# NAD Traynor YCV80q



## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

Okay, pics below so it has to be true right? 

Gotta stop looking at gear on the web. This Traynor came up on a search in my budget of 10$ - 250$ so I popped! ( could be a case of too good to be true! ) I demoed it for 15 mins and all seemed fine. I'll be sending it into Backline in Vancouver for a retube and general tune up. ( filters, caps retension sockets etc...) Backline sounds pretty competent, but is there anything else I should get checked while it's there. I need to get it all tikety-boo while it's there cuz we don't have an amp tech in the area. I think the closest is an 8 hour drive away.

Also, this amp kinda reminds me of a Fender Bassman with the 4 x 10 set up. I've read how Marshall copied Fender such and such circuit for amp blah blah blah, does anyone know if Traynor did something similar with the ycv80?


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Nothing to add but if you got that for $250 or less it could be the deal of the year.


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

davetcan said:


> Nothing to add but if you got that for $250 or less it could be the deal of the year.


Time will tell. Hopefully Backline doesn't have bad news for me when they service it.


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## TheYanChamp (Mar 6, 2009)

I had the 2-12 version, it was a great first tube amp but my tastes changed. My friends 4-10 sounded better to my ears. 

Tell them to check the power grid resistors (if memory serves me) they are known to go. Traynor had a service bulletin about it years ago and it failed me twice as a result. Email Traynor about it and forward it to backline. It might be good insurance if you're that far from a tech.

The last time I fixed it I sold it for a more reliable amp, and sure enough it failed the new owner shortly after buying it. He was pissed.


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

TheYanChamp said:


> I had the 2-12 version, it was a great first tube amp but my tastes changed. My friends 4-10 sounded better to my ears.
> 
> Tell them to check the power grid resistors (if memory serves me) they are known to go. Traynor had a service bulletin about it years ago and it failed me twice as a result. Email Traynor about it and forward it to backline. It might be good insurance if you're that far from a tech.
> 
> The last time I fixed it I sold it for a more reliable amp, and sure enough it failed the new owner shortly after buying it. He was pissed.



Thanks for that "TheYanChamp". Talk about jumping in head first! That seems like a lot of amp for a first tuber. My first tube was a little blues jr.

I may have come across that issue in the Traynor service manual. I'll let the guys at Backline know. It was dropped off on Friday, Nov 6th. Turnaround is about 2 weeks I'm told. Can't wait to give it a whirl.


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## GuitarPix (Jan 11, 2007)

I've really liked the Traynor amps I've used and demoed - although haven't tried this particular model. Always struck me as a really solid sound. Hopefully there's no major problems, but at $250 you found a great deal.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

TheYanChamp said:


> Tell them to check the power grid resistors (if memory serves me) they are known to go. Traynor had a service bulletin about it years ago and it failed me twice as a result.


Do you mean power supply rectifier diodes? There was a bad batch and a service bulletin about them, Feb.20/2003.


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## Distortion (Sep 16, 2015)

Good score. They are a gigging amps. Brian Griffith (R.I.P) one of the top players from Hamilton played one for years. Sound really good with a Les Paul. Strat not so much.


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## Lord-Humongous (Jun 5, 2014)

Looks like a great amp!


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## TheYanChamp (Mar 6, 2009)

jb welder said:


> Do you mean power supply rectifier diodes? There was a bad batch and a service bulletin about them, Feb.20/2003.


Yup that was it.

For whatever reason I had the same problem the second time, and probably the third.

First time was fixed under warrenty second wasnt.


It was a big amp for first tube, but I was playing a few yrs already and loved it loud and proud. Plus pretty versatile as I didnt know what kind of amp I wanted yet. 

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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

I'm a fan of the YCV series. I've had two 40's and one 50'. I had to replace the power tranny in the 50' at one point. It cost all of $35. It's hard to beat the price/performance of the series.

I don't think my tired old body would like lugging the 80 w/4x10's to gigs though.


