# Early 70s Traynor YGM-3 - thoughts and experiences appreciated



## starjag

Played today an early 70s Traynor YGM-3. Click here for specs. Similar to the one pictured below for 1969-1974.










I did not know what to expect, but found a very bright, clean machine. Too bright actually, even harsh depending on the settings. I had to keep the treble knob around 1-2 and the bass knob around 4-5 to find tones that I liked using P90s. With P90s, the amp did not breakup before it got rather loud, maybe 6-7 on the volume knob.

The amp is all original. Is this the "standard" experience with this amp? Bright, harsh at times, super clean? Are there ways to smooth things out? Does it even make sense to try to smooth things out? With some mods, can this be a Marshall 18 killer? Your thoughts and experiences are appreciated.


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## greco

I found this...maybe it will be of interest::

http://www.0rigami.com/vb/models.html#guitarmatereverbygm-3



Features 
volume, bass, treble, reverb and tremolo (speed and intensity) controls; treble boost switch; 
reverb and tremolo are footswitchable via jacks in the back; there is also an 8 ohm extension speaker jack; 
five 12AX7A pre amp tubes, two EL84 power tubes 
silvery grey grille cloth 
Dimensions: 22" x 23 3/8" x 9 1/2"; weight: 46 lbs.

_Sound_ 
the speaker is probably the weakest link in the chain; 
"overdriven power tubes" sound; no kind of metal distortion with this one; just a nice bluesy power tube crunch; I play surf with it. 
This puppy barks big time! 
I have a 1979 Traynor YGM-3 guitar mate combo. It sounds good, its kinda got that plexi sound like the old marshalls. Its all original, even got the original tubes and the speaker.

_Reliability_ 
built like a tank; 
bullet proof 
I bought mine new 30 years ago. It's had the piss beat out of it and all I've ever done is clean it up occasionally and replace the tubes.

_Price_ 
CAD $200 used 
Songbird had a 'Traynor 50 watt head with reverb and tremolo, late 1960s? YGM-3, fair condition, for CAD $227' in June 1998 
CAD $296 used, late 1960s, very good condition, seen at Songbird Music, June 1998 [described as 50 watt 1x12" combo with reverb and tremolo] 
US $150 [used], modified, bought at a San Francisco shop, ca. September 1998 
Guitar-Mate 1x12" combo, CAD $250 [used], seen at Gilles Grignon's site at Rainbow Music at www.rainbowmusicshop.com/used.html, January 1999 
I recently scooped up a 1976 Guitar Mate at a local thrift for [US?] $30, and have only found one problem with it. It hums when I use the reverb.

_Rating_ 
sweet little amp 
I would buy this one in half a heartbeat, even if I already had one. 
The YGM-3s have a bit too much midrange. I can hook up any guitar to the bass heads [YBA-2A and YBA-2B] and get a sweet sound without effects. But with the YGM-3s, YSRs, and Voice Masters, I need to modify the sound with peddals or an equalizer. In fact, the only guitar that sounds ok with the other Traynors is my Gibson L6s because it has midrange control unlike my LP and other axes. 
A great little amp for blues and rock. Excellent crunch, sounds particularly good with a Rickenbacker guitar. 
I just bought a 1970's YGM-3 via eBay and took it to band practice on the day that I got it. I was very pleasantly surprised by how well it performed. I've been using Fender Deluxes, but their expense has grown beyond their value. I guess the main difference between the YGM and the Deluxe would be the EL84s. I've found that I prefer the vibrato on my YGM (though the difference is slight and mostly due to the overall tone of the amp), and I also like the midrange boost of the EL84s. I don't know the wattage [20 watts] of the YGM-3, but the midrange boost does give the perception that it is slightly louder than the Deluxe. Other than the obvious cool factor of owning a Fender, I would rate the YGM-3 on par with the Deluxe. The Traynor, though, costs half as much! 
1975 two input model with original Philips valves which show no sign of wear. [...] Great amp [...] the tremolo is superb, reverb also if used sparingly. The amp has benefited from replacement of the stock Marsland speaker for a Celestion Vintage 30. These amps are hidden gems amd worth seeking out even in the Uk. 
_
Cheers

Dave
_


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## starjag

^^^ this is useful. Thanks!


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## MarkusV

Those are garbage amps.Please send to me and I will dispose of it for you

Kidding. Huge Traynor fan. Yes you can cure the brightness with one capacitor change and get it to break up earlier with about 3 component swaps.
But with the brightness fixed the cleans are heavenly.Use a pedal for dirt I say.

Markus V


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## LowWatt

Yep agreed. It's hard to even call the brightness fix a mod because it's so easy. There's literally one offending bright cap and if you clip it, everything gets a WAY better balance. Also the one knock other knock on these bad boys is the speaker. If you're after more of a Marshall 18 watt vibe, replace it with a Celestion. I went with a G12H30 in mine for more muscle and I love it, but a greenback would be an even closer match.


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## greco

LowWatt said:


> Yep agreed. It's hard to even call the brightness fix a mod because it's so easy. *There's literally one offending bright cap and if you clip it, everything gets a WAY better balance.* Also the one other knock on these bad boys is the speaker. If you're after more of a Marshall 18 watt vibe, replace it with a Celestion. I went with a G12H30 in mine for more muscle and I love it, but a greenback would be an even closer match.


@starjag...This is what you wanted to know.

Cheers

Dave


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## parkhead

with the correct fixes it kills everything out there !

speaker 

change the bright volume cap from .001 to 100pf 

remove the pre set presence cap .1 200 volt c11 on the schematic 

when redoing the filter caps replace the 40mfd filters with 22mfd for less headroom 

http://youtu.be/xXO_B2b9h5A


p


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## Scottone

The GuitarMates are my favorite of the vintage Traynors. I currently have a YGM-1 which is the lower powered version. I put a Tungsten T12Q speaker (Jensen P12Q clone) is mine and it sounds really good.

