Need Help Deciding Whether Or Not To Repair An Amp

You know I walked away from repairing an 80’s Marshall and a Peavey Triumph 60 that I really loved to play. At that time in my life these amps defined my playing. I wish I had never let these go, I was just broke at the time. If you can afford it and like this amp I would consider doing the upgrade.

It is making some noises - crackling, a helicopter rotor turning type noise (pulsing I guess is a better way to say it), etc.

Someone on another forum suggested a good and inexpensive local guy so I will take it to him for a second opinion.

If it can be put in proper working order for little money then it is worth keeping, if not then it should be moved on.

for me, it's less about the value of the amp, and more about what the amp does for you. if you can get what that amp does for you (for sure, and not just hoping) from something new to you, then that's what i would recommend. but if you think you'll be missing something important to what pleases you, think about fixing it. if you don't fix it, still keep it. you know you like that speaker/cab. it may come in handy in the future.
what would make me nervous is the possibility that when you get the repaired amp back, the new caps change the character of the amp. tbh, i don't know if that's even a thing. i would ask about that.

what i do know is, i had a cheap ss. amp once, and a guy from the forum modded it for me. he said he only changed one pot and a couple of caps. when i got it back, the amp improved dramatically. in fact, i have a buddy who still owns it.

I would consider the larger market picture. This amp will never be as valuable or desirable as a Twin or an AC30. And it's heavy (a minus) and 120 watts (another minus, in this day and age). These trends aren't reversing, they are continuing on and increasing.

If you really like the amp, I would put the money into it and use it until it's done. But if you expect to get your money out of it afterwards, I would try and get my money back now.

There is another option that I am considering.

This is only a secondary amp. I have an Orange AD30 that ain't going anywhere. I made the mistake of getting rid of on once before, and I won't make that mistake again.

So as I said, the Traynor is a secondary amp. It has master volumes so the overall volume is controllable, but late summer or during the fall I will be moving and most likely into a townhouse. Since I won't be in a fully detached house any more, I will have to consider noise levels.

So what I am thinking of doing is selling the Traynor and getting whatever money I can for it to cut my losses. I will then buy an FRFR speaker, and use the amp models in my Boss GT-100. That will get my feet wet with amp modelling, and if I am happy with the sounds from the Boss I can stick with it. If not, there are other units available that can be had used from L&M for very good prices (I checked yesterday). This way I will have something that I can use to get any guitar tone I want, from clean to cranked, but at any volume level I want - even down to low TV or conversation volume if necessary. I can be a bit of a technophobe and don't want to get into IRs and shit like that, but I don't have to use those to get decent sounds from a modeller, I can just use cab sims.

Technophobia aside, to me this plan makes more sense than using a monster like the Traynor.

I can't recommend highly enough a modeler for home use. The learning curve is steep and significant, but the payoff is forever. Headphones or small FRFR (studio monitors or PA) and you have a great low-volume solution. And double-damn, it's also a great home recording solution.

I also believe a larger powered FRFR or a power amp / guitar cab (with cabinet emulation or IR's turned off) is a great live solution. I have amps I haven't even turned on in a couple of years. It's probably time I sold them because I'm pretty sure digital amps will be in my arsenal and get my primary use for the rest of my playing days.

Agreed here, modelers are great for home use. I use the presets mostly but I know from fooling with around with it you could get an awesome sound if you take the time to learn the amp thru and thru. Way back in the day I bought an old line six flextone and that’s what got me started on them. Right now I’m using a fender mustang combo, I like it and it suits what I’m doing, user friendly as well. I’ve even taken it out to a couple open mics, it worked out great.

I had a L'il Night Train and that was a fun little amp, but I never tried a full NT except for a few minutes here and there in stores.

I am leaning more towards the modelling idea. I can use my GT-100 to get my feet wet, knowing that the amp models aren't great. And the assistant manager at my local L&M told me they would give me a studio monitor for a week so that I could try things out so it will cost me nothing to at least try a modeller.

That is my worry too.

I've been reading up on modellers today and think that I need to get over my technopobia and embrace their versatility. Once patches are set up I could go from EVH tones, to Priest, to pristine cleans, to country, to blues, to Zeppelin, to whatever else I wanted simply by clicking a button.

Oh I wouldn't chuck it out, I would sell it on. Since I don't need the money, if space isn't at a premium I could always keep the Traynor for later when I move out of the townhouse.

my buddy has a tiny terror dark.  it's ok,  but it doesn't do much for me.  the only other ones i've played are the rockverb, and the th50. i liked the th50 but i think the 4x10 it sat on was a factor