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

allthumbs56 said:


> I'm a fan of the YCV series. I've had two 40's and one 50'. I had to replace the power tranny in the 50' at one point. It cost all of $35. It's hard to beat the price/performance of the series.
> 
> I don't think my tired old body would like lugging the 80 w/4x10's to gigs though.



Yeah, not looking forward to lugging that thing around. It will only be going out once and a while down to the jam space. Anything over 50lbs should have a built in dolly!


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

TheYanChamp said:


> Yup that was it.
> 
> For whatever reason I had the same problem the second time, and probably the third.
> 
> ...


Making me nervous! Nah, not really. I never buy lottery tickets, so I gambled ( a bit ) on the amp.


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

***UPDATE*** Spoke to the folks at Backline on wed and the amp has a clean bill of health. No major issues, tubes are good, all is well. Should have it home in about 2 weeks.


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## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

awesome deal! happy NAD


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

stringer said:


> ***UPDATE*** Spoke to the folks at Backline on wed and the amp has a clean bill of health. No major issues, tubes are good, all is well. Should have it home in about 2 weeks.


Great news. And just in time for New Year's Resolutions.

You can resolve to go out jamming with this amp while the rest of us resolve to work out more. Moving that amp around, we'll get to the same place. 

Personally, I love the sound of 410's but they're a bugger to move around. And I just get lazier every year (this the NYR).


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

Yeah, not looking forward to moving it around. It might end up spending a couple of nights at the jam space so I can stretch it's legs a bit. I have detached garage and it will be spending some time there also. It's my first amp with 4 1os and I'm looking forward to hearing it! Should move a lot of air and that used to mean something.


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## Rabbit (Oct 9, 2007)

My nephew (great guitarist) has had one of those for years and I love it when I have played it.Nice full tone and quite versatile as well.I don't know why Traynor stopped making them in the four ten configuration but people seem to be hung up on twelves. Heavy yes but a set of castors should help. For $250.00 You did real good.Have fun


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

Rabbit said:


> My nephew (great guitarist) has had one of those for years and I love it when I have played it.Nice full tone and quite versatile as well.I don't know why Traynor stopped making them in the four ten configuration but people seem to be hung up on twelves. Heavy yes but a set of castors should help. For $250.00 You did real good.Have fun


Castors! Yeah, those would come in handy I'm sure. I didn't realize Traynor had stopped making the 4 10. It will be my first 4 10 set up. I expect the bottom end to be a bit tighter than with 12s but I don't know. It should be here tomorrow ( Thursday ) I need patience NOW!


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

It's finally here. Had a few moments of panic as I got no sound after power up and waiting for about 10 minutes for the tubes to warm up. WTF!!! After much stress I found the speaker defeat button and all is well. 

More later....


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

Okay got a few hours on the amp now and I'm really enjoying the clean channel. I tried the foot switch, it switches channels but doesn't switch the boost as the manual seems to indicate it should. Here's a pic of that defeat button that had me worried. Never been so happy to find a button!










So I'm gonna try plugging my 1/4" to usb chord into the line out and plug it into my computer and see if it gets a signal. I'll try to post some sound files if I can figure it out.









The amp has 2 effects loops. One is a loop thru that requires a " Y " patch chord, and the other is a traditional parallel loop with trim pots. Supposedly people jump the parallel loop and crank the trim pots to get even more volume out of the amp. Here's what the manual has to say about the effect loops. I think some will find this useful.

EFX / LINE Send Jack, Return Jack & Trim Pots 23
The Send and Return jacks of the YCV80/YCV80Q allow convenient use of an external effect unit. Simply connect a 1⁄4-inch phone cable to the Send jack of the YCV80 and then connect this cable to the Input of your effects unit. To send the processed signal back to the YCV80, connect the output of the effects unit to the Rtn jack of the YCV80/YCV80Q. The Trim pots enable fine adustments to the signal being sent to and returning from the external effects.

