# Traynor YCS100H - Any Owners Out There?



## jb007 (Dec 6, 2006)

Can anyone give me their experiences/feelings on the Traynor YCS100H (now H2) head?

What 4x12 do you use with it?

Thanks

:rockon2:


----------



## Budda (May 29, 2007)

My buddy has one, and I've played a couple in stores.

Experience: this is a nice amp. The pricetag just sweetens the deal. I like to think I have experience dialing in various amps to sound at least 90% like the way I sound at home, so I didn't have much trouble doing that.

The time I really ran it through was with an 08 LP standard and a TS9. The clean channel... I'd buy this for the cleans alone, I won't lie. This is THE clean for me. Add some reverb, and it's heaven.

*NOTE* All channels share the same features - if you clone settings, you should get the exact same sound on every channel.

The distortion channels are nice and full, provided you set 'em up nicely. I knew that the amp would get a nice rock sound, as I used to own a YCV80. put the mids to 8, treble to 7.5, bass to 5 or 6, resonance at 6, I *think* there's a presence knob (i'd leave this at 2) and it's gonna rawk all over the place. I used the TS9 because I play metal - I need to know if this amp can do metal. It can!

I believe the EQ is passive, whereas it's active on my JSX. But oddly enough, similar settings worked just fine. I had to use a bit more gain (5 or 6 instead of 2 or 3 like on my ultra channel), and using the drive low and the level dimed, the amp boosted nicely. I didn't get to reeeally open it up, so I'm not sure how well the matching traynor cab handles the lows. I would replace the EL34's with KT77's immediately, just because I prefer the KT77 sound a bit more.

The cab: looks solid albeit a bit small. Would probably handle gigs just fine, comes with V30's as standard. I would test the head with a bigger cab to see if that opens and thickens up the sound a bit more, giving it a bit more punch.

So without boost, this amp will do all styles of music including *some* styles of modern metal. Boost for the modern death metal/"core" type stuff.

I'd hit it. Used, these amps are a steal IMHO. New, they're still a bit of a steal.


----------



## Emohawk (Feb 3, 2006)

I have one and I agree with Budda for the most part.

As I've said in previous posts the first thing I'd do is replace the pre-amp tubes. The factory tubes are a little sterile. I'd also replace the power tubes for the same reason. I tried it with Mullard re-issue EL34's and it was a bit warmer & smoother when pushed hard - more british (i.e. Marshally) overall. I currently have 6L6's in there & that makes more "american" voiced - a bit rounder & less compressed on the power side.

I don't think it needs a boost for any kind of metal, but that's just personal opinion/taste. There's plenty of gain on tap with the on-board boost engaged. I can see using a pedal to push it if you wanted to add some color to the tone or you wanted colossal piles of gain.

There is a subtle difference in the voicing of the two high gain channels. Channel 2 has a tad more bottom endthan channel 1, so it's a little better for heavy rhythm. You can dial them in to be basically identical though.

The clean channel (ch 3) is VERY clean. If that's what you dig, cool. I'd like it to have a bit more vitality to it, but again that's just personal taste. For the type of music this thing is geared for it's an OK stage clean. If I were recording or playing a gig where clean was a big part of it I'd use a different amp.

The resonance knob comes in handy if you're really trying to cop a DR vibe. That's why I bought the Traynor in the first place in fact - a recto was beyond my budget at the time and we didn't have a local dealer or repair center either. A friend of mine played through the Traynor at a Metallica tribute gig & I was sold. I run the resonance at about 1:30 or 2:00 for a "looser" bottom end, 9:00-10:00 for a bit tighter.

The amp has a slightly scooped & open feel overall. That makes it a bit of a challenge to get a vintage Brit vibe out of it at lower volumes. If you open it up (especially with EL34's) you can get closer. Running it in 30w mode compresses it more also.

Other than tone, another thing this amp has in common with a DR is it takes some noodling around to find your personal "sweet spot". There's a lot of switches & knobs on this thing. It also reacts very differently to different guitars/pickups. 

I can't comment on reliability as I don't gig with the thing. It can get plenty loud, but my hand-built 2204 clone sounds louder (mostly because it's voiced completely differently). Much like the Recto it's trying to emulate

If you're looking for a comparison, it can sound very similar to a Recto but doesn't have quite the intensity of the Mesa. The Mesa "sizzles" where the Traynor is a little more "fizzy" (which can be dialled out with some patience). The Traynor does have more bottom end though, if that's what you're looking for. That, the slightly more "modern" voicing options, and the crazy top end makes it cool for modern heavy styles.

Oh - by the way... I've running mine with a closed-back Vintage 30 loaded 2x12. If you want more warmth & less fizzy character G12H30's or Greenbacks or something like that might be a better fit. I have a pair of "purpleback" Fane clones on the way from Ted Weber for another project - it will be interesting to see how the Traynor reacts to those...


----------



## Budda (May 29, 2007)

emohawk, there's 2 reasons why I wouldnt use the boost function:

1. it adds gain
2. it adds low end.

I don't want either . I boost my amp to tighten the low end (while still letting lows through, 3 cheers for modded pedals!) and to get that midrange shift that a tubescreamer offers. The perception is a bit more gain, but I run my gain pretty low - I could get your standard medium saturation rock sound w/ the OD off, and step on it and change my picking style and voila death metal.

Cool to know i wasn't too far off, since I've used the amp only a couple of times hehe.


----------



## Emohawk (Feb 3, 2006)

Yeah Budda...that's what I was thinking. All personal taste. Without the boost engaged the Traynor does sound a little anemic on the high gain channels. That's why I like it engaged - the amp just sounds stronger overall, and it better captures the vibe I was looking for with that amp in the first place.

The voicing of the TS would help get closer to a classic rock vibe. I did try it with my heavily modded TS-808 clone for the same reason, and it does the trick. But, if I want that tone I have an 18-watt & the 2204 so I usually don't use the Traynor for that. Then again I'm not gigging either so I don't have to worry about dragging a pile of gear around. Might be a different story otherwise!


----------



## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I use the TS to get my amp into more modern territory in terms of the saturated tone, actually.

although it makes one of the most gorgeous crunch sounds I've made/played/heard when into the clean channel .

without any further derailing, I hope we helped JB out some!


----------

