experience with Traynor YBA200-2?

I had one for a while and my only beef with it was that the guy I bought it from had like painted it up and really made it look awful, and it wasn't QUITE as loud as I was expecting an all-tube 200w head to be.

All I had was the stock power tubes and some JJ preamp tubes, it really did sound excellent IMO. Paired up with a nice passive J or P bass (or PJ bass lol) you can get awesome classic tones like you would from an SVT. If you are thinking about it, the only thing I would say to dissent would be to check out the Peavey VB-2 first, as it's not that much more expensive and is a much nicer amp. The transformer on the Peavey is oversized and can run at 300w if you rebias the amp to use KT88's in the power section...freakin awesome =)

 

Actives werent really bad, as much as it was just very colored by the Traynor. Expect the same effect you would get if you plugged a warwick thumb into an SVT...really the amp IS a baby SVT because its just not quite as loud and heavy as the SVT classic or vintage reissue.

If you like tube tone or like the sound of actives through a tube amp (I do) then you will like it. I sold it to get money for an Ibanez SR500 that I love, but I wish I could have found something else to sell besides my Traynor amp head. If you find a good deal on a used one, jump on it...but if you're buying new I'd suggest the Peavey one instead.

 

I'd go for the peavey then, its not much heavier than the Traynor and you can bump it up to 300w if you want to. But I'm pretty sure it'll get loud enough for a band setting, my Traynor gave my guitarist a headache lol....

 

I've got a V4BH and a VB2, both great amps in their own right. I am digging the VB2 right now a little more, mainly because it can really punch and has some serious headroom for what I do (that could be different for you). It's definitely louder than the
V4BH but the Ampeg has a character all it's own. The Ampeg definitely needs a good cabinet to really blossom. The Peavey is a tough little pig, loud, versatile, and completely cured my GAS for a Marshall Major (had one when I was younger and still regret letting that baby go)

 

used the yba200 for a while.... it blows compared to my mesa walkabout. i'm not a fan, would never get one. for 200w it can't do very much, maybe it was that particular one I had, but it sucked big time. it's cheap, but just get a used ampeg or mesa instead of a new one of these, you'd never regret that! I plugged the walkabout head into the same cab, and it blew it out of the water. the traynor just sounds ****** when it starts breaking up, and there isn't much clean sound out of it at all. plus, the 2x10 + 1x15 cab that traynor sells with it is junk.

 

Are you using smaller cabs with the Ampeg when you're not getting enough volume? It may just be a matter of using different cabs. I know this defeats the purpose of taking a smaller setup.

My YBA200 (-2 conversion by Traynor) is much louder through my PR410HLF than if I use a single 15". I'm sure it would be even louder with my 810.

 

Traynor runs out of gas even with the upgrade tubes and I have no Idea where the can be rebiased to 300 watts came from I have never heard that one and most YBA 200-2 amps come with KT88's and don't even keep up with my V4B head with the same cab.

 

I used to own a YBA-I that was upgraded by Traynor to YBA-2 specs (mostly just KT88 tubes instead of 6550's)

It was a good amp, but the preamp is very bright. It certainly didn't have the classic SVT sound to my ears, due to the passive mid control. The mids essentially had to be on 10 and it still sounded slightly scooped to my ears. To get a mid-heavy sound like I would expect from an Ampeg would require external EQ.

Other than that, it sounded good and had a good amount of power. I ran it pretty high in a loud band, I could see it not keeping up in something like extreme metal, but for moderate rock the volume would be fine.

 

My '72 V4-B was definitely as loud as my YBA-200, albeit much more distorted at the same volume.

The YBA stayed cleaner at high volumes, I thought. Makes sense when you consider their relative wattages and the design of the Traynor preamp.

 

You read that in this thread?

 

How does the OD sound on it? A few people mentioned that it breaks up a little early. I've been considering one of these to use for heavy OD (running it with the master cranked for power tube breakup).

When you crank it so it overdrives, how loud does it get? 200 tube watts is no joke.

 

In my experience you probably won't get insane overdrive without an external boost of some kind.

I ran mine around 7 - 8 (not o'clock) on the gain,and 6+ on the master, to get a gritty sound. Diming the gain lead to a gritty, overdriven but not distorted sound. Diming the master did give a pretty hefty volume push (more than most cabinets could probably handle) but didn't make it that much dirtier.

Compare to my V4, which was absolutely filthy with the gain cranked, without a hint of clean. The Traynor stays cleanish even cranked up. It's almost like you'd need to the knobs to go a little further around to get it into heavy OD territory (for which I highly recommend said V4!)

 

The rebias I was referring to was for the Peavey VB-2, not the Traynor YBA200. The Peavey has a larger transformer that can handle and was designed to handle 300w in the power section. The Peavey has 6 sockets that have EL34s in them, so rebiasing to KT88's would give you 300w....and that information came from videos and articles from Peavey and their reps.

 

What do you mean by "them?" KT88s? Or the whole amp in generally?

I didn't get enough time to compare the stock 6550's to the KT88s as I sold it soon after.
The amp overall, yeah, it was ok, but it wasn't the greatest tone of all time. Compared to my Guild Thunderbass, which has the tone of the gods, but is only 70 or 80W.

But it was certainly very usable in a live situation. It just didn't have that huge, deep, grinding SVT tone.