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.

I play lead guitar in a modern/alt rock band that plays mid sized clubs in Upstate New York. I recently bought this amp for a side project that I had started to play more jangly "Brit-rock". I found that it has everything I need (although not everything I want) for my main band. I end up using it mostly as a head rather than for the combo amp, something I hope they'll add to their line soon. I run this amp on top of my 4x12 cab w/ Celestion Vinatge 30s which really add the tight bottom end this amp needs for the kind of music I'm doing.
This is a 2 channel amp and I'm really impressed with the quality of both channels. The clean is very sweet sounding and very useable. The "bright" switch baffles me a little. If there is one thing the clean channel doesn't need is more brightness.
The dirty channel is awesome. Although I had to crank the gain to 10 to get enough gain for my music, it does it. The draw back is the hiss that comes with the gain. It's a really loud hiss. Sure it's nice and quiet if you're jamming in your bedroom, but I just used this amp this weekend at a club in Utica, NY and when I would finish a song, the hiss was noticeable to everyone.
The scoop switch is a little cheesy in it's attempt to get that Dimebag (RIP) sound, but I end up using it because I need all the low end I can get when playing with a band.
The worst part is the "Boost" switch. What is this supposed to do? I haven't discovered a way to get the boost loud enough to make any difference. I kick it on for guitar solos, but it's all but pointless. My solos don't stand out any more. They could put a boost knob on the back like a Messa Boogie so you could dial in the amount of boost you want. That would make it worth the extra footswitch button.

I use a Mexican Strat with a Duncan JB humbucker and a Dean EVO with the same pickup. This amp gets a great "british" sounding distortion, although a little darker or woodier sounding than some amps. I love the sound of this amp. It won't do the Tripple Recto sound very well, but it's great at what it does. I gets plenty of gain for a more "AC/DC" kind of sound, but you can forget Pantara.
The clean sound is beautiful. Very useable, unlike some Marshall's I've used. I haven't had a problem with keeping the clean channel clean. I also use a pedal on the clean channel for my "crunch" sounds which works out well. I find that turning down the volume on my guitars on the gain channel doesn't give me a very good crunch sound most of the time. Not what I'm looking for anyways.

This amp seems very solid. I've had mine for a few months now and take it to every show. No problems yet.

I have only emailed the company once and that was to recommend a head version of this amp. They answered my email the same day and were very pleasant.

I've been playing guitar for about 15 years. I've been in working bands for 10 years and in a semi-pro touring band for the past 2. I really dig this amp and I would probably buy another one if it was stolen.
I love the value/price and the versatility. I've recorded a few things with it and it sounds great on tape. I wish they made this amp with a little less wattage. The YCV-40 doesn't have the same features. It's too loud to get everything out of this amp at a club or in the studio.
My opinions here have been focusing on the negative because there are so many posative reviews that I want to give people a true picture of the amp rather than try to gloss everything over. It really is a great amp. You couldn't ask for much more at this price. I highly recommend it.

The features have been covered in the many reviews below.

I have gigged with this amp for a little over 2 years. I like the amp for the most part, as it is versatile and dependable, but I will not go into detail on the good points of this amp as they have been amply covered by most of the reviews that follow. Rather, I will point out the defects/imperfections that most other reviewers have glossed over.

The distortion channel is extremely noisy. The noise is drowned out whle playing, but the amp hisses very loudly when I am not playing, even with my guitar volume all the way down (this happens with my humbucker-equipped Brian Moore as well as with my Strat).

The distortion channel can be rather muddy and unpleasant. Changing the original Russian pre-amp tubes to Chinese Groove tubes helped a lot, but certain chords still produce very ugly, indistinct harmonics--the guitar almost sounds out of tune. The other guitarist in the band uses a Hot Rod Deville, which is way too bright for my taste, but when I play through his amp the nasty harmonics are not there. Is muddiness the price for thick distortion? It shouldn't be.

The Accutronics spring reverb is crap. The fake reverb in my little Crate practice amp kicks its butt. The Accutronics loses all definition if turned up past 9 o'clock with any sort of volume. It sounds like rattling chains or something, not at all like a lush reverb. Some reviewers revel in the glorious sound of the spring, but it sounds crappy in my opinion.

The effects loops are useless. The "parallel" loop only allows half of the effected signal through, so if you want half an effect I guess that is OK. The entire effected signal goes through the "Loop Through" effects loop, which uses a stereo-to-2 mono's cable. Trouble is, it removes all the clean head room. I was running a Boss EQ pedal through it during a gig and it worked fine until I hit the strings hard while on the clean channel. Then a harsh crackle came through the speakers. I tried a digital multi-effects unit through the loop and there was hardly any volume. These effects devices work just fine in line between the guitar and the input jack. A good effects loop could be a convenient thing if it worked.

The brightness switch is unusable. It makes the sound waaaaaay too glassy. A knob would be much better.

The scoop switch increases the mud factor of the distortion channel. It is a little addictive and I had a hard time not using it for a while, but I feel that my tone is now much better without it.

I bought a nice acoustic/electric guitar to gig with. Not having an acoustic guitar amp, I tested many guitars on electric guitar amps until I found one that sounded really good on a electric amp. Unfortunately, even this guitar pushes the Traynor amp too hard. I have to run my acoustic through the PA (which is probably for the best, but I am a little disappointed that the Traynor couldn't handle the signal).

It is too loud for normal sized venues. At extremely high volume, the sound is very sweet. Unfortunately, I can seldom turn it up into the sweet zone without being too loud for the bars that we play in (the other guitarist has the same problem with his Fender). Fewer watts or a wattage selector switch would be good. I know that this is not really a fault of the amp, but it may be a lesson to anyone who thinks that more is always more.

I have had no breakdowns with this amp. It seems very reliable and well built, although I took the precaution of tightening all of the screws after reading some of the earlier reviews. The chassis screws were, indeed, loose.

When I was first considering changing the tubes I emailed Traynor tech service to see if they had any recommendations or suggestions. My questions were answered in an indirect, condescending manner. I got the impression that the tech guy thinks that most people are just stupid and don't deserve a polite answer.

There is much to like about this amp, which is why I still use it. But it might better with fewer bells and whistles and more attention to the things that really matter, like good cabinet design, quality tubes and top-notch speakers.

