opening a traynor head

[brad347]

Hey, I have a Traynor YGL-3A Mark III head I'm trying to open up and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get the chassis out of the cabinet. I feel like a money with a coconut, but I've taken out all visible screws and I just cannot figure how to budge the thing. Are the side panels of the head supposed to come off? The front panel? I'm totally at a loss here.

[brad347]

Okay the top lifts off... handle and all. Would've been easy if it wasn't so... weird.

[LesPaulMan]

LOL. Same damn thing happened to me. I had all the screws out but the the chassis wouldn't move.

At least we can laugh at it. :D

[soldersucker]

Koudos to Pete Traynor for making a very serviceable design.

[John Phillips]

LOL. Same damn thing happened to me. I had all the screws out but the the chassis wouldn't move.

At least we can laugh at it. :D
I did exactly the opposite the first time I tried to work on one (MKIII 2x12") - my usual method with Fenders is to undo the chassis bolts with the amp on the floor, then pick it up, and put it on the bench face down so I can lift the chassis out and rest it on the side rails of the combo.

So of course I undid the chassis bolts, took a really good hold of the handle and flexed every muscle to lift the 80lb+ combo onto the bench...

... and just about flew back through the wall behind me with the top of the amp in my hand :D.

Of course it didn't come off instantly, it was stuck quite well, so it made the shock of it coming free even worse. I actually thought I'd broken it at first - 70s Twin Reverbs are notorious for the top cabinet joints coming apart.

:)

[cameron]

I think amp techs should reduce their rates when working on the swing-top Traynors. Definitely the most tech-friendly designs around.

[cameron]

I did exactly the opposite the first time I tried to work on one (MKIII 2x12")

John, how often do you come across old Traynors in the UK? I'd have guessed they're pretty rare over there.

[John Phillips]

John, how often do you come across old Traynors in the UK? I'd have guessed they're pretty rare over there.
Yes, pretty rare, and almost all the ones I've seen have been MkIII 2x12"s. I think I've worked on four, all this model, and only seen maybe another dozen or so of all models put together.

Odd in some ways considering that Fender Twins are relatively common, and you would think that with the Commonwealth trade agreement with Canada - and even the fact that they run on EL34s - that Traynors would have been at least as popular... but maybe they just didn't have the brand and marketing angle covered as well as Fender.

[MrChet]

I have 2 MK III heads and 1 MK III 2X12. I think they kill Twins - and I live in Fender land - the US. The only down side is the circuit card material warps, and they are heavy.

I changed the location of the MV in one ofthe heads from pre-PI to a post PI cross line isolated with caps. My nephew, who plays Thrash/Metal type stuff always wants to use it w/his 2 4X12 cabs. It sounds awsome driving them :-)

[phsyconoodler]

Oh you americans are so funny!
:crazyguy
you need to loosen those screws on the SIDES of the cab as well and then the top lifts off really easy.When you see the mess of wiring inside most Traynors you know why they come apart so easily.
Pete's original stuff wasn't that sloppy,just when he got too busy and hired production staff to do wiring.
I've seen a few go up in smoke on stage over the years,but those amps were roaded so hard and dropped so many times off tailgates of trucks,it was no surprise.the tubes couldn't keep up to the abuse of musicians.