Why does my Traynor 40W sound better than Bogner?

brisk

brisk

NeverLostologist
I bought my Traynor 40W before any of you heard of it. I bought it because it sounded good and was cheap ($430 back then). I owned a lot of amps (Marshall, Mesa, Soldano, Rivera, etc) and I tried a lot of amps including Bogner Shiva. After trying all of them, I truly feel that my Traynor sounds better than any of amps I've tried. Why is that?

Maybe I am dillusional.
 
Re: Why does my Traynor 40W sound better than Bogner?

I am not sure what room you were in, what you were smoking, who was with you etc etc

I can tell you this - a lot of people have opinions, INCL myself, that I think are biased by everything from comparing amps in different rooms, or one has bad tubes and the other has good tubes, not using the appropriate speakers or cabs, volume levels.

When I got my Shiva, someone had changed the Pre's to JJ's in V1 and V3 and i thought the amp didnt take pedals well. Turns out the Chinese tubes fixed that.

I have seen people compare the Shiva thru Ev's to a Mesa - and we know the Bogner was not built for EV's.

The thing I see musicians do the most, is compare tones solely by playign the amp themselves. I have often thought an amp soudned quite good til I handed the guitar to someone else, stood back 20 feet, turned it up and heard otherwise. We are often influenced by "feel" of the amp.

I have literally taken the Shiva with a Bogner cab against every amp from Genz Benz, Marshall, XTC to Roccaforte, Framus, Engl you name it. It has rarely left me short of impressed. The only amp that had me BLOWN away was some Divided by 13 deal that a guy played against my Rivera (when I had it). He sounded amazing and 3D. I have live CD's I got back with the Shiva against a few different amps, and while some may have nastier mids, or more voume etc etc - the Shiva was always sweet on ewvery style from Rock to R&B.
 
Re: Why does my Traynor 40W sound better than Bogner?

Because you're Korean. You have a natural love for transistor sounding devices. You probably like country music and AM radio also.
 
Re: Why does my Traynor 40W sound better than Bogner?

Jeff_H said:
Because you're Korean. You have a natural love for transistor sounding devices. You probably like country music and AM radio also.
Click to expand...

I am Irish Italian.
 
Re: Why does my Traynor 40W sound better than Bogner?

I'd say it's because you now expect an amp to sound like the Traynor.

Whether that's because you've become accustomed to its tone or because it matched your ideal when you bought it is a different matter.
 
Re: Why does my Traynor 40W sound better than Bogner?

brisk said:
I bought my Traynor 40W before any of you heard of it. I bought it because it sounded good and was cheap ($430 back then). I owned a lot of amps (Marshall, Mesa, Soldano, Rivera, etc) and I tried a lot of amps including Bogner Shiva. After trying all of them, I truly feel that my Traynor sounds better than any of amps I've tried. Why is that?

Maybe I am dillusional.
Click to expand...

Because it sounds good to you. May I ask what difference the price or brand name makes? Hell, I'm gigging an amp that I paid $400.00 for and it sounds better than the $1800.00 Boogie I was playing through a couple of years ago.

Maybe it's just me, but more money doesn't always mean better tone. :)
 
Re: Why does my Traynor 40W sound better than Bogner?

why??
simple...

traynor owns!! they have some of the best amps for the price, and even best amps for amps twice their price. I bet that if they never introduced the 500 dollar range 40 and 50 watters, made them into head versions, and sold the 40watter 6l6 for 2000ish and the 50watt el34 for 4000ish (kinda like bogner), they would have the same exact reputation as bogner, and all those brands that are known as the best, and people would buy them thinking they are getting the best of the best.

but no, they made them in the 500 dollar range. (im not complaining)

i love my 50blue.
 
Re: Why does my Traynor 40W sound better than Bogner?

As with the price thing.. remember.. Neil Young's current / favourite amp cost him 50$.
 
