Should I Repair It, Or Sell It?

[colchar]

I have a 1978 Traynor YGL3 Mark III (for those who aren’t familiar with it, those are their version of the Twin Reverb but with master volumes to make the sound levels controllable). It is currently with a local amp tech. He has taken a look at it and thinks it needs a little work, as well as a full cap job for which he recommends Sprague Atom series caps. The total cost for the work would be $460.

I paid $650 for the amp and cannot decide whether to put the extra money into it or not. Are these amps worth the $1100 I’d be into the amp for after the repairs? Should I get the work done, or just sell it on and hope to get as much of my $650 back as I can?

 

[ricksdisconnected]

up to you bro. have you gotten your $650 out of it yet?
if so to me your back at zero.
would you buy the amp yourself for the $460?
its not always about what you put into it its often what you get out of it
and im not talking about sells either.

 

[colchar]

No, I got the amp (traded something else for it, and I had actually paid $650 for that amp) and noticed a couple of issues within a week or two of getting it so haven't gotten my money out of it yet.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

No, I got the amp (traded something else for it, and I had actually paid $650 for that amp) and noticed a couple of issues within a week or two of getting it so haven't gotten my money out of it yet.

your question answered my good sir.

 

[saxon68]

If you like the sound, yeah it’s worth it. Tube amps come with maintenance requirements, it’s the nature of the beast.

 

[pedecamp]

I have a 1978 Traynor YGL3 Mark III (for those who aren’t familiar with it, those are their version of the Twin Reverb but with master volumes to make the sound levels controllable). It is currently with a local amp tech. He has taken a look at it and thinks it needs a little work, as well as a full cap job for which he recommends Sprague Atom series caps. The total cost for the work would be $460.

I paid $650 for the amp and cannot decide whether to put the extra money into it or not. Are these amps worth the $1100 I’d be into the amp for after the repairs? Should I get the work done, or just sell it on and hope to get as much of my $650 back as I can?

How long have you had this amp? Is there anything actually wrong with it? Does it actually run and you can play through it? Does it sound good? Or did you take it to the tech to just look it over to make sure its in good shape, and its his opinion it needs a cap job, etc. If so I bet it needs nothing other than a bias adjustment unless theres something physically wrong with it, if its not broke dont fix it! I have a 40 year old 2204 all original, even has the original tubes and it sounds and looks great inside and out, amps are pretty tough and dont need to be coddled and babied as some repair guys want you to believe in my opinion. I happen to have a good and honest repair guy who looked at my amp when I got it to do a minor repair, I asked about a cap job and he said if you dont see or hear anything wrong then the amp is fine, he described to me what to look for.

If you dont like the amp or want something else sell it, if not keep it and rock it!

 

[colchar]

How long have you had this amp? Is there anything actually wrong with it? Does it actually run and you can play through it? Does it sound good? Or did you take it to the tech to just look it over to make sure its in good shape, and its his opinion it needs a cap job, etc. If so I bet it needs nothing other than a bias adjustment unless theres something physically wrong with it, if its not broke dont fix it! I have a 40 year old 2204 all original, even has the original tubes and it sounds and looks great inside and out, amps are pretty tough and dont need to be coddled and babied as some repair guys want you to believe in my opinion. I happen to have a good and honest repair guy who looked at my amp when I got it to do a minor repair, I asked about a cap job and he said if you dont see or hear anything wrong then the amp is fine, he described to me what to look for.

If you dont like the amp or want something else sell it, if not keep it and rock it!

I only had it a very short time before taking it in. It had a couple of small issues (ie. crackling, helicopter noise, etc.) but nothing major.

And yeah it worked and other than the helicopter noise, sounded fine.

 

[pedecamp]

I only had it a very short time before taking it in. It had a couple of small issues (ie. crackling, helicopter noise, etc.) but nothing major.

And yeah it worked and other than the helicopter noise, sounded fine.

So whataya gonna do? Spend the money? Not spend the money? Keep it? Get rid of it?

If youre gonna keep it maybe get a 2nd opinion from another repair guy. Unless you got cash to spare then have the guy do what he recommends.

 

[KraftyBob]

A quick look on Reverb shows a combo selling for $1,000 and a head for $695. Again, these are selling prices and not Sold prices so take it for what it’s worth. But from a cost perspective it doesn’t seem to be out of line if you were to get it serviced.

 

[colchar]

So whataya gonna do? Spend the money? Not spend the money? Keep it? Get rid of it?

If youre gonna keep it maybe get a 2nd opinion from another repair guy. Unless you got cash to spare then have the guy do what he recommends.

