Traynor YCS50 vs YCS90? (or suitable alternative)

[Ishouldbeking]

Did a search, found a little bit on each but not a whole lot and no direct comparisons. The only real comparison I saw was a few folks saying the Century Vintage neo drivers in the ycs90 sounded a bit sweeter (and are obviously lighter) than the V30 in the ycs50.

Anyone played the two of these amps side by side? I'm looking for a durable, versatile rig (dirty cleans to sabbathy stuff, but I'm fine using a fuzz & OD to get there) and both of these look like a good fit. With the prices at one online vendor its only about $100 difference between the two. Alternatively, if there's something similar you'd recommend instead, feel free to mention it. A lot of the mesa stuff looks great, but both price and weight are prohibitive. Thanks in advance!

 

[ripoffriffs]

I just bought a used YCS50H, the one designated as 'Custom Special'. Hope we're talking about the same thing. Bought it at a great price.

Unfortunately it is going back for a refund. Nothing functionally wrong with it. It's that it has an inherent voicing that I just don't like! It claims to emulate the 'British' and American amps. I'm very intimate with Marshalls and their high quality (read: 'boutique') clones. And this amp does not get it right. It has it's own unique voice despite the ad that claims otherwise. Well it's a voice that doesn't work for me.

I wanted very much to like this amp. British crunch on 1 channel and American voicing in the other channel. Not too high gain although it can do that. A preamp gain boost to replace OD pedals, and most of all spring reverb which no plexi ever has. Reverb is the only thing it gets right for me. The voicing or essential tone of the amp? No.

It should be back for sale again in a week or so at Daddy's Junky Music at a decent price too.

 

[Ishouldbeking]

Yeah, I think that's the head version of what's also in a 1x12 combo. I definitely appreciate the insight! I'm a bass player looking to get my first tube amp for some guitar projects I'm dreaming of, and all the features and such make the amp sound fabulous... but I'll take some good opinions over ad copy anytime.

I should probably try to find one of these locally and give it a whirl... just assumed I'd never find one since I've never seen a Traynor in a store near me.

 

[Ishouldbeking]

anyone else have one of these and like it?

 

[soundchaser59]

YCS-100 3 CHANNEL

 

[Ishouldbeking]

YCS-100 3 CHANNEL

that thing looks like fun, but man... probably more than I really need. have you played that and compared it the combos?

 

[Toogy]

A little late to the table here, but I own the YCS50H/4x12 version of the combo and have owned the combo in the past and they are by far my favourite amps!

I find it very versatile and I'm always getting compliments on my tone.

 

[Ishouldbeking]

A little late to the table here, but I own the YCS50H/4x12 version of the combo and have owned the combo in the past and they are by far my favourite amps!

I find it very versatile and I'm always getting compliments on my tone.

very cool. i'm still in the "i have way too many interesting options to actually buy anything" phase, but I appreciate the help!

 

[Ishouldbeking]

Proaudiostar has the ycs90 at a fairly ridiculous price (only slightly more than the head or 50 watt combo) and it weighs less to boot... does anyone know if the 90 watt version sounds decent at its lower wattage settings? it looks incredibly portable and versatile, and if it could play reasonably well at my apartment on the lower settings, and do the gig volume stuff well this could be a great little setup.

 

[Guitar100]

Be careful on the weight issue. Some reports indicated that the 90 watt combo is lighter than the 50 watt combo. This is NOT true (confirmed with Traynor). Can't recall how heavy the 90 is, but probably upper 50s to maybe 60.

Funny, I really wanted to like his amp, too. Tried one out one time and the sounds didn't quite grab me, but this is, of course, totally subjective. Some folks seem to love them, and I'm a big fan of Traynor (own a YCV40).

 

[Outlier]

I've owned the YCS50 (combo version) for a few years now and it just keeps getting better. I A/B'd it with the YCS90 at the time and liked the 50 better- plus the smaller footprint of the 50 was better for my space. These are highly versatile amps and exceptional value. If you can't get the sound you want out of these you have very specialized tastes. I found it took a hundred hours of play or so to break in the speaker which I thought sounded a bit harsh at first. The stock tubes are okay but it really started singing with new tubes. I've played around with lots of different tube arrangements until I got the tone that I like best. Most people love this amp but those that don't usually get rid of it before it is broken in (good buying opportunity for you) or have very unreasonable expectations (sounds exactly like a Marshall Plexi and flip a switch and your are in Fender heaven). It is close, very close, but no amp can do that. What you will find is that the 'clean' channel has two very useful voicings (Fenderish and British) that are very good but not spot on and the dirty channel is a very very good approximation of the Marshall sound. The boost on the dirty channel is a bit anemic but fills it out a bit with a touch more saturation. Add the 'modern' and 'scoop' switches to the dirty channel and you are into modern crunchy goodness. It takes some time to play with this amp to dial in what you like. After two years of playing about an hour a day on mine I still discover new sounds that make me go 'yeah'! Add some pedals (which can go into the front, or through a pre-amp route or through an effects loop) and you have a swiss army amp capable of many configurations. I've played on friend's marshalls and fenders and they sound great too (although some of them must be played at deafening levels to reach the nice saturation I hear at a much more comfortable 15 watts if I hit that 50/15 switch). I mostly play at 15 watts for practice but it really opens up on the clean channel on 50 watts. I think the YCS90 must be played louder to get the same saturation. For my purposes the 50 is plenty loud.

 

[megatonic]

I've been playing through a YCS90 Combo with Winged C 6L6's and Tung Sol preamp tubes; been using it for close to two years.
The Traynor has its own personality and feel to how the controls work. I went in expecting it to respond like other brands, and it doesn't. I thought it was a bit weird at first but once I got the hang of it, it sounds great!
I still find myself wanting to not like it, but the damn thing sounds really good. Other guitar players come up & ask me about it all the time - "What kind of amp is that?", "your rig sounds great!", etc.

Anyway, I bought the Traynor without trying it, and it has worked out better at covering the territory I need it to, at the time; better than the other "fancier" amps I've had - Fender, Mesa, Orange, Vox...

I'm getting ready to buy another head to power a 2x12 cab I have. This time it won't be a Traynor, though. I will keep the Traynor, but I want to try some newer interesting things out.