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Traynor YBA200-2 some observations and comparisons.
- Thread starter GreyBeard
- Start date
As someone has already pointed out, flat on the YBA200 is all the EQ at "full". The range knob goes from 200hz to 1khz. With that in mind, it's real easy to dial in a ton of tones with the Traynor.
A lot of people find the early breakup of the tubes not to their liking, but luckily for me I use a little bit of grit in my playing most of the time.
A lot of people find the early breakup of the tubes not to their liking, but luckily for me I use a little bit of grit in my playing most of the time.
Well I've done a search on YBA200 and I've read them all. Probably should have done that before starting this thread 
I've ordered a pr of JJ12AT7's and a balanced JJ12AU7 from tube depot. They should be waiting for me when I get back home from visiting my new grandson in NC. According to everything I've read, this tube swap should tame down the pre-amp to more my liking. I still haven't decided on a cab for this head. I've got a old Sunn Sorado with 2x15-EVL's that I'm thinking will do about as well as most anything else.
I've ordered a pr of JJ12AT7's and a balanced JJ12AU7 from tube depot. They should be waiting for me when I get back home from visiting my new grandson in NC. According to everything I've read, this tube swap should tame down the pre-amp to more my liking. I still haven't decided on a cab for this head. I've got a old Sunn Sorado with 2x15-EVL's that I'm thinking will do about as well as most anything else.I just took deliverey of a new YBA200-2 and it came loaded with 6550's not KT-88's. The amp was sealed in the original box.
I wonder if someone made a switch somewhere along the way...
i think so...
i own a YBA200-I and i remember that the first time i heard about the II version i saw on the Traynor site that it had still the 6550 quartet, then two weeks ago i went to the site and found they had switched to KT-88's...i really don't understand that. it would be better if they had switched them (or totally not) since the beginning of the YBA200-II era
i own a YBA200-I and i remember that the first time i heard about the II version i saw on the Traynor site that it had still the 6550 quartet, then two weeks ago i went to the site and found they had switched to KT-88's...i really don't understand that. it would be better if they had switched them (or totally not) since the beginning of the YBA200-II era
All I can tell you is My Traynor YBA 200-2 Was drop Shipped direct from Yorkville Canada so not much chance for any one to do any tube rolling unless the UPS guy is a bass playing tube Guru( humor not taking a shot at anyone.) I suppose they may put in whatever they have on hand when they ship them But the Traynor Site says they have KT88's in them So maybe you should get in touch with traynor and find out if they will send you KT88'S as they say should be in there. Does your YBA 200-2 have the wings on the front logo ? If it does it is a leftover 200. Again not trying to be difficult just digging for info. And after re-reading your post I am guessing you might be asking if someone pulled the old switcheroo on your amp and not mine. As I said before you may want to get in touch with traynor and ask them to send you a set of KT88's to make your amp as advertised
I wonder if I have one of those in between models. Both the head and cabinet were given to me sealed in their original boxes.
I am in Canada so maybe that has something to do with it.
Here are pics of the front and the back.
I am in Canada so maybe that has something to do with it.
Here are pics of the front and the back.
That is the new 200-2 front logo. It should have the KT88's in it. I would call Traynor and ask for a set of KT88's Or get an RA# and return it to them for tube upgrade and rebias.
9-10-9 on the F1X is an extreme scoop. 2-10-2 is 'approximate' flat. The preamp circuit that Leo copped from RCA, that Alembic copped from the Fender Showman has a passive mid - the 3 controls interact.
On the the other hand - flat - who cares ? The ONLY time I want flat I get it from my DI - to a channel strip where I'll EQ while mixing. Flat is not a sound I crave in a live environment ...
The YBA is an OK amp. It isn't very loud. It can't produce clean low end at even mdium club volumes, though it can produce some pretty nice tone, particularly into a sealed cabinet.
Mine came with 6550's which got swapped for KT-88's and then back - not a huge difference there (this was a series 1) being what it was - for me it would have been for the very smallest rooms I play only - that and a practice / rehersal amp - it didn't stay long ...
If I were doing it again - I would be looking at a sealed 4x10. Probably a custom using Ted Weber's SVT replacement speakers.
You don't say what cab you were running it into . If it was average or below efficiency then it would be moderately loud but if you run it inot an efficient cab it should work fine for most situations. Juat my opinion but you have to do some amp-cab matching when running lower power heads.
I love my YBA 200 (but it is the first version) through an swr goliath jr and a son of bertha. I'm constantly getting compliments from other bassists on my tone. I think if I get a Ric 4003 and lighter cabs (whole other can of worms.) the rig will be complete. But I haven't had amp gas in the last 2 years, basically since I got the amp.
You need to change the preamp tubes if you expect loud, clean power out of this amp. The amount of gain in the stock preamp tubes pretty much guarantees that it's going to break up quickly.
After reading just about every thread I could find concerning the pre-amp tubes in the yba200 I ordered and recieved a pr of JJ12AT7's and a balanced JJ12AU7 phase splitter. I doubt if the splitter made any difference but swapping the 12AX7's for 12AT7's makes this preamp sound more like a traditional bass pre-amp. I can actually get pretty close to what my ears precieve as flat. Bass and treble on 1/2, mid full, gain on 3/4, and master on full. The gain needs to be on 3/4 or the mids still sound scooped. Control your volume with you guitar and not the gain or master. If you use the master with the guitar all the way up, the pre-amp will be heavily over driven. (maybe that's what you want). Results may vary but this seems to work for me.
I should learn to express myself better. 9:00 = 9 oclock or #2 on the dial. My yba200-2 came with 6550's too.
I just received my replacement YBA 200-2 and it has 6550's in it too. I called traynor and they said they are using up the 6550's . So these will need to be replaced to get the most performance out of this amp.
Good grief
So to get to most out of my amp, I need to buy a matched quartet of KT88's and have it re-biased by a tech!
IMO the major difference in the YBA200 is not in the power tubes but in the preamp tubes. If I had to break it down into percentages I'd call it 70/30 pre/power in terms of how much a retube did to this amp.
I imagine the YBA200-2 is similar. It's not like you have a bad amp if you only spend $50-$100 buying great preamp tubes and skip the KT88s and rebiasing.
I imagine the YBA200-2 is similar. It's not like you have a bad amp if you only spend $50-$100 buying great preamp tubes and skip the KT88s and rebiasing.
