and some better tubes and speakers stock!! The sound with my upgrades is about an 8.75 (a B+), but for stock, a 7 (which is a c-/d+)

Mechanically this amp has been just fine

Never dealt with them

I've been playing for many moons and if it were lost(?) or stolen I would probably use my insurance money for something else. I've had tons of gear--guitars, pedals, amps (mostly tube, but some solid state also). I HATE the bright voicing of this amp--that's really my main beef with it (oh and the stupid rectifier circuit) although I think the general concept of this amp is a good one (i.e. Marshall/Fender thing in one amp). They should really ship this with good tubes and speakers though--even if it costs more--HEY TRAYNOR--CALL BOB AT EUROTUBES, I'LL BET HE'D BE YOUR TUBE SUPPLIER AND MAYBE EVEN CUT YOU A DEAL FOR VOLUME.

no use reapeating what has already been said...

Im using a strat with "vintage single coils" into a keeley modified crybaby and then into the amp... my pedal board is soon to become larger. i play Jazz, blues, classic rock, ska, indie, alt. rock,grunge, punk and on the odd day country. The clean channel is absolutely perfect, its like a cross betwwen a twin reverb and an AC30 but so much smoother and fatter, its so nice, i rather play without dist or o/d. The only way you will get your clean to distort is if you have your master at 10 and your vol. past 7, and thats unbearable to my ear... to loud! The lead channel when unboosted has no balls, thats the only reason why it didn't get a 10 for sound quality, but when you turn the boost on, you have that marshallesque tones everybody wants. The difference betwwen the marshallesque tone everybody uses and this one is that this one is so much smoother... its like an old plexi but with more gain capacity. turn the gain down, play with the eq a little and you can get that perfect indie rock tone, boost the mids keep the gain around 4.5- 5 and youve gat that vintage plexi tone. turn up the gain around 7, you can get that late 80s early to mid 90s marshall tones. The boosted lead channel is simple amazing.. you can even get that nu metal sound... turn the gain up to close to 10, turn the mids all the way down and youve got a great metal tone also.

BUILT LIKE A TANK!!

never dealth with them...

If it were stolen or lost I would go directly to the music store and purchase the YCV80Q... with 410.. it seems to have better reviews.
Ive compared it with a Mashall JCM2000 TSL100 and for you Marshall fans out there... Marshall' quality is slowly decreasing... this amp smoked the marshall... and the traynor costs much less!

Don't get me wrong with my complaints here.
For the $ and a tube amp....buy it.Have had the amp for about a year.
It is/was pretty good from gigs.
Agreed with the other reviews that the clean channel is pretty nice.
The dirty channel is DIRTY.
Hard to get a good tone out of that side.
The boost seems to amplify things about twice as much, not a nice thing.
Seems to need a lot of tweaking to get the dirty channel to respond correctly.
I don't use the effects loop, just a hassle with setting the trims etc.
The speaker defeat switch, xlr out, and headphones jack are a great touch most of the other features I could do without.(eg swoop, boost)

I did replace the tubes with JJ Tubes and that helped and I choose tubes that break up fast.
I think......when I get some more time and money I will replace the speakers.
I have a feeling it will improve it drastically so I will hold on to it.
A friend of mine put an old 70s Fender amp on permanent loan with me so I recently have been playing that and my bucks will probably go to restoring that amp first.
Just has some fat lows and I love it.....though it could use some
maintenance.
The Traynor has been in the corner for a few months but still goes on gigs for a back up if needed.

Play mostly my American Strat through it.
Amp low end.
I can crank the low pot and still wish for more.
You can get some pretty distorted big hair butt rock stuff going if you want but those days are almost over for me unless I've had a few beers and feel like ripping.

No probs

Go ahead and get it for a good way to have a decent (not perfect) tube amp.

I have Bought my Traynor YCV80 212 from Long & McQuades ( the Yorkville store)about two years ago. The tone is warm. I rarely use the distortion channel.
I play traditional country, country rock and rockabilly.
I wish they made the head separate so I could use different speaker configurations and I could make two trips carying it. Also, it would be nice to have the choice of different speakers.
I would like a digital reverb with delay and tone control.
I want a clean a sound as possible for my steel guitar. I use this amp in bars. I mike it with a shure 58.

I play a 70's Musicman stringray 2 guitar and a single ten MSA steel guitar. The tube sound makes me happy. i usually set the mastervolume on ten and then adjust the volume on the channel. I don't play that one over six.

I depend on it all the time. I have also bailed out a fellow steel player when his Peavey amp bit the dust one night.

