Traynor YCV 40 combo - any users?

[jbert]

Hi folks,

Thinking of trading my Marshall AVT50 combo for a "real" tube amp that has a good clean tone, can be used for blues, rock, and that can go to metal (with some help from a pedal or two, I guess).

These amps have gotten good reviews - just looking for some additional insight from the board, in particular if there are any JP owners out there that use one of these.

Thanks so much!

 

[fsmith]

jbert,

I had one for about 6 months and recently sold it. First of all I think it is a really nice amp for the money. I was just never quite able to find that "tone" that I thought I should have been getting from it.

It has a really nice clean channel, and they have a boost feature for the dirty/overdrive channel, but it really needs some input from an external pedal to be useful for heavier stuff.

There is a built-in reverb that is always there, you can back it down, but not really get rid of it completely.

I have a Petrucci and played my Axis through it as well. Like I said, the clean channel is really, nice, but it seemed to me after having it for six months that the Traynor was a one trick pony. That and the fact that it was not suited to my playing at home, that thing is frickin loud! I wasn't really able to get the most out of it because to get a decent tone, you had to crank the sucker. I used a Fulldrive 2 in front of it and unless the wife and kids were gone, I couldn't use it and ended up playing through my Tascam CD-GT1.

I ended up getting a Mesa Boogie Studio .22 Plus and I can't believe the difference. That thing just oozes tone, that and the fact that I can play at bedroom levels with tons of gain, plus it has a great clean channel to boot. In fact, I haven't even played it with any of my pedals, I haven't needed to. I'm able to dial in any tone I want with the front panel controls on the Mesa.

I'm not trying to talk you out of getting the Traynor, but from my personal experience, it wasn't for me. My mistake was that I bought it sight unseen and wasn't able to play my guitar through it first. You'll get that advice from many on this board, make sure you can play what you want to buy. I've seen and heard many great reviews on the YCV40, which is why I bought it, but I wish I had the chance to do it all over again. I could have saved about $100 since you never quite get out what you put in to it in the first place on a resale.

Good luck and if you have any other questions about it fire away...

fred

 

[jbert]

Hey fsmith,

Very helpful info indeed! The mere fact that you need to really crank it to get some of the better distorted tones would be a major drawback for me - most of my playing is also at lower volume levels after the kids are asleep!

I had definitely intended on trying one out with my JP prior to trading (I have used one with a guitar off the store's rack), but with your feedback I'll probably drop the idea altogether. My current AVT combo really seems more versatile at lower volume levels.

Thanks so much for your help.

Jbert

 

[fsmith]

jbert,
I was loooking at the AVT's as well before I bought the Traynor. I think that would have been a smarter move knowing what I do now. Actually I would have bought the AVT 20, better suited for my situation. I'm a bedroom player and when I was first buying my gear I thought I *had* to have an all tube amp for those times when I go jam with some friends every now and then.

Actually I wish I had thought a little harder about a recent *almost* acquisition that ended up with me selling my blue dawn Axis and not pulling the trigger on another deal...

I'm getting smarter, but damn it's costing me some serious dough in the process. But hey that's a story for another thread.

Good luck in your search,

fred