Should I buy: Traynor YBA200-2

[samcantjump]

Been looking to upgrade to either a hybrid or full tube bass amp from my GK combo.
This is available close to my area for $300. It’s listed as good working condition. I’ll be testing it this afternoon to confirm. The information on this amp is fairly scarce. I’ve read as much as I could find on talkbass and other sources. I figured a direct question may help. At this time, is this a fairly deal. Are there some things I should specifically be looking for?
I mostly play rock/punk/indie music. Thank you in advance

 

[grubdumpling]

I'll be honest about the yba100, it really did sound nice... sounded more like a bass amp than the yba1, deeper but not as saturated. I actually didn't play it out. The band I was in at the time was ampless, and the one time we decided to have an old school amplified rehearsal I had to help the frontman move all his (two amps, massive pedalboard and another smaller pedalboard, three guitars and his great dane) gear so I wanted to keep it simple. Ha, I remember now, I drive a regular cab and he was appalled that I was going to put his stuff in the box, he crammed as much as he could in the cab with him, he looked so put out. Get a car, guy. The yba1 through a 115 has always been plenty loud, and is naturally very mid heavy, so I took that instead of the yba100. I do regret that now, I wish I had a chance to hear it loud in the mix, but I dimed it at home and although it stayed clean and clear all the way up, I wouldn't do that with the yba1 without hearing protection, and have never needed to run it flat out, in fact, I almost never use it at full power (has variable attenuator) because at any volume I really like pillowy saturation. How's that for a run-on sentence.

If I was going to do an honest test of the yba100, I would bring a clean boost pedal along, and get the preamp nice and blooming before I brought it up to volume. Though the yba1 has no trouble pushing it's own power section into the sweet spot, that's what I think holds the yba100 back, and from what I understand the yba300 is similar, the preamp doesn't push the power section enough to really get it cooking. Does that sound about right to you @TTA ?

For a few years the YBA1 was my only real bass amp, aside from a SB115 that mostly does synth duty for my daughter now. One weekend I had two auditions and a jam, so I went into l&m to rent a YBA200, as the 300 was just a bit too much power for one of my cabs (edit - oh, I think the 300 needs a 4ohm load as well, so I would always need both of my cabs, 200 is fine at 8ohms). The actually cracked open a brand new one for me, and after that weekend I just couldn't give it back. All the saturation I want, if I want (and I want), but also the ability to keep it clean up to whatever level I need. Great amp, more than I need, but like guns and easy women, it's better to have one and not need it, than need one and not have it.

Sorry to hear about the poor filthy orphaned amp, @samcantjump , I guess good call if you don't want the hassle of problems and repairs, but if that was local to me I'd probably pay the 300$ just to give it a good home.

edit - add @Heavy Blue to the shout outs

 

[TTA]

I'll be honest about the yba100, it really did sound nice... sounded more like a bass amp than the yba1, deeper but not as saturated. I actually didn't play it out. The band I was in at the time was ampless, and the one time we decided to have an old school amplified rehearsal I had to help the frontman move all his (two amps, massive pedalboard and another smaller pedalboard, three guitars and his great dane) gear so I wanted to keep it simple. Ha, I remember now, I drive a regular cab and he was appalled that I was going to put his stuff in the box, he crammed as much as he could in the cab with him, he looked so put out. Get a car, guy. The yba1 through a 115 has always been plenty loud, and is naturally very mid heavy, so I took that instead of the yba100. I do regret that now, I wish I had a chance to hear it loud in the mix, but I dimed it at home and although it stayed clean and clear all the way up, I wouldn't do that with the yba1 without hearing protection, and have never needed to run it flat out, in fact, I almost never use it at full power (has variable attenuator) because at any volume I really like pillowy saturation. How's that for a run-on sentence.

If I was going to do an honest test of the yba100, I would bring a clean boost pedal along, and get the preamp nice and blooming before I brought it up to volume. Though the yba1 has no trouble pushing it's own power section into the sweet spot, that's what I think holds the yba100 back, and from what I understand the yba300 is similar, the preamp doesn't push the power section enough to really get it cooking. Does that sound about right to you @TTA ?