All you need from a valve amp. For a full list,check out the Yorkville website and take a look at the specs for this amp.

http://www.yorkville.com/products.asp?id=170&cat=18&type=32

Just about all the sounds you'll here anywhere else. Obviously there's going to be some variations between Fender or Marshall and the like,but it gets so close to either,it doesn't really matter. Maybe not ideal for full blown metal,but other that that,it copes with any style,and does it very,very well.
The only fault this amp suffered from,was a distinct hum when not in use,but just left standing and switched on,however, after contacting Yorkville,they sent out a set of new valves straight away,and recommended changing around the ones that were fitted before the new ones arrived. Not sure why,but it worked a treat. From what I've heard from other amp users,this isn't an uncommon problem on any make of amp.

Time will tell,but after using a YCV 40 for a good while,I don't see any problems arising. Having said that,I've only had one amp break down in 25 years,and even then,it had to put up with some serious abuse at the time.
Rating is based on owning a previous Traynor.

This is where things just don't get any better. Their after sales service is second to none compared with other manufacturers I've dealt with. I contacted them via email about the humming problem,and they replied within an hour,and offered all sorts of advice and spare parts. Very polite,and VERY efficient.

After playing for over 25 years,and using all sorts of types of amps and guitars in that time,this is well and truly one of the best amps I've owned or used,and that's including Fender,Marshall,Carlsbro,Laney,Mesa etc. Yes,it is that good.
If it were stolen,I'd most certainly replace it with the exact same type,as soon as possible.
Anything I wish it had?,not really,apart from maybe a cover included,but that's just so trivial,I don't care.

Tube 212 combo with two channels (clean/dirty) with footswitch. Has a great effects loop with trim controls and headphone outs so you can practice in your own little world where no one has to hear you... This amp has so many features do yourself a favor and check them out at musiciansfriend.com or yorkville.com

This amp truly is built and has the sound of a 60's amp. It's clean is so amazing, it's so versatile with the extra switches they give you you can mold it into anything you'd like. It also takes pedals very well. I'd say it sounds very jazzy and has a lot of headroom before it breaks up. It so moldable it's worth buying this amp just for the clean. The distortion is just as awesome! It can do both the power amp distortion (AC/DC stuff) to preamp (Metal, Van Halen, etc.). With the boost you can get this into major metal territroy. I was looking for an amp with a vintage clean and a metal distortion and this delivers. Take the time to try it out it may be the tone you've been looking for like me.

Haven't had it long enough but with the great warranty (2 year even if you break it warranty and 10 year cabinetry warranty) you should be set. It's build like a tank and has some weight to it, not your typical flimsy amp that would fall over at the slightest wind.

Never dealt with them.

This amp will be my main amp for many years to come. I went throught countless amps looking for an amp that could go super clean to super distortion. This amp is great for everything. Traynor will become huge if they keep this kind of quality throughout their products. I've been searching for an amp to retire my Ampeg Reverberocket 2 for over a year and a half, and after trying countless hype amps (Marshall, Mesa,) I found this one at it's a keeper. Anyone looking for quality must try this amp!

I just got this amp a few weeks ago and let me tell you, after tuning it in to my tastes it made one hell of an amp. This amp does it all from rock to country to blues to jazz. I use it for everything. It is 80 watts and 2x12 configuration. This amp sounds good at low levels and gets even better at higher levels which makes it a class A amp.

I got great sounds from both channels. The clean reminds me of a Twin Reverb that meets an AC30. The gain on the overdrive channel gets muddy when you turn it up, I found to run the amp with the master all the way up and the gain about half way for the amp to sound good on both channels. I am using Strats and 335 style guitars.

The cabinet is made of solid birch plywood. The circuit board is hand wired. The only thing I see causing a problem in the future is the cheap buttons especially the standby button. If it were to break, I would be able to test the 2 year unconditional warranty.

I work in a music store and met a sales rep from the company, Yorkville and he taught me a lot about traynor amps before I bought one. I haven't had to experience calling for service.

If you are tired of going through amps looking for "The Sound" then give traynor a shot and you will not be disappointed. You definately get your moneys worth. I am laughing all the way the bank with the money I had left over from selling my Twin reverb.

Traynor Custom Valve 80, 2x12 speakers, 80 Watts, two channels + boost on lead channel (lead= channel 1 here), seperate tone-controls for both channels, global reverb and master volume. scoop and boost switches on lead channel, bright and expander on clean channel, effect loop, headphone out, speaker emulated out. footswitch for channels and boost ... what more do you want?
well, maybe footswitchable reverb, but I can live without. I give it a 9 since in terms of versatility it can of course not compete against this all-in-one modellers, but hey, thats exactly what you want with an all-tube amp, you want character instead of 1000 average sounds, isn't it?

I mainly use a Gibson Les Paul Smartwood, music styles range from quite post-rock (think arab strap, logh) to alternative (Pumpkins anyone?) and some hardcore (Refused, Fugazi). This amp covers all the styles, which is pretty amazing.

Channel 1 (dist. channel)
starts almost clean with gain at 1 and ends at a nice hi-gain distortion- no over-the-top metal mayhem, but I don't need this anyway. one nice thing about this amp is that the distortion always stays defined, you can hear your axe clearly even with hi-gain settings. another nice one on this channel is the scoop switch, although I think "scoop" is a bit misleading. it's not this kind of new metal scoop switch that you'll find on many modern amps. I rather liked the explanation of a guy below, entitling it a "Fender-Marshall switch". Well, I'd not call the distortion Fender-like (which is actually a curse, isn't it?), but engaging the scoop switch the sound reminds me of a Marshall JCM 800.

Channel 2 (clean)
this one is really great- a hell of a clean tone! I compared it to a Marshall in the store (TSL 602), and the Traynor won hands down on the clean channel. The dist. channel is always nice on Marshalls, but hey, with this amp you have best of both worlds. The clean is warm and rich, and the reverb sound tremendous with this clean-tone. But not only that the real clean is good, the breaking up at volumes from 6 onwards is amazing. unbelievable, I could play on forever.

definately great sounding for all the styles I play. and I think 2x12 is the best combo format, you get all the bass that you'll ever need and still have a portable amp (how many of you have roadies out there?). loud enough for any gig. wait, I forgot another superb feature, that you'll miss on most amps: auto-biasing tubes, easy to change, long lifetime, no matching required!

well, what should I say, usually I'm not the guy giving 10s, but I can't think of any complaint, so I have to.

it's sturdy, heavy duty, built like a tank. speakers are protected by a steel grill- nice feature.
as I see it it will last forever.
However, concerning the question of gigging without backup, I think this is unprofessional, just been to a gig yesterday and it was horrible. he guys bass-amp blew and he was about 20min appologizing and tweaking the already dead amp.

heard great things about traynor. here in good old Europe it's Tascam / Teac that distribute them, so I have no idea about the warrenty that they give.
however, havn't needed it so far.