The 1⁄4-inch TRS Send jack is used as part of an effects loop, in conjunction with the Rtn jack. The -10dBu output is ideal for most guitar effects pedals and professional signal processors. You can also use this output to slave the YCV80/YCV80Q with another guitar amplifier by plugging into the Rtn jack of the destination amplifier that will be the slave.

The 1⁄4-inch TRS Return jack is used as your return jack for your effects loop. It accepts an input signal that is passed to the power amplifier, so it can be used as a power amp in. The Master Control section regulates the signal, so Reverb can be added as well as Presence.











A quick peek at those lovely tubes and the celestion tube 10s. I've read mixed reviews on the speakers but I like the way they sound, there may be better but it would be costly to replace 4 speakers.
Looks pretty tidy up there.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

You need a 2 button footswitch to activate the boost. Is yours one button?


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

hollowbody said:


> You need a 2 button footswitch to activate the boost. Is yours one button?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Hi. Its a 2 button switch. Didn't come with a cord using a guitar cord. Button 1 led lights up, button 2 led doesn't. May just need soldering.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Ahh. Try a TRS cable. A regular TS cable won't do it. Google the difference if you don't know it. 


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

hollowbody said:


> Ahh. Try a TRS cable. A regular TS cable won't do it. Google the difference if you don't know it.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Thanks hollowbody, that was really helpful. I thought that might be the issue, so I mentioned the cable.

A few scuffs here and there, but still looking good.


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

Does anyone know how to date Traynor amps using the serial number. I read online that If it's a 7-digit serial number, the first digit of the serial is the last digit of the year. All you need to be able to do is know if it's from the 60's, 70's or 80's. Does anyone know what year these were built. 5055161 would indicate 1995 0r 2005, 05 is May and 5161 the number of units produced. Is this correct? There are supposed to be date codes on the pots so I guess I could take a peak inside but I'd prefer not to.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Correct, May of 2005 (they weren't making these yet in '95).
If you care one way or another, the boost when using the FX loop & trim controls is a solid-state IC boost.


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

QUOTE="hollowbody, post: 663711, member: 2921"]Ahh. Try a TRS cable. A regular TS cable won't do it. Google the difference if you don't know it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]
Thanks hollowody, i found a proper cable and it works like a charm now. No clicking noise, very smooth switching. Had some time to work with the dirty channel today while playing my epiphone les paul ultra with alnico classic and classic plus hum buckers. Quickly got tones that I liked a lot easier than with my Japanese Strat. Tried a silicon fuzz face in the effects loop today and could hardly hear it. Guitar - fuzz - amp sounds much better. I'll have to get one of those " Y " patch cables and try the other effects loop. Also tried the headphone jack today and that's fine also. " The signal sent from these outputs ( Phones/Line Out & XLR Balanced Line Out Jacks ) are post-preamp and pre-master. Note that the output signal is affected by all tone controls, including reverb, but not the Master Volume. " 


Here's todays happy couple.


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

jb welder said:


> Correct, May of 2005 (they weren't making these yet in '95).
> If you care one way or another, the boost when using the FX loop & trim controls is a solid-state IC boost.


 So does that make it like a valve state or something similar? Sounds okay to me, I kinda like the boost. I'm not that serious about things, my ear is not that well trained. Even order harmonics to odd? All that stuff boggles my mind. That's interesting about the fx loop & trim controls. I just mentioned above trying the loop.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

stringer said:


> So does that make it like a valve state or something similar?


No, it's mostly tubes, just some solid state in the effects circuits.
I think the parallel loop without a "mix" or "blend" knob won't work very well for many types of effects.
The series loop should give you much better results with the fuzz, but you still may like it better up front with the guitar straight into the fuzz.


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

Thanks man. I've tried a wiggler, pog2, a tube driver. Nothing sounds good. Any idea what people set those send and return trim pots to? 

On a side note, I did a bit of cosmetic surgery on the amp today. It had a couple of small tears in the tolex. I found an old vinyl repair kit and tried my luck. It turned out okay, not perfect.

