# just got a Traynor YVM-1 sounds incredible! but.....



## gtrchris (Apr 1, 2007)

A friend of mine just handed me his old Traynor YVM-1 s.n V-2338 which was a part of Lighthouse's sound system way back in the day. Anyways I plugged it into a 16 ohm 2x12 cab and MAN what a tone! Clean, thick even with a tele! Still has the original glass too..nice
I have a few questions..first off I'm sure it's worth the few guitar lessons that he wants in return, but I'm not sure about the 4 inputs on the back.. is there anyway to jumper them like on a Marshall? These were originally used as pAs from what I understand, so are they convertible into plexi tone machines like the YBA-1's, or are they totally different?(I was planning on buying a YBA-1 but I'm not sure i'll need it since acquiring this one)
thanks for your help,
Chris


----------



## Wild Bill (May 3, 2006)

gtrchris said:


> A friend of mine just handed me his old Traynor YVM-1 s.n V-2338 which was a part of Lighthouse's sound system way back in the day. Anyways I plugged it into a 16 ohm 2x12 cab and MAN what a tone! Clean, thick even with a tele! Still has the original glass too..nice
> I have a few questions..first off I'm sure it's worth the few guitar lessons that he wants in return, but I'm not sure about the 4 inputs on the back.. is there anyway to jumper them like on a Marshall? These were originally used as pAs from what I understand, so are they convertible into plexi tone machines like the YBA-1's, or are they totally different?(I was planning on buying a YBA-1 but I'm not sure i'll need it since acquiring this one)
> thanks for your help,
> Chris


Hi Chris!

This is indeed a PA amp. You can plug your guitar in and you may like the tone but the circuit is completely different than for a guitar, at least in the preamp section. It was designed for microphones, plain and simple.

I've done a number of these over into guitar amps. They make great Plexis! In fact, one of my customers works somewhere where he and a co-worker found TWO of these in the basement! My customer had me convert his amp into a Plexi but the other guy thought that the tone was ok as it was.

Needless to say, the modded amp blows the stock YVM-1 away! I think that those bigass Traynor output trannies actually make the amp sound BETTER than a real Plexi, 'cuz they're larger and give a better bottom end.

My customer is a young bluesman named Chris Chambers, from Hamilton, ON. He's got a website and gigs around. Well worth catching his act but not just for my amp work! Somehow all my amps sound better when my customers play them then when I test them out on my bench. Must be the acoustics of the room or something...:smile:

Anyhow, the YVM-1 is a great amp to modify!

:food-smiley-004:


----------



## gtrchris (Apr 1, 2007)

Hi Wild Bill,
Thanks for your response. I'm going to pM you and get some more details.:smilie_flagge17:
cheers
C


----------



## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

Wild Bill said:


> Needless to say, the modded amp blows the stock YVM-1 away! I think that those bigass Traynor output trannies actually make the amp sound BETTER than a real Plexi, 'cuz they're larger and give a better bottom end.


So, quick question. If you were to find one cheap with a dead transformer...would that be a hugely expensive thing to repair? Possible even?


----------



## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

I modded one of these into a hot rodded Marshall circuit once and it sounded great. I ended up lending it out and never got it back 

Nice thing about this amp is that it has multiple output impedence taps, which is not commonly found on Traynors.

One of the best mod platforms out there IMO.




Wild Bill said:


> Hi Chris!
> 
> This is indeed a PA amp. You can plug your guitar in and you may like the tone but the circuit is completely different than for a guitar, at least in the preamp section. It was designed for microphones, plain and simple.
> 
> ...


----------



## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Scottone said:


> I modded one of these into a hot rodded Marshall circuit once and it sounded great. I ended up lending it out and never got it back
> 
> 
> 
> One of the best mod platforms out there IMO.


Holy crap. You're far too laid back. Lending out amps and never getting them back. I'd be breaking down doors.


----------



## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

guitarman2 said:


> Holy crap. You're far too laid back. Lending out amps and never getting them back. I'd be breaking down doors.


I lent it to a guy that I worked with for his teenage son to use temporarily. A couple of months later he got fired, so I didn't have the heart to chase him for it 

Bear in mind, that these were the days when you could find old Traynor heads for $75.00. In the mid 90's I had a stack of 7 or 8 heads that I'd modified one way or another.

I got the modded Marshall circuit from an issue of Guitar Player. I beleive it was a Bruce Egnater mod that was meant to be used to upgrade 2203 or 2204 heads. Was a good fit for the Voicemaster head because it has 4 12AX7s.


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Here, contact Traynor directly.

http://www.traynoramps.com/default.asp?p_id=7


----------