I was looking for an all-tube amp that would cover all my musical styles, that comes with modern features and that sounds unique. finally, I was down to the marshall tsl 601 and the traynor, and the traynor won in price, clean channel and was at least equal at the dist. channel. and, nobody around here has one- never seen somebody with a traynor. I don't want to sound like everybody else, having the same marshall-tone as a whole army of guitar-heads out there. and did i tell you that it looks damn good? classic but unique.
a real great amp... I just bought a shure sm57 today, since it sounds so sweet that I really want to record its full sound (amp+speakers)- it blows you away even through the studio monitors. so if you consider buying a tube-amp, give the ycv 80 a try. my rating is a 9.6, so I round to 10

All have been listed previously, so I won't repeat it all, I will add that the features match or exceed that which is available on almost every other top selling amp out there. In addition to the obvious - channel switching and reverb the inclusion of boost control and scoop are certainly welcomed. This amp is simplistic in design yet is lacking nothing at all. For the features included it is wildly difficult to comprehend how they can sell this product for the price they do. Unreal. Think about it.... name another 2x12 tube combo in this price range or any price range; by a company that will warranty it even if you use it as a tramoline. Some of the submissions talk about swaping out tubes and speakers..... hey I've been a player for over twenty years and have played almost everything out there, this is the best bang for the buck I have ever come across. I love what it offers. I play classic rock and country and I can get everything I need on a gig. With the XLR it is great in the studio as well.

I have a 1971 Fender Strat with stock pickups and a 1996 Fender USA Strat with stock pickups in addition to a Fishman TSV Powerbridge. I got rid of a Marshall head and 4x12 Marshall cabinet for this, in part cause it is easier on the back. I have to admit I am too old to lug a half stack around so moving to this seemed to be the ticket. My only worry was the lose of bottom end but that hasn't been the case at all. I am going to get the 2x12 extension cabinet for the other side of the stage but I am impressed witht its' range.

A-1, but I don't abuse it at all. I have always looked after any gear I have had and this amp will still look brand new in five years. Think about it, if you ever want to move to something else, you will do a whole lot betteron a trade or sale if it doesn't look like it's been to a war zone. All my stuff gets the Armourall treatment on a regular basis. The boy scout motto is to always be prepared so I have a backup plan with a rack mount tube pre amp running into the board but I trust this girl to always be ready to go. Extra fuses and tubes is also wise so you don't get left high and dry.

Haven't needed them, but have met the dealer rep in the past. I also have a great relationship with music store where I buy all my gear and he look after me in a heart beat. Find a place you can trust and be honest with them too and you will be well taken care of. Any gear I have purchased from Yorkville has worked great..... knock on wood!

Have been playing for over twenty years, and I love Strats. I have an Alesis Quadra-verb and a Tech 21 Tri-OD pedal, a Dunlop wah, a Tube Works Blue Tube II pre-amp. I have project studio too with a Roland VS-1880 workstation. If lost or stolen I would replace it pronto. I have owned a lot of amps. This amp hits the spot. Save your cash and get one of these amps. Give it a chance, I would be surprised if you are disappointed ..... as long as you know what you want. I know guys who have spent a bundle on amps and weren't happy. What does that say?????

Ok, its a Traynor YCV80, 80 watt all tube amp. Uses 3 Sovtek 12ax7(w?) preamp tubes and four 5881 WXT's. It has an effects loop with trim pots, and some other loop where you need to have a split cable. I dont know much about that one. Two channels, a whole mess of switches, and two Celestion Seventy 80 speakers. Theyre not premium, like Vintage 30s or Greenbacks or anything, but theyre very good for stock before you decide to switch out on high end models. All of this makes this amp crazy versatile. The controls are very versatile and can change the sound of the amp drastically. This would be a versatile amp without all of the eq-switches. The expander and brightness on the clean channel add a whole mess of varieties, same for the scoop and boost switches on the drive channel. In total, there are 8 different modes to choose from on two channels. Talk about versaility.
Another great feature is the auto biasing circuit. Changes as tubes age to meet the bias specs so the tubes last longer, and you can also swap in different tubes or pull tubes for lower volumes. Very nice.

Im using a Schecter Devil Tribal (sounds strange, but its also an incredibly versatile guitar despite its looks) with two hums into the amp with a Monster Jazz cable, with an occasional Boss CH-1 Super Chorus. The clean channel alone is amazing. You can use this for any music style from clean blues to jazz to funk, maybe even some country, but not with my guitar. Anyways, it can go from shimmering crystal clear to a dark resonant clean with a push of a couple buttons. You could use this channel alone with a couple drive pedals and your setup could be complete.
However, the drive channel equally merits high marks. It leaves off where the clean channel ends and starts from very low gain to medium high gain, very hot-rodded JCM 800 tones coming without the scoop or boost switches on. This amp is very bassy, which I like. The scoop switch does what its name implies, scoops the mids, but it also seems to raise the bass and maybe even take the treble down a bit for a much smoother drive. The boost switch adds everything, volume, gain, bass, mids and treble, but more so of the volume, gain and bass. It really is a powerful boost switch, almost too powerful. ALMOST, but not quite. Its good to go from a light gain for arpeggios and the like for rhythm and then to get a singing lead. Its good that the boost doesnt alter the eq as a third channel would. I prefer two channels anyways.

Traynor is practically the name for reliability. The cabinet wood is thick, and its not particle board but plywood. Plus, behind the mesh (which i think is very thin wire), there is a 16 gauge steel grille protecting those speakers. However, the tolex seems very prone to nicking, and its nicked in a couple places after relatively minor bumps. Id like it if it could be a little more durable, but oh well. Gives it character, right?

Now, I tried emailing Yorkville, and I had some sort of trouble getting the email to them. I dont know why. That and the .pdf file for the manual wasnt working. But I hear they are very helpful, that and their warranty is crazy. Unlimited two years, even if you break it. How about that.

