Traynor Studio Mate YGM-4 questions and help!

[buchla300]

Just picked one of these up and it sounds great (even though it needs new valves)
A few questions
The reverb tank clangs when I hit it, but no signal from the amp. The wires seem ok. Can this be the driver in the tank or a valve?

Anyone who has one of these, can you tell me what decent valves to use for replacing and do I need to re-bias?

Any thoughts on what the speakers are (4 x 8")? These just have markings DGH3 and 7931

Very interesting amp I think!!

Cheers
David

 

[HKGuns]

Quietly please.

These are some of the most over looked vintage amps. You can still get a good one for a reasonable amount of coin. (I have a YGM2)

Since you already state it needs new tubes I would start with the Reverb Driver. If that doesn't fix it you'll likely have to open the amp up and check some component values.

My last trem problem was a couple of aged CC resistors that had drifted too far out of spec to do their job properly.

There is no way to tell what speakers you have with what you've posted. The original speakers left something to be desired. I'm using a Vintage Jensen Ceramic in mine and it sounds great.

Any good NOS EL84 would sound great in that amp. Or, even a used one in good shape. Look on Ebay for reasonable prices.

 

[buchla300]

Many thanks!
Yes, I paid 195 euros which for Europe is not much money really... and it certainly sounds like great value
The speakers look like new, so I'm wondering whether they are replacements..
I'll grab some valves and throw them in..
thx
David

 

[GuitarsFromMars]

go to the velvet black site...

 

[buchla300]

Yes, been to the Black Velvet site before I bought it..
Reverb fixed. Just a bad connection somewhere. Slight hum, but I'll see to that after a valve change.
Aren't these nicely built? Take the top off with 4 screws and get this

 

[AL30]

Aren't these nicely built?

That's quite an understatement.

I have a YGM-3 (1x12") that I picked up for a very little $$ too. Great little amp. I agree with HKGuns about the speakers. Not sure what's in yours but mine hand the original Marsland in it. I swapped it out and it made a huge difference.

You may also want to look into a cap job if you plan on playing that amp a lot. Those are the original electrolytics in there.

Have fun with it.

AL

 

[buchla300]

I'll check out about speakers. 4 x 8" makes it not cheap to replace them all...
Any thoughts on if I'll have to re-bias if I replace the 6BQ5's/EL84's?
Thx
David

 

[Blue Strat]

I'll check out about speakers. 4 x 8" makes it not cheap to replace them all...
Any thoughts on if I'll have to re-bias if I replace the 6BQ5's/EL84's?
Thx
David

You SHOULD rebias since this is a "fixed bias" amp. There's no bias pot but you can either install one or swap bias resistors to dial it in.

 

[amps_forever]

Have you checked the internal wiring of the reverb tank? The most common culprit is a broken wire inside the tank. This can happen if the amp takes a good jolt, as there are four short little wires in there (two on each end of the springs) which can break if the spring assembly moves too far. Personally I think they should just make these wires a little longer. Anyway, you can often solder a broken one back on, even though it can be tough to work with tiny wires like that.