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TRAYNOR BASS HEAD GROUP TWO B

F

freshpwee

Apr 24, 2007
3
0
#1
Can anyone give me some good info on this head?
I got it from a guy who knew just as little about it as me, but I didn't want to pass up a Traynor. Anything concerning worth, history, etc. would be great!
 
#3
Traynor introduced the Group 2 series in the mid to late 70's. The MonoBlock had been introduced earlier and was very successful. Group 2 and Group 3 products did not enjoy the same success of the previous Traynor offerings.

You'll find they're solid well built amps. But they were so different from everything Traynor had previously made. That's because those products were tube based except for the MonoBlock's.

Cheers,

TD
 
#4
Subscribed, I'd like to know more about this myself. I've fallen in love with Traynor gear!

I have a Traynor TS-200 guitar amp from the 70's that I bought off of Tom Bowlus a couple months back and I use it for bass.... Traynor is wonderful.

I went to the Yorkville site and pulled up the Traynor History and couldn't find my head... only the TS-50 and TS-100.

It has a rather extensive history though so try checking out there.

Peace

-Benny
 
#6
I've got one. I someone who bought the amp and matching 215 and gave me the head for fixing his YBA-3 a while back.

I wasn't able to find any info on it at all

It's about 100 watts into 4 ohms.

Mine had a schematic included inside glued to the lid, as well as a whole bunch of the plastic rivets used to hold the top on taped to the bottom of the chassis...very thoughtful for techs because those clips are prone to breakage.

To be honest, I'm not really impressed with the way it sounds, but it makes an interesting addition to my collection.

I like the YBA-3 much better.
 
#10
SMASH said:
I've never actually played a B. I'm guessing the graphic EQ of the II makes a big difference though. It's got quite a range, is perfectly voiced IMO, and affects the charactef of the sound as much as it boosts/cuts a range of frequency. The B is missing that, but has an extra mid knob if I recall correctly.

It's totally screwy IMO that they now call their Yorkville stuff Traynor - hardly a tribute - and using naming conventions same as Aguiar (DB123, supposedly standing for Dyna Bass) when they could have called their stuff Beavertone. Who wouldn't want a Beavertone?

Tom, be sure to post pics and a review when you can to the existing Mono Block thread started by Matt Till?
Click to expand...

I'll do what I can! Actually, I am not a huge fan of graphic EQs. There is absolutely nothing wrong with them (if done well), and they certainly can be powerful tone shaping tools. But, I find that pretty much every amp I own that has one, I either leave set flat or I bypass it. So, I was actually more attracted to the layout of the Mono Block B. At least from the photos I have seen of Mono Block II's, the rest of the amp appears to be quite similar. Once I get a feel for it, I will be sure to report back.

Tom.
 
#12
I haven't sold it yet actually. I'll post some pictures as soon as I get a hold of a camera. I've been having fun playing with my drummer friend and 3 full rigs.

- Ampeg SVT350 + Ampeg 810
- Sunn Concert Bass + Kustom 3x15
- Traynor Group 2 B + Traynor 1x18

It's a lot of sound all at once, but I've got it split up with a Big Muff, Boss Bass Overdrive and a Ratt. Pretty loud and crazy.
 
#13
Thorton's got the story pretty well right. First ones came out 1975 if I remember correctly. Traynor serial numbers have the year/month encoded in them, so you can pin it down pretty close.

If I remember correctly, the line was primarily conceived for guitar, not bass, and the sound is representative of the solid state guitar amps of the day.

js
 
#14
freshpwee said:
I haven't sold it yet actually. I'll post some pictures as soon as I get a hold of a camera. I've been having fun playing with my drummer friend and 3 full rigs.

- Ampeg SVT350 + Ampeg 810
- Sunn Concert Bass + Kustom 3x15
- Traynor Group 2 B + Traynor 1x18

It's a lot of sound all at once, but I've got it split up with a Big Muff, Boss Bass Overdrive and a Ratt. Pretty loud and crazy.
Click to expand...

jealous.

i love my ts-50b. it requires a power amp though.
 
#16
I'm working on a Traynor two B from about 1974 or so. Not good at these mj802- mj4502 output amps. I have replaced all the shorted parts and caps but the set is still shorted somewhere. I need help. Anyone work on these before? As I bring up the voltage the dc on the output speaker line just goes up with it like it has a shorted output but the outputs drivers, every thing checks ok. not getting this one. I has some prints and some better prints of the guitar version of this amp head. Can anyone help?
 
#17
The complementary MJ802 - MJ4502 are TO3 silicon transistors. The circuitry around them is not that complicated and the amp should be a fairly easy fix.

Edit: I believe the amp is an OTL/OCL unit. The output node of the power amplifier should settle at 0V with reference to ground.
 
Last edited:
#20
Usually this type of amp has bipolar power supplies typically in the plus and minus 40-50V range. The output (load) is taken at the junction of the complementary pairs. Ground being the other connection for the load. The exact topology used I’m unsure of. Some, including an amp I built in the Eighties, took the output from the collectors. Others I have seen use the emitters.
 

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