Yorkville Y400B?

[ChopperDave]

Yorkville Y400B on eBay

I'm having a lot of trouble finding any solid info on this head--the specs are good; I would just like to know how it compares to things in its price range (Behringer, Acoustic) and to GK heads (BL 600, 700RB-II).

I've got a bead on a BL600 but I could get this for the same price (and 100 watts more, plus some other goodies). Problem is, I can't try it out first. Any info is, as always, appreciated.

 

[zachoff]

I had the 400B 1x15 combo & it was my practice/gig rig for about 8 years.

The head is loud and has a ton of headroom. It's durable as all get out and the EQ is super usable. Drawbacks are that it's not incredibly musical... Kinda stale. I played w/ a pre in front of it for this reason and it helped. It takes to pedals pretty well if that's you're thing.

I'd say it's probably of better build quality than Acoustic or Behringer and probably sounds as good, if not a little better. GK will probably sound a little better, but won't be as loud.

 

[ChopperDave]

Awesome feedback, thanks!

I do use effects--my comp is always on, and I use delay and distortions frequently. I wonder if adding a BBDI or a VT pedal would make this more versatile.

 

[zachoff]

Awesome feedback, thanks!

I do use effects--my comp is always on, and I use delay and distortions frequently. I wonder if adding a BBDI or a VT pedal would make this more versatile.

Yeah, probably would. I used an old Peavey Max Pre and dug it. Worked for me until I got my SVT.

 

[taurus1]

for that kind of money, I can't think of an amp that would touch that thing.
there's a "by the hour" rehearsal space we used to use and they had complimentary Yorkville (400 head with 410 and 1x15 cabs) bass rigs in every room.
I brought my SVT rig and decided to try the Yorkie just to see what it was like.
it blew me away as far as power and headroom goes, the tone wasn't what I was used to but with some pedals I got some good tone happening.
I never brought my SVT rig back there because those rigs just pounded.

 

[klyph]

180.00$ delivered? Yeah, that's a good deal. You can definitely gig with those heads. Yorkville makes durable stuff, too. Absolutely better than the BL in every way! However, if you can pick up a 700rb for that price, that's not bad either, that amp has some nice features. But of the amps you named, the yorkville is the loudest. It's conservatively rated, where the BL is not.

 

[MuthaFunk]

I owned two of these. They are unstoppable. MUCH better build quality than anything in it's price range. Great volume but as others have said the tone was always...bland. The contour button is not really of much use unless your going for that Fieldy of Korn tone. The limiter will inject small artifacts into the tone when engaged but the headroom is great so I never really hit the limiter. Plus, the limiter can be defeated.

If you have any pre pedal to put in front of it you'll be very happy. I was even happy with the graphic eq for quite a while as I ran different effects to colour my sound. That price is ridiculous considering what your actually getting. It's pretty heavy as the build construction is very solid. Those are the kind of amps that will still be running in 30 years. That style was manufactured all through the 90's IIRC.

 

[will33]

Chiming in to echo what others have said. A guy here had one of those he'd bring to jams, etc. for all of us to use. I was pretty impressed. It's one of a fairly few combo amps I would consider gig-worthy gear. Meaning it can match levels with a fairly energetic drummer, carry a typical smallish bar/pub on it's own and still have something left to give. It's not cranked to the end of it's abilities yet in a situation like that. Holds together and keeps a good sound.

It doesn't have much of a baked in "sound" of it's own. Doesn't mimick a tube amp or anything like that. Just a good, basic, solid sound to start from. It does have enough bands of eq to dial in most any problem room. Good format to just go with that sound or let your pedals do the coloring/flavoring.


I view Yorkville/Traynor as sort of "Canada's Peavey". It's not real fancy, boutiquey stuff, just good, solid, dependable, loud, and decent sound. It'll keep you rockin' the pour house without putting you in the poor house.

 

[loendmaestro]

Put a VT in front of that thing and you'll be good to go.

 

[nojj]

Yep, I have one of those, probably an older model, has a grey face and the 400 on the side.
Worked great for years, long after several Ampegs of a similar wattage gave up the ghost.
Still in my studio rack as a backup, should my