Traveling and tubes... will my YBA-3 be safe?

Din Of Win · #1 03-16-2011, 07:24 AM

Hey guys,

I'm leaving for a little 5 day tour in a few hours, and i was wondering... have any of you toured with tube heads and no road case?

I LOVE the tone i get from my 70's Traynor YBA-3, but i've never toured with a tube head. We touring with another band, and their bassist is bringing the whole SVT-CL and 8x10 set-up, but he's a weiner and won't share. He also uses a road case which is why i'm a bit worried about mine...

So, i WANT to bring my YBA-3 and 2x15, but i don't want to break tubes, as that's something i can't afford to fix right now. Worst case scenerio... YBA-3 stays here and i rock my awesome sounding and much more portable 80's GK 400rb...

stiles72 · #2 03-16-2011, 07:30 AM

Not saying this is a good practice, but my band has had Marshall, 5150, and Ampeg heads loaded in the band trailer with no road cases or even slip covers and have never had any issues. We gig nearly every weekend and travel several bumpy roads here in eastern Iowa, western Illinois, and southwest Wisconsin year round. I'd be more worried about breaking knobs off and knicking up the tolex than damaging the tubes myself. Tubes are a lot more road worthy than a lot of folks give them credit for.

Din Of Win · #3 03-16-2011, 07:54 AM

Awesome! Good to know!

Stuff will be pretty tightly packed, anyways. So, i doubt things would slide around.

Haha, our first stop is in IL as well!!

Rezdog · #4 03-16-2011, 10:30 AM

Greetings from the North,

It's a Traynor. They're pretty rugged and should hold up just fine.

Rezdog

godspeed68 · #5 03-16-2011, 10:34 AM

I've never owned a road ready case (oops). if you really care about your baby it's not a bad idea at all, but you should be fine as long as you don't go and roll it down the street. good luck on tour.

OneWayPunk · #6 03-16-2011, 11:27 AM

Just bring the 400rb as a backup just in case, I have a 400rb under the back seat in my truck for this very reason.

BassmanPaul · #7 03-16-2011, 11:32 AM

Back in the day there were only tube amps. They got dropped, fell of stages, out of trucks, all the things that we know can happen. The vast majority of times the amps just kept on working night after night, day after day. Handle the amp with respect and it'll look after you. It's not made of glass y'know.

sammyfallen · #8 03-16-2011, 11:36 AM

never had a problem with the SVT or 300T and I put over 500 shows all across the country on those 2. The only time I worried about my gear was in the bar / venue when some drunk would come stumbling by with a open container.

beebassdude · #9 03-16-2011, 11:39 AM

we always keep our amps in the van/car instead of the trailer, and ive done that with multiple bands. they bounce around a lot less vs keeping them in a trailer.

but if you keep them in a van/car theyll be fine.

Calaverasgrande · #10 03-16-2011, 01:12 PM

I always load my head in front of the rear axle in a van. Less up and down bouncing that way. Also, check the power tubes before you power up each day. Make sure they haven't vibrated loose. Old Traynors are super rugged amps.

okcrum · #11 03-16-2011, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassmanPaul

Back in the day there were only tube amps. They got dropped, fell off stages, out of trucks, all the things that we know can happen. The vast majority of times the amps just kept on working night after night, day after day. Handle the amp with respect and it'll look after you. It's not made of glass y'know.

+many.

Calaverasgrande · #12 03-17-2011, 08:47 AM

the only fragility issue I have ever had with tube amps are:
wrong load, some tube amps don't like 4 ohm loads. YBA3 is not one of these.
no load, tube amps hate to be run with no speaker attached. Makes sure you plug the speaker cable in on both ends before you cash in your drink tickets!
Toured the US on a Traynor YBA1a with no problems. Later repeated that tour with a Mesa Bass 400, only problem was that it got yanked off the stack by a drummers errant foot and smashed the treble knob in. Was stuck at that setting for remainder of tour.

Ben Clarke · #13 03-17-2011, 08:55 AM

I agree with pretty much everything so far, but remember that vibration is a key enemy of the internal structure (functional components) of vacuum tubes. Modern production tubes are generally not as robust in this regard as their old counterparts.

Don't overthink it, but keep that in mind as you choose its location in the van.

jastacey · #14 03-17-2011, 08:50 PM

If your worried about knobs getting damaged, just find a heavy cardboard box to place the amp in .... as a side note, the YBA-3 is a very rugged amp, just make sure you check the seating of the power tubes every once in a while

BluesBear · #15 03-17-2011, 11:00 PM

I travelled for about 12 years with a Traynor YBA-3 and a Traynor YGL-3A head. Coast to coast and border to border, literally. Never had a moments bit of trouble with either one. Those old Traynors are TOUGH!

craig.p · #16 03-18-2011, 08:19 AM

Back when I was on the road with tube amps, we used to make liberal use of mover's blankets. It was decades ago but I faintly recall we bought a stack of them used (and pretty beat up) from the local U-Haul. Cheap insurance. Also consider strapping "tippy" items together to increase their effective width and reduce their tendency to tip. And I second Calaverasgrande's loading caution: load the fragile stuff where it'll get bounced around the least. Each case will be different, but I can say this: Lightly-loaded springs are murder on equipment. So, load in view of this.

Russell L · #17 03-18-2011, 08:24 AM

As with all equipment watch out for condensation.

rickdog · #18 03-18-2011, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassmanPaul

Back in the day there were only tube amps. They got dropped, fell of stages, out of trucks, all the things that we know can happen. The vast majority of times the amps just kept on working night after night, day after day. Handle the amp with respect and it'll look after you. It's not made of glass y'know.

+1

I once rocked my Marshall tube amp off the top of my 1x18 cab. Picked it up, plugged the instrument cable back into it, and kept rocking.

That said - if you're on tour, it never hurts to have a spare set of tubes with you.They're a worthwhile investment, you'll use them eventually.

ZachM · #19 03-18-2011, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russell L

As with all equipment watch out for condensation.

I think this is potentially more of a concern than vibration in certain scenarios. Especially if you quickly move your amp from a warm indoor venue (with hot tubes) to a cold outside location. But I think that for five days, you'll be fine. I toured with my tube head for a couple weeks before I got a roadcase, I brought a few towels and a thick blanket and wrapped the amp up in there, then stuck it in the trailer. Had no problems.

I would think about saving up and getting a road case eventually, it's absolutely money well spent. Then when you get that, add a silica gel dehumidifier to the inside of the case and you'll be in great shape.