Traynor YBA-200?

[zbasstringer]

I've got the opportunity to jump on one of these bad boys for $400 local on craigslist. What do you guys think? Will it give me enough headroom on the clean side of things? What's the overdrive like? Oh, and what kind of cabinets do you recommend with it?

[MIJ-VI]

YBA200...

...or YBA200-2?

[zbasstringer]

Originally Posted by MIJ-VI

YBA200...

...or YBA200-2?

Wow, I did not know there was another version. The YBA200-2.

[MIJ-VI]

So the one on craigslist is a YBA200 (winged Traynor logo)?

[VanillaThundah]

$400 isn't too bad for a good tube amp like this one. If you dig SVT tone, but don't need that much wattage or that heavy of an amp, it's a pretty sweet little amp. Just make sure you get a big enough cab, because mine didn't put out too much volume.

[zbasstringer]

Originally Posted by MIJ-VI

So the one on craigslist is a YBA200 (winged Traynor logo)?

Yes. Sorry, I got a little mixed up and didn't dig deep enough to figure it out.

[MIJ-VI]

Originally Posted by zbasstringer

Yes. Sorry, I got a little mixed up and didn't dig deep enough to figure it out.

That first version of the YBA200 has an auto-biasing feature which failed on a small number of those amps causing Traynor to switch to a fixed biasing scheme that requires the services of a qualified amp tech (hence the YBA200-2). Years ago Traynor offered a free upgrade to convert YBA200s to the YBA200-2 spec.

This doesn't mean the particular YBA200 you are pondering is a bad amp (about 6 months ago a TB'er in New Zealand, IIRC, bought a YBA200, and after a round of e-mails with the folks at Traynor it was decided that the upgrade wouldn't be needed on his amp--which he went on to enjoy immensely).

If the YBA200 you're looking at still runs well after all these years then it will likely continue to do so.

But as a contingency you may wish to e-mail Traynor for availability and price on said upgrade, and for some advice on how to care for the amp.

canada@yorkville.com <-- T's global headquarters and main manufacturing facility.

BTW. The YBA200-2 product page has links to the owners and service manuals which I believe covers both versions of the amp.

EDIT: I was mistaken ^.

Here's the owners and service manuals links for the YBA200.

[Alex1984]

If the amp is still working fine and has KT88 tubes in it, I would not be too concerned about the auto-bias, it is usually fairly safe when you have KT88's. IT was 6550's which were at the root of all the problems with that amp ,not the auto-bias.

This was quoted from a reply I got from Traynor when I asked them about the YBA-200.

[zbasstringer]

Originally Posted by MIJ-VI

That first version of the YBA200 has an auto-biasing feature which failed on a small number of those amps causing Traynor to switch to a fixed biasing scheme that requires the services of a qualified amp tech (hence the YBA200-2). Years ago Traynor offered a free upgrade to convert YBA200s to the YBA200-2 spec.

This doesn't mean the particular YBA200 you are pondering is a bad amp (about 6 months ago a TB'er in New Zealand, IIRC, bought a YBA200, and after a round of e-mails with the folks at Traynor it was decided that the upgrade wouldn't be needed on his amp--which he went on to enjoy immensely).

If the YBA200 you're looking at still runs well after all these years then it will likely continue to do so.

But as a contingency you may wish to e-mail Traynor for availability and price on said upgrade, and for some advice on how to care for the amp.

canada@yorkville.com <-- T's global headquarters and main manufacturing facility.

BTW. The YBA200-2 product page has links to the owners and service manuals which I believe covers both versions of the amp.

EDIT: I was mistaken ^.

Here's the owners and service manuals links for the YBA200.

Wow, thank you for all your help! I did not know any of this info. All good stuff to know.

[R. Laevinus]

...the YBA200(2) is a fine amp, plenty loud, and with a really nice thick overdrive. It tends to start to break up at about 1 o'clock on the gain, and can do some pretty serious snarling with the gain cranked. The perceived volume of course depends on the cab, but I had no problems playing in a prog-metal trio (cranked Marshall halfstack, leaden-armed drummer) with my YBA and my 2x10 cab. With a 4x10, particularly Traynor's 4x10's, you'll be able to feel your arm hairs waving in the breeze at 12 o'clock on the master and the gain.

Great tone, too... did I mention that?

[Alex1984]

Yep, just remember that it uses a passive tone stack which is cut only. I normally have the mids turned up pretty high.