[Duster]

Just picked one of these up last weekend from a member here.

I'd been rocking a YCV20WR for the last year or so, which I've been enjoying. I like the clean channel on it, slightly driven, but the gain channel never really did it for me.

I have heard that the YCV15 has a better gain channel, and would also sound better because of the better speaker and bigger cabinet.

I haven't really A/B'd them in controlled conditions, but from the first few days of playing it, I'd say it sounds better. I've also been using the gain channel a bit more. Could be just the honeymoon period. Maybe it sounds better because I want it to sound better?

I'm going to A/B them and post a video. I was unable to find any videos or sound clips of the YCV15 before purchasing it, so I figure that might be of use to others in the Traynor-loving community.

I've ordered some JJ tubes for it, but I want to make sure I get some recordings of it before and after the re-tube for comparison purposes.

Anyone else ever compare the two amps directly? Did you notice a real difference?

 

[isoneedacoffee]

Congrats! I once had a YCV40WR, and to be honest I miss it a great deal. I imagine the 40 is similar to the 20? I'd love to hear the comparison with the 15 though.

 

[dcole]

I have been interested in the YCV15 but have never been able to find one to try. Its supposed to be like the YCV50 Blue I believe, but 15 watts instead.

 

[mud_guy]

I would love to hear some clips of this elusive unicorn, particularly A/Bd with a ycv 20 which I've owned a couple. Congrats!

 

[allthumbs56]

Have owned 2 40's and one 50. One of the 40's live in our practice space and I still use it weekly. The 50' was sold to my other guitar player so I see it regularly. The other 40 was a bright red tolex that I sold to our good one-time-forum-owner-and-great-regular-guy Scott.

I only sold the Blue because the guy didn't own an amp at the time. I am always on the lookout for another - to me they're pretty darn near perfect!

 

[Duster]

I haven't gotten around to taking any video, but here are some photos. I've taken photos side-by-side with the YCV-20WR. The most surprising thing is the physical size difference between the two. I thought the YCV-15 was slightly larger, but it's actually substantially larger. Quite a bit heavier too, as a result. Controls across the top are all exactly the same, with the same knobs and everything.

 

[Chito]

I miss my YCV50. Congrats on the 15. I've always been intrigued by it as so many people have said that it's really that good.

 

[Scotty]

Big Traynor fan here...if I start getting out, I will pick one of these up and leave the YCS90 at home

 

[Rabbit]

Nice Amp ! I did not realize that they where a larger size than the YCV 20 WR.

 

[sambonee]

I'm glad you like it. I just had too much gear.

Oteworthy is that it's an Amp into its own. Free reign was given to the designer after completing all the "prescribed" models. This was his "what would be my ideal amp?"

Rocks out good. Let us know the compatibles.

As you were.

 

[Duster]

Thanks sambonee! I'll shoot you a recording of our band playing some time.

In the meantime, here's a little video I shot earlier tonight. Just wanted to play some simple sounds through both amps so people can get an idea of what they sound like, since I couldn't find anything like that online. Having played them both, I thought the YCV15 sounded a little better than the YCV20. Hearing it a bit more objectively in the recordings, it seems like a huge difference to my ears. It's a bit louder at the same settings, but it's much more articulate and the dirty channel sounds great to me. The YCV20 sounds a bit mushy in comparison. Curious to know what others think of the sound difference. Next step is to put new JJ's in it and see if that makes much difference. I think most of the difference is in the speaker, though.

 

[Mooh]

Very cool. Congratulations! You won't be disappointed.

I just sold my YCV50 blue (with matching cab) and YCV20 in order to fund a YCV40 and matching cab.

 

[mud_guy]

Thanks for posting this. Obviously not as good as hearing it in person. After flip flopping myself I am very happy with my ygl1

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

 

[bigboki]

I think most of the difference is in the speaker, though.

Can you put them back to back and use cab of one with the amp of the other and see if that reverses their differences? I think that would be interesting and pretty easy experiment?

 

[Duster]

I put the new JJ tubes into the amp tonight. First of all, what a pain in the butt. Could they make it harder to change tubes on these amps? A stubby screwdriver is a must. I didn't have one, only a normal sized one, so it was hard to get to all the screws. As a result, I had to remove the back panel, and even the speaker(!) to get to the tubes. There were a couple of screws to remove the retainer for the power tubes, which was fine. To get to the preamp tubes I had to take out another panel (4 screws), and the socket is in such a location that I couldn't see what I was doing while inserting the tubes. Took me a while to get all the pins in the right holes. And then to put everything back together. There must be a reason for this design, but I can't imagine what it is. Anyhoo, enough whining.

I thought the tubes might make a slight difference, but they made a big difference. Could be just because they're new, could be the difference between the sovteks and the JJ's, but the amp does sound different. The amp sounded great before, but the new tubes make the recording with the old tubes sound like they came from under a blanket. There's definitely more high end, more chime, and a bit more volume. It also sounds more gain-y at the same settings, like there's a bit more bite in the sound. It's a more open sound, less compressed sounding, a bit less boom-y in the bottom end.

Going to be playing it a lot this weekend, I'll see if I can get a before/after tube recording put together. I have to get to cut/pasting in garage band, and I'd rather play guitar! Loving this amp and looking forward to getting the sounds I want out of it!

 

[SG-Rocker]

Is the YCV15 loaded with an Eminence Governor ?

 

[Duster]

Is the YCV15 loaded with an Eminence Governor ?

Yes.