The Traynor

Ok Rick, I decided to pick up Dad's old gear and see what I can do with it. Suddenly my lil 5 watt Vibro Champ ain't cutting it and I've been living on borrowed equipment. Very sad.

This stuff was purchased in '77 and I remember us in the band (I would have been an early teen I guess), well we were in such awe at this kind of gear! Some of you old timers might find it nostalgic:

This head has an EQ built in that you can bypass with a footswitch, pitch shifter, reverb & tremolo all on foot switches. You can drive the preamp for an OD effect, but it is pretty raunchy. 125 watts RMS and can work also as a preamp or power amp.


To put the dimensions in perspective, the cab is 3 feet high and 22" wide.

I'm picking it up on Friday afternoon. Wish me luck!

In the mean time, this is on order.

[Edit:] The 20 & 100 have been out for a while and the reviews are awesome. The 50 watt Jet City just came out, and is pretty much identical to the 100 except for power. I've used the 20 at practice and the other guitarist has the 100 watt head. The 20 is class A, so it's got loads of power. I would get that, but is has no effects loop or channel switching. These amps are amazing for the price.

[Edit 2:] Updated order status - new amp is now on it's way! :)

Wow... that is a nice classic looking bit of gear there. The cab. that looks more like a PA cab. Is that what it is?

How are you enjoying that setup?

I'd be VERY interested in hearing more about that Jet amp you have coming. Is it a clone of a bigger name? If so, what?

Originally Posted by: RickBlackerI'd be VERY interested in hearing more about that Jet amp you have coming. Is it a clone of a bigger name? If so, what?

On the back, it says 'Jet City designed by Saldano'...

That'd be my guess :D

Soldano was/is respected for his mod work and his own line of SOL amps. Here's some Wiki blurb on Mike Soldano.

Jet City is his new offering, he uses some circuit boards in the processing rather than soldering individual caps & resistors to a chassis, so costs are cut quite a bit from his flagship line (if they are even still made). BUT, these are not DSP amps. There is no effects - tweakable or otherwise - going on here. The boards are basically double-thick copper signal routing to onboard caps & resistors required to make the amp function.

As for the old Traynor, it sounds great. This gear is pretty old, so it was no surprise the tweeters were blown. I think using them would icepick the friggen' ears right out of your head anyway. There's a variable control on the back so I can put the cab full on to the woofer. This sounds great, so I'll end up pulling the horn & tweeters and dropping in another 12 or 15. Surprisingly warm & full for an SS (it's probably loaded with carbon comp resistors). I have no documentation on the cab, but I beliive it was intended for instruments from guitar to piano.

It does have an OD, but it's pretty lame. Designed to work like over driving an amp, when the channel volume is pushed past 5 it begins to break up. But it ain''t nothing to write home about! With some effects in front, though it's pretty cool.

Originally Posted by: JeffS65On the back, it says 'Jet City designed by Saldano'...

That'd be my guess :D

Yeah yeah yeah... I got that after doing some research. :cool:
Did some youtube'n... Looks like a good amp. I like that it's just a simplistic amp.

Called Jet City today.
They have a straight cab coming out a bit later. Said it will probably be out for Namm.

They also have a new 100w head coming out. 100HDM.
it is switchable between 50/100 watts
And has some other switch that works like a presence control, but for the lower frequencies instead.

Also has a metal grill with a blue light behind it.

They said it should be in stores around mid September... Right about the time I may be making a new amp purchase. :)

Just found a nice review of the new amp thats coming. I think this guy somehow got associated with Jet City... I seen that he was reviewing other Jet City gear on Youtube... Must be an officail/Unofficial endorcer

Guy has some youtube clips here at this review.
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?t=2657562

Originally Posted by: RickBlackerCalled Jet City today.[/QUOTE]
Well, aren't we the eager beaver? :D

[QUOTE=RickBlacker]
Also has a metal grill with a blue light behind it.

They said it should be in stores around mid September... Right about the time I may be making a new amp purchase. :)

Just found a nice review of the new amp thats coming. I think this guy somehow got associated with Jet City... I seen that he was reviewing other Jet City gear on Youtube... Must be an officail/Unofficial endorcer

I was reading that the baffles (metal grill) are interchangeable. Unfortunately I only read that today. I like the open grill myself although the JCA50 doesn't have the LED's, I would still see them tubes aglowin'. I prefer the more vintage toggles and lights on the JCA, though. Maybe I'll spring for a new grill at some point.

You should at least give a listen to one when you are amp shopping. If I have not already mentioned, the metal head in my band has a JCA100 and it's awesome. I used a JCA20 for a couple of jams (kind of evaluating) and it was also awesome, though different, being single ended.

Thanks for posting that link. The power switching on the HDM seems interesting, but I still wouldn't change my mind. Part of the appeal was the no frills, direct signal routing, plus I think 100 watts is just overkill for me. ...Plus it costs twice as much.

Here's a pretty informative thread at another site.

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1346646&highlight=Jet+City

Somewhere in the first couple of posts it describes what SOL versions the JC's are modeled after.

Yes I am an eager beaver. I've been looking around for a non nonsense amp for a while. I just want a kicking amp, no FX. This looks to fit the bill.

HOWEVER....

I did like my Peavey Valveking 1/2 stack... That thing was a monster. If could get my hands on another one of those at a very good price, I'd probably go back to that.

Originally Posted by: RickBlacker
HOWEVER....

I did like my Peavey Valveking 1/2 stack... That thing was a monster. If could get my hands on another one of those at a very good price, I'd probably go back to that.

Didn't you sell that because it was too loud and wasn't getting use? (Which was a bummer, because I recall you got a really good deal on that.)