Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Having run into schematic issues with the Deluxe 85 (I have to order), I was looking at some Traynor tube amps and I have found a few deals. This question is, are the extra watts worth the 15 pounds extra weight? I can find an 80 for not much more than the 40 but it is 65 pounds. The 40 watt is 50 pounds. The 40 I can get in Wine Red, which is kinda cool looking. Any Traynor experts about?

Thanks either way......

Charly. The Traynor YCV40WR is a great amplifier. I believe that the newer models have the Celestion 30 speakers which I really like in this amplifier. These are well built and rival Fender for tone. The Traynor reverb is, however, not a good as the Fender.

If you are happy with a Deluxe Reverb over a Twin Reverb then I consider that the same holds for the 40 watt over the 80 watt. It really depends on the tone you are trying to achieve. The 80 watt projects more and the sound is "wider" with more presence in my view. having said that, the YCW40 is more portable and will give you all the gusto of the Hot Rod deluxe, the exception being that it is more durable and better built in my view.

At the end of the day, if you can take a back seat to a Fender reverb, I consider that you will be happy with the YCV40WR. They are, killer looking as well.

Thanks Peter! The prob is the 80 watt is only 450 bucks! One of the 40's is at $405 with 5 hours left and another at $275 with two days. Any store has them for 200+ more, almost 400 for the 80!

Charly: As always, we want to be cost effective.

See quote below...

Hello Jared. I suppose your comment applies to more than amplifiers too!

Well, I took the advice and the 80 watt is on its way. Here's the pix from ebay. It looks new but says a 1 year warranty instead of two? There is a lot of talk about contacting Eurotubes to get the blues optimized tube set. I probably will, but I want to play it stock for a month or so to "break in".

You are going to love it, Charly. I have a friend who has the 80 watt Traynor and it is a terrific amplifier.

I'm just a bit concerned about the power. 80 watts of tube power for a guitar is huge! Plus any speaker upgrade will add to the 65 pounds. This looks like a good candidate for some wheels! I've read where a few guys pulled two of the output tubes, and others who get the Hot Plate or similar to tame it a bit. In researching speakers, I may have stumbled upon what I am looking for. It's called the Swamp Thang by Eminence.

http://eminence.com/guitar_speaker_deta ... B_CAT_ID=4

There is this idea also, found on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=001

Edit - I should mention, that most folks re-tube and change the speakers making this equivalent to much higher priced boutique amps. Since I got it for almost half off the street price price, I have room to make the mods!

If there are any speaker gurus that happen by, I am guessing the Celestions will be more "Marshall" in tone?

Charly, while I don't have a YCV40 or YCV80, I do have a YCV20WR. I was going to sell it after I got my Victoria Victoriette, but didn't have the heart. Now, I'm glad I didn't. Instead, I retubed it with some NOS tubes and it's almost as if I have a different amp.

BTW, had I had been thinking straight, I would have brought both the YCV20WR and Victoria to the SoCal 07 Confluence.

I typed Traynor in the youtube search and heard the range of tones folks are getting. WOW!! Tomorrow, I will be endeavoring to swap the pups (GFS FAT PAFs,kinda Pearly Gates-ish) and put the Bigsby in the Dot Studio, so it will be ready for the amp.. I'm amped! It is true the wine red cab would look awesome with the Vintage cherry finish on the Epi, but this deal was just too good to pass up.

admin wrote:Hello Jared. I suppose your comment applies to more than amplifiers too!

Why soitenly!

charlyg wrote: ... I should mention, that most folks re-tube and change the speakers making this equivalent to much higher priced boutique amps. ...

Take a look at what's available today; a YCV40WR, retubed without a speaker.

http://cgi.ebay.com/TRAYNOR-YCV40WR-JJ- ... dZViewItem