For $350 used, this completely whips any amps ass under $1000 dollars, and above that, there are some amps that may have a sound or two that rival this one. The tone is amazing, I havent played any boutique amps like Engl or Bogner or anything, but I have played through various Marshalls, JCM 800, 900 and 2000, and Mesa Tremoverb (VERY nice amp, just not versatile enough) and some vintage Mesa, I think it was a Studio .22 or something similar, maybe a Subway blues. I compared this amp to amps that did not cost the same, as tube amps definitely cost a bit more than 350, at least the ones that sound good. I was almost tempted by the Mesa F-50, but then again sometimes I like the Marshall crunch. That and its almost 1000 bucks, and this was 350. And this sounds a bit better to my ears, although some might disagree. But its my ears, and the crowd wouldnt know the difference between a Bogner Ecstacy and a Crate GLX 212, which was the amp this one replaced. But my drummer noticed a difference, which is huge. This sounds awesome, and it cost less than the crate. Unbelievable. Email me if you got any questions, or can send me a working manual.

2003 Traynor YCV-80 amp. Versatile enough for my blues and rock n roll styles. Has 2 channels with switching function, FX loop and reverb. At 80 watts of power it has plenty of swat!

I play for the most part either teles or strats, but every so often I'll pull out my 335 or my Gretsh duo jet. This amp comes shining through for each guitar. In my opinion, it has a smooth creamy textured voice. Not a clean shimmering Fender-like sound (like the Fender twin I also own) but a nice punchy fat sound that could make Marshall jealous! Sound is crystal with no hum or static.

Distortion?....Look out, This benign looking amp has fangs with plenty of bite!
To me it has a very warm British-ey drive that will make any Zepplin fan salivate. The first time I brought it home I played some Jimmy Page/Cream licks, ooooooooh baby, what a sound it has! The boost and scoop switch is a nice feature allowing you to toggle through different distortion modes.
The Accutronics reverb is good, but I prefer the wetter Fender reverb.
All said, a very great sounding amp.

Years ago I gigged with a friend who owned a mid 70's (i think) Traynor. Other than tube changeout, it never gave hime any trouble. I heard that these amps are tough as nails. The same can be said about mine. I take good care of it (as well as all of my gear) and it has never given me any trouble in over a year of playing which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for that garbage called Marshall! I have been through 3 Marshall amps: 1 rinky-dink solid state and 2 tubed heads. The heads gave me nothing but fits for about 7 years especially the last one because I bought it new! Problems ranged from noise to flat out dying altogether! Thats why I bought the Traynor. Similar sound, BETTER construction.

Never dealt with them

I see no reason to give this amp nothing other than a 10. In 25 years of playing few amps would ever get that rating. If lost or stolen I wouldn't hesitate replacing it with another.

Personally I think if the crew at Traynor should broaden their marketabilty. That could give Marshall a run for the money. I 've heard a few refer too this amp as the "poor man's Marshall". Well all I have to say to that is BULLSHIT! If that's the way you think, go ahead and fork over $1500 to $2000 for the Marshall nameplate and take a chance at it crapping out on you like it did me. The Traynor amps are a much better price and quality.

I bought the Traynor ycv80 new in 2003 and I use it to play live in a band. we play everything from 50's rock and country to ccr to abba and this amp works great. It has 2 channels with an overdrive on the lead channel. Effects loop but I have never used it yet. Sounds great and very durable, I play it loud and alot.

I play a Fender American Strat and a lot of my playing is clean. I do find that the bass on the clean channel is over the top, I actually have to turn it down to 1 on the dial or I blow everybody else in the band off the stage. The distortion channel is awesome but I wish there wasn't such a big jump in volume between distortion and the overdrive. When playing live and using the footswitch it is hard to run back to your amp and turn the volume up or down.

This amp is a workaholic, I know because I use it every day, and I don't even carry my backup to gigs anymore. Turn it up and pound on it.

It comes with a 2 year full warranty and they will replace your amp if you are not happy with it, Never had any repairs yet.

I have been playing for 27 years off and on and I would definetly buy this amp again. I love the toughness of this amp and the clean sound you can get when you crank it, no distortion at all. I don't like the volume jump from the distortion to the overdrive it is just too much for my style. If you play hard core heavy metal then you may like this more. If any body has used any effects pedals on this amp what did you use and how did it sound? E-mail me at lorne_kingdon@anadarko.com

This is update of a review I posted here over 2 years ago!

I'm sure all the other reviews have filled you in here.

Still wish there was a footswitch for the effects loop!!!

I'm just using a Godin Signature Artisan ST w/ AAA top, ebony fretboard, wilkinson tremelo, 3 hot rails, and birdseye maple neck. It's a nice super-strat type of guitar, not a shredders guitar by any means though, it's too pretty for that. :)

Anyways, I've got the extension cab for it now and WOW! Does it ever open this thing up. The clean channel balances itself out with the distortion perfectly! I would say that they designed this thing with the 2x12 attached. Before the clean channel's bass would over power the distortions bass making it a difficult balance, but now it's just perfect.

Either way, the cleans are sparkly, the distortion is just godly! I tell you when you've got this amp in a band situation it just sounds so full! I let my friend borrow my amp one night for a gig because our bands were playing after each other. Man it's a total different experience being out in the audience and hearing your amps tone. It wasn't harsh at all, it was sweet and full, yet it didn't blow everyone in the first row out. I think this is because of the open back top, and closed bottom. It gives the sound room to disperse and not nail everyone right in front.

Either way I'm very content with the sounds from this amp, it does awesome clean, great classic OD, and nice hot-rodded JCM 800 type tones.

I had a tube bust which caused some problems and I had to get it fixed. It was my own damn fault though, it was cold in my bedroom (Canadian winter, and my amps next to my window) and I let the amp warm up for a bit (a minute) and I cranked it. Needless to say the temperature change killed one of the power tubes and caused something else to go hay-wire on top of it all. Well I think the best thing about this whole situation is that the store where I bought it from lent me the same Traynor while they sent mine back (at no cost to me) and when it came in I just swapped them back!

No not having a traynor, and the turn around time was a couple of weeks!!! Amazing! And it didn't even cost me a dime.

This company is outstanding, I've sent them a few emails.

1. Replied within a day.
2. Filled out a webform forgot to include my email, they snail mailed me!
3. Sent another recently about pulling power tubes and swapping for V30's I got a reply in 45 minutes!!!

Oh and yes, you can pull out two of the tubes and the amp will take the 2 ohm load. (I can't remember if it's inside or outside tubes, I'll double check, then try it out and keep you posted)

These guys are incredible, for a fairly large company they sure now how to make you feel important!

