Traynor Custom Special YCS100 - Minor Review

[TimmyPage]

There was a thread on this amp a while back, but I didn't get the chance to try one until recently.

http://www.traynoramps.com/products.asp?type=1&cat=60&id=357

I was rather disappointed in the results, especially considering my own amp, and the price of this one. I played it with an especially good Epiphone Les Paul I found in the store.

It's an EL34 amp, 100 watts, with a 30 watt conversion switch. There are three channels, each with a Modern and Scoop button (had a Bright instead of scoop on the clean channel), and a solo switch. They also had a separate effects volume and reverb control for each channel, which was a nice touch.

The first channel, the clean channel sounded actually reasonable. It was not as good as my Traynor blue, but reasonable (and my Blue's is not the best clean either). I clicked on the boost setting and all I got from it was a fizzy thin sound with excessive volume.

The second channel was supposed to be the light crunch / classic rock style channel. No matter how I attempted to EQ it, I could not stop the fizzyness of the channel. The 'modern' setting helped smooth it out a little, and the boost actually had it sounding reasonable. It sounded a little.. dead.. to be honest (might be related to Epiphone pickups, but the guitar sounded wonderful on all other amps I tried). No particular dynamics..

Third channel... thud and mud. Supposed to be the super high gain channel, but it came out sounding dull, and "thud"-y (if you get what I mean.. as opposed to thick and creamy.. thin and thuddy). The bassy thud didn't go away, regardless of attempts to eq it, even when I attempted to completely turn off the bass.

So that's a brief review.. I didn't particularly like it. Sounded very dull, not very good with dynamics. The only channel I liked was the clean channel, on it's own, but for that there are many, many better amps.

And.. I'm horrible at writing reviews.. tell me if you want me to add something, or contribute your own thoughts if you've tried it. Believe me, I thought it looked amazing when I saw it on the sight.. but overall, I wasn't impressed.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Traynor Custom Special YCS100 - Minor Review

when i tried it out i had a salesman i know well help me out... so many push buttons to play with it is sick... it took a while to get it sounding good and once done messing with different settings it sounded great....

The amount of switches, knobs and controlls on this thing makes it complex to figure out... once you get a hang of the pre EQ and then Master EQ stuff and all teh gain settings it can be really nice.... It is a little less user friendly with all those settings on there

 

[SpeedDemon]

Re: Traynor Custom Special YCS100 - Minor Review

The fizzy-ness is a problem Traynor is having with the pre-amp I believe. Gr8Scott had the same problem with his. He said he liked it, but the pre-amp fizz killed it(I believe)

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: Traynor Custom Special YCS100 - Minor Review

The fizzy-ness is a problem Traynor is having with the pre-amp I believe. Gr8Scott had the same problem with his. He said he liked it, but the pre-amp fizz killed it(I believe)

Yeah that's exactly my issue with it.

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Traynor Custom Special YCS100 - Minor Review

I've been trying to send mine back to the dealer I bought it from and have him send it to Traynor for a newer version with the corrected preamp. Problem is, he thinks it's merely a microphonic preamp tube and I haven't had the time to take the back off it and do the tube swapping needed to satisfy the dealer. Once I get that done, I'll send it back to him and hopefully I'll be getting a new and improved YCS-100. I think the power amp section of this amp is phenominal, but the preamp kills it at the moment. If they don't get that straightened out, I'll be ditching this amp in a hurry and never look at another Traynor for the rest of my days.

 

[Jay 77]

Re: Traynor Custom Special YCS100 - Minor Review

I got to demo that amp with my band on Friday night and I was pleasantly surprised by it. After quite a bit of monkeying with the settings, I had all three channels dialed right in. The solo boost was a little disappointing but it didn't matter - my SD-1 gave it everything needed. For the price, I think it does an excellent job of nailing a wide range of tones. It doesn't seem to really have a distinctive voice of its own, but it does many things well.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Traynor Custom Special YCS100 - Minor Review

I got to demo that amp with my band on Friday night and I was pleasantly surprised by it. After quite a bit of monkeying with the settings, I had all three channels dialed right in. The solo boost was a little disappointing but it didn't matter - my SD-1 gave it everything needed. For the price, I think it does an excellent job of nailing a wide range of tones. It doesn't seem to really have a distinctive voice of its own, but it does many things well.

i had the same experience.... I guess we both tried a good working unit.... there is a lot of controlls on this amp to tweek

 

[Jay 77]

Re: Traynor Custom Special YCS100 - Minor Review

i had the same experience.... I guess we both tried a good working unit.... there is a lot of controlls on this amp to tweek

No kidding. It did everything I wanted it to. There was nothing mind blowing, but each channel was solid.

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Traynor Custom Special YCS100 - Minor Review

I'm praying that I get an amp back that does what you both say. I can live with it not having a standout voice as this amp wasn't bought to be an individual. I just wanted some flexibility and good solid high gain tone that works well with pedals. The clean channel is very nice by the way. Love it with the bright switch, but the boost just seems to add a distortion to it that I can live without. Pushing that channel is good to a point, but boosting it isn't.

Even with a malfunctioning pre-amp, this amp shows promise. With a good pre on the front end, it could be incredibly flexible. That solo boost button on the footswitch is absolutely killer. Lets you step right up and be heard when you need to and then blend right back into the band to play rythem when you are done. Even if the pre was complete garbage, the output section of this amp with the solo boost is worth the price of admission. Would be killer with an ADA MP1 running into the effects return.

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: Traynor Custom Special YCS100 - Minor Review

So the moral of this thread - Tone is Subjective, and quality is subject to vary..

