# NAD!: Traynor YCV15 Blue



## Duster (Dec 28, 2007)

Just picked one of these up last weekend from a member here.

I'd been rocking a YCV20WR for the last year or so, which I've been enjoying. I like the clean channel on it, slightly driven, but the gain channel never really did it for me. 

I have heard that the YCV15 has a better gain channel, and would also sound better because of the better speaker and bigger cabinet. 

I haven't really A/B'd them in controlled conditions, but from the first few days of playing it, I'd say it sounds better. I've also been using the gain channel a bit more. Could be just the honeymoon period. Maybe it sounds better because I want it to sound better?

I'm going to A/B them and post a video. I was unable to find any videos or sound clips of the YCV15 before purchasing it, so I figure that might be of use to others in the Traynor-loving community.

I've ordered some JJ tubes for it, but I want to make sure I get some recordings of it before and after the re-tube for comparison purposes.

Anyone else ever compare the two amps directly? Did you notice a real difference?


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## isoneedacoffee (Oct 31, 2014)

Congrats! I once had a YCV40WR, and to be honest I miss it a great deal. I imagine the 40 is similar to the 20? I'd love to hear the comparison with the 15 though.


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

I have been interested in the YCV15 but have never been able to find one to try. Its supposed to be like the YCV50 Blue I believe, but 15 watts instead.


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## 5732 (Jul 30, 2009)

I would love to hear some clips of this elusive unicorn, particularly A/Bd with a ycv 20 which I've owned a couple. Congrats!


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

Have owned 2 40's and one 50. One of the 40's live in our practice space and I still use it weekly. The 50' was sold to my other guitar player so I see it regularly. The other 40 was a bright red tolex that I sold to our good one-time-forum-owner-and-great-regular-guy Scott. 

I only sold the Blue because the guy didn't own an amp at the time. I am always on the lookout for another - to me they're pretty darn near perfect!


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## Duster (Dec 28, 2007)

I haven't gotten around to taking any video, but here are some photos. I've taken photos side-by-side with the YCV-20WR. The most surprising thing is the physical size difference between the two. I thought the YCV-15 was slightly larger, but it's actually substantially larger. Quite a bit heavier too, as a result. Controls across the top are all exactly the same, with the same knobs and everything.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

I miss my YCV50. Congrats on the 15. I've always been intrigued by it as so many people have said that it's really that good.


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## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

Big Traynor fan here...if I start getting out, I will pick one of these up and leave the YCS90 at home


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## Rabbit (Oct 9, 2007)

Nice Amp ! I did not realize that they where a larger size than the YCV 20 WR.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

I'm glad you like it. I just had too much gear. 

Oteworthy is that it's an Amp into its own. Free reign was given to the designer after completing all the "prescribed" models. This was his "what would be my ideal amp?"

Rocks out good. Let us know the compatibles. 

As you were.


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## Duster (Dec 28, 2007)

Thanks sambonee! I'll shoot you a recording of our band playing some time.

In the meantime, here's a little video I shot earlier tonight. Just wanted to play some simple sounds through both amps so people can get an idea of what they sound like, since I couldn't find anything like that online. Having played them both, I thought the YCV15 sounded a little better than the YCV20. Hearing it a bit more objectively in the recordings, it seems like a huge difference to my ears. It's a bit louder at the same settings, but it's much more articulate and the dirty channel sounds great to me. The YCV20 sounds a bit mushy in comparison. Curious to know what others think of the sound difference. Next step is to put new JJ's in it and see if that makes much difference. I think most of the difference is in the speaker, though.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Very cool. Congratulations! You won't be disappointed.

I just sold my YCV50 blue (with matching cab) and YCV20 in order to fund a YCV40 and matching cab.


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## 5732 (Jul 30, 2009)

Thanks for posting this. Obviously not as good as hearing it in person. After flip flopping myself I am very happy with my ygl1

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk


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## bigboki (Apr 16, 2015)

Duster said:


> I think most of the difference is in the speaker, though.


Can you put them back to back and use cab of one with the amp of the other and see if that reverses their differences? I think that would be interesting and pretty easy experiment?


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## Duster (Dec 28, 2007)

I put the new JJ tubes into the amp tonight. First of all, what a pain in the butt. Could they make it harder to change tubes on these amps? A stubby screwdriver is a must. I didn't have one, only a normal sized one, so it was hard to get to all the screws. As a result, I had to remove the back panel, and even the speaker(!) to get to the tubes. There were a couple of screws to remove the retainer for the power tubes, which was fine. To get to the preamp tubes I had to take out another panel (4 screws), and the socket is in such a location that I couldn't see what I was doing while inserting the tubes. Took me a while to get all the pins in the right holes. And then to put everything back together. There must be a reason for this design, but I can't imagine what it is. Anyhoo, enough whining.

I thought the tubes might make a slight difference, but they made a big difference. Could be just because they're new, could be the difference between the sovteks and the JJ's, but the amp does sound different. The amp sounded great before, but the new tubes make the recording with the old tubes sound like they came from under a blanket. There's definitely more high end, more chime, and a bit more volume. It also sounds more gain-y at the same settings, like there's a bit more bite in the sound. It's a more open sound, less compressed sounding, a bit less boom-y in the bottom end.

Going to be playing it a lot this weekend, I'll see if I can get a before/after tube recording put together. I have to get to cut/pasting in garage band, and I'd rather play guitar! Loving this amp and looking forward to getting the sounds I want out of it!


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## SG-Rocker (Dec 30, 2007)

Is the YCV15 loaded with an Eminence Governor ?


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## Duster (Dec 28, 2007)

SG-Rocker said:


> Is the YCV15 loaded with an Eminence Governor ?


Yes.


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## 2N1305 (Nov 2, 2009)

Duster said:


> and the dirty channel sounds great to me. The YCV20 sounds a bit mushy in comparison. Curious to know what others think of the sound difference.


I know this is an older thread(we should probably make this a standard reply intro for cases like this?) but I'd like to say I totally agree with you and couldn't have chosen a better term to describe the dirty channel: MUSHY.

And the reason why I am replying now to this thread is mostly because I hate the sound of mine so much, despite having replaced both preamp tubes with JJs, that I've taken to modifying the preamp circuitry in order to reflect something a little more "traditional". If you look at the schematic of the YCV20 (mine is a really early one, it has black telex and a Celestion speaker), you will notice that there are some weird things going on. At least compared with a traditional Marshall or Fender circuit. Here's some electro-porn for those who may like this:
















If anyone's interested I can make a thread about my trials and tribulations of modifying a circuit that was meant to not be modified(meaning: it's a pain to get inside the amp!)

cheers


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

Go for it. It would apply to many modern amps with similar construction.


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## 2N1305 (Nov 2, 2009)

You know what would be nice to see in PCB designs like this? A terminal post, or just a peg,, identified "V+", so you know right away where to put your life-saving cap discharger! (lamp, resistor, whatever). Granted, I say this because I delved right into it without a schematic. Which by the way is NOT available on Traynor's website.


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