For a few years the YBA1 was my only real bass amp, aside from a SB115 that mostly does synth duty for my daughter now. One weekend I had two auditions and a jam, so I went into l&m to rent a YBA200, as the 300 was just a bit too much power for one of my cabs (edit - oh, I think the 300 needs a 4ohm load as well, so I would always need both of my cabs, 200 is fine at 8ohms). The actually cracked open a brand new one for me, and after that weekend I just couldn't give it back. All the saturation I want, if I want (and I want), but also the ability to keep it clean up to whatever level I need. Great amp, more than I need, but like guns and easy women, it's better to have one and not need it, than need one and not have it.

Sorry to hear about the poor filthy orphaned amp, @samcantjump , I guess good call if you don't want the hassle of problems and repairs, but if that was local to me I'd probably pay the 300$ just to give it a good home.

edit - add @Heavy Blue to the shout outs

i am an oddity. i got the yba100 as i like the 300 but wanted similar for home use. i.e. option for drive at lower volumes. i feel the 100 is just a quieter 300 that i can get to overdrive more easily.

i find the 300 holds clarity for a long time and is just my big amp of choice.

my 100 is not with me at the moment so i cant plug in and verify my sanity.

 

[Heavy Blue]

I'll be honest about the yba100, it really did sound nice... sounded more like a bass amp than the yba1, deeper but not as saturated. I actually didn't play it out. The band I was in at the time was ampless, and the one time we decided to have an old school amplified rehearsal I had to help the frontman move all his (two amps, massive pedalboard and another smaller pedalboard, three guitars and his great dane) gear so I wanted to keep it simple. Ha, I remember now, I drive a regular cab and he was appalled that I was going to put his stuff in the box, he crammed as much as he could in the cab with him, he looked so put out. Get a car, guy. The yba1 through a 115 has always been plenty loud, and is naturally very mid heavy, so I took that instead of the yba100. I do regret that now, I wish I had a chance to hear it loud in the mix, but I dimed it at home and although it stayed clean and clear all the way up, I wouldn't do that with the yba1 without hearing protection, and have never needed to run it flat out, in fact, I almost never use it at full power (has variable attenuator) because at any volume I really like pillowy saturation. How's that for a run-on sentence.

If I was going to do an honest test of the yba100, I would bring a clean boost pedal along, and get the preamp nice and blooming before I brought it up to volume. Though the yba1 has no trouble pushing it's own power section into the sweet spot, that's what I think holds the yba100 back, and from what I understand the yba300 is similar, the preamp doesn't push the power section enough to really get it cooking. Does that sound about right to you @TTA ?

For a few years the YBA1 was my only real bass amp, aside from a SB115 that mostly does synth duty for my daughter now. One weekend I had two auditions and a jam, so I went into l&m to rent a YBA200, as the 300 was just a bit too much power for one of my cabs (edit - oh, I think the 300 needs a 4ohm load as well, so I would always need both of my cabs, 200 is fine at 8ohms). The actually cracked open a brand new one for me, and after that weekend I just couldn't give it back. All the saturation I want, if I want (and I want), but also the ability to keep it clean up to whatever level I need. Great amp, more than I need, but like guns and easy women, it's better to have one and not need it, than need one and not have it.

Sorry to hear about the poor filthy orphaned amp, @samcantjump , I guess good call if you don't want the hassle of problems and repairs, but if that was local to me I'd probably pay the 300$ just to give it a good home.

edit - add @Heavy Blue to the shout outs

I'll have to get busy and start experimenting with using a clean boost on the 100. Both in front of the amp and especially in the loop to see if I can overdrive just the power section with a clean signal with less or no distortion from the preamp itself for some pure power amp distortion. I think that this could work really well with a set of EL34s.

I have 2 of them. Both from TC Electronics. The Spark Mini that I've had for 2 or 3 years, and a Spark that I just recently picked up but still haven't gotten to experimenting with it yet. The Spark has more boost than the Mini. I know that they were originally meant with guitar in mind but they both seem to work fine for bass (with the 3 way switch on the Spark set for flat).

I agree with you irt the 100. I rented a 300 for a few months back in '24 and it's total overkill at home. It with the TC-810 sure did the job irt getting a grip on a couple of stupid loud guitarists though lol. Loved its headroom!

Irt your 8 ohm cab on the 300. You can run a higher ohm cab into a lower ohm setting on the output transformer. You'll lose a bit of efficiency but it won't damage anything. Don't go the other way though (lower ohm cab than amp setting), that could take out the output transformer.

