# Pete Traynor RIP



## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

From Neil Traynor's Facebook post:

"I don't know how to say this...my heart is shattered...my Uncle, the great Peter Traynor, co-founder with Jack Long of Traynor Amplifiers/Yorkville Sound, has passed away...he was my hero growing up...he gave me, the country, and the world, Rock'n'Roll...his intelligence, kindness, generosity and humor knew no bounds, and his name and enormous accomplishments will live on for years to come...he was a true believer and disciple of Rock'n'Roll, and as a musician and later a designer and builder of amplifiers, as well as being one of the first proper concert sound men in North America, he helped make and shape the direction and history of that music...He quit high school at 16 to be a musician, when you could do that and make a living, and never looked back...he was the most innately intelligent person I ever knew - anything he was interested in, he read and studied and became an instant expert on - the first Traynor Amps were built by him by hand in the basement of my Grandparents house at 23 Parkland Road... he did so much for me my whole life - doing sound and bringing his all his gear out for so many of the shows I played with different groups over the years, lending and sometimes giving me equipment it would have been impossible for me to access otherwise...on my 19th birthday, my first band, L.S.Tea, was performing a show, and he came out, with all his gear, to do the sound...he told me my birthday present was in the trunk of his car, and when I opened it, inside was his 1968 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top - I still to this day cannot believe that....the memories are flooding me, and I ache... to have him think after many years of effort on my part that I did in fact have talent was all the praise I'll ever need in this world...I loved him so much, and this isn't even remotely the tribute I want to write, or the one he deserves...but it's the best I can do at the moment...it isn't fucking fair...we all think we have all the time in the world with the ones we love...we're all wrong....Good bye Uncle Peter...I love you..."


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## bigboki (Apr 16, 2015)

RIP Pete Traynor. Sincere condolences to the family and whole music world...


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

Wow. I can't wait to read more about his life. What a great Canadian. RIP YOUR ACOMPLISHMENTS WILL LIVE ON FOREVER.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

Man this sucks. He sounds like a great guy. I never met him but I'm a huge fan. RIP


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

So sad to hear of his passing. He built gear that lasted for decades. I still have a set of columns that have been functional for 40 + years. 

I hope his family can take some solace in knowing that his was a life well lived, and appreciated.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Serious bummer. My first quality amp was a Traynor (albeit a modern one). R.I.P Mr. Traynor.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Some more reading:

Pete Traynor: Musicians amp up their tribute | Toronto Star

Traynor Amplifiers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As I've often repeated on this forum, my favourite amp is a Traynor YCV50 and I have a YCV20 to back it up, but many of us have used a ton of Traynor and Yorkville gear over the decades. It's part of Canadian culture.

Peace, Mooh.


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## urko99 (Mar 30, 2009)

Deepest condolences to the family at this trying time. He was a true pioneer and a master at his craft, He will be sorrily missed by those close and by all.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I don't think Pete was Mooh's uncle. He posted a Facebook post from Pete Traynor's nephew. No harm done.

This should be in the *In Memorium* subforum, so that folks will find it. Pete deserves to be remembered. I hope he and Gar Gillies are sharing a beer and talking about output tube biasing right now.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

A great loss but a great life lived doing what he wanted to do.

Think I shall go and crank up my YSR-1.

RIP


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

RIP to a Canadian pioneer.


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## Moosehead (Jan 6, 2011)

2016 is not a good year for Rock n Roll 

R.I.P. Pete Traynor


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Beut


Mooh said:


> From Neil Traynor's Facebook post:
> 
> "I don't know how to say this...my heart is shattered...my Uncle, the great Peter Traynor, co-founder with Jack Long of Traynor Amplifiers/Yorkville Sound, has passed away...he was my hero growing up...he gave me, the country, and the world, Rock'n'Roll...his intelligence, kindness, generosity and humor knew no bounds, and his name and enormous accomplishments will live on for years to come...he was a true believer and disciple of Rock'n'Roll, and as a musician and later a designer and builder of amplifiers, as well as being one of the first proper concert sound men in North America, he helped make and shape the direction and history of that music...He quit high school at 16 to be a musician, when you could do that and make a living, and never looked back...he was the most innately intelligent person I ever knew - anything he was interested in, he read and studied and became an instant expert on - the first Traynor Amps were built by him by hand in the basement of my Grandparents house at 23 Parkland Road... he did so much for me my whole life - doing sound and bringing his all his gear out for so many of the shows I played with different groups over the years, lending and sometimes giving me equipment it would have been impossible for me to access otherwise...on my 19th birthday, my first band, L.S.Tea, was performing a show, and he came out, with all his gear, to do the sound...he told me my birthday present was in the trunk of his car, and when I opened it, inside was his 1968 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top - I still to this day cannot believe that....the memories are flooding me, and I ache... to have him think after many years of effort on my part that I did in fact have talent was all the praise I'll ever need in this world...I loved him so much, and this isn't even remotely the tribute I want to write, or the one he deserves...but it's the best I can do at the moment...it isn't fucking fair...we all think we have all the time in the world with the ones we love...we're all wrong....Good bye Uncle Peter...I love you..."


