Traynor YBA300

[jonday30]

No exactly but I’m almost 100% sure when I got this back a few weeks ago(repairs) the 12au7 was on the far right. So the driver was a 12ax7. It didn’t sound right, just not as loud as it used to be.

However I fixed the ground and realized this. I did put the driver in the right location and guess what it’s back to normal! I thought I was going to trade this dud for another one but it’s great now.

This is my 3rd yba300, this is the only one I seem to have constant issues with. Had a looked at 3 times now for shutting off, tubes locking out, noises, etc. $600 later in new tubes it still had some weird noises and just didn’t have the balls it used to. The driver tube was installed in V3 and check this silicone ground!!! This was probably my problem the entire time!

 

[LetItGrowTone]

I don't recognize that board.

 

[jonday30]

It’s the input jack panel. The active and passive jacks are backwards on the board.

 

[LetItGrowTone]

Oh, I see, thanks. I've never pulled that one.

 

[LetItGrowTone]

@jonday30, my YBA300 had too much hum and noise but I didn't want to mention it or talk about it here. I improved it a lot by *removing things*.

 

[jonday30]

Well I just went through the whole thing 100 times, dropped it off 3 different times to have fixed. I had this hum that wouldn’t go away. So what I did was warm it up, nothing plugged in and set all the bias controls to where the orange LED would light up. On a few tube pairs it clicked the red one on and shut off that pair.

So then I shut it down and restarted and set all the bias controls to cold and turned it back until the blue LED went out on each pair of tubes. The hum was now gone and has never come back. So basically the set them all hot and then back to cold and then slightly off cold until all blue lights were out.

 

[C_nut]

Quick question. Does the fan in YBA-300 work when the amp is in stand by? I'm having problems with it crapping out during long sessions and I'm thinking it might be an overheating issue. Last time it crapped out the volume dropped to 10% and one of the bias orange leds light up.

 

[cflat]

There is no fan in the YBA-300--I have a 2019 one and Installed a small computer fan on the top grate--blowing out--sucks air in thru the front and back grates-works fabulous.

 

[joetiii]

Anybody know what frequency the Bass & Treble controls are set at?

 

[50hertz]

Hey ; just picked one of these up and it completely eliminated my "always on" chain of pedals (compressor , overdrive, preamp pedal)...

However, I play some pretty aggressive music, and I still want the option to get some over the top hairy fuzz / Distortion. Who has had luck running dirt pedals with this head? Any tips or pitfalls to look for?

I'm pretty open to styles. I find that as long as the sound gets an overall "lift" from kicking in the dirt, then I can make it work in the band mix. Ive run muffs, superfuzzes, mosfet distortion, and rats with big clean solid state amps and found a love for all of them. I play in a 3 piece so I need to cover a bit for the lack of a rhythm guitar.

So what does the yba300 play nice with? Nasty with? Give me your knowledge to speed my trial and error up!

 

[bebass]

Hey ; just picked one of these up and it completely eliminated my "always on" chain of pedals (compressor , overdrive, preamp pedal)...

However, I play some pretty aggressive music, and I still want the option to get some over the top hairy fuzz / Distortion. Who has had luck running dirt pedals with this head? Any tips or pitfalls to look for?

I'm pretty open to styles. I find that as long as the sound gets an overall "lift" from kicking in the dirt, then I can make it work in the band mix. Ive run muffs, superfuzzes, mosfet distortion, and rats with big clean solid state amps and found a love for all of them. I play in a 3 piece so I need to cover a bit for the lack of a rhythm guitar.

So what does the yba300 play nice with? Nasty with? Give me your knowledge to speed my trial and error up!

Surprised you never received any answers. Several months old, so don't even know if you still have the amp, but…
I owned a YBA100 for a while - same tone stack as the 300, and tried several pedals with it. Worked fine. What did you end up doing?

 

[Justyn Brando]

Hey ; just picked one of these up and it completely eliminated my "always on" chain of pedals (compressor , overdrive, preamp pedal)...

However, I play some pretty aggressive music, and I still want the option to get some over the top hairy fuzz / Distortion. Who has had luck running dirt pedals with this head? Any tips or pitfalls to look for?

I'm pretty open to styles. I find that as long as the sound gets an overall "lift" from kicking in the dirt, then I can make it work in the band mix. Ive run muffs, superfuzzes, mosfet distortion, and rats with big clean solid state amps and found a love for all of them. I play in a 3 piece so I need to cover a bit for the lack of a rhythm guitar.

So what does the yba300 play nice with? Nasty with? Give me your knowledge to speed my trial and error up!

Surprised you never received any answers. Several months old, so don't even know if you still have the amp, but…
I owned a YBA100 for a while - same tone stack as the 300, and tried several pedals with it. Worked fine. What did you end up doing?

Reviving this thread.
YBA300 is a solid amp and plays nice with anything I've thrown at it. I find Fuzz and Muff types sound great, but that is my personal preference.

I use a Rattler pedal to push the amp into more tube saturation at lower levels.

All in all, I've had this head for over a decade and can't see myself switching anytime soon

 

[Justyn Brando]

did some looking up. Apparently it comes Stock with 3 x 12AX7, 1 x 12AU7 and 12 x 6L6 Tubes.

I knew it had the 6L6 and 12AX...wasn't aware that there was a single 12AU in there.

Personally, I ran EL34's and my pre was stock.

Older Post, but can you comment on the difference the EL34s made?

 

[Coot]

Interesting.

The 400+ has 4 12AX7's and 12 6V6's and the YBA300 has 3 12AX7's a single 12AU7 and can be swapped out for 12 6V6's. This could definitely be some competition for the Mesa, just 200 watts lighter and no word on power class that I can find (the Mesa is a class A/B).

The yba 100 comes with 4x (JJ 6L6 )stock and 3x (JJ 12ax7s). The YBA 300 I believe is 12x (JJ 6L6)stock not 6v6 and either amp can be swapped out for EL34s.

 

[Coot]

When I finally got some EL34's .. They seemed to break up sooner .. IMO the EL's add a touch of grind at higher volumes as compared to the 6L6's. But I found the 6L6's put out more volume at the the same settings. I had to order the EL 34's from Tube Depot. expensive when shipping was added because there are none available at the Long and McQuade here in the Peg. As a matter of fact there are no 6L6's at Long and McQ either .

 

[Justyn Brando]

When I finally got some EL34's .. They seemed to break up sooner .. IMO the EL's add a touch of grind at higher volumes as compared to the 6L6's. But I found the 6L6's put out more volume at the the same settings. I had to order the EL 34's from Tube Depot. expensive when shipping was added because there are none available at the Long and McQuade here in the Peg. As a matter of fact there are no 6L6's at Long and McQ either .

Thank you! I appreciate the feedback on the EL's.
I'm looking to have the amp breakup a bit sooner so happy to hear that. There's more than enough volume as is, so losing a bit is irrelevant.

I'm looking at ordering 6CA7EH's, as they came highly recommended for their price point.

 

[cfortner]

You did it? A year ago? Whats the result?

 

[rodl2005]

Thank you! I appreciate the feedback on the EL's.
I'm looking to have the amp breakup a bit sooner so happy to hear that. There's more than enough volume as is, so losing a bit is irrelevant.

I'm looking at ordering 6CA7EH's, as they came highly recommended for their price point.

One year on?