Need some help with my sound

[eulogy77]

Hello there fellow bassists, i need some input on this subject, any help would be greatly apreciated, so here it goes, i have a traynor yba 200 amp (the self bias version, that was recently serviced at music garage in Chicago, received a new set of power tubes and complete check up running jj 6550 tubes,2 sovtek 12ax7 and 1 eh 12au7, with the option of a vintage mullard 12at7, ) 2 4x10 cabs, ampeg pr 410h (8 ohm cab) and pr410hlf (hlf was originally a 4 ohm cab that was made into a 8 ohm cab by swaping the speakers, back plate and horn form a pr410h) and im playing out of a warwick thumb bo, in droped tunning c,g,c,f,a# ( not my favorite, im more of a droped d guy.) it seems to distort at levels that imo are not pushing the amp nor the preamp, the tone is nice and warm at low volume but when cranked pass 2 o clock it become muddy, and distorted, maintaining power tho, i have tryed the 12at7 on v1 for lower gain as i read pleanty of posts here about the same amp, but it seems that it just does that it just lowers the gain and it dont seem to really help with the tone, i have run my bass ( 2 band eq with pick up blend) at all the gains and cuts posible and still dont take care of the problem, i have done the same with the tone stack of the amp, could it be that i have the wrong combination of gear for this aplication, maybe the amp is underpower, both cabs are 600 wtts, i used to run the cabs w a carvin r 600 head and it didnt distorted like this one, i really dont want to get rid of cabs and bass i can get rid of the amp, that is no problem, i would like to make it work first if not ill sell it to help found another head, any opinions on what head be could used would be great, fom all tube to ss, thanks for reading and mostly the input.

[JimmyM]

It sounds like normal for a tube amp. That's what they do. You start getting into the upper reaches of the dial, and you'll get distortion in most of them. Not familiar with the Traynors, but Ampeg B-15's and SVT's will start distorting with the volume around 11:00. Once it gets to that point on the dial, you're putting out past its rated clean wattage, and it compresses and distorts but won't really go any louder. It certainly shouldn't be quiet when it gets to that point, but if you think you need more than that, you might want to think about solid state or hybrid, or a second tube amp and run each cab with its own amp.

[murphy]

Have the obvious dead battery in bass .....and instrument cable gone bad....... and speaker cables shot have been looked at ?

[eulogy77]

i have looked at the cables and all of them seem good, i replace the batt on the bass every 5 days to a week, im currently using a gk 300 watt that a friend let me use and everything seems good, i was thinking on getting a set of kt88 and preamp tubes, but i really dont have the money to spend, all where installed new when the amp was cerviced not even 5 months ago, could it be that this amp dont like active preamp basses, most of the posts i have read about this amp is usually with pasive basses?

[dukeisdog]

Then set the EQ on the bass flat and use the amp for your EQ options. My Spector Euro 5LX can distort my Peavey Tour 700 through my Mesa Powerhouse 412 very easily if I'm not careful with the knobs on my bass.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by eulogy77

i have looked at the cables and all of them seem good, i replace the batt on the bass every 5 days to a week, im currently using a gk 300 watt that a friend let me use and everything seems good, i was thinking on getting a set of kt88 and preamp tubes, but i really dont have the money to spend, all where installed new when the amp was cerviced not even 5 months ago, could it be that this amp dont like active preamp basses, most of the posts i have read about this amp is usually with pasive basses?

Didn't read my earlier post at all, did you?

[LiquidMidnight]

You shouldn't have to be changing the battery in your bass every week. Even a cheap-o batterly should last 6 - 12 months with regular play, unless you're not unplugging the bass after usage.

[murphy]

I change my battery about once every 8-10 months! What gives?

[B-string]

Listen to JimmyM, you are running out of amp power. Just because the control goes to 5:00 doesn't mean you will get clean sound much after noon. If you can get even close to 1:00 you are not overloading the input.