Beautiful hommage to his uncle. RIP. Part of rock and roll.


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## garrettdavis275 (May 30, 2014)

RIP, bon voyage, and thankyou for everything, Pete!


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## Duffman (Oct 29, 2014)

Didn't know him personally but owned and used a few of his Amps.
In the 60s and 70s Traynors were on most stages in Canada.


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## Duffman (Oct 29, 2014)

I didn't see the post in memorium.


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## SG-Rocker (Dec 30, 2007)

2016 claims another icon.

I will dare to say that every Canadian musician since the 60's has been touched by Mr. Traynor either directly or through the equipment he created.
The first amp I ever plugged into was a late 70's Traynor with a single 15" speaker. I was very young and do not remember the model. I just remember it sounded big fat and fuzzy through my crappy Strat knock-off.

RIP Pete, you fanned the flames of rock and roll with your creations, we'll do our best to keep the heart beating !


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

A little something to watch...



__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10150341027965416



Did it just happen today? It strikes me as odd that his namesake company hasnt said anything...

Love my YCS50 and my YBX212...great gear!

RIP to a Great Canadian Icon


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

A big name in the industry. Many contributions. RIP


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

His nephew Neil posted the news late yesterday on his Facebook page. I'm not acquainted with either Neil or Pete, just reposted the news from a friend's page as it is newsworthy to us Canadian guitar players. It's the weekend, probably no one at the business thinking about alerting the world yet.

Peace, Mooh.


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## james on bass (Feb 4, 2006)

Sad day. Love my Traynor gear!

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk


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## bzrkrage (Mar 20, 2011)

Ahh man, RIP Pete. May your amps live on & inspire.


Sent from my other other brain.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

RIP Pete Traynor.

He left an indelible mark on the Canadian music scene.
I love my YGL1 and DHX12 for the band rig and the DHX212 at home.


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## Thornton Davis (Jul 25, 2008)

RIP Pete, your innovation and drive to give musicians the tools they needed will never be forgotten.

TD


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## toby2 (Dec 2, 2006)

Many moons ago this article was published about Pete : Traynor Amplifier Schematic Archive
The New Music came in to Song Bird at that time and filmed a segment about Peter . We threw one of his old amps off the roof .It was brought back into
the shop , plugged in , handed a guitar to Pete . The amp survived the fall . He played a riff and then they went to a commercial break .


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

My second amp. or what I'd call my first _*real*_ amp. was a Traynor TS-25. It had a good solid sound to it and I eventually moved on to a Roland Jazz Chorus JC-77 but I'll never forget my Traynor. R.I.P. Pete Traynor.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

You know, other than 2 RIP tweets there's no news of his passing when I Googled his name. I'd love to hear that it isn't true - but I suspect it's just not in the news yet. Sad times


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

My early electric experiences were more Garnet than Traynor--but they showed up, and later on I did get a Traynor bass practice amp.

He had an impact on music in a lot of ways.

Condolences t his family & friends.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

allthumbs56 said:


> You know, other than 2 RIP tweets there's no news of his passing when I Googled his name. I'd love to hear that it isn't true - but I suspect it's just not in the news yet. Sad times


It's starting to make the rounds on social media today.


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## rhh7 (Mar 14, 2008)

My condolences to the Traynor family.


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## aC2rs (Jul 9, 2007)

Very sad news.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Finally something has shown up in the news:
Pete Traynor, Toronto’s quietly legendary sound man: Keenan | Toronto Star


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## mister.zed (Jun 8, 2011)

Thank you Peter Traynor for your contribution to Canadian rock. My first tube amp (still have it) is a YGM1 and my main amp is a YCS50. So proud to be playing fantastic Canadian hardware.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

What? I'm just hearing about this now!

This is such a loss. 

Eleven years ago I bought a '69 Traynor and kept it for 4 years. I sold it to a guy from Hamilton. I'm sure it's still going strong. 

RIP Pete Traynor.


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## Intrepid (Oct 9, 2008)

I have been out of the loop for awhile lately. Very sad news. Any Band that I played with in the 60's and 70's had Traynor amps. I still have 2 of them and they are virtually indestructible. May he Rest in Peace.


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## anaerobe (Aug 12, 2009)

Sad news indeed...he was relatively young at 75. I have a '72 YSR-1 modded with a post phase inverter master volume, and it kills.


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## Dave Thomas (Oct 28, 2016)

aC2rs said:


> Very sad news.


Very sad news indeed!!!! Peter was such an inspiration. I was just servicing a Traynor Bloc 80b practise amp for my neighbour and when I tried to find a schematic for the Bloc 80...I got the news!!!! It was a shock!!! 
I had planned to look Peter up when I go to Ontario next year for my grandson's graduation. I regret now that I did not re-connect earlier as one gets too busy "watching the Wheels go round". 
I knew Peter from 1971 till he left Yorkville and I left Long & McQuade about the same time to start Ocean Sound Studios in Vancouver.

