I like Traynor but....

[Mykesbass]

Am I being harsh here - £400 for an amp that blew a valve a couple of years ago and hasn't been used since, when a brand new one from Thomann is around £650 sounds a bit steep (or is there a collectors market for 70's Traynor)?

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Traynor-YBA-3-Custom-Special-valve-tube-amp-/200576157018?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item2eb345455a"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Traynor-YBA-3-Custom...=item2eb345455a[/url]

[Mr. Foxen]

People are after old valve amps, Traynor is a good and known make. Plus any 70s valve amp need to go to a tech even if it seems to be fine, just for safety's sake if reliability isn't your thing.

[Dosi Y'Anarchy]

I was tempted but the fact that it hadnt been tested since it last blew a tube put me off

[Mykesbass]

[quote name='Dosi Y'Anarchy' post='1139074' date='Feb 23 2011, 08:03 PM']I was tempted but the fact that it hadnt been tested since it last blew a tube put me off[/quote]


Exactly! I just don't get that everything becomes "vintage" these days. To me it's and old amp that doesn't work when the brand new one is only half as much again with a year guarantee. (Sorry Mr F, perhaps I just haven't got a soul)!

[Mr. Foxen]

Old amps are generally a hell of a lot easier to fix than a new one, when you plan on using one for more than a year. Valves have been obsolete for a long time now, so things valve involved tend to go downhill, it is well known that valves are poorer but other components and construction methods are moving towards having more in common with current tech like computers.



vs.



And if not being tested puts you off, just get it tested, is much better to know you've had it tested, than believe someone else claiming it has been. Or don't and I'll buy all these nice amps.

[Mykesbass]

I'm becoming quickly enlightened here - thanks Mr Foxen. Reason I'm yearning after a valve amp is that I got badly stung with a class D Yamaha that no-one can fix! Looks like the same could occur with the modern valve amps. Also, is there a problem, like with gaming consoles, of the new "safe" solder not being up to the job?

Finally, any suggestions on what to look out for amp wise for old school Neil Young/Dylan/Creedence sound? I liked the idea of the new Traynor both because it is a great price and because from Harmony Central and other reports it sounded like the right sort of clean but warm sounding amp for me. (Not a near future purchase BTW).

[Mr. Foxen]

I've just been doing some work in hifi assembly and spent the entire time picking the designers brain about everything I could. The new solder isn't really causing problems for the mass manufacture because they have the process of using it nailed at this point, but longer term for flying components that can move, I think it gets or is more brittle so you get cracking later on in vibrating things. Although if gaming consoles are having trouble, maybe some places aren't doing it right, I'd guess budget squeezing. Apparently China/the far east (this is a bit of a generalisation/hearsay thing) have a different culture when it comes to bargaining and such, when you have them make a product for you, you give them a spec, and they give you a price, and it is up to honour that they give you an honest price right away, so if you then try and squeeze the price with negotiation, they take it as an implication they were dishonest with their original price, and your item will be made to spec appropriate to the lower price.

I've not been inside any modern valve amps from the last ten years or so, so I dunno what they are like, but the Peavey stuff (5150, Maxx/t-Max/power amps) that I have been in are on sensible chunky pcb with full sized components that is fairly fixable. I have an exploded Randall as well that you can get at the components easily enough, I get the impression that the class D stuff is many tiny surface mount things though, that is apparently possible to work on, but I have no idea how, unless you have a map type thing to show you with what you are working.