With a couple of upgrades (as detailed in the previous posts), these can certainly hang with much more expensive boutique amps.


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## Guest

A friend of mine picked one of these up for a great price because it needs a little work. Sounds awesome! Too bright, yes. But like others have pointed out: easy fix. With the treble at zero it was plenty easy to crank. I was very impressed by it. I'm sure he'll turn it in to a killer amp. He's got an account on here...not sure he reads the board much though...


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## torndownunit

I never had to do any mods to mine other than changing the speaker. And pretty much ANY speaker is an improvement over the stock one lol.


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## Jeff B.

I have a YGM-2, same amp but without reverb. 
These are great amps. A new speaker and a couple of simple mods to it and you'll have an amp that's a keeper for life.


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## starjag

This is great info people. Thanks!


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## hollowbody

I had a 1967 YGM2 which was an absolute BEAST of an amp. It out-Marshalled my JTM45. I had to sell it due to some surprising vet bills, and I still regret it, though it's owned by a close friend now, so there's still a chance I can buy it back at some point.

Old Traynors are a fantastic way to get hand-wired, PTP amps on the cheap that are a tech's dream to work on and much more reliable than today's PCB stuff.

Come to think of it, I'm gonna go check my funds and see if I can buy that YMG2 back


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## torndownunit

hollowbody said:


> I had a 1967 YGM2 which was an absolute BEAST of an amp. It out-Marshalled my JTM45. I had to sell it due to some surprising vet bills, and I still regret it, though it's owned by a close friend now, so there's still a chance I can buy it back at some point.
> 
> Old Traynors are a fantastic way to get hand-wired, PTP amps on the cheap that are a tech's dream to work on and much more reliable than today's PCB stuff.
> 
> Come to think of it, I'm gonna go check my funds and see if I can buy that YMG2 back


I miss my YGM3, but the one I really miss is my YBA2 head. That thing basically was a mini-marshall. I sold it at a time I wasn't gigging, and now would love to have it. I'd love to have the YGM3 back as well, but the YBA2 more lol.


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## greco

torndownunit said:


> I miss my YGM3, but the one I really miss is my YBA2 head. That thing basically was a mini-marshall. I sold it at a time I wasn't gigging, and now would love to have it. I'd love to have the YGM3 back as well, but the YBA2 more lol.


I regret selling my YBA-2A head also. 
Worse yet, I sensed at the time that I was making a big mistake.

Cheers

Dave


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## hollowbody

greco said:


> I regret selling my YBA-2A head also.
> Worse yet, I sensed at the time that I was making a big mistake.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Dave


Haha, I also sold one of those, but it wasn't as nice as my YGM2, which was a factory oddity with a different schematic that other YGM2s. It was a sceamer!


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## torndownunit

greco said:


> I regret selling my YBA-2A head also.
> Worse yet, I sensed at the time that I was making a big mistake.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Dave


Ya, they are such a compact/, light little powerhouse of an amp. Preceded the lunchbox head trend lol.


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## parkhead

normally I would agree with Torndownunit about mods ... but a couple of the basic mods take what is a very good vintage amp 
out to a level of greatness that cannot be matched without spending multi thousands of boutique dollars 

most of these mods like the speaker change are simple fixes of obvious problems 
like getting rid of the .001 obnoxious bright cap and the .1 bright (presence) cap in the power section 

btw getting rid of the cap in the power section makes the ygm3 power amp more like the yba-2 power amp 
which is why people like that change so much 

if you don't want to do mods get one with a bright switch at least you can turn that sucker off 

I stopped buying these when I passed 6 ... it was just too easy to spend $300 to $400 on CL or Kijiji
and get another killer amp ...



p


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## TheRumRunner

Good things come in 4's lol

My YGM-4 is a lil tiger. It's too bad that other builders don't use the 4x8" format, it's just so right.










DW


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## torndownunit

parkhead said:


> normally I would agree with Torndownunit about mods ... but a couple of the basic mods take what is a very good vintage amp
> out to a level of greatness that cannot be matched without spending multi thousands of boutique dollars
> 
> most of these mods like the speaker change are simple fixes of obvious problems
> like getting rid of the .001 obnoxious bright cap and the .1 bright (presence) cap in the power section
> 
> btw getting rid of the cap in the power section makes the ygm3 power amp more like the yba-2 power amp
> which is why people like that change so much
> 
> if you don't want to do mods get one with a bright switch at least you can turn that sucker off
> 
> I stopped buying these when I passed 6 ... it was just too easy to spend $300 to $400 on CL or Kijiji
> and get another killer amp ...
> 
> 
> 
> p


Oh ya, if you dislike something and want to remedy it of course you should go for it. I am only pointing out that I started with the easiest fix, and one of the biggest problems IMO, first. I was completely happy with the amp after that. That doesn't mean everyone else will be. About the only point I was making I guess was maybe to take the fixes in steps.


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## parkhead

torndownunit said:


> Oh ya, if you dislike something and want to remedy it of course you should go for it. I am only pointing out that I started with the easiest fix, and one of the biggest problems IMO, first. I was completely happy with the amp after that. That doesn't mean everyone else will be. About the only point I was making I guess was maybe to take the fixes in steps.


yes I got mine replaced the speaker and still heard some rasp in the top end like a cheap speaker ...

grabbed the ygm3 schematic and looked at it ... holy smokes a treble boost cap in the power amp !
cap gone = fizz gone 


p


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