I couldn't be happier, 2 years with very few problems, great customer support and killer tone! What's not too like! And take a second glance at the price. Yeah that right, freakin' cheap too!

i play a jackson dkmg, i play anything form pantara-def leppard-jeff beck
iv ben playing for 2 years and ive delet with marshall and crate and when i heard this was the best amp on the market i had to check it out, i have played the ycv 40 and it was god and i can afford the extra 100 dollars so ill get theycv 80 no matter what

amzing clean
amazing distortion
if worst comes to worst ill just get a metal master

i hear you can kick the f*ck and it will be fine (when i played the ycv 40 i heard the guy say to my dad that he dropped it on the free way it was in perfect condition)

never had to deal but i like trayner so

amzing amamzing amazing check one out if you doubt me

Made in good'ole Canada!
The versatility of this amp far exceeded my expectations, with a little tweaking you can go from AC/DC-Pantera-Zep-Hendrix...unreal and hard to believe but is absolutly true. 2 channels, w/ channel 1 with a boost switch...I wish the boost wasn't as muddy as it is however, if you tweak it just right you can alleviate the problem. Effects loop is wonderful and the "speaker Kill" button makes it great for practicing in an apartment when noise is a factor. I use this amp in the garage, my apartment when at school, and obviously at live gigs with my band and for recording. This amp has more than enough power, very very loud when you want it to be. I changed the stock tubes. I found that the Sovteks that were in them rattled quite abit with harmonic noise at high volumes ( a tendency for high power combo amps). I changed the tubes to a matched quad of KT-66's and the preamp tubes to 12AX7EH's and it sounded awesome, and rattle problem solved. The KT-66's are tough to come by but they sound incredible. They do draw a lot of current and the amp gets very very hot. I made sure with the people at traynor that these tubes were ok and they said it was fine. An amazing sound with those tubes!! I also run this unit through a 4x12 musicman cabinet from the 70's and it really fills out the sound, however, running it by itself works just as well also.

I use a Daion Mark XX...I know i know, what the hell is a Daion?? well, think top quality Ibanez and PRS combo...its awesome!! I play Hendrix to Rage and everything in between. This isa very quiet amp with regards to noise interference, hardly any hum, but as we all know Tube amps have a little background noise, nature of the beast. The clean channel is great, a real glassy kind of spakle tone and the dirty channel...well, its just mean sounding!! I can say that i find i can get nearly any sound i want out of it, but thats my ear, so judge for youself, however i do belive most will agree with me.

Never had a problem, built like a Sherman Tank. High quality Birch plywood consruction with a rugged metal chasis. Even the control knobs are recessed to prevent them from breaking in case of a fall.

Top knotch. Best Warrenty in the business, you break it, they replace it for a 2 year period, that unheard of for any amp, especially a tube combo-amp. The people at Traynor are awesome!! When i emailed them about my tubes or a lost schematic, they responded witht he info i needed with in a day or so, can't beat it. You can ask them anything from repairs to mods and they will send you in the right direction. Great poeple!

What can i say that hasn't already been said, just an incredible amp and for the money, warrenty, and support you get, this amp has it all and thats not including the sound!! An awesome amp all around.

Traynor YCV 80 2x12

2 Channels + Boost etc.
Wish it had foot-switchable Reverb, Scoop and Bright.
Also a CLEAN BOOST.
Well built.
Kinda' wish it had a "tighter" bottom end. Speakers maybe ?
The stock tubes will get you by but I'm changing mine.
What really convinced me to buy this amp was seeing a few great players using it in small 1500 seaters.They weren't miking the amp !!!!!!!! After about 20 feet from the amp the sound just opens up.
They obviously weren't using the tubes I got in my amp !!
I noticed some great suggestions in the reviews concerning this stuff.

I'm a "jobbing" guitar player and play a really wide variety of styles over the course of a week. I also do a house gig which requires on the fly changes from Dwight Yokam to Metallica. This amp has to perform or it's out the window.

I've only had the amp 4 days but I did a gig within hours of getting it and it was quite an experience.
It was a 50's/60's show band revue type thing and I felt confident that the amp was going to do it for me. No pedals, nothing!! (Just the footswitcher). I was right !
Firstly, for the gig, the reverb was aces !!! (Don't know how happy I'll be about it when I'm playing RAGE tho').
It took some tweaking thru the first set but I was grabbing the sounds I was needing. (For that set).
After the first set I felt the amp had way more potential then it was showing and put it down to a tube change.
Second set starts and the amp is now cooking. All of a sudden it's ALL there and that spongy thing starts happening,(I'm getting shivers thinking about it),it was great!! (I'm still changing the tubes tho').
Everyone accused me of turning up..., even the sound man. No sooner do I smooth that over then I switch to Channel 1, (for the first time that evening I might add),and all hell breaks loose because I didn't realize I had the BOOST switch ON. Oops!! It's that easy to make 400 people move as one. Once I got the BOOST switch off Channel 1 I was happy. I wasn't happy tho' when the next time I intentionally hit the BOOST the same thing happened.(LOUD). I guess it must be somehow connected to the MASTER VOL. because I've noticed that it seems to be proportionate to the MASTER VOL. setting.(I run the master at 10 and fine tune between channel and guitar settings). It would be nice to be able to control that.
Sounded great on the gig. Sounds amazing in the garage. Got gigs lined up all next week so I could give you a better review after that.
I'm not worried. I can dial pretty well anything in on it. I tried about 6 different distortion pedals and they all sounded like shit compared to the natural gain. Love the amp !!!

I play for a living and don't have time for second-rate shit. I've played a LOT of amps and this by far is the best deal I've had come my way in a long time. For the price of these new you can't go wrong. I was saving for a MESA. Forget it !!!
Mod it and laugh all the way to the bank ..............

80 watts tube 2X12 Celestions - upgraded to Marshall Heritage 80's
2 Channels with Boost -footswitch tuns on boost, 1st, and clean channels
Speaker defeat switch so you can use headphone and record direct at 3AM. It's like a virtual tube amp with all the same controls but silent.
Headphone jack - to hear what your recording
Direct out - to record with amp emulation.
Ballanced output - also for recording
Brightness and Expander switches
Reverb with best springs in the biz. (3)
Fot the price you can't and wont do better!!

