# Traynor Custom Special 100 (YCS-100)



## Emohawk (Feb 3, 2006)

Hey all,

Just wondering if anyone has played through a YCS100 yet. Sounds like a potential monster, especially for the asking price.

Kirb


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## Tarl (Feb 4, 2006)

I've been curious about that amp myself.


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## Electric I (Feb 2, 2006)

Tried one in a music store the other week. All 3 channels on the 30W setting thru a 412 cab at moderate volume. Sounded anemic next to a peavey classic 30, which I ended up getting.


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## Electric I (Feb 2, 2006)

Pls excuse double post


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## Emohawk (Feb 3, 2006)

Interesting. I would have thought the YCV-40 or YCV Blue would be more in the ball park with a Classic 30. Or was it one of those "I think I'll try that since I'm here" kind of things?


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## Electric I (Feb 2, 2006)

Emohawk said:


> Interesting. I would have thought the YCV-40 or YCV Blue would be more in the ball park with a Classic 30. Or was it one of those "I think I'll try that since I'm here" kind of things?


Have a ycv40 & matching cab which has served me well so far & so the CS100 piqued my interest. Had no intention of trying the peavey, but while I was test driving the traynor, someone had fired up the c30 & it just sounded thicker/fuller/bigger/better to my ears. Hard to believe, I know, but that's how it was & so the c30 changes another's mind.


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## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

Nice looking rig but too many knobs.... I prefer it simple...


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## Emohawk (Feb 3, 2006)

Electric I said:


> Have a ycv40 & matching cab which has served me well so far & so the CS100 piqued my interest. Had no intention of trying the peavey, but while I was test driving the traynor, someone had fired up the c30 & it just sounded thicker/fuller/bigger/better to my ears. Hard to believe, I know, but that's how it was & so the c30 changes another's mind.


It doesn't surprise me all that much actually. For starters, the Classic 30 is a wonderful little amp, and with a tube swap & a different speaker it's even nicer. Also, the YCS100's Class A (30w) mode uses some sort of plate voltage scaling to achieve the trick. I have a friend with a Bogner XTC that does a similar trick, and it too sounds a little thin compared to the full-on mode.


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...interesting.

i have been using the traynor ycv40wr, but have been thinking about switching to the little peavey classic 30, as it seems to have more personality and mojo. i plan to buy one and, if it works out, keep the traynor as a backup.

-dh


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## fred ludlow (Nov 3, 2006)

Emohawk said:


> Hey all,
> 
> Just wondering if anyone has played through a YCS100 yet. Sounds like a potential monster, especially for the asking price.
> 
> Kirb


tried one at a store,did everything I wanted it to do,I'll get one soon as I find a deal in a pawnshop or used someplace


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## Emohawk (Feb 3, 2006)

fred ludlow said:


> tried one at a store,did everything I wanted it to do,I'll get one soon as I find a deal in a pawnshop or used someplace


Any comments on tone? Sounds like it should be pretty versatile. I'm wondering if it's more vintage (upper-mid) voiced or modern (lower-mid/scooped) voiced, or if it can handle both with all the options. If the two gain channels can be set up one for each of those, that would be perfect.


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## hooligan1968 (Apr 21, 2008)

*Traynor Custom Special*

Anemic?? You kidding right? It is the thickest tube saturation I have heard! I don't think you took the time to EQ it properly. The no. 1 channel can emulate modern high gain 'scooped' amps like the Mesa Rectifier perfectly. The no. 2 channel is Marshall crunch all the way and the no. 3 clean is excellent. It is three amps in one, three fully independent channels (thats why there are so many knobs, it really is very simple) two separate loops. I have owned all matter of amps, this is the MOST complete amp I have ever had. Lead boost, accutronic reverb (I use a Lexicon for my verb and delay, however) and a price tag complete with 4 x 12 V30 cabinet for less that a Mesa Dual rec head or a Marshall JCM head. An absolute steal of a deal. And no noise either.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

holy bump batman.


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## forum_crawler (Sep 25, 2008)

This is a very old thread, but I will revive it...

I just got myself one of these beasts, the H2. Wow, what an amplifier. I am still amazed at the tones this head can deliver and for the cost!

I tried it along a dual rectifier and found it to be very similar in tone when using the "high gain" channel, much more rounded when using the "crunch" channel and quite a bit better when using the clean channel. The mesa is the better looking amp, and everything about it feels luxurious, but the Traynor gives you more tones for less than half the price.

While the Mesa does give you that "Recto" tone that you can only get from the real thing, I feel the Traynor can do everything else the Mesa does, plus more, while at the same time, getting you very close to that "recto" sound (that is so tasty).

