vintage Traynor amps (yba, ygm, etc.)

[TChen]

so i'd like to pick up a vintage traynor in the near future and have been researching them quite a bit the last few months... but i'm wondering if someone might be able to talk about hoe some of the models compare tonally? i know the technical differences and specs and general descriptions, but can anyone go in to detail about the tones among them compare and contrast? like the YSR-1, YRM, YGMs, YGL-3, etc.?

again, i know a YSR-1/YRM is similar to a bassman, the YGL-3 a "twin on steroids" etc, but are there more specifics? anyone?? i've been looking at YBA-1s, YSR-1, YGM-3, and YGL-3. thanks!

tyler

[ScioBro]

well, in the last yr.
i've picked up a yba-1 and a ygm-3

haven't spent enough time with either to say what well known amps they are closest to.
I'm not a marshall owner either (yet, anyway)

the big diff in my two amps is the power level

yba-1 huge cleans, loud with the 6CA7s (EL34) in there

ygm-3 has the EL-84s, (18-22w ?) so it sounds smaller and breaks up at a lower volume of course.

The yba-1 got tried thru a cab. that could handle the 45? watts....a 2x12

and my ygm-3 has 2/3 of the back panel missing, so open back, and the speaker is 1x12 (not sure if that's original for that combo)

kind of like comparing a Fender Bandmaster or Pro Reverb (6L6s and 2x12)
to a Deluxe Reverb (6V6s and 1x12) but the traynors are not tonally like the fenders. Traynors are supposedly "poor man's Marshalls" so they're probably more comparable to marshalls.

IMHO the yba-1 would be able to do big beautiful cleans that I don't think you could do with the ygm-3, even if you ran the ygm thru a 2x12

but the yba may be too loud for some situations, 'specially if you wanna crank it

mod. info for both exists..the yba can be modded to be real close to marshal jtm-45

check out ygm-3 mods on youtube...there are vid.s of the guy playing it with the mod.s in a live setting

[Tone_Terrific]

Bassmaster Mk2 for big cleans.
Bassmaster for general purpose. The newer ones (to~1978) are weaker, more blues Fender tone, the older ones are not really Marshalls.
Others are similar with added features (trem, revb) but sacrificing the mid controls.
The Mk3 could be all the amp most people ever need.
Guitarmates MUST have a speaker change and most cabs are well built but with ugly speakers installed.
Go outboard (pedals) for Od unless you know exactly what you want and how to get there with mods.

[Bob Womack]

The YRM-1 Reverbmaster is kinda like a cold-biased Marshall 1987 (50 watt). It is very conservative in its use of tubes. I kept a set of EL-84s in a YRM-1 for fifteen years with no noticeable change in the sound of the amp.

Bob

[TChen]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

The YRM-1 Reverbmaster is kinda like a cold-biased Marshall 1987 (50 watt). It is very conservative in its use of tubes. I kept a set of EL-84s in a YRM-1 for fifteen years with no noticeable change in the sound of the amp.

Bob

thanks for the replys... by "cold biased" do you mean the tubes don't burn as hot or work as hard? does this make or a less ideal tone?

[drbob1]

By cold, the tubes are biased so the idle plate dissipation is low, which means you have to push the tubes really hard to get them to cut off. This is how Fender does it, but Marshalls are generally biased hotter (closer to cutoff) so the tubes overdrive sooner.

The Guitarmate (15w, EL84s, reverb, tremelo) is a great little clean amp with a better speaker (I've got an EV in mine but thinking about a Neo). The Bassmate is 15-20w from 6V6s or EL84s (seen both), and nice little studio bass amp, or more Marshall like guitar amp.

[snacker]

i've had a TON of old traynors over the years - i live about an hour from toronto, so there are a lot of them floating around the area.

guitar mate - early design - similar to an AC15 and there are mods that i've heard about that make it VERY, VERY similar
guitar mate - later design (with bumpers) - a little more headroom, openback desin

bassmate - early 6v6 version sounds KILLER for bass and almost as killer for tele
bassmate - later version - EL84s - sounds great loud for guitar, not as great for bass

custom reverb - these are hands down, my favorite - awesome reverb, great tremolo

bassmaster - old ones are VERY close to a marshall plexi from what i've heard

traynor mark 3 - twin on steroids, except EL34s - reverb and trem are only so-so

[TChen]

thanks for the info! anymore?

[cugel]

i had a nice Mark III, i put weber thames innit and it did hiwatt-esque stuff
now i wish i still had it since i want a hiwatt
bizarre MV/gain circuit but very usable tones just not marshally

[raul]

i'm also looking for a big rock tone and know Traynor is killer for that stuff...i'm looking for a YBA1 or 1A...to push with pedals for big rock stoner sounds...

[loudboy]

My tech described a YBA-1 as "If Fender made a Marshall."

It's a lot closer to Hiwatt than Marshall, IMHO - fast and steely-sounding.

[raul]

aside from volume...what would be some of the major tone differences between a 45 watt YBA1 and the louder YBA1A? i'm gassing for one of these, either one but think the YBA1A would be cooler since it;s got more headroom...i have tons of pedals to push one of these amps. since an Ampeg V4 is really stupid heavy to carry and stupid hard to find, i figure a YBA amp would be an awesome one to try to find with the YBA1A being a bit higher on the radar.

anyone care to offer any input as to which amp would be a better platform for pedals to make a big snarling heavy rock beast of an amp?

[riker4208]

anyone ever try out a good efficient 15 inch speaker in a bassmate with 6v6's? like an EV or JBL?

[Franktone]

Originally Posted by raul

aside from volume...what would be some of the major tone differences between a 45 watt YBA1 and the louder YBA1A? i'm gassing for one of these, either one but think the YBA1A would be cooler since it;s got more headroom...i have tons of pedals to push one of these amps. since an Ampeg V4 is really stupid heavy to carry and stupid hard to find, i figure a YBA amp would be an awesome one to try to find with the YBA1A being a bit higher on the radar.

anyone care to offer any input as to which amp would be a better platform for pedals to make a big snarling heavy rock beast of an amp?

My first great tube amp was a circa 68-69 round corner Traynor YBA1A Mark II and it was extremely loud. Perhaps the YBA1A is more Hi-Watt and the YBA1 is more Marshall. I would save your ears and go for the YBA1, unless you really need all that headroom from the YBA1A. I was in a local music store this past summer where they had both the YBA1A chrome strip (early 70's) and a late sixties BassMate 6V6. I was offered the YBA1A for a song (like about $300 or less) but instead, I paid $500 and walked out the door with the BassMate 6v6. The YBA1A was later sold, and I didn't regret not buying it.

[chillerthanmost]

I have a yba-1 and it has a very low amount of headroom. It breaks up at around 2 and after that it's got plenty of gain and plenty of balls. I absolutely love it. Raul, if you are looking to push pedals, then I recommend the yba-1a. The headroom will be better with pedals. It's only slightly louder, but much more headroom. My I don't use any pedals at all with my yba-1 and I play loud, heavy, thrashy stuff. My pedals go to the Ampeg v4 that head takes any pedal I throw in front of it and makes it sound amazing.
Anyways, I've tried both the yba-1 and 1a, since I don't use as many pedals and I'm also aby'ing it with my v4 which is being pushed by an hm-2, the yba-1 was a better choice for me. It's got more gain then I need and songs extremely smooth.