The tools.










Give it a good stir, and apply with popsicle stick or something similar. It looks brown in the photo, but dries black.










After spreading the mix onto the repair area, heat up the press tool with a lighter for 20 seconds or so, place the vinyl scrap over the patch, and press the heated iron onto the area. Work slowly and spread out from the centre. Before








The end result.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

I think the best combo amp I ever heard was a Tweed Bassman 410 - much because of the 410 arrangement.

But as I got older, there wasn't enough tweed on Saville Row to repair that cabinet after one move up or down a tight stairwell. But, man, I loved the tone.


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

High/Deaf said:


> I think the best combo amp I ever heard was a Tweed Bassman 410 - much because of the 410 arrangement.
> 
> But as I got older, there wasn't enough tweed on Saville Row to repair that cabinet after one move up or down a tight stairwell. But, man, I loved the tone.


Yeah I'm surprised at how fragile even tolex is considering how these things are used and the harsh environment in which they live.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

stringer said:


> Thanks man. I've tried a wiggler, pog2, a tube driver. Nothing sounds good. Any idea what people set those send and return trim pots to?


If it's a parallel loop, you'd want those effects 100% wet. So the POG2 would have to be set to 100% WET (no dry signal) to sound good. I think it has a dedicated WET out, so you'd take that feed to push back into the amp.

Also, I would only use this effects loop for things like modulation where you can set the pedals to 100% WET. For other pedals like a Tremolo or OD, it will just add the effect to the signal, not replace - so your effect will be MUCH less noticeable. 

FWIW, I never use loops. Can't be bothered with them. The benefits don't outweigh the drawbacks for me.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

With the parallel loop, you always have dry signal mixed in by the amp, even if the effect is set to full wet.
There is no blend or mix pot on the amp, so you can never have full wet.
Get an insert cable and try the series loop, I don't think you'll get any satisfaction from the parallel loop.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

jb welder said:


> With the parallel loop, you always have dry signal mixed in by the amp, even if the effect is set to full wet.
> There is no blend or mix pot on the amp, so you can never have full wet.
> Get an insert cable and try the series loop, I don't think you'll get any satisfaction from the parallel loop.


Yeah, so if you have your effects set to 100% wet, there will be less dry mixed-in by the amp, whereas if you're blending on the effect already AND the amp is mixing-in dry, you'll have much more dry signal than wet, causing you to not really hear the effect very well.


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

Yeah guys, that's what it sounds like to me. The effects are hardly noticeable. I tried cranking the send and return trims but nothing sounded good. Probably not small enough adjustments. I've always wondered what the benefit to an effects loop was when putting pedals in front of the amp sounds fine. I guess it might be nice to have rear access to keep things tidy onstage? Thanks for the info on the POG2 hollowbody. I'm guessing low level send from the amp and high level return from the effect.


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

jb welder said:


> With the parallel loop, you always have dry signal mixed in by the amp, even if the effect is set to full wet.
> There is no blend or mix pot on the amp, so you can never have full wet.
> Get an insert cable and try the series loop, I don't think you'll get any satisfaction from the parallel loop.


"There is no blend or mix pot" There are " send and return trim pots " in the rear effects loop. Could those be the same as the blend or mix pot that you mentioned? It seemed the more I turned up the send, the more distorted the amp sounded.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

No, those are just level pots to accommodate the differences between pedals and pro rack type gear (-10 vs +4db).
Turning up the send will hit the input of the pedal harder, like having a hotter pickup (or an active boost), so the output of the pedal will be more distorted. Turning up the return trim will make the FX signal larger relative to the dry, but you still can't get rid of the dry because the amp has no mix pot.
Here's something to try, the series loop is TRS with the R being the return. So leave the send to the pedal as you have it, but instead of running the pedal output to the parallel loop return jack, plug the cord from the pedal output into the series loop insert jack, but only plug it in to the first click (around halfway in).
Now you should have full wet, same as the series loop.


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