My Amp was reworked by Trace VooDoo Amps and it has El34's in it to Give the ultimate Marshall tone. Okay the clean is clear, smoother, creamier, not as harsh as before. The clean quickly reacts to your playing. If you dig in the sound bites back enough to almost sag, play smooth and it's smooth like Santana in hot butter. The hot gain stages, with EL34's, sounds like a Marshall and a Mesa when the boost is engaged. Tip #`1 Always run this with master all the way up!

The first owner had it for 9 months and I've had it for about 1 year. No problems at all. I can't speak for the stock ones because of the new tubes and speakers...but these have higher quality boards than most of the other big name amps, so mods by a good tech are easy.

Never needed but they have no questions for 2 years, even if you break it. Nobody does that...

For $625 shipped it's very hard to do better. I can do any Slash, Lizzy, Santana music and with a Metal Master I can do metalica, megadeth, and Godsmack with ease.

this is a follow-up to the review below...well, I've got a few gigs under my belt with this amp....I must say this amp performs well..it has the power I've been wanting and the tonal nuances I like..my telecaster sounds punchier and more aggressive than it did with the Fender tube amps I've used previously...the low end isn't quite as pronounced than with the Fender gear...but I really like the mid and upper emphasis the Traynor has....I kicked in the OD (channel #1) a few times..but I'm gonna have to play around with it some to adjust settings for a usable sound...the clean channel, as stated below is my main interest...I did have some problems with the effects loop(s)....I doubt if theres anything wrong with the amp...more than likely the fault is mine...I like my delay and chorus effects in the loop....the main loop features trim pots...had a hard time getting these set right....I tried patching into the series loop with a stereo to monox2 patch cord...couldn't get any sound at all with it...these are small issues I'll get worked out in due time...I will offer I don't care much for the expander button...to me its to much tonal variation from the normal clean sound...on the other hand, I'm just starting to use this as a gig amp...maybe in time I'll find a use for it...personally, I've always liked Sovtek WXT/5881s...lotta tube amp makers use 'em...even the boutique boys...I gotta kick fom one reviewer that mentioned he changed out his WXTs for Groove tubes....I wonder if he realizes he put the same tube back in his amp.....anyway, the Traynor is a tremndous muscle amp that covers about all the bases...I'm pretty much satisfied with it...I'm not saying I'll never do any mods down the road...but right now its floatin' my boat right out of the box...

already been beaten to death...lots of inputs, outputs and stuff

nice and warm on the clean channel, OD channel is ..well, overdriven...clean sounding reverb...I haven't gigged with this amp yet, but I've got a bunch of *dates* coming up...I'm a clean country telecaster player, I normally put a amp thru its paces...loud and clean, fast and furious, lotta open string stuff, lotta single and doubled\ tripled stops....all I want from this amp is to give me extreme loudness and stay clean while givin' it...if it can't perform I'm packin' it up and sendin' it back where it came from...I'll buy what I really wanted in the first place ...a Fender Twin with a 15" driver...I reckon the next couple weekends will form my opinion on this question...

good warranty...must be reliable I reckon..

sounds good where its sittin' right now...I wanna know how it does as a performer...if it can't do Fender Twin...its outta here

I bought mine about 9 months ago. I've always loved the sounds I got from it, but for the past two months I've noticed if I have the amp turned up halfway or some decent amount of gain, the speakers crap out and start to crackle. If you keep playing, the volume will suddenly drop about 3 times of what you had it at. I have to let the amp sit for about 15 minutes for this to stop. I emailed Yorkville and a tech emailed me back the next day telling me that the amp should be fully functional within 30 seconds. He said that maybe not enough voltage is getting through the amp b/c of a malfunctioning standby. If any more theories are available, email me b/c I live far away from the nearest Yorkville dealer to have it looked at. Otherwise I'll take it in (and, if needed, send it back) when I get the time.

This is a brand amp. I'm a classic rock and blues guitarist and this amp fits the bill nicely with 2 channels (3 in a way), solid construction and good layout.

I play a good mix through this amp. A bone-stock 66 Tele, 82 Les Paul Custom, homemade Les Paul Junior style with a sweet Warmoth neck, a purple Silvertone (original but missing the amp/case) for slide work and a Schulte (local luthier) Explorer. In it's stock configuration, I could not get ANY low end response from this amp. Now I'm used to playing through a 50 watt Marshall head and sealed 2x12 Marshall cab with 35 watt Celestions. I had all the low end I could ever need from that setup. The Traynor was really thin and shrill on the lead channel. The overdrive really sounded shitty. The clean channel was really nice BUT lacking in low end. I was beginning to get bummed but I figured they had to cheap out somewhere on this amp so it might as well be the speakers. I swapped in a pair of Celstion g12-75's. Improved bass response but still not enough. Headroom increased a bit on the clean channel. I plugged in my Marshall 2x12 cab in the extension jack and thought I was going to soil myself. It sounded fucking AWESOME. So I thought I will need to get a pair of 35 watt Celestions and seal the cab. I didn't want to seal the cab though. That's how my drummer hears me. Out the back of the cab. When I play my Marshall, he can't hear my axe unless I'm miked and through the monitors. So I did some research here and around the web and decided to throw in a pair of Greenbacks. This combo gave me the best of both worlds. It also improved the sound 300%!!!! This is an entirely different amp now. What a phenomenal sound from the clean and lead channels. I whipped it out at rehearsal today and it damn near blew everybody away. They heard this amp in it's old configuration and they didn't like it. They are on board now big time. I don't understand why Traynor doesn't offer this as an option like they do on the 20 watt model. It is VERY Marshall-like now in it's lead tone. Clean channel is very Fenderish with nice twang and still good headroom. I thought with 25 watt speakers I could kiss my clean channel good bye but that's not the case thankfully. I will probably play with tubes next to sweeten the sound a little further. I would characterize the sound of the amp now as very "brown" with the Greenbacks. I think I can put EL34's in this bad boy. If so, that will be the next mod. With the mod's the amp is rated a 9. As purchased though I would have to rate it a 6.

It had a tear in the Tolex when I got it but it wasn't Traynor's fault. The numbnuts at UPS did that. Haven't had a hardware issue yet.

