Traynor Custom Special YCS100H

[G.A.S. Man]

I've got a little voice inside my head that keeps saying, "Go ahead, buy one. You need it!"

Before I succumb to the evil voice and just buy one, does anyone have any experience with these amps (good, bad or ugly)? I understand that these amps are fairly new and have only been out a couple of years.

I jammed with someone once that was using one and I was very impressed however I haven't taken the time to try one out for myself.

I would appreciate hearing (reading) opinions on the Traynor Custom Special YCS100H.

Cheers. :rockon:

[Budda]

no personal experience, but i was talkin to the local tech - he got one to replace his blockletter 5150 he had for 10 years.

he said "basically, you have an amp per channel. so spend some time with each channel, put it through its paces. see what it's capable of. Then go to the next channel. and this amp sounds best cranked up - leave the master wide open, and use the channel volume to dial in the volume. if it's still too loud, Then you dial back the master."

and the tone he had on his recording, i thought it was a mesa dual rec or 5150. if it's the traynor clean, the YCV style crunch, and proper high gain.. there's no reason i can think of to not buy this amp. depending on how it sounds, and if i have space, i may get one as a 2nd head.

I say giv'r. if anything, you have a return policy :)

[Emohawk]

I picked one up earlier this year. My roommate plays in a Metallica tribute band & used one for a gig. After hearing it I was sold. I had been considering a dual rec but we didn't have a dealer in NL a the time. For several hundred less the CS100 gets close enough for me.

It is a little sterile with the stock pre tubes. I dropped some Tung-Sol's in there and it's smoother. I haven't swapped the power tubes yet but I hear there can be a marked improvement over stock.

The clean channel (ch 3) is...well, clean. Not particularly lively but not bad. It gets better when the master is up though, and sounds better in the 30w (quasi class A) mode. It will get a little dirty if you push it - kind of early AC/DC dirty I guess. It also has a gain boost, a modern switch, and a bright switch.

The second channel is kinda Marshall-ish but a bit more scooped (even with the scoop & modern modes disengaged). Again it sounds better with the master wound out and/or in 30w mode. It's a bit weak without the boost on, and even then it won't blow you away until you get the master well up there. That's not surprising though - most Brit voiced amps don't sound great until the power stage is really cookin'.

The other dirty channel is all about trying to be a DR on a budget. Scooped, thick, liquid high gain. The modern mode is a bit too nuts though - REALLY scooped with monstrous bottom end. I like it in vintage mode with the scoop & boost engaged for the DR feel. I don't like this channel in 30w mode...it gets too compressed & a little messy for my taste.

Note that the two high gain channels are voiced almost the same. I think channel 1 is slightly more scooped with more top & bottom, but with some knob twisting the two can sound almost identical.

I suspect the thing would basically nail a DR vibe if I swapped the power tubes to 6L6's, and that would probably help the clean channel also. Unfortunately that would probably end any hope of getting a vintage Brit high gain thing going on channel two.

A quick note about the master volume...it's not like most MV controls. You won't have ear-bleed volumes with the knob at noon. The more you crank it, the faster the power comes on.

This amp is unbelievably quiet. I run channel 1 (the "DR" channel) with the gain at 3 o'clock with boost engaged & presence well up there and it's still quiet. Not silent mind you (no high gain amp is), but far less noise than any other tube amp I've tried (that doesn't have a built-in gate...).

Overall, it's a pretty cool amp for just over a grand (I paid 1150 tax in back in Feb/Mar).