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Traynor YBA200 NIGHTMARE... advice needed (dial-up beware)

#42
DLEE said:
Man,as much as I hate to say it,I'm in the same boat.After singing the praises of this amp after the tube switch mine recently went Supernova....

He also pointed out with the current bias system all it is going to take for another total meltdown is one tube going bad and the system is wrecked!I don't see why Traynor doesn't buck up and rectify the old amps with the new bias setup....
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about that, your review helped convince me to get one of these things.

It seems like mine and most of the problems I have been reading about all stem from:

"a bad tube fried the autobias and took out some of the circut board"

...and the stories that end well seem to often end with:

"traynor (or my local tech) moded it to adjustable bias and now it works fine."

As I mentioned before, if I understood what I was getting into, I would have sprung for a new YBA200-2 or a VB-2.

It does seem like everyone who has a YBA200 should either send it back to Traynor or have a tech mod it for manual bias.

Those who are thinking of "saving" a few bucks by purchasing a YBA200 should run the following numbers.

Price of used YBA200
+shipping
+whatever tubes I will want to upgrade to
+an upgrade to adjustable Bias

Is it any lower than the price of a new

YBA-200-2 (which comes with KT88's, adjustable bias, free shipping from musicains friend and a 2 year warranty.)
+ What ever preamp tubes you may want to upgrade to
 
#44
Sean S said:
New power tubes will probably run ~150/200, preamp tubes ~30-50...plus shipping...

I'd just go with a YBA200-2 since you'd get the 2-year unlimited warranty with it.
Click to expand...

That's the formula I used to decide. Used yba200 were going for about 400 plus 50 for shipping. Once you add everything else up it's not worth it. Might as well get a new one with 2 year warranty and kt88's. Plus MF will match another website's price which is selling the yba200-2 for 670.00.
 
#47
Ben Clarke said:
Hey man, a label was sent to your gmail address yesterday. Did it not get through?
Click to expand...

Nah, I haven't seen anything yet. I called Jim today to verify the e-mail address he has for me, but had to leave a message.

What e-mail address would it be coming from? I wanna make sure Gmail isn't filtering it out as spam or something. I'll PM you my Gmail address... maybe you can verify they have the right one?
 
#48
Eilif my apologies upfront.I'm so sorry I got us in this mess. That bias mod Should be sent out to any owner who needs them.Hell, I would be willing to eat the cost of the installation,I know and trust my tech so I know the job will be done right. They should offer a straight out swap for the new model even if we have to eat shipping one way back to Traynor. Come on Traynor,you've got to be listening to this.You've got a bunch of players here that think you have a nice product. DO THE RIGHT THING!!!!!
 
#49
DLEE said:
Eilif my apologies upfront.
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No Problem. Seriously, live and learn. With the new preamp tubes I like the tone, and it has more than enough headroom through my carvin 8x10. As I said, most of the problems I've been reading are related to the bias resistor. If the new adjustable bias mod solves the reliability issues, I think I'll still have a keeper.
 
#50
That's a real shame about your amp bro. Looks like things are slowly getting sorted though so that's good aye.

My experiences with my original YBA-200 have been nothing but great. Sure, I had to swap out the tubes to avoid the 'too trebley, underpowered, grinding overdrive sound' issues but a set of JJ KT88's and replacing one pre tube for a 12AT7 sorted that.

It's great to see the new ones coming with stock JJ KT88's.

I would still recommend swapping the first pre tube for a 12AT7.

Regarding the comment on YBA-200's breaking or being unreliable: I gig regularly, play hard and my gear gets loaded in and out of vehicles/venues a lot. I have never had a problem with my amp other than blown fuses which was fixed by using slow blow fuses of the same rating.

Overall I can't say enough good things about the YBA-200 and I'm sure the new version is no exception.

Joe
 
#51
Well I just fired off an email to Traynor support where I tried to stay calm about this whole ordeal. Wait until God forbid one of us gets injured by one of these Supernova's or a house or rehearsal space goes up in flames then maybe the right people will listen....
 
