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New Traynor YBA 100!!
- Thread starter qwench
- Start date
I will agree it's a bit farty at higher gain settings, but I love that sound. Reminds me big time of live RATM tones. I don't consider it fizzy at all. I can also boost the bass on my Godin preamp and send the amp into fuzz territory. Love it! Perhaps try out a different cab, and I'm assuming you disabled the tweeter/horn?
More good news.... this little amp is very sensitive to pre amp tube swaps. I have 3 or 4 on order and the first to arrive and get inserted was a Sylvania 7025 with long gray plates. When I put it in the first stage (V3), I could immediately hear a more clear tone on the lowest notes of the E string. When I turned the gain all the way up, there was still a good amount of drive. Much less fuzzy sounding than the JJ ECC83, and to my ears, not as pleasing. When I switched the 7025 over to V4 and moved the JJ back to V3, the openness and clarity of the E string was still there as well as the even fizz of the JJ when I pushed the gain. The added bonus for me and my G&L L2000 is that I can now run the MFDs in all positions now and get the distinctive sound from each humbucker and coil position, without the sound being all muddy as the amp sounded with all 3 JJs. I am really jonesin to see what lies in store for the rest of the glass once it arrives.
Excellent head!!!! Very tubey, the 'Deep' button is where all the magic comes from!!!! Absolutely a real delight hearing all of the warm notes coming out of this little head!!! Very very well done Traynor!!! I like it better than the YBA 200 actually!!! It is a clear winner for anyone who wants a very lightweight all tube head!!!
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Lowendtech
Happily trending in my own peculiar direction.
Congrats. It’s also a great platform for other tube pre/di’s too. Broughton P-15 and SSDI are just awesome into the return.
Awesome to hear! I have mine hopefully coming in late next week/early the week after. Super excited to try this amp out.
Also a question for anyone in the thread - does anyone have any experience using the YBA100 with the Torpedo Captor X? I have a guitar buddy that owns one that I can borrow and try out if I need to. The Torpedo seems to have some interesting bass cab IRs and seems like the YBA100 would be suitable as far as its power goes.
I'd say the line out would do the job, I don't think it will make a difference with the captor. I find that the work is really done by the preamp. Do you find the sound changing when you turn the power amp way up? I use the master volume at 10 and adjust the gain for volume...
Anyway I'm interested by the results!
I’ve found that it works particularly well with the Tech 21 Steve Harris pedal as well as the EHX Hot Wax.
I'm really interested to know how that works out. I'm running my old yba-1a through a Captor 8 and it sounds killer! I've got my eyes open for another old Traynor head but maybe this new one is a better option.
I don't have (and therefore have not tried) the Steve Harris, but I do have a Hotwax. I love that pedal; dials in everything from mild drive to Lemmy. I put it in front of the amp and have had results that are pleasant to my ear.
Got my new Traynor YBA100 yesterday. It was delivered last week but I was out of town. First impressions I’m pretty blown away by the quality of this amp, there is a lot of value your getting for the price tag. It’s worth noting I’m new to tube amps outside of the hybrid Orange Terror amp. I also can see how some may be underwhelmed with the volume however I bought this amp solely for home use and recording but this amp can easily fill up a small/medium room (from what I’ve experienced so far) running at 8 Ohms. I’ll get a chance this weekend to play with one of my guitar buddies and a larger cab setup but right now running it at my house through an Orange OBC210 I’m completely satisfied. I’m still getting around dialing it in to my playing style and sounds but the controls are very responsive. So far I’ve found the resonance switch to be a real MVP with rolling back the bass a smidge and adjusting the gain to tase for an incredibly tight and punchy sound. Also this amp will give me an opportunity to test out the effects loop power amp section with different pre amps - I have a Verellen Meatsmoke Pre coming in soon which I’m excited to try out. But overall from first impressions I can’t recommend this amp enough, especially for its price tag for a high quality all-tube amp. It’s worth me noting though that I’m not a professional musician and that stage volume is not something I look at when purchasing equipment. I’m more of a “hobbyist” in that realm of musicians and home playing/recording is my main priority when purchasing this type of equipment.
Thanks for the input and congrats on the NAD.
It would seem that your playing situation and tonal/volume needs are very similar to my own. I was particularly pleased about your comment about it being tight and punchy as I was really wondering about that more so than the outright volume. I used to have a YBA-200 and even though it had a nice tone I could never get it to have that tight and punchy feel that I love so much to have when I play.
I know it's not a NEW YBA100, but somebody in my girlfriend's hometown is selling a '75 YBA-3 for 550 CAD. Just got trade qualified and at the end of the month I'm moving to Kingston, I'm looking at a few pay bonuses and a raise, and I'm SERIOUSLY considering either that head or a 22 rifle. Here's the thing though: I need either of those things like I need another hole in my head, but I really want both - in part because I've got a '70 YS15 and LOVE it.
Any advice? Anybody with older tube amps that wants to chime in?
Any advice? Anybody with older tube amps that wants to chime in?
1. Congratulations on getting your trade qualification.
2. Kingston is a nice area. Lots of snow in winter and the 401 can be treacherous, but nice summers.
3. My advice for any sort of apocalypse - take the gun. With a gun you can get anything else that you want/need.
$550 is a good price on a vintage tube amp. Traynor stuff seems to last forever.
@pie_man_25 , locally, those YBA-3's are going for some big bucks! Heck, I've seen some clean looking YBA-1's with asking prices near a grand! Pick it up, bring it to Kingston and sell it locally. You will be able to buy a nice .22 from the money you will make.
PS... some really great fishin in and around the Kingston area.... and my I suggest that you learn some Tragically Hip songs! LOL
Fishheadjoe
PS... some really great fishin in and around the Kingston area.... and my I suggest that you learn some Tragically Hip songs! LOL
Fishheadjoe
Congrats and thanks for the initial review! Hope you get a chance to try it out with the Captor.
I've rented one out for a month, it sounds so good with my PF210HE, no trouble at all getting a something fat and full, or tight, with a P Bass and flats. Everything in between sounds good too. I love my PF350 but it's going to be tough going back to an SS head after this (first time using a tube amp, just for playing at home).
Quick follow-up... last night I started getting into the dirty stuff. I'm a fan of the overdriven sound the YBA100 produces from its preamp section. Much more natural and musical than my PF350 + Barbershop OD, which in comparison sounds more like the speakers distorting, kinda flat, muffled and farty... I don't know, hard to explain. Lovely layer of grit on top of a good tone for rock. I really appreciate the mid frequency selector too, may need to get an EQ pedal to give the PF350 that versatility (the mids there are planted at 500hz). Going to be even harder to go back!
