Pawnshop find: Traynor Bassmaster
 

This is an amp I came across at a pawn shop tonight. They were asking $799 for it but have been sitting on it for a while and was willing to deal. Anywho, Its a Traynor Bass Master and a little Google-fu tells me it is from the 1960's. Sadly I have been playing bass off and on for 20+ years not and don't think I have even heard of this brand. Going to probably take my bass in tomorrow to give it a try.

Thoughts?

I'm pretty sure this is one of those "buy it!" amps, if it's still there. Look on ebay for that model in Sold Listings for past selling prices.

Traynor (& Yorkville Brand) are made in Toronto and the easiest description would be to say they are our Canadian version of Peavey when it comes to construction & reliability. Built like tanks and trouble free.

Here is a link to their website: http://www.traynoramps.com/. They may even still have info in their support section on this amp.

Looks like it might be late 60's/early 70's build.

Traynor was considered a very desirable brand, and was used by many working bands back in the day. If you can get a good deal, you may be in luck.

Buy it, and either love it for lower-volume tube tones or sell e head it to a happy guitar player for around $500. That one is a 45 watt head with what, a 2x15 cab?

Back in the day, when I played horn, I played in a band with a guy that had one. The main memory I have was it was a bit under powered and replaced with a Kustom setup. I remember it sounding good, but at the time, we played loud and it would get lost.

It will make a great guitar amp ...either keep it for nostalgia or part it out as separate pieces and make some $$$$$ on it

I had that same amp back in the 80's. I remember it having a label with dates when it was serviced starting with 71'. It was a great sounding amp as long as the tubes were good.

60s may be pushing it. The nameplate was different in the 60s. Looks very early 70s. Looks crazy clean, too! I'd pick it up!

I can let you know tomorrow. Wanted to get home and do some research and forum feedback on it before anything else.

Since they are willing to deal. What would be the rock bottom I should offer?

I had the same model in the 70's for a while. IMHO $799 is extremely excessive for this amp in 2013. By all means take your bass in and try it out before settling on a price. Listen critically and ask yourself if it is really the sound you are after.

A Traynor YBA-1 the first bass amp I had back in the early '70's. Nice little tube amp. Cab isn't anything to write home about. There's a very clean one with the cab here in Vancouver on Craig's List for $800 which is ridiculous. I'd like another one but $400 is the most I'd pay for a mint head and the cab isn't worth more than $100 despite the fact it's "vintage". You see the heads being used a lot but never the cabs...there's a reason for that. I'd offer them $500.

More tech info here.

edit. And mine ate power tubes fast.

@$799 Aww, hell no. @$400-450...Maybe, depending on how it sounds.

I know that Traynors are very common in Canada, but an early 70's head and matching cab, both in apparently great condition, are pretty desirable down here.

Also, FWIW, these Traynors were designed and built really well. Many Bassmasters are still sporting their original tubes. Their speakers were pretty lousy, however.

This will give you some idea of the tone to expect from the amp. Watch these videos for some of the most brilliant guitar playing ever produced by a human being! :bassist: I first saw these guys a year before these videos were made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeizNK4JWNU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJgdNCYt_tA

Don't get rid of the original tubes. The ones from that vintage were Phillips branded Mullards. That's a 70s amp.

Speakers were generally Marslands - I wasn't a fan. Some of the cabs around that time were using Cerwin Vega speakers - but not that one.

Great guitar amps. As a low wattage bass amp, not bad either. I had an amp pack in on me during a gig a few years ago, and had to get by with a Bassmaster. Now, I was mic'ed so power wasn't an issue. Sounded really nice.

js

Phil Keaggy! Yessir! Steve Miller used a whole bunch of Traynors back in the day at one point (I think right about the time he released the Joker IIRC). All those old underpowered tube heads from the 60s and 70s have turned out to be great guitar heads for the most part. Bassmans always sounded better in the hands of Johnny Winter than as bass amps, especially as things got louder. I remember replacing a stack of 2 Bassmans with 2x12 cabinets with one Acoustic 136 horn loaded 15 that blew them away! Ah, memories! :bassist:

Ya, the cab looks a little small for bass, but as long as you don't push it hard, I bet it would sound good. Never heard one, but looks quite cool.

Small world! I had a 136 back in the day, too. That's a combo I didn't appreciate when I had it, but I'd probably dig it today. Pretty heavy for a 115, but did have a sound.