#52
DLEE said:
Well I just fired off an email to Traynor support where I tried to stay calm about this whole ordeal. Wait until God forbid one of us gets injured by one of these Supernova's or a house or rehearsal space goes up in flames then maybe the right people will listen....
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how serious you're being. I've only ever heard good things about Traynor/Yorkville's customer service. I don't know first hand as the gear I've owned has been reliable and trouble free.
 
#53
I just switched out the 12AX7's in the preamp for a pair of Mullard 6201's (functionally 12AT7's) and it sounds a whole lot better. A lot more mids, it seems, and a lot more gain (clean headroom).

Regarding Yorkville/Traynor CS, I talk regularly with RevGroove off-board and he helps me out with any Traynor issues. Also, Ben Clarke is part of YSL Support, so we're covered both ways. :)
 
#54
Hi, slowburnaz.

That situation sucks, hope the matter gets resolved soon.

Can't remember if You participated in this thread,

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=418047

but there's quite a few good points that should be considered. After a jolt like that, there's bound to be other problems in that amp as well. If a low-mass component is thrown around like a hankerchief, imagine how the tansformers took it.

Hopefully UPS does the right thing.

Regards
Sam
 
#55
Sean S said:
...
I'd just go with a YBA200-2 since you'd get the 2-year unlimited warranty with it.
Click to expand...

For those of you who are thinking of going this route, I just received an email from Musician's Friend telling me that if you call (800) 391 8762 and say "MF Save" you will get a 15% discount on certain products. Traynor is one of those brands that the discount applies to (on a related note, Peavey is not). You could theoretically get a YBA200-2 for about $680 shipped! ($799.99 - 15%)

This offer is valid through Monday 5/26 at 11:59 PST
 
#56
T-Bird said:
Hi, slowburnaz.

That situation sucks, hope the matter gets resolved soon.

Can't remember if You participated in this thread,

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=418047

but there's quite a few good points that should be considered. After a jolt like that, there's bound to be other problems in that amp as well. If a low-mass component is thrown around like a hankerchief, imagine how the tansformers took it.

Hopefully UPS does the right thing.

Regards
Sam
Click to expand...


Actually, Traynor is taking care of this situation... since they're the shipper and packager in this case, it looks they're responsible for making it right.

I can't really take this up with UPS (nor should I have to), as the shipment wasn't insured at all. I think UPS only covers $100 for things that aren't insured.
 
#57
BillyB_from_LZ said:
For those of you who are thinking of going this route, I just received an email from Musician's Friend telling me that if you call (800) 391 8762 and say "MF Save" you will get a 15% discount on certain products. Traynor is one of those brands that the discount applies to (on a related note, Peavey is not). You could theoretically get a YBA200-2 for about $680 shipped! ($799.99 - 15%)

This offer is valid through Monday 5/26 at 11:59 PST
Click to expand...


AND!!! You can use the savings to get a decent pair of 12AT7's/6201's for the preamp! Just playing with those in for half an hour (with about a year and a half stock), even the drummer was impressed ;)
 
#58
bassbmx said:
I'm not sure how serious you're being. I've only ever heard good things about Traynor/Yorkville's customer service. I don't know first hand as the gear I've owned has been reliable and trouble free.
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Bassbmx...I'm just trying to make a point.Too often an obivious glitch is overlooked until the worst case scenario.In my email I stayed away from any harsh or derogatory remarks.I just asked them to step and do the right thing for what were once very happy users. I actually was digging what this thing could do and I'd like to be able to return there again.If anyone took offense to my comment,I apoligise
,But this to me anyways seems like an obvious recall situation.I just hope this is resolved in the very near future.
 
#59
Slowburnaz and anyone with the YBA, get rid of the Sovteks and put some better made, longer lasting Valves/Tubes. Every time one burns out you will burn out the resistors.

Due to the lack of headroom in these amps the output stage has to be driven pretty hard, :hmm: Simply the Sovteks are not up to the job. Traynor - Sovteks :rollno: any other amp and sovteks - would not have a clue.
 

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