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Traynor Custom Special YCS100 - Minor Review

YCS100 Update!!!!

Got to try ONE pre tube change before I accidentally locked myself out of my office and had to put things off til tomorrow morning. (long story).

Put the venerable Sovtek 12AX7LPS in there to see what it would cure in terms of microphonic squeal. Had no idea it would fatten up the amp a great deal (too much almost). Seems that V1 either feeds the tone stack or greatly effects it because the amp became TOTALLY different. Thin was GONE. Thick and juicy was the order of the day. All channels improved in tone dramatically. Had to turn the bass all the way to zero on channel 3 to get it clean enough to be considered balanced. With the LPS tube in V1 the amp cried out for vintage 30's but none were around to try. It was orgasmic tone!!! Channel 2 was crunchy and still thick.

The oscillation improved and was almost absent in channel 2, but still raging in channel 3. The amp's distortion really filled out and channel 3 was a searing and thick bogner sounding distortion (I sounded like Adam Jones for a bit). Channel 2 is a good JCM 900 but just a tad less distortion.
Channel 1 is still able to get clean, but pushes a bit better with the better tube. Had to dial back the gain a touch.

MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT!!!!!!!!!!

If the newer ones don't squeal but everything else is the same, THIS AMP KICKS AZZZZZ!! I wouldn't part with it if the tones I got tonight are still there without the parasitic oscillation. Who knows, new pre tubes might cure that, but I kinda doubt it.

Assuming the tone remains unchanged in the newer versions, THIS AMP RULES! (as long as you have the LPS tube in V1 of course).

Timmypage - This is probably why the reviews of this amp's tone are all over the map. Tube quality is subjective and no two are exactly the same. I can guarantee you that if you walk into the store with a 12AX7LPS in your hand and talk the salesman into installing it in V1 (It's a major pain because you have to have a stubby phillips screwdriver to get the tubes in and out) you will have a whole new experience regarding this amp. That much I can promise you.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Traynor Custom Special YCS100 - Minor Review

YCS100 Update!!!!

Got to try ONE pre tube change before I accidentally locked myself out of my office and had to put things off til tomorrow morning. (long story).

Put the venerable Sovtek 12AX7LPS in there to see what it would cure in terms of microphonic squeal. Had no idea it would fatten up the amp a great deal (too much almost). Seems that V1 either feeds the tone stack or greatly effects it because the amp became TOTALLY different. Thin was GONE. Thick and juicy was the order of the day. All channels improved in tone dramatically. Had to turn the bass all the way to zero on channel 3 to get it clean enough to be considered balanced. With the LPS tube in V1 the amp cried out for vintage 30's but none were around to try. It was orgasmic tone!!! Channel 2 was crunchy and still thick.

The oscillation improved and was almost absent in channel 2, but still raging in channel 3. The amp's distortion really filled out and channel 3 was a searing and thick bogner sounding distortion (I sounded like Adam Jones for a bit). Channel 2 is a good JCM 900 but just a tad less distortion.
Channel 1 is still able to get clean, but pushes a bit better with the better tube. Had to dial back the gain a touch.

MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT!!!!!!!!!!

If the newer ones don't squeal but everything else is the same, THIS AMP KICKS AZZZZZ!! I wouldn't part with it if the tones I got tonight are still there without the parasitic oscillation. Who knows, new pre tubes might cure that, but I kinda doubt it.

Assuming the tone remains unchanged in the newer versions, THIS AMP RULES! (as long as you have the LPS tube in V1 of course).

Timmypage - This is probably why the reviews of this amp's tone are all over the map. Tube quality is subjective and no two are exactly the same. I can guarantee you that if you walk into the store with a 12AX7LPS in your hand and talk the salesman into installing it in V1 (It's a major pain because you have to have a stubby phillips screwdriver to get the tubes in and out) you will have a whole new experience regarding this amp. That much I can promise you.

good to hear you got some of the issues with yours fixed for a test blast... The one i tried kicked some serious High Gain butt for $1100 Canadian... I will be trying to get one next summer sometime if i can save for it.... Hope you can get it returned and get a better built one, or a cure for Channel 3.. But you said Traynor omitted they had a few bad batches released first

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Traynor Custom Special YCS100 - Minor Review

good to hear you got some of the issues with yours fixed for a test blast... The one i tried kicked some serious High Gain butt for $1100 Canadian... I will be trying to get one next summer sometime if i can save for it.... Hope you can get it returned and get a better built one, or a cure for Channel 3.. But you said Traynor omitted they had a few bad batches released first

Thanks! :fingersx: I tried a complete tube swap this morning. The parasitic oscillation is still there. Having different tube models between V1 and V2 seemed to help the oscillation a bit, but it's still oscillating regardless of what I do. The tone improved dramatically with the test. The best tone I got was with the LPS in V1 and the original tubes in V2-V4. It was a little more open sounding and the grain of the distortion seemed tighter at the same time. That's what I'll do when I hopefully get a new and improved version back from the dealer. Of course, I'll also have to get a V30 and G12H30 X pattern cab to match. That would be the perfect match for this amp. It would brighten it up a tad and increase the mids (I'm running G12H30's right now and nothing else).

By the way, when installing V1, the board flexes like crazy when you are pressing the new tube in. I really don't like that. Hopefully Traynor also fixed that in the newer versions. I can't believe they didn't have a tech noodle with it for a while and swap tubes in it etc to see how a customer would perceive it before they shipped it out. I gotta give them low marks for that one irritation, but otherwise they turned out what looks to be one seriously fine amp. :banana: