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Traynor YBA200 Tweaks & Observations

#41
Osobass said:
Calling all Traynor converts

What is going on with their quality control? I keep hearing about problems with these units and now I have my own experience.

The lone Colorado rep for Traynor finally got a YBA200 in after I badgered him for a month. I go in to play the thing and it sounds really weak. I looked at all of the tubes and saw that the 2nd and 3rd preamp tube were not even functioning. The gain pot made loud pops whenever it was touched. Also, the front grill was bulging noticable in the middle.

I still love the YBA200 concept, but I'm a little spooked, regardless of the 2 year warranty.
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I don't recall any other stories about the YBA200 not being reliable. I've only seen a few that it wasn't everyone's cup of tea tonally. What do you sell/recommend? :hiding: :rollno:
 
#42
Ralph, there's no point in changing the AU7 in the splitter hole. You can try it for &%$@# & giggles, but you'll see what I mean. ;)

As far as quality control, I haven't heard anything bad about these either. Some guys don't like the tone out of the box (myself included), but I haven't heard a peep about quality. Oso, if the head you played was that screwed up that bad (complete with bulging grill), I'd have to assume the thing was dropped or otherwise severely mishandled in transit.

They take a little TLC to get great tone - which is totally worth it given the price tag, and as far as I've seen, they're well-built heads.
 
#43
Brent;
Get me a DB report, slacker:) Did my first full 4 hour job with the starks on. Gawd, I love those strings man! Took some right hand pad building, but wow! Don't think you're really gonna slap em though:)
 
#45
My local Colorado dealer got a new unit in. I played it for a good hour and had to make it mine. Thanks guys for the word that problems with these units are not the norm.

The shop owner mentioned that Traynor is talking about releasing a 400W all tube bass head. Has anyone heard any details about this? The news didn't delay my YBA200 purchase because 200 all tube watts is enough for me.
 
#47
Osobass said:
The shop owner mentioned that Traynor is talking about releasing a 400W all tube bass head. Has anyone heard any details about this? The news didn't delay my YBA200 purchase because 200 all tube watts is enough for me.
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You really tweaked my interest with that rumour so I emailed Yorkville. They were kind enough to respond right away.

Apparently, a 400 watt all-tube is NOT in the works. Too bad.
 
#51
Was running my Stingray 4 into a 4x10 & 2x10... Coupla things I noticed...

Even in the -6db ( Active) input, I still couldn't get a clean sound with the gain above about 5 so I'd deff' be doing the pre-amp tube swap.....

The Resonance control didn't seem to do much........

Not 100% sure if I'd be able to get the volume I'd need out of it.. Although my normal rig is a 2x12 + 4x10 so I wasn't really using the cabs I'd normally use.. Getting a bit of extra gain with the pre-amp tube swap and having the bigger cabs could rectify this tho.... It's also hard to tell in a music shop rather than in a gig situation... Everytime I hit an A, all of the acoustic guitars in the shop started to let out sympathy notes... Sounded like a piano!!!!!!! ( Must have been pretty loud then I guess ).

Nice weight for a tube amp... Could easily carry it to/from the car 1 handed...

I like how the power light changes colour......

I have until Tuesday to let them know if I want to buy it.... Am thinking I probably will....... Just have to find a way to get it past the wifey!!


Cheers,

Dan
 
#52
Just got some JJ 12ax7s, 12at7s and KT88s. I tried out the pre amp tubes yesterday and the JJs provided more definition especially when the gain is turned up, the distortion stays clear and it never sounde muddy with the 12ax7. I tried the 12at7 but that did not have enough gain and i could not get the distortion i like out of it. So right now I'm going with 2 JJ 12ax7s and on Wed. I am getting the KT88s installed, now that should prove to be very interesting.
 