Someone I know on another forum recommended another local repair guy so I will get a second opinion and then decide.

 

[tallcoolone]

That repair estimate sounded steep, good call getting another set of eyes on it

 

[Deftone]

If you like the sound, yeah it’s worth it. Tube amps come with maintenance requirements, it’s the nature of the beast.

I agree with this. Older tube amps require maint.

Traynor has a pretty good rep. so the value should go up or at least hold. As said, if you like the sound, then it's worth the $

 

[Matthews Guitars]

I sold a YGL3 a few months ago at the Orlando Guitar Show. Probably not the same one. It was definitely a builder's project, with a fair number of parts missing,
but at least it had the chassis, PC board, and all transformers. I got 250 bucks for it, which was fair considering it cost me nothing to acquire.

I've heard clips of them and they're good amps. I say they're worth fixing.

 

[colchar]

I sold a YGL3 a few months ago at the Orlando Guitar Show. Probably not the same one. It was definitely a builder's project, with a fair number of parts missing,
but at least it had the chassis, PC board, and all transformers. I got 250 bucks for it, which was fair considering it cost me nothing to acquire.

I've heard clips of them and they're good amps. I say they're worth fixing.

The vintage ones were Traynor's version of the Twin Reverb, but built like a brick shithouse.

 

[StrummerJoe]

And yeah it worked and other than the helicopter noise, sounded fine.

Well it sounds like the vibrato function works. JK

I'd get a second opinion too. Traynor is good stuff. I'd try to save it, but not if it didn't make economic sense - unless it was sentimental to me, which since you just acquired it I doubt.

Good luck!

 

[colchar]

Well it sounds like the vibrato function works. JK

 

[Fernieite]

Are you in the GTA? My amp tech is very good and reasonably priced. He works out of his house so overhead is low.
He knows Traynors. (this is where they were built after all)
I think he actually owns the same model as yours.

 

[Riffraff]

My son was looking for a decent tube amp so I looked on Craigslist and spotted a YGL3 close by for $375 and told him about it. I told him what to look for in the amp and he went to go check it out. The seller had a tech do work on it about 2 years earlier and showed him the receipt. The tech wrote how he replaced a resistor that went bad and had found other issues that needed to be dealt with but the customer chose not to do the work.

it basically said this cheapskate didn't want to spend a dime fixing the amp. Hysterical lol!!

My son used that to get the guy to cut another $50 off the price and bought the amp. I ordered new electrolytic caps for it and a WGS VET30 and a ET65. The pop top lid made doing the work so damn easy. No need need to even pull the chassis. I used JJ caps and Ruby EL34's in the amp. The amp still had most of it's original Philips labeled Mullard tubes throughout. I tested them all and only found 1 dead preamp tube. The power tubes were pretty worn as I expected they would be but all the ECC83's were strong.

Traynor's are the greatest vintage bargains out there. Over spec'd Hammond transformers, mustard caps just like in vintage Marshalls and vintage Mullards....amazing. The amp is a total BEAST! Like the spawn of a Twin Reverb and a Marshall Plexi. It is the loudest amp I've ever heard in my life.

That's a great amp my friend. They don't make them like that anymore. I have a '71 YBA-1 I did a cap job on and a did a few minor Plexi mods and it's also an outstanding amp. It has totally legit vintage Plexi snarl. I'll never sell that amp.

I understand your hesitation. $460 is A LOT of money to spend on the repairs. The electrolytic caps for that amp were under $50. I think that amp took the same dual 50uf caps I used in my YBA-1. I don't remember exactly what the matched quad of EL34's were but I remember them being very reasonable like around $80 (it was several years ago). The work was super easy and quick because of the brilliant pop top lid. $460 is way too much. The tech will be in and out of that amp in no time unless it's a basket case. The WGS speakers really woke that amp up. The Marsland speakers they come with are really lackluster speakers.

 

[RiverRatt]

I definitely agree with the second opinion. Sprague Atoms are good caps, but there are good caps for way less money. A 16uf/475V Sprague atom is $13.30 at Tube Depot. The same value F&T cap is $6.50 at Tube Audio Supply, and the Elum cap is $2.85. I’ve used all three of those, and I couldn’t tell you the difference between them any more than I could tell the brand of 9V battery in your effects pedal.

Also make a habit of asking for any parts that are removed/replaced when you have your amp serviced. Keeps everybody honest.

 

[easy]

They're really, really great amps.
Spend the 460 on an identical one with no problems and keep the other for when people wake up to them and the prices double.