I've been playing for 25+ years. I'v had and still have some really nice equipment. I really wanted a reasonably priced workhorse to gig with. Fenders are always good but the ones I like (Twin Reverb, Bassman) are out of my price range. I've heard only mediocre reviews of the Hot Rod Series. I thought about a Carvin, but been there done that. Peavey? Nah! Crate? Please....The Traynor seemed to have everything I was looking for plus a great rating from Guitar Player. Now that I've made the mods, I'm in love with this amp. It's a joy to play. It's very sensitive to touch. Almost Class A-like response. I wish there were more options to choose from when buying the amp (speakers, tubes, etc) other than that, I would buy another one if it was stolen. It's that nice. Out of the box it IS usable. Don't get me wrong. I just prefer more low end than this amp could give. With a speaker swap, this is a better sounding amp though. Hands down. I wouldn't be surprised if Traynor started using the Greenback or Vintage 30 going forward on future models. The sound is THAT MUCH BETTER!

Won't discuss features...good clean channel...good saturation channel.

I just wanted to touch on one point that I think is really important to the players who are considering buying this amp. First and foremost, it's a good value. Well built and plenty of power. To say the "amp" is versatile is kind of a tough one. If the player is versitle then the amp will prove to be.

This brings me to the point of writing this "review". Simple, if you are playing at basement volume levels (yes, this includes driving the pets and neighbors a bit crazy) than this amp is just fine right out of the box. If you really plan on playing out with it you'll have to buy an extension cap or swap out the speakers. Again, this doesn't make the Celestion 70/80 a bad product, it just means that it's not a function "professional" product.

I don't play out and have not in many years but I do play with people (woundn't exactly call is a band situation) and yes, we do use acoustic instruments so I need to compete with other guitarists and a drummer. The 70/80 just couldn't hang in there. It ALWAYS wound up sounding like a wounded toad at high volume levels. I eventually bit the bullet and swapped out the 70/80's with a Greenback and a Vintage 30 (Celestion Products). I actually borrowed the idea from a Framus amp that comes with the mismatched 2 x 12's. The improvement is truly remarkable as now all of the low end is projecting nicely and the truth is even with the speaker swap it's still a great value. You can get the speakers on ebay for $70-$80 per speaker...the modification is easy (pop off the face swap out the speakers...just that simple) and the results are profound!

I play mostly "Blues/Rock" for lack of a better term, a nice fist full of Jazz standards, and several holiday favorites and I've recently re-discovered the pure bliss of old school metal! This amp covers all of the bases nicely (especially with the speaker swap).

So far so good...I've got the 40 1 X 12 as well and both have been great.

Have not dealt with them as of yet but I will say that I called and left a message and e-mailed and never got a reply.

With a speaker swap...this amp sounds as good as any. I really don't believe that anyone can manage to get a "bad" sound out of it as is and certainly not with a speaker swap. An excellent value and I would buy another in a heartbeat.

80 watts Tube amp
2 - Channels - (1) Dirty and (2) Clean
The amp is very versatile and one of the greatest deals I've come across in the price range. I play with a Strat for the most part so I'm not too sure how well the extreme metal distortion holds up AKA the scoop function on the amp.
The speaker defeat switch on the back is very useful when you want a silent headphone jam or to record something straight to the computer through the XLR output. <-- Very handy to have around.

I use a Peavey Raptor Strat knockoff (commence laughing) which I installed electronics, pickups, and tuners in, making it a halfway decent Strat. I play mostly rock and blues tunes, with the occaisonal dabbling in metal territory, and this amp suits this situation perfectly. It is a rock amp, made to be dimed. Here's a tip: to get the best distortion (especially on the dirty side), turn up the master volume and turn down the channel volume. I figured this out about a week into owning it and it made it come alive. Past about 5 for clean channel volume it gets a little muddy, so I'd recommend amplifying it with the master volume. If you follow these steps the amp is actually very quiet. There is still only a tiny bit of noise when everything is on 10.

The amp basically goes from the a very sparkly Fender clean to balls-to-the-wall disortion with the gain settings all the way (and this is with my Strat). The distortion is killer, and the price makes it that much better!

If the bass is turned up on the EQs (8-10), it does get muddy sounding. I've read the other reviews and it seems this is because of the Celestion 70/80 speaker. If you plan on playing songs that require a tight bottom end you should consider buying Vintage 30 replacement speakers.

This thing was built like a rock. At first, since I'm fairly new to spring reverb, I thought there was something loose in the back, but it turns it's just a side effect of the reverb box. I would gig this thing without a backup; if anything I would bring another guitar.

Traynor's customer support is very likely the best you'll ever find for a tube amp, or any guitar amp for that matter. They have a 2 year "Even if you break it" warranty and 10 regular warranty, which is all the more reason to get the amp. I haven't personally talked to the company, however.

I've been playing for about 2 years now, and I also play a bit of bass. Of all the amps I've had my hands on, I enjoy the Traynor the most. It is the most reactive amp I've owned; a very 3 dimensional sound. If it was stolen or lost, I think I may buy the YCV40 instead so I could crank it up without having to hide in the next room. The only thing I wish it had was a tremolo, but I suppose that's asking for a little much.

80 watts tube 2X12 Celestions
2 Channels with Boost
Headphone jack
Direct out
Brightness and Expander switches
I wish it had:
foot switchable reverb, expander and scoop

I use American standards: Tele's, Strats and Les Pauls
I play everything from Country to Blues/Rock to Heavy Metal
This amp handles it all very nicely!
Only problem - The crunch channel with Boost on squeals a little.
Real nice Clean sounds!

I have had this amp for 2 years with absolutely no problems.
I drag it everywhere I play and don't really baby it.
One Tough Machine! 10 year warranty is hard to beat! Hope I never have to use it.

Haven't used it.

I've played Marshall's, Fenders, Boogies and for the money, This Amp is up there with the Big Boys. I would definitely Buy another if I had to.

I posted earlier. This is just an update to say I replaced the Power tubes with Groove Tube 6L6GC and Whoa! What a difference. I'm going to replace the power tubes as well cause as far as I'm concerned this thing sounds like a $2000 Class A already.
I'm discovering the amp all over again! Change the tubes and Hold On Tight!!

Due to the above, the clear is clearer, smoother, creamier, not as harsh. The clean totally reacts to you playing style, dig in and the sound bites back, gently stroke the strings and it's smooth, roll off the volume and avoid a bit of the gain when digging in.
The gain stages, with the new tubes, sound like a $2000 boutique amp - no question.

Nothing wrong here. Just don't like the crappy tubes it comes with. There were fine to hack with but my recent tube replacement was well worth the small additional $.

