Traynor love

Stuckfast

The studio where I sometimes work has an old Traynor Bass Master head and the matching cab on what seems to be a semi-permanent loan. I tried it out at a gig before Christmas and this thing is the single best *guitar* amp I've ever used. A Strat straight into Input 2 just sounds intrinsically amazing, and it almost doesn't matter where you have the controls set. Used it for recording yesterday and it still sounded amazing.

I know little about these amps, are they straight Fender Bassman clones? Any idea what might be in the cab? (It's a large closed-back cab with two speakers, I can't easily see whether they're 12-inch or 15).

DJH83004

I am a big fan of Traynor amps, it is likely to be the 2 x 12" sealed back cab, but yes the amps are very Fender like in design, even down to the eyelet boards, so for me a dream to work on. The only thing they do suffer from is the dynamite stick Mallory caps, which do eventually fail, but easily replaced. If you get chance to buy one snap it up, but they are clean amps with lots of headroom, so if you are a shredder, then maybe not for you    

jdgm

Canadian, very well built so very heavy, superb sound. Those who have them value them, so the older ones have gone up in price. Very Fender-like as DJH says and the newer guitar combos are usually 30-50w single spkr jobbies.

ICBM

The old ones are great - essentially Fender Twin or Bassman copies, with 6CA7 (EL34-type) valves so they're a tiny bit more 'British' sounding than you might expect from the American circuit. (Just like Canada, really .) Built like tanks and extremely easy to work on - the top of the cabinet comes off giving easy access to the circuitry without even removing the chassis or disconnecting anything. I can't actually think of an amp that's easier to get into, while also being as robust and reliable.

I have not been very impressed with the design and build quality of the modern ones though, despite them sounding excellent - especially the PCB-mounted power valves, and very poor access into the chassis - even just to change the valves, on some. I had a YCV20 which showed signs of the PCB burning at only a couple of years old, the reverb was noisy, and it was a total pig to get into - chassis out to get at the valves. It remains the best-sounding small combo I've heard, but I sold it because I didn't think it was really gig-worthy. (I don't take a backup amp, just valves and fuses.)

Interestingly the only time an amp has ever failed on me at a gig was my old YGL-3 - but that was completely different, you can get at the valves without even undoing anything, so I just pulled the dead valve (luckily it was obvious which one) and its pair, replaced the fuse and had it running again in a couple of minutes.

ragingben

I've had a YCV50, the heavy blue combo, for a good few years, doesn't get much use although I love it because it cuts out after 30 minutes or so. But for those 30 minutes it sounds excellent!

robinbowes

Stuckfast said:

The studio where I sometimes work has an old Traynor Bass Master head and the matching cab on what seems to be a semi-permanent loan. I tried it out at a gig before Christmas and this thing is the single best *guitar* amp I've ever used. A Strat straight into Input 2 just sounds intrinsically amazing, and it almost doesn't matter where you have the controls set. Used it for recording yesterday and it still sounded amazing.

I know little about these amps, are they straight Fender Bassman clones? Any idea what might be in the cab? (It's a large closed-back cab with two speakers, I can't easily see whether they're 12-inch or 15).

Which model is it? YBA-1? They're supposed to be very good - a bit of a Bassman/JTM-45 hybrid.

I've got a YBA-1 chassis that needs some attention, but never quite get time to work on it. I've also got a couple of YGM-3, a YGM-4, a YGL-3, YGL-3A head, a YRM-1SC, and a YRM-1 in varying states of repair, and I never quite get round to working those either. Bit of a theme here...

R.

polotska

It’s a pity that Traynor doesn’t make the YBA-1 anymore. They briefly had a couple of limited runs a few years ago—a 50th Anniversary model and the YBA-1MOD1, both of which had built-in “attenuators” on the back (which were actually PPIMVs with five fixed positions—a welcome addition, though a regular pot would have been more useful). The MOD1 also had a push/pull to run the channels in series rather than parallel, which is another nice addition. They do still offer a companion vertical 2x12, which is a really nice cabinet though too narrow for anything except YBA-1s and maybe an Orange.

Not all of the modern Traynors suffer from the design issues that ICBM noted about the YCV-20—the newer designs like the YGL-1 and YGL-2 have chassis that pull out like a Fender. The YGL-1 in particular sounds fantastic—the best sounding small amp I’ve ever heard, and also the best for low volume.

ICBM

polotska said:

Not all of the modern Traynors suffer from the design issues that ICBM noted about the YCV-20—the newer designs like the YGL-1 and YGL-2 have chassis that pull out like a Fender. The YGL-1 in particular sounds fantastic—the best sounding small amp I’ve ever heard, and also the best for low volume.

I haven’t come across those yet - I’ll have to find one to try. I still miss my YCV20 a bit, and the YGL-1 seems to answer all the issues I had with it - including the top-mounted controls - and according to the spec, is even a pound under the weight limit I would like to set myself...

The tone stack switching is a brilliant idea, and I don’t know any other non-channel-switching amp that does that. 

DarnWeight

Owner of a '72 Traynor YSR-1 here.  Tweed Bassman-ish, not as much pure clean headroom as I was expecting, so I lowered the NFB resistor value (worked a treat).  The reverb gets overbearing very early on the dial, but bias vary trem is among the very best I've heard.  These really benefit from a good speaker (or speakers) as the stock Traynor ones aren't the best...I'm running mine through a single Emi Tonker in a detuned 1x12 cab, which I like a lot.

Stuckfast

robinbowes said:

Which model is it? YBA-1? They're supposed to be very good - a bit of a Bassman/JTM-45 hybrid.

Yes, it's a YBA-1. That makes sense from a sonic point of view -- whilst it's not a metal amp, there is plenty of break-up there if you want it, it's not like a Fender Twin.

maw4neu

Traynor Amps are a not so hidden GEM . . . Quality :-)

polotska

ICBM said:

I haven’t come across those yet - I’ll have to find one to try. I still miss my YCV20 a bit, and the YGL-1 seems to answer all the issues I had with it - including the top-mounted controls - and according to the spec, is even a pound under the weight limit I would like to set myself...

The tone stack switching is a brilliant idea, and I don’t know any other non-channel-switching amp that does that. 

I do wish the YGL-1 were a two-channel amp—I’ve never been crazy about pedal distortion, and two identical channels with separate tone stacks and volumes would be perfect for me. I’ve bought a succession of small two-channel amps intending to replace it (a YGL-2, a Mesa Recto-Verb 25, and a Mesa Maverick 1x12), but none of them sound as good.

I may just have to buy a second YGL-1 and an ABY pedal!

57Deluxe

Traynor Swift - they can have that one on me...

robinbowes

Megan Traynor - it's all about that bass.