Also, the selector switch configuration on the 300 can be changed internally from 4 and 2 ohms to 4 and 8 ohms.

Why Traynor just hasn't put a 3 position selector switch on it is beyond me.

 

[grubdumpling]

@Heavy Blue I don't think there's any risk of me picking up a YBA300, I much prefer the tone of the YBA200 and that's already more than loud enough for me. However, I was in the shop yesterday picking up a new keyboard for my wife and of course I had to look at the sale pile... YBA100 for 750$ and YBA300 for 1800$... either one might be tempting at a lower price if I didn't already have everything that I need.

I always bring a TC Spark mini, the one with just the 20db clean boost when I go out with the SB115, that combo can get fantastically loud with a boost before the input. I've never tried the spark in the effects loop of a tube amp, but I can imagine it would get the power stage going.

 

[bassplace]

I'll have to get busy and start experimenting with using a clean boost on the 100. Both in front of the amp and especially in the loop to see if I can overdrive just the power section with a clean signal with less or no distortion from the preamp itself for some pure power amp distortion. I think that this could work really well with a set of EL34s.

I have 2 of them. Both from TC Electronics. The Spark Mini that I've had for 2 or 3 years, and a Spark that I just recently picked up but still haven't gotten to experimenting with it yet. The Spark has more boost than the Mini. I know that they were originally meant with guitar in mind but they both seem to work fine for bass (with the 3 way switch on the Spark set for flat).

I agree with you irt the 100. I rented a 300 for a few months back in '24 and it's total overkill at home. It with the TC-810 sure did the job irt getting a grip on a couple of stupid loud guitarists though lol. Loved its headroom!

Irt your 8 ohm cab on the 300. You can run a higher ohm cab into a lower ohm setting on the output transformer. You'll lose a bit of efficiency but it won't damage anything. Don't go the other way though (lower ohm cab than amp setting), that could take out the output transformer.

Also, the selector switch configuration on the 300 can be changed internally from 4 and 2 ohms to 4 and 8 ohms.

Why Traynor just hasn't put a 3 position selector switch on it is beyond me.

I recently got a 100. Thanks for the tip.

 

[MetalNeck Mike]

I also have a v1 200, a 100, and had rented a 300 (what a beast!) for about 4 months.

100% agree with you irt the tone settings and keeping the mids pretty high. I usually have the mids set somewhere around 8 to 10 depending on how where the range and scoop are set.

I think that all 3 have a similar tone stack. To me, the range control is what is called the frequency control on the 100 & 300. The 100 & 300's fixed deep switch replaces the 200's variable scoop control & the fixed resonance switch replaces the 200's variable resonance control. My EQ settings on the 100 & 200 are almost identical.

Like many, I had originally fallen into the mid scoop trap. With most of my previous amps, setting the mids that high would've made them sound too brassy or nasally. Not so with these. There's a very noticeable reduction in volume starting at any mid setting under 6½-7.

Seeing how your 200 has 6550s (what did you mean by "upgraded"?), I thought I'd recheck mine. As I thought, it has JJ KT88s but what I didn't see before was that they're from The Tube Store as they have their logo/sticker on the bases. They must be well matched as the amp is very quiet with zero hum.

By chance, have you tried using EL34s in your 100? I'm curious about that but haven't heard one using them yet.

Nice knobs on your 200. Are they older Traynor knobs?

I like the Traynor cabs too. Used to have a TC1510 but I sold it & the first 200 I had during a rough stretch. I have a really nice condition TC810 but now I'm considering getting the TC210 & TC115 Neo as I saw a pair on sale for a decent price last weekend and would definitely be enough speaker for the rooms I play. Currently, I usually run the 200 through an Eden Nemesis 212 when playing out. Folks around here basically have a bird at the sight of an 810 plus the 212 only weighs about 36 lbs.

Do you notice any tonal differences between the 1510 and the paired 210 & 115?

Nice, I finally found a recent thread with YBA200 v1 model owners!

Mine just arrived and I replaced the JJ 6550’s power tubes with a matched set of Gold Lion KT88’s. Kind of nervous to go for it and let the autobias autobias itself. I figure if it fries something then I’ll take it to an amp tech and pay to repair. Since mine shipped to me with the power tubes removed, I am taking the opportunity

I’m looking for any YBA200 owners who have replaced their 6550’s with KT88’s, please share if you can.