# Traynor Guitar Mate reissue!



## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

So I'm visiting in-laws in North Bay and I decide to go to the music store to browse. Staring me in the face as I walk down into the amp area is what I think is a totally mint Guitar Mate! Turns out its a hand wired reissue for a hair under $1400! How come nobody told me?sigiifa

http://www.traynoramps.com/products.asp?type=3&cat=63&id=409

matt


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

mrmatt1972 said:


> So I'm visiting in-laws in North Bay and I decide to go to the music store to browse. Staring me in the face as I walk down into the amp area is what I think is a totally mint Guitar Mate! Turns out its a hand wired reissue for a hair under $1400! How come nobody told me?sigiifa
> 
> http://www.traynoramps.com/products.asp?type=3&cat=63&id=409
> 
> matt


that thing as been discussed from A to Z in the AMP section.....


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

mrmatt1972 said:


> So I'm visiting in-laws in North Bay and I decide to go to the music store to browse. Staring me in the face as I walk down into the amp area is what I think is a totally mint Guitar Mate! Turns out its a hand wired reissue for a hair under $1400! How come nobody told me?sigiifa
> 
> http://www.traynoramps.com/products.asp?type=3&cat=63&id=409
> 
> matt


They are $1100 at Long and McQuade !!!!


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

That is soooo nice! Thanks for the refresh...forgot about it! Looks really interessing!


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## Blues Jr (Aug 14, 2007)

It's been out for a few months now. I picked up a '71 GuitarMate for $300 about a month ago. It sounds alot better!


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## dustyoldamp (Dec 29, 2008)

Blues Jr said:


> It's been out for a few months now. I picked up a '71 GuitarMate for $300 about a month ago. It sounds alot better!


anyone got a sound clip of the new guitar mate?


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## sesroh (Sep 5, 2006)

faracaster said:


> They are $1100 at Long and McQuade !!!!


Yeah I saw one at the L&M in Cambridge. I think it's pretty dumb that they're that much money. You can find an original for under $500


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

Why on earth would anyone by a reissue for 1200$ when the real deal can be as cheap as 400$?.....it's not like those are Fender blackface or Marshall plexi amps!...it's not even good looking !....design is awfull.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

Ya, there is the exact same discussion going on on the TDPRI forums. I can see why Fender and other companies RI some models of amps. The original models are highly in demand, and highly priced. But you can track down an original YGM3 fairly easily for under $500. And you can get a YBA2 which is very similar but without the reverb and tremolo for even less. And the originals were built like tanks in the first place.

They are a great sounding amp, and I am sure the RI sounds great too. But it does seems like a really bizarre marketing move for a company that has always been known for value. If anything, they would have been better to do a RI as part of the newer lines, and skip the hand-wired 'boutique' angle. Just make a good solid, affordable amp like the YCV series.


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## starjag (Jan 30, 2008)

Most people that buy the vintage Traynors will change the speaker, take the amp to a tech for a clean bill of health, change caps and other components that deteriorate with time (if needed), buy a fresh set of tubes. So the "cost" of the vintage YGM3s and YBA2s is at least $200 or more over what has been mentioned. When you account for this extra cost, the new ones are actually appealing, specially for people that recognize the value of hand-wired amps, like the Traynor brand, but are afraid to buy vintage stuff. Within the next year or so, we will be seeing the new releases being sold in the used market for less than $800-900... making them really good values in the hand-wired market.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

Ya but even with those changes/updates, and a going over by a tech, both the YGM3 and YBA2 I have came in at under $500. $500 for a vintage one is still the higher side of the pricing for an original. If you put some time into searching you can get them for much less. Vintage Traynor and Ampeg amps are still under the radar when it comes to vintage amps. If you look for them in places other than eBay, there are no shortage of deals.

So I agree when they start showing up used they will be more of a value. But I don't see the new one, at the new price, with taxes, being any kind of value. Just because it has a different speaker in it, it doesn't automatically mean it's a 'better' speaker. Not everyone likes a P12Q, and a lot of people will still replace them. 

Plus as mentioned earlier, they really were a butt ugly amp in the first place lol. My vintage ones are/were in pristine condition but even if they weren't, who cares? It's not like the shape of the tolex really affects the awful look anyway. I'd buy a beat up looking one in a second to save even more money. It's the guts I am worried about.

Again, I have no question it's a great amp. It just seems like a strange marketing move. If they were going to do this, why not do it with the YBA1? An amp that is more in demand.


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## starjag (Jan 30, 2008)

torndownunit said:


> Again, I have no question it's a great amp. It just seems like a strange marketing move. If they were going to do this, why not do it with the YBA1? An amp that is more in demand.


I hear you! But we are a small piece of the market here. I guess that most people considering these amps are comparing them to other new PTP amps, not the vintage ones. Some people prefer to buy new (or newer) and some people prefer to buy now. As has been said before, you still have to track down the vintage ones.