I first met Peter in 1971 just after I was hired as the service Tech in Vancouver for L&M. I was sent back to Yorkville Sound for "training" and Peter blew my mind. I knew my way around a tube amplifier having fixed Marshall's for Zepplin in 69 and had earned a ham radio license at the age of 14. I was 24 when I started working at L&M had already been a Pro audio tech for 8 years. So, I thought I was fairly experienced in the design of tube circuits. However, Peter's knowledge and passion far surpassed and eclipsed mine. Peter was gracious, friendly and well respected by everyone he worked with and a bit of a madman as all genius types tend to be. The time with Peter in the winter of 71 at Yorkville sound was an awakening. He showed me around Toronto and took me to a rock concert one night with a band using his gear. Peter really knew how to build amps that lasted.

The testimony to this is I opened YGM-1 last year, for a friend and its his favourite studio guitar amp. This YGM-1 Guitar Mate reverb was built around 1973. One of the 6AQ5/EL84 tubes had failed. I put new tubes in it, cleaned up the pots and switches and it was working again; as quiet as ever within less than an hour of shop time. Now, I do not repair guitar amps for a living anymore as I have a busy Microphones Company that specialized in tube microphones. However, I cannot turn down repairing a great guitar or bass amp like the ones Peter designed and built. I kick myself now that I did not "GOOGLE" Peter on that day and call him up to tell him another one of his amps has stood the test of time. 

Without Peter's inspiration and encouragement Ocean Sound Studios and Advanced Audio Microphones would not exist today and I truly regret not letting him know this during his life time.

Peter came out to Vancouver in 1966 and we hung out for 2-3 days. It was always an adventure with Peter. He had the new Solid State Mono Block sent out to the store the week before. We were all a bit skeptical about early solid state amps because if the speaker cable or connector shorted most solid state amps of the time would go up in smoke. So, in typical Peter Traynor style he plugs a Les Paul into the amp, turns up everything to 10, hammers a huge chord then pulls the cable from the speaker cabinet and welds his initials into the chassis. There were huge sparks as the amp was now basically an electric welder. Peter then plugs the cable back into the speaker and the amp continues to perform perfectly. We had no more service concerns!!!!

Peter and I got to talk a lot on that trip about my passion for recording as I built the first version of Ocean Sound Studios in a 2 car garage on weekends and evenings. In 1971 with some tech notes from Peter I had modified a Traynor MX-8 to use for recording a live Jazz record onto a 4 track tape machine. By 1976 Ocean Sound was becoming the place to go to cut demo recordings in Vancouver. When Peter got back to Toronto in 1966 he sent me out for free a lovely AKG C451 pencil condenser microphone and a pair of JBL Coaxial 2150 studio monitors that he brought in for some project that never happened. He encouraged me at that time to leave the service department at L&M and go full-time with my passion which was recording music live and in the studio. 
I think Peter left Yorkville 1976 because he had back problems from catching a falling PA speaker that would have bounced into the crowd...I think he was also passionate about tube amplifiers and their sound and even though he could build World Class solid state amps they didn't sound the same to him as tube amps and I must agree. Rest in peace my long lost friend. Dave Thomas aamicrophones.com


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Dave Thomas said:


> ... We were all a bit skeptical about early solid state amps because if the speaker cable or connector shorted most solid state amps of the time would go up in smoke. So, in typical Peter Traynor style he plugs a Les Paul into the amp, turns up everything to 10, hammers a huge chord then pulls the cable from the speaker cabinet and welds his initials into the chassis. There were huge sparks as the amp was now basically an electric welder. Peter then plugs the cable back into the speaker and the amp continues to perform perfectly. We had no more service concerns!!!!
> ...


That is a GREAT story! Thanks!


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## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

Wow, sad to see such an interesting guy pass. I think firing up my YCS90 extra loud today is in order...RIP


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## Rabbit (Oct 9, 2007)

I know this is late but I always wanted to meet him.His products were second to none .Rest in peace Pete !


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

jb welder said:


> Finally something has shown up in the news:
> Pete Traynor, Toronto’s quietly legendary sound man: Keenan | Toronto Star


Thanks JB. Decent bio and tribute. 

All of us baby-boomers have our Traynor stories.

This morning its the Fury Fireball into the Traynor GuitarMate. First Glenn now Pete. What a sad year already...


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

KapnKrunch said:


> Thanks JB. Decent bio and tribute.
> 
> All of us baby-boomers have our Traynor stories.
> 
> This morning its the Fury Fireball into the Traynor GuitarMate. First Glenn now Pete. What a sad year already...


Yes, but on the other hand, heaven or wherever is going to be a much better place for us guitar players. More really good builders to supply us with our out-of-this-world gear requirements!


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

High/Deaf said:


> Yes, but on the other hand, heaven or wherever is going to be a much better place for us guitar players. More really good builders to supply us with our out-of-this-world gear requirements!


I've always assumed that I wouldn't need any gear since my air guitar will sound just like it currently does in my head. ;-)


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