I have dealt with the very first Long&McQuades store since they first opened up. They formed Yorkeville sound in Toronto in the sixties. I was one of their very first customers. They've never let me down. I deal with their Edmonton store now.

I've been playing since 1960.I have a Fender jazz five string which I play through a Yorkeville 400b Bass head. My next bass amp will probably be a Yorkeville as well. I don't compare them with other products; I just use them.

Features-

this amp has a lot of features that are necessary for the modern musician-XLR output, speaker defeat switch (good for practicing without killing the neighbors), brightness switch for enhancing the highs (although read more on this later), effects loop, headphone output. Read more below for better descriptions. . . the importance is proper tubes and speakers. Read on for more. . .

I use a Hamer Artist (beautiful guitar which I love b/c it's not in many catalogs, and it simply looks and plays beautifully. Ahhhh). This amp will suit any style of music you play from clean tones to slightly heavy metal (note quite death metal or that complete shit, but the guys at Traynor know what good tone is).

The point- Traynor has produced a fabulous amp once the right components are added. I'll be honest, at first I didn't like the sound overall and considered taking it back. I realized that the options and construction were all very well crafted and thought-out. But the tone I wanted was not quite right. With a little more research, I realized that the tubes and speakers that come stock with the amp meet or are below par with what I was looking for (but how can you beat an all-tube amp for this price??)
So I changed out the stock cheap tubes with Electro Harmonix (better sounding) tubes and the amps response/sound increased 1000X. So I'm glad that I didn't take it back!! You can spend the 1000 dollars on a Marshall or Fender all tube amp but realize you are paying for the brand name, not necessarily the quality. Do yourself a favor and swap the tubes for higher quality (not groove tubes please, these are just manufactured tubes given the groove tubes label and they charge you 3X as much) tubes and you will realize the full potential of this amp.
I also swapped out the speakers for an old Fender special speaker and a Vintage 30 and the result was awesome. (it comes stock with Celestion 70/80s which are okay, but you can always upgrade.
Once I made these changes, I came to love the tone and response of the amp. I was happy with the stock configuration, but now it is just rediculous.

The only complaint I have is that I live on the 5th floor of a Boston apt. and it is really heavy to get up the stairs. But I will soon have a dolly for that. But what the hell, nice amps come at a nice weight, right?? Nice price too.

Anyway, I am giving it a 7 for the stock features, but once you upgrade, it's an easy 9.5 (~$100 upgrade at that) still less than those BS Marshall Half Stack Suck Machines.

I heard you could drop this thing off your own roof, and they'd replace it for you due to their warranty. Not only that, but I read that if you were to do this, it would still perform the same night at a gig!!

The guys at Traynor are awesome. I emailed them three times about tube questions, speaker questions etc, and they got back to me within 6 hours!! Try that with Marshall or Boss or Fender!!.
These guys know that they have a quality product and it takes this kind of service and product to place them above the competition. Well done Traynor. Just give us the option for a better tube and speaker upgrade!!.

OVerall it is a great, well built amp that will last a long time. The only problem I had was with the stock components. Once you replace these, it will be an amp that sounds and reacts like one twice as expensive.
Do yourself a favor and try one out today.

if you have read the other reviews then you know the features. I just wanted to say that this amp has as many or more than most of it equivilants. There are some improvments that could be hepful,such as footswitchable reverb and scoop and theres probably more depending on who you are as a player,but you are not going to get them on any other TUBE amplifier either,especially in this price range. i paid about 700$ about 2 yrs ago.

i have a mexican strat,japan heavy metal semi-hollow w/to gibson classic pups,dean evo,stock agile 2500 lp. there is nothing comes out of this amp that doesnt sound 10xs more musical than any piece of solid state crap,sorry for the hostility. It takes some differnt control tweeking depeding on mostly single coil or humbucker,but if your familiar w/your rig that shouldnt be a problem, and amust for this amp is a tube job. The other guy was right when he said the traynor techs are proud of there 7$ sovtec tubes. my recomendation is slvetna(probably not spelled right)6l6 for the power section, you will need 4, this is the heart to this amp. you must always push the master volume as much as possible,and adjust the channel volumes down if have to. you will need 3 12ax7, i use elextro harminex. the 6l6 are about 25$ and 12ax7 15$, so its agood 160$ but its worth every pennie, remember you still have to replace them in any other tube amp.In comparison to my buddies fender deluxe,it is pretty well superior in my opinion all the way around. some green back or vintage speaker can only make it that much better.with alittle upgading a top of the line amp.