Havent' needed them.

change the tubes!!! Even with the added $$ the amp is well worth it!

This ia a follow up to an earlier review I posted. I didn't comment on the lead channel at the time but having spent a few more months with it I can say the distortion is great. It's very controllable from the guitar's volume nob. It's a "vintage" sound, so no triple rectified chompy chomp but those sounds are probably on the way out anyway. If used with a fuzz a wah and the boost on you can get utra-kill-death-industreal-slaughter. ;)

This amp was shipped directly to my house from Traynor's US facility in Niagra Falls due to a dealer inventory mishap. Brand-spanking new, in original box. See the Yorkiville website for details, but here are the main features:

2 channels (lead and clean)
Separate 3-band EQ for each channel
Master Volume and Reverb
Lead channel has a boost switch and scoop switch
Clean channel has a brightness switch and expander switch
2-button footswitch controls channel select and boost on/off
Back panel: extension cab, headphone and XLR out (both "Dynasound" compensated for "mic'd" cabinet sound), parallel effects loop with send/return trim controls (very useful), speaker defeat switch for headphone playing and direct recording, series loop-through effects.

Guts: 4 Sovtek 5881 power tubes, 3 Sovtek 12AX7A preamp tubes, Accutronics reverb, 2 12" Celestion 70-80 speakers.

What I wish it had:
4-button footswitch with the additional two buttons being for reverb on/off and scoop on/off.

Other than that, the amp controls are extremely well thought-out and a broad range of sounds are possible (see below). This amp will be used at home for recording and worship band at church. I considered the YCV20 and YCV40 (I was originally drawn to the YCV40 due to Guitar Player's Editor's Pick award), but the added features of the YCV80 (scoop, master volume, rear panel features) and the modest increase in cost are what made me go for it instead. I was looking for something that could give me a sparkling clean sound but had the capability to go from bluesy overdrive to all-out metal-distortion.

I think "10's" should only go to the "perfect" amp. This amp isn't perfect in features, but close. So I'll give it a 9.

I play a 91 Fender Strat Plus Deluxe with Blue/Silver/Red Lace Sensors and a Fender/Wilkinson Tremolo. Swamp Ash body with Maple Neck and Rosewood fingerboard. Effects: I have been using a Boss ME-5 (ancient), but have not used it much with this amp except to try the chorus through the effects loop.
As advertised, the amp is incredibly quiet. I mean mouse-like quiet. The YCV40 I tried at the local music store was very noisy..I was playing it through an American Strat in a practice room with fluorescent lights..had to keep pointing the guitar to find the "quiet angle". Not so with this amp. I play in my basement with multiple fluorescent lights, a furnace, and a dehumidifier all within 10 feet. Even with the master volume at 10, full gain, boost on, and lead channel volume at 3-4 there is virtually no noise.

"Sound"
Clean Channel: Unbeleivable! The amount of headroom on this amp is excellent. With my guitar (Lace Sensors), the neck pickup with the brightness switch on and expander off and Bass at ~6, Treble at ~5.5, and Middle at ~4.5, gives a great mellow, jazzy sound. Small changes in the EQ controls really do make big changes in sound, so take your time "dialing it in". Regarding the reverb, unlike other reviewers' comments saying it wasn't evident until around 5-6, I hear it from ~2 and upward. Maybe Yorkville actually read these reviews and made changes. The long-spring accutronics review is excellent, although you will get a "springy" sound when muting the springs at louder volumes. Obviously, that's what you get with a true spring reverb. The clean channel breaks up around 5-6. I tried the clean channel at around 6 with master volume around 3.5, bridge pickup (Red Sensor..very "hot"), brightness off, expander on, EQ as above, erverb ~4. Very "tele" like bark with excellent responsiveness and a slight edge. Turning the guitar's volume to around 6-7 cleans up the sound very nicely. One slight "negative" aspect with the clean is that, at loud volumes, the low-end gets a little muddy. This cleans up when the bass is rolled -off a little to around 4. Not a problem for me, but in a live setting, this may pose a problem if you bring up your volume and don't make an EQ adjustment.

Lead Channel: Like other reviewers, I think the "boost" switch makes this behave like a 3-channel amp. I have dialed in everything from hardly noticeable overdrive, to "Little Wing", to AC/DC, to early Van Halen. I'm not into metal, but gave it my best shot with the scoop and boost switches on, full gain, full master volume, channel volume around 3-4, Bass ~6, Treble ~6, Middle ~2, bridge pickup. I thought it sounded pretty scary. With the gain around 5, channel volume at 10, and master around 3, with boost off and scoop off, Bass ~6, Treble ~6, Middle ~4, it gave a pretty authentic SRV sound, especially when activating the boost. EVH "Panama" is full gain, full master, channel volume ~3, EQ as above for SRV with maybe a little more off the middle, boost on and scoop off. What I really like about this amp is that you still hear the definition of each string come through. It really seems this amp brought out the character of my pickups and volume/tone controls on my guitar. I am very pleased with both channels. Again, not a "perfect" sound, but pretty close, so I'll give it a 9.

I don't do alot of gigging, unless every few Sundays counts. The amp appears to be very well made, cab is solid, the speaker wiring is nicely harnessed, and the grill cover and detail on the front was flawless. If I were to regularly gig with it, I would probably not use a backup. I don't feel qualified to rate this category, so I'll give it an no opinion.

While waiting for my dealer to ship the amp (purchased new off E-bay), I e-mailed customer service to ask about the warranty info since I was buying from a dealer about 700 miles away. I had a response in about 3 hours. After finding out that my amp was being shipped from the factory, I called and had no wait time and got all the answers I needed in about 5 minutes. Excellent job so far...10.

I've been playing for about 20 years. I own the equipment described above and also a Taylor 814 Brazilian with a Fishman Rare Earth soundhole pickup (have not tried this through the amp yet). I have owned an older (80's) Carvin 100w tube 2x12, a Carvin SX100 1x12 (MOSFET), and an older Peavy Classic 2x12 (80's). I tried several amps, including the Fender Hot Rod, several twins (too expesnive) the YCV 40, a Tech 21 Trademark-10. This amp blew all the others away in sound and features/price. Please note..I did not actually play this amp before purchasing. I tried the YCV40, liked the sound although it was noisy but I attributed that to the lights, and also a YCV20. I wanted the extra features the YCV80 had to offer, and I'm very happy with my selection. If stolen, I'd get another.