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TRAYNOR YBA-200 - major issues! feedback appreciated

T

T40

Oct 21, 2009
12
0
#1
So I am posting to get some feedback from the gear-heads out there..

Up until about a month and a half ago I had been playing my Traynor YBA-200 bass head without any issues - gigging with it fairly regularly - when 3 of the power tubes seemed to go on me. The tubes began to glow a bright red (not that consistent powerful glow we all love) and I noticed a serious drop in power output to the speaker cab.

I took the head into Long and McQuade for them to assess the damage and fix it up. In the end they had to replace all of the tubes and i believe two transitors. The repair was close to $300 and i left the shop with confidence in my gear (but 300 bucks poorer)

One month later (and one gig), during practice the BRAND NEW tubes became bright red and the amp lost a significant amount of power and I could smell something burning. I am pretty sure the tubes are toast again, which frustrates me to no end seeing as I have just handed over $300 to L&M for the previous repair!!

I have no idea why this has happened a second time? A friend told me that perhaps the tubes were biased wrong..? I am a n00b when it come to technical aspects with gear so I gave Long & McQuade the benefit of the doubt and put my trust in their hands to deliver something that will work. Having the brand new tubes crap out only one month following the repair is completely unacceptable... I plan to contact the repair shop to voice my concerns, however I wanted to get some feedback here before doing so.

If anyone has had a similar experience with L&M or their YBA-200 please let me know.. anything is appreciated.

ryan
 
#2
before you go a day further, I hope the techs you went to warranty lasts longer than 30 days and I would send it back and let them know they didn't fix the problem. Usually when tubes are overvolted (which makes them brighter) it's usually a resistor and / or a cap that has gone awry.
 
#3
on the receipt it says 'no warranty'... has anybody had experiences with Long & McQuade repairs?

although my receipt says that there is no warranty i still feel as though they are responsible for the issues comming back.. i cannot afford to spend another $300 when they should have fixed the probelm in the first place.

perhaps this happened the second time due to improper biasing??
 
#4
Call em up and tell em you situation. Be cool about it.

If they're cool they'll take another look at it and hopefully just charge you for parts, which are usually much cheaper than labor.

If they're not going to help you, go elsewhere. Find a reputable service shop.

Kinda stinks. Sorry about the amp trouble
 
#5
yeah the plan is to call them and explain the situation.. it would be great if they would fix it again without charging or at a discounted rate..

the only thing that I am concerned with is this happening again... if this were to happen again it would be cheaper for me to buy a new head...
 
#6
Is this a YBA-200 or a YBA-200-2? I ask because the 200s had a problem with some kind of biasing circuit that they did not include in the 200-2 (do a search on here). Since it's a known issue with the original 200s you might also go back to Yorkville/Traynor and try to get them to fix the problem.
 
#9
Dan, to my knowledge it is a YBA 200, however I am now curious if there is a way to tell cosmetically if it is a 200-2? (posting from work and not with my amp currently)

If in fact it is a yba 200 going to Traynor wouldn't be a bad idea.. the only thing is that I did not buy the amp new.. it was purchased off of somebody who had it for a year (purchased new).. will traynor still honour fixing the amp?
 
#11
The difference between the two is pretty simple... The YBA 200 has the "winged" Traynor logo on the front grille, the YBA 200-2 just has the stylized word "Traynor" on the front grille.

The auto-bias circuit is the one that caused lots of issues and many of the 200's I've heard about have been upgraded with the manual bias and KT88's (not totally necessary, but that's what the 200-2 amps come with).

As for Traynor honouring the warranty, the only way to find out is to ask.

If they won't honour it, there's a great shop called Superfuzz Audio (Dundas/Dovercourt) that does all kinds of repairs. I've got my YBA 200 there right now. Might be worth a shot, just in case.
 
#12
mine is definitely not a 200-2.. perhaps that has been the cause of the reoccurring issues..

how much do you think i am looking at to upgrade the auto-bias circuit to something more dependable (manual bias and KT88's)?

plus the cost of four new tubes... and labour.. this is going to be expensive...
 
#13
Call Yorkville’s service department. Tell them about the issue and make sure they know that L&M clearly failed, and that you want it taken care of at no charge – especially if L&M is an approved repair center.

I would not pay twice! If L&M does not do Yorkville warranty repairs, Yorkville may still decide to make things right, and (I hope) look into this anyway. Yorkville's phone in Pickering, Ontario: (905) 837-8481.
 
#14
T40 said:
on the receipt it says 'no warranty'... has anybody had experiences with Long & McQuade repairs?

although my receipt says that there is no warranty i still feel as though they are responsible for the issues comming back.. i cannot afford to spend another $300 when they should have fixed the probelm in the first place.

perhaps this happened the second time due to improper biasing??
Click to expand...

wow, it sounds as if had you turned it on in their shop the day you went to pick it up and it blew they wouldn't feel obliged to repair it again. try calling them and explain the exact same thing happened that you bought the amp to them to repair in the first place.
 
#15
I thought that traynor had this great warranty for their stuff,they should give you an upgraded head for free!for spending 300.00 buck's on the lame fix and causing you problem's i had the same head you have and sold it soon after because i was constantly trying to dail in a sound.Good luck keep me posted
 
#16
Charles Fields said:
I thought that traynor had this great warranty for their stuff,they should give you an upgraded head for free!for spending 300.00 buck's on the lame fix and causing you problem's i had the same head you have and sold it soon after because i was constantly trying to dail in a sound.Good luck keep me posted
Click to expand...

to my knowledge they do have a solid warranty, however I did not buy the amp directly from yorkville/traynor (Long and McQuade) - it was purchased used from somebody on craigslist, who bought the amp in 2005. He had it for two years after which the warranty ended and i bought it. Since 2007 I haven't had ANY problems with the amp and now this. it would be sweet if they gave me an upgraded head for free but highly unlikely! :(

i am however hoping to get some sort of discounted fix to the problem seeing as their $300 fix lasted for about a month...
 
#17
It sounds like the failure of the new tubes is a direct result of their failure to identify the underlying problem. You would have had to buy new tubes anyway, but now you need ANOTHER set, plus you have to pay to get the amp checked out a second time - this is 100% their fault. If they don't admit this and at least eat the cost of the first set of tubes then I'd steer clear of that place and encourage others to do the same.
 
#18
I had the "winged" Traynor a while back that had the same issues. Had to get rid of it because of this..

The amp is "auto-biased" - if that's possible. I've run across the same problem a handful of times besides the situation I had with mine. I would definitely contact your repair shop and try to strike up a deal to get a discounted rate for this repair AT THE LEAST..

Random question, do you have the 6555's in it as power tubes? Have you changed them out to KT88's or anything of the like?

I'll subscribe and follow your progress. Hope this turns out good for you..
 
#19
crayzee said:
If they won't honour it, there's a great shop called Superfuzz Audio (Dundas/Dovercourt) that does all kinds of repairs. I've got my YBA 200 there right now. Might be worth a shot, just in case.
Click to expand...

Big +1 for the recommendation of Superfuzz, those guys do a great job!

Nonetheless, I would expect Yorkville to stand behind their products - again, this is possibly the result of a known issue with the YBA200 circuit.
 

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