By the way, I am looking for a YBA-2 Bass Mate in case people reading this thread know about one available. Maybe I am one of the few ones, but I do like how these heavy bastards look.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

It really begs some interesting questions. I mean, if you could buy an absolutely exact, made by Chevy, brand-new 63' Corvette would there be a market? Would it cost less or more than a shop-restored original?


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

You can get an Ampeg RI 15w amp for $250 cheaper.


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## starjag (Jan 30, 2008)

Robert1950 said:


> You can get an Ampeg RI 15w amp for $250 cheaper.


I though that the reissued Ampegs were not PTP and also made overseas.

An interesting issue is that these new Traynors are close replicas of the vintage ones. Many of the reissued amps use PCBs and are made overseas (nothing wrong with this, but they are not the same amps).

In the end, I think that the fact that these new Traynors are out is a positive thing... whether the company's strategy makes sense or not.

The fact that the market does not overprice vintage Traynors, Garnets, and Ampegs is a good thing for some of us (do not let the word too far out).

EDIT: just checked the Ampeg website... the J-20s are PTP.


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## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

How long before they reissue a YBA-1 for 1600$? lol.. those used to be the "budget" plexi but now they can cost almost as much as an 80's JCM 800 4140 combo with vertical inputs. I'll take the JCM800 combo over it still... so it is not in a head cab, you get the speaker and it is cheaper!


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

Robert1950 said:


> You can get an Ampeg RI 15w amp for $250 cheaper.


But the new Ampeg is made by Crate, uses inexpensive circuit board construction, and uses cheap components. Conversely, the Traynor uses good components, is PTP hand wired, and is made by Traynor in Canada.

While I've questioned the wisdom of reissuing the YGM-3 (instead of the tube rectified bassmaster or dynabass) the new amps easily compete with other new amps that are twice their price.

TG


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

traynor_garnet said:


> But the new Ampeg is made by Crate, uses inexpensive circuit board construction, and uses cheap components. Conversely, the Traynor uses good components, is PTP hand wired, and is made by Traynor in Canada.
> 
> While I've questioned the wisdom of reissuing the YGM-3 (instead of the tube rectified bassmaster or dynabass) the new amps easily compete with other new amps that are twice their price.
> 
> TG


There is a hand-wired J-20 RI out now. As far as I know, it's the cheapest amp of that quality out there. It's supposed to be a great amp.

The other thing about Ampeg RI's, the old ones used a lot of oddball tubes that helped give the amps their distinctive tone. The J-20 just used 6V6's. It's still a cool amp, but I don't know if I'd call it a RI or not (?).

I got a 1965 Reverberocket II last year for $250. I can't remember what the power tubes are in it, but I could sell those alone for that price lol. And the speaker is an original 1965 Jensen RI. So ya while Traynor's are a great budget vintage amp right now, I think Ampeg's are the best deals out there.


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## Archer (Aug 29, 2006)

traynor_garnet said:


> But the new Ampeg is made by Crate,


It is the other way around....


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## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

traynor_garnet said:


> While I've questioned the wisdom of reissuing the YGM-3 (instead of the tube rectified bassmaster or dynabass) the new amps easily compete with other new amps that are twice their price.
> 
> TG


Exactly...when compared to other handwired boutique amps, it is a bargin. If I were to buy my Swart AST today, it would set me back $1850 US


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

torndownunit said:


> There is a hand-wired J-20 RI out now. As far as I know, it's the cheapest amp of that quality out there. It's supposed to be a great amp.
> 
> The other thing about Ampeg RI's, the old ones used a lot of oddball tubes that helped give the amps their distinctive tone. The J-20 just used 6V6's. It's still a cool amp, but I don't know if I'd call it a RI or not (?).
> 
> .


I wasn't aware of the J-20 RI. How much are they selling for? I think some of the old Ampegs started using 6V6s and more common tubes at one point, but I am hardly an authority on Ampegs.

TG


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

traynor_garnet said:


> I wasn't aware of the J-20 RI. How much are they selling for? I think some of the old Ampegs started using 6V6s and more common tubes at one point, but I am hardly an authority on Ampegs.
> 
> TG


Here they are for $739 USD new. But they are already on the used market, and I have heard of people picking them up for a lot less than that (as low as $575). There are a few threads over at the TDPRI forums about the amp.

The amp was hardly even advertised. I only heard about it (a) on the TDPRI forums, and (b) in a small combo comparison GuitarPlayer magazine did (where it got great ratings). But I can only assume they took a bit of a beating on the amp due to bad marketing. Even when the threads were posted on TPDRI very few people knew anything about the amp.

I also read they have a 5 years transferable warranty. Which is decent for a new product.

Here is Ampeg's product page for it with some more technical details:

http://www.ampeg.com/products/diamondblueguitar/j20/index.html

And last but not least, a photo. I think Ampeg amps have a great look:










I have no clue if this is a 'better' amp. It's just an example of something that is comparible (as far as I know) and that costs less money since the thread started to talk about some alternatives.


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