Traynor

Created by Peter Traynor who worked as the repair technician at the original Long & McQuade music store in Toronto during the 1960s, Traynor started out by making custom PA systems.

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He built a customer a pair of column speakers for PA use which were covered in purple tolex! Other customers seeing these items waiting to be picked up placed orders for columns of their own. Jack Long owner of the Long & McQuade music store noticed Pete's creativity and industrious attitude, together they formed a small manufacturing company and named it Yorkville sound. Yorkville Avenue a side street near store was the center of Toronto's exploding 60s music scene.

Soon the product line blossomed into a line of guitar and bass amplifiers, there were quite a few models produced, but the most popular were the 'simple' Fender, Marshall clones. Like most Canadian manufacturers of the day, Traynor used Hammond transformers and Marsland or RSC speakers (nowadays predominantly high end Celestion speakers).

The amps became famous for their durability, as Pete Traynor, drawing on his repair background, sought to engineer amps that would withstand real world use and abuse. Pete Traynor would regularly test new products for durability by throwing them from the roof of the store. He would replace the valves and if the amp still worked it was built well enough for customers.

Today, prices for the original amplifiers have been rising as more players realize the original YBA-1 used the same Western Electric designed circuit as the legendary Fender ‘59 Bassman, and Marshall JTM45 amplifiers. Eventually, Yorkville evolved into a major supplier of mid sized PA equipment.

Production of Tube (valve) amps ceased when it looked like solid state amps would take over the market but then due to customer demand the Traynor name and Traynor production of valve amps was revived in the late 90s, and continues to this day led by the Custom Valve range of ‘boutique’ guitar amplifiers, (with fantastic tone for any genre of guitar music), as stocked by BBZGuitars.

Why not come to BBZGuitars showroom and test these great amplifiers out? Call 01494 533554 to arrange your ‘test drive’ and note... We won’t be throwing them off the building!