For those who haven't tried the Traynor, I suggest you do, you have absolutely nothing to lose here.


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## Emohawk (Feb 3, 2006)

I ended up getting one after starting this thread *and hearing a friend of mine play through one at a Metallica tribute show). I haven't tried the H2 (mine's the original version).

It's a good amp, but the factory tubes are a little lifeless. I've re-tubed it & swapped the EL34's for 6L6's. It's almost like a different amp.

I think I have another thread in here somewhere about the tone & stuff so I won't repeat it.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

forum_crawler said:


> This is a very old thread, but I will revive it...
> 
> I just got myself one of these beasts, the H2. Wow, what an amplifier. I am still amazed at the tones this head can deliver and for the cost!
> 
> ...


You're aware that the mesa has the bold/spongy features and other stuff at the back to keep tweaking the tones, right?

Not knocking the traynor, but to say it offers more than the mesa... i've tried both, im not buying that lol.

when on a budget, the traynor is the better buy.


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## Emohawk (Feb 3, 2006)

Budda said:


> You're aware that the mesa has the bold/spongy features and other stuff at the back to keep tweaking the tones, right?
> 
> Not knocking the traynor, but to say it offers more than the mesa... i've tried both, im not buying that lol.
> 
> when on a budget, the traynor is the better buy.


Very true. The reason I went for the Traynor at the time was because I didn't have the scratch for a DR. I still want a DR though - nothing sounds quite like it.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I may very well end up with both.. around the age of 30, but i'll do it! lol (that's 9 years from now)

I remember when $1400 for an amp seemed expensive  (you can snag used dual's for around that these days)


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## forum_crawler (Sep 25, 2008)

Budda said:


> You're aware that the mesa has the bold/spongy features and other stuff at the back to keep tweaking the tones, right?
> 
> Not knocking the traynor, but to say it offers more than the mesa... i've tried both, im not buying that lol.
> 
> when on a budget, the traynor is the better buy.


If you are looking in terms of that "Recto" sound, then no. As I mentioned before, you can only get that from a mesa. As far as getting sparkly cleans, marshally sounds, and brutal tones, yeah, the traynor will give you more variety. The clean channel in the dual recto was a bit stale I thought.

I think I will replace the tubes in the traynor with 6L6 tubes for kicks to see how they work with it. My previous amp was a 6L6 based amp, and I liked it, but hated the distortion in it.

The amp certainly has a sound of its own and that is a good thing I think  What don't think is a good thing is the foot pedal. I am very annoyed that it won't be easy to replicate all the functions of the foot pedal with a midi controller.


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## Bevo (Nov 24, 2006)

If your looking to change up the sound a bit talk to the tube store, they can match up some tubes close to what your looking for.

Those guys know there stuff!


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

if you cant bias the amp, mod it to have it biased


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## forum_crawler (Sep 25, 2008)

Budda said:


> if you cant bias the amp, mod it to have it biased


The manual says that the amp is capable of running on EL34s or 6L6s which is great, all you have to do is play with the bias adjustments. Now, I am no tech, so I wouldn't know how to do that, but I am sure the friendly guys at Long & McQuade would do it for me for a very reasonable fee.

I have been playing with the amp quite a bit, and there are lots of good tones there. You get a "boost" feature in it that basically is what you would use instead of a tube screamer type of pedal, but I find that actually using a Jekyll & Hyde pedal in front of the amp brings out a much fuller and harmonically rich sound out of the amp. The boost must be some sort of gain stage that has no eq, maybe even just a volume boost to get the tubes hotter. With the Jekyll & Hyde I can have much better control of the tone.

I also use an MXR 10 Band EQ on the series loop of the amp to bring out those frequencies I like and attenuate those I don't like, and threw all my time based effects on the parallel loop. Wow, that is what I was missing before. I always thought my effects were too in your face with my previous amp (active series loop). With this amp, that issue is solved, and now my effects sound like much more expensive effects! So I would say the series and parallel loop combo offered by this amp is awesome.

I am still tweaking, and I am hoping that in week or so, I should have the amp dialed in correctly and maybe do a demo or two of it.


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## forum_crawler (Sep 25, 2008)

Here is a silly demo I made of it for fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkoDP0V44zU


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## sfx70 (Sep 16, 2009)

the old issue with a lot of manufacturers (Fender, Mesa Boogie, Marshall included) - the stock tubes are poor sounding - once u put premo tubes - they're totally different animals!


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

you bumped this thread just to say that...?

Having tried out a YCS100H a couple times, the stock tubes are fine.


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

ok...so...how important is it to have the volume at zero when Biasing the amp? and which volume has to be at zero? theres three channels and then the master...all of them, or just the master?


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