Re: Why does my Traynor 40W sound better than Bogner?

brisk said:
I bought my Traynor 40W before any of you heard of it. I bought it because it sounded good and was cheap ($430 back then). I owned a lot of amps (Marshall, Mesa, Soldano, Rivera, etc) and I tried a lot of amps including Bogner Shiva. After trying all of them, I truly feel that my Traynor sounds better than any of amps I've tried. Why is that?

Maybe I am dillusional.
Click to expand...

"Listen to ears, if its sounds good - its good" - YJM.

Now, on the other hand you are only saying this, because you haven't spent a decent amount of time with Laney or a Hiwatt, he-he ....
 
Re: Why does my Traynor 40W sound better than Bogner?

it's like my peavey V type.800 dollars guitar +200 dollars PUs sounds better ,plays smoother and have better sustain than a 3000 dollar ESP.And this was not my own comparison!
The price is "not" the proof of quality.Gibson is a great example.And tone could not be bought with money too.Remember Prong ,Dime...They all played transistors ,and swear on them!
 
Re: Why does my Traynor 40W sound better than Bogner?

The Traynor gets your tone. The Bogner doesn't. It's that simple. The expensive amp owners need to justify what they spent, therefore their explanation will be "you have a tin ear" or "you had it dialed in wrong" or "you must have plugged it into a bad cab", but the reality most likely is that the guitar tone you want comes from a Traynor. There is nothing wrong with that at all.
 
Re: Why does my Traynor 40W sound better than Bogner?

Traynors are very nice amps . . . that's why you like it! As with everything else in audio, once you get past a certain pricepoint with gear you get into stuff that's all a matter of opinion. Traynors are great little amps . . . they don't have to be as expensive as some boutique amps because they're not hand-wired and they're mass produced. They also avoid the issues of inflation based on association with certain people, brand name, etc. since they're relatively unknown outside of Canada.
 
Re: Why does my Traynor 40W sound better than Bogner?

Simply put, the name on an amp has nothing to do with how it sounds. I would put any of my vintage Traynors against any Marshall ever made because they sound that good. At the 200.00 per head I bought em at, it seems to be a pretty good deal.
 
Re: Why does my Traynor 40W sound better than Bogner?

Yep, it comes down to everyone has their own tastes and have their own things they look for in an amp. My Shiva has a really cool dark, compressed and smooth overdrive that I enjoy. Those looking for raunchy british tones won't find it. If you prefer your Traynor, that's cool because you save a lot of money in the process. I haven't found anything that can do what my amp does for cheaper, so I've kept with it, pricetag and all.
 
Re: Why does my Traynor 40W sound better than Bogner?

I'm still going with the Korean thing.
 
Re: Why does my Traynor 40W sound better than Bogner?

All amps are basically the same, a circuit design and components. There is no reason for such outragious price differences. Other then the cost range of components, which is fairly limited, and the sound they produce, which is highly subjective, why shouldn't a Traynor sound as good as a bogner or whatever? Sorry to state the super obvious but sometimes it gets lost in all the hub-bub, bub.

Of course I might be a biased because I love my Traynor YCV 40 :smokin:.

With a Vintage 30, RCA pre tubes and SED output tubes (and sometimes EL34's) it's got some great tones in there, but why shouldn't it?? It's mostly a function of circuit design and tuning and that's basically free from a manufacturing standpoint. And the price was kept exceptionally low IMO because they were a new unknown product. The prices have been shooting up in the last couple years as the word got out.

I got mine used last year with the V30 for only $325! When I play my used USA Hamer Artist Custom through it the tone is amazing and I feel like i practically stole the both of them!
 
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Re: Why does my Traynor 40W sound better than Bogner?

When I was around 20 years old, I really liked my Peavey Ultra 120 over the Mesa Mark IV. My thoughts were very similar to what yours are now. It's been 15 years, and now I know the difference. My old Peaveys are still great sounding amps, but now I can understand and appreciate what the more expensive amps offer ( and I judge that with my ears and not the price tag). I couldn't live without my Mesas and if it wasn't so hard to come a Bogner in my area, the Ecstasy would be in the basement also. Enjoy the Traynor, it will serve you well...but the other amps exist for a reason.
 
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