Traynor YBA-1 Bassmaster Tones

[The Whale]

Hey All,

I just picked up this used Traynor YBA-1 Bassmaster 4-holer. It appears to be from '68-'70, though it's been modded some. Currently the chassis sits in a Marshall Bluesbreaker 2x12 box, loaded with Celestion greenbacks. The YBA-1 has 3 12ax7s, a tube rectifier, and 5881 power tubes. The power switch has been moved to the faceplate alongside the standby, and a new light was put in. The speakers are connected to a new output jack in the back, leaving the two original speaker outs unused. I haven't plugged anything in to those yet. Either way, here are some clips by request.

Clip 1 - This is the YBA-1 bright channel on 2. The EQ's are all at 10, with the presence off. For gain, I'm running a Barber Direct Drive with the knobs at noon and the harmonic switch pulled. The rhythm track is both my LP with a Duncan Custom Custom and my Strat with Rio Grande's

Clip 2 - This is the YBA-1 wide open. Everything to 10, with the presence at 5. I've plugged into the high input on the bright channel, and jumpered the low input bright channel to the high input normal channel.
This is the same LP and strat. Please excuse the crappy playing...

These clips are recorded with a sm57 on the left side slightly of axis and an AT pro-25 on the right side, off center but on axis. The board is a small behringer into my Macbook. I put a little reverb on the clips in garageband.

Sorry for the long post, this is my first attempt at contributing to the clips page, so i wanted to make sure i noted everything.

Mike

[lcjc800]

[Sparky6string]

I can't seem to get the clips to work for me, but can you post pics of the amp? I think the tube rectified ones were from the mid 60's.

[The Whale]

This is the folder the clips are located in:

http://www.joshcheney.com/artisan/mike

"New Tune 1" is the traynor run with the gains on 2.5 and the Direct Drive boosting it. "Traynor Tones" is the jumpered and dimed Traynor with no boost.

As far as the year goes, it's totally based on research from one site. The serial number has been crossed out. It was hard to tell which set of years this amp came from, in that it has the chicken-head knobs which seem to be from the late 60s/early 70s, but it has the tube rectifier. In addition, it appears to have two trannies (i'm sure that's my ignorance)... one of them is labeled "JTM-45". I don't have a digital camera, but i've many friends that do... i'll try to get some underside pictures up.

[Weldaar]

The YSR-1 head is the same basic head as the YBA but it had added reverb. Mine is a 1970 YSR-1.

Here is some info on the Traynor amps from then.
http://www.tone-lizard.com/Made_In_Canada.htm#johnson

[Sparky6string]

Ha! I managed to get them working and they sound freakin great! Excellent playing too. Those are excellent amps- I love mine. BTW if you want to learn more about your amp especially the actual year it was made go to http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group...or-amplifiers/ . Those guys are probably the most knowledgeable regarding Traynors. It would probably be helpful if you can get some pics together.

[The Whale]

Thanks for the Traynor links. I think the hard part in dating this beast is that i can't tell what's original and what was modified. I will try and get some more detailed pictures in the next few days and see what that yields. I do love the amp thus far... both blazing loud and clean with pedals. I'd like to get an attenuator of some sort to see about running it wide open at rehearsal volumes. I has a nice touch when it's toasty like that.

M.

[Sparky6string]

Originally Posted by The Whale

Thanks for the Traynor links. I think the hard part in dating this beast is that i can't tell what's original and what was modified. I will try and get some more detailed pictures in the next few days and see what that yields. I do love the amp thus far... both blazing loud and clean with pedals. I'd like to get an attenuator of some sort to see about running it wide open at rehearsal volumes. I has a nice touch when it's toasty like that.

M.

I find that mine takes pedals better than any amp I've ever tried, and it seemed that yours certainly took to the DD well. I use a Burn Unit EQ so it's not too far removed. The cranked clip you made sounded totally 70's to my ear- that sound has got to be difficult to get without a vintage amp like this. And I agree- the cleans are complex and exemplary and the natural distortion is at the same level. The best deal in the amp world IMO.

BTW what tubes do you have in yours and what cab/speakers did you use for the clips?

[The Whale]

Sparky6string,

The tube compliment seems to be a mis-mash of companies; a few Mesa preamp tubes, groove tubes 5881 power tubes... and i think a groove tubes rectifier. I'll double-check those today. As far as the cabinet's concerned, the previous owner took removed the guts of the traynor head and put it into a Marshall Bluesbreaker box complete with logo. Until you get up close, you truly think it's a Marshall. the 2x12 is loaded with Celestion G12M's. i've never played actual greenbacks, and i thought i would hate them, as i've found i hated my V30s (in anything but Mesa combos)... I'm shocked at how different the two are. I'm still working on pictures, and when i get them, i'll make a new post at the Amps And Cabs section.

what are you running into your YBA-1 pedalwise? have you tried a Zvex BoR? do you usually use an attenuator? if so, which one?

[Sparky6string]

Originally Posted by The Whale

Sparky6string,

The tube compliment seems to be a mis-mash of companies; a few Mesa preamp tubes, groove tubes 5881 power tubes... and i think a groove tubes rectifier. I'll double-check those today. As far as the cabinet's concerned, the previous owner took removed the guts of the traynor head and put it into a Marshall Bluesbreaker box complete with logo. Until you get up close, you truly think it's a Marshall. the 2x12 is loaded with Celestion G12M's. i've never played actual greenbacks, and i thought i would hate them, as i've found i hated my V30s (in anything but Mesa combos)... I'm shocked at how different the two are. I'm still working on pictures, and when i get them, i'll make a new post at the Amps And Cabs section.

what are you running into your YBA-1 pedalwise? have you tried a Zvex BoR? do you usually use an attenuator? if so, which one?

I thought they sounded like greenbacks. That 70's vibe in the second clip had greenback written all over it. For dirt I'm running a Barber Burn Unit EQ and a Bad Monkey (never tried a BoR). It sounds extremely similar to your first clip. Cranked though mine sounds different. I have Mullards in the preamp and Shuguang El34Bs in the power section. It makes for higher gain and a slightly more modern sound when pushed to distortion. I couple it with a Marshall 1965a 4x10 cab with Celestion G10-50s.

I've never used an attenuator with mine but I've thought about it. The amp takes pedals so well that I don't see much of a reason to attenuate it. My chain goes guitar (usually a LP)>Boss AC-2>Seiwa phaser>Barber Burn Unit>Bad Monkey>Ibanez GE9>Ibanez CSL Chorus>Boss DD-2>Digitech Digidelay>Traynor. I have my pedals on an SKB PS45 board and use George L cables and Lava Gepco cable for everything else.

[The Whale]

Sparky6string,

Did you traynor come with EL34's in the power stage? i had hoped this amp would be with El34's, as i already have a very strong 6L6 amp that covers that spectrum well. Would i need to modify this amp to take EL34's, or could they just be put in and re-biased? Does your amp use a tube rectifier?
As far as looks go, mine looks similar to yours on the front panel, just with chicken head knobs like on a Carvin Legacy or Fender HRdeluxe.

[lcjc800]

Hey post a picture of that monster.

[Sparky6string]

Originally Posted by The Whale

Sparky6string,

Did you traynor come with EL34's in the power stage? i had hoped this amp would be with El34's, as i already have a very strong 6L6 amp that covers that spectrum well. Would i need to modify this amp to take EL34's, or could they just be put in and re-biased? Does your amp use a tube rectifier?
As far as looks go, mine looks similar to yours on the front panel, just with chicken head knobs like on a Carvin Legacy or Fender HRdeluxe.

Yes ones like mine originally came with 6CA7s (El34s). I believe you would have to change your amp a little to accept the El34s but not much. Unless the amp has already been modded they don't have variable resistors for biasing and they're just plug-and-play. Mine does not have a tube rectifier. Mine is a 1971 model, the ones with tube rectifiers were made until around '66 or '67 I believe.

And I agree with lcjc800- post some pics of that sucka!