#53
mzungu said:
This amp is a huge disappointment to me. I bought it off the Internet so I didn't try it out beforehand. I thought it lacked volume trying it out at home. When I took it to band practice last night for the first time it was seriously drowned out. There is no way the thing puts out 200 watts. I tried the tweaks suggested in this thread too. Maybe I just got a bum one but I'm definately sending it back for a refund. I used it with an Eden 410XLT and a Gibson Thunderbird. It wasn't lacking low end because that is all I could get out of it. I couldn't seem to EQ any thing else. I had to have the master at 3 o'clock with the gain at 6 to even be somewhat audible, then it was distorting badly at times. I wasn't even playing with a drummer just two guitars, albeit loud ones, and a keyboardist. I've been using a '71 Univox U1061 head rated at 105 watts and the Univox leaves the Trayor YBA200 in the dust. I can't recommend the YBA200 at all. :(
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I suspect you got a bum unit. I play with a retardedly loud band. By that, I mean a guitar player who's 100watt tube Marshall is stuck on 11, a synth player who doesn't want to hear anything but himself, and a drummer who wants to keep up with those two.

Anyway, the head is completely sufficient. We've even played gigs at larger sized concert halls and, again, the YBA200 does its job. I usually have the gain on 4 and the master on 5 or 6.

In retrospect, I should have gone with the XS800, but, I can't say the YBA200 a disappointment.
 
#54
Brent mentions setting range to zero. Is this everyone's experience? My YBA seems really dark when I do that. I wonder if Range still has an effect at 0, and isn't in fact turned off?
 
#57
Well I have to admit that intially I loved the YBA200 until i tried it in a band situation and could not hear myself at all, it was really boomy and muddy, I The YBA3 was working perfectly for my situation. However instead of giving up I decided I will try some of these modifications and here is what I ended up with.

I swapped out the pream tubes first for Grove Tubes 12ax7Rs which were pretty good but I tried the JJs and they were 10 times better, much quiter and cleaner. I then swapped one of the JJ 12ax7s (v1) for a JJ 12at7 and reduced the pre-amp gain, results were more calrity and a much milder and smother overdrive that does not get muddy even when the gains all the way up. I cant get a nasty fuxxy distortion as with the AX7s so i do have to compromise and start using my OD pedal again.

The final step was to swap the Sovtek 6550s for JJ KT88s. Again the JJs were much cleaner and had more headroom but still break up nicely when I drive the amp hard. Overall I am very happy with the cahnges and how the amp is sounding I recorded some samples to listen to myself and the diffrence is like night and day. Where before i sounded like a rumbling storm in the background, now i can be heard clearly but with lots of low-end at the same time. I caouldn't be happier with this amp now, and the combination of the YBA3 and YBA200 i have allthe volume power and tone i need....for now:-)
 
#58
bassboysam said:
Well I have to admit that intially I loved the YBA200 until i tried it in a band situation and could not hear myself at all, it was really boomy and muddy, I The YBA3 was working perfectly for my situation. However instead of giving up I decided I will try some of these modifications and here is what I ended up with.

I swapped out the pream tubes first for Grove Tubes 12ax7Rs which were pretty good but I tried the JJs and they were 10 times better, much quiter and cleaner. I then swapped one of the JJ 12ax7s (v1) for a JJ 12at7 and reduced the pre-amp gain, results were more calrity and a much milder and smother overdrive that does not get muddy even when the gains all the way up. I cant get a nasty fuxxy distortion as with the AX7s so i do have to compromise and start using my OD pedal again.

The final step was to swap the Sovtek 6550s for JJ KT88s. Again the JJs were much cleaner and had more headroom but still break up nicely when I drive the amp hard. Overall I am very happy with the cahnges and how the amp is sounding I recorded some samples to listen to myself and the diffrence is like night and day. Where before i sounded like a rumbling storm in the background, now i can be heard clearly but with lots of low-end at the same time. I caouldn't be happier with this amp now, and the combination of the YBA3 and YBA200 i have allthe volume power and tone i need....for now:-)
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Can you post those clips?
 
#60
I'm interested in getting a YBA200 with the matching cab. However, the fact that it may be underpowered is kind of pushing me towards another amp (Fender Bassman 300).

How do you think it would fair with a JCM900 (4x10 stack) and an AC30? My two guitarists play loud and we have Animal on the drums. I currently have an Eden Traveler (300w) with an Ampeg 4x10 classic. I usually have to play with the gain and master volume at 3 O'clock to fit in. Would any of these modifications help?

Not only does the sound of this amp interest me, but it's so reasonably priced. However, I don't want to have an amp I want/need to replace in a few months because it's not loud enough.
 

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