its pretty dependable, i will gig it with out a back up.i have had problems with mine.it developed a good hiss and crackle in it,i got ahold of atech finally and he said sounded like a cold solder joint. said to pull power tube section and re heat solder on power tube section. so i did and it didnt help and some how along the process the standby quit working, completley seperate board from power section.

as someone said before i had a bit of a problem getting a response from tech support. i finally took it by the dealers, he gave me a replacment a marshall dfx50 i think no comparison.sent mine off. idont know how many of you have never had a warranty worth a s***, but let me tell you the only warranty that has ever done wat it said. no shipping to or from and no questions asked, just fixed with a wole new set of tubes(sovtecs of course but they work in a pinch)even after i probably tore it up worse than it was and they knew i had been inside of it. GREAT WARRANTY.

ive been playing about 5 years,ihave very close to a coplete home studio not the pc based stuff either.fender deluxe.fender bassman. i would replace it.keep in mind that you will never get every sound out of one amp just like a strat doesnt sound like a lp. If you can get every sound out of yor amp its a digitally natural sound robbing bandit ,and im sure you will agree if you plug in a tube amp of any kind.remember i said musicall,not louder,not crunchier,just simply more musical.i love this amp. as said ther are still others a man would want too. the gear dilema will probably never stop. anyway hope this cover somethings newto the reviews. thanks

80 watts into 2 12's--loud enough
Spring reverb--sounds like a slinky going down stairs
2 channels--must have
Seperate volume/EQ for each channel--excellent feature
Scoop switch on distortion channel--fun, but gimmicky
Expander switch on clean channel--nice EQ preset
Bright switch on clean channel--too bright for me, but with a really dark sounding guitar it might be useful
Effects loops, parallel and series--unimpressive

I play in a rock cover band that plays everything from early Beatles to Staind. I need an amp that can go from squeaky clean to the most oversaturated distortion. This amp is pretty good in the versatility department.

With single coils the clean stays clean no matter how hard I play, and with humbuckers I can get a good, smooth crunch going if I like. It has a nice Fender-like quality, but doesn't hurt my ears the way Fenders do.

The distortion channel has two levels of gain (footswichable), which is good for rhythm vs lead. I wish that the volume increased more when you hit the boost--I have to walk over to the amp and turn up the volume when it is my turn to play lead. That's rarely much of an issue, however. I also run a Boss Blues Driver pedal through the clean channel for more variety (great pedal--gives everything from just a little dirty to that Staind super saturation). The distortion channel is also very noisy, creating lots of hiss. But it still sounds pretty good overall. Between the Blues Driver and the built in distortion, the amp has distortion covered.

The amp is a little tubby/muddy. I changed the tubes and things improved a lot. In fact, one of the original pre-amp tubes was defectcive--I figured that out when I switched them around and the sound improved. But there is still room for improvement. I am considering a change of speakers. Some of the previous reviewers have gone that route and claim good results. If anyone reading this has made such a switch please post your results here.

So far so good. Zero problems in 2 years of steady gigging.

This is a good amp that needs a little upgrading. I think that the price is average for an average sounding amp. Comparably priced amps of equal quality exist in the 2X12 arena, from such manufacturers as Fender, Marhall and Carvin. I shopped them all and went with the Traynor because I thought that it was the best overall for my needs, but I wouldn't call it a super bargain on a super amp.

Again, I invite anyone who has modified a Traynor YCV80 to submit a review and tell us what you did to tap the unfulfilled potential of the amp.

2 Channels/80 watts/All Tube/ see others.

I use a 2002 Gibson Les Paul Standard and a 2004 Fender Floyd Rose Strat. I own a YCV40 that I love as a practice amp and just bought this because I've played 2 x 12 Combos (Marshalls, Fenders, Peaveys, you name it) my entire life. I was very disappointed. When you stood 8 feet from the amp on the left hand side and walked in front to the right hand side, the entire tone of the amp changed as you moved. It would sound too bassy, from one angle, perfect at another, and too middley at the next. Never before had I noted that on a 2 x 12 amp. I also hated the trim on the effects loop. Too many bells and whistles. Just want to set up, put my effects (Boss GT-5) through the effects loop and play. I got rid of it and bought another YCV40, this time the Wine Red.

Have had no problems so far with the YVC40s.

Don't know, never tried them. But, best warranty in the business. Was able to transfer the warranty to the next buy.

The YVC40 is a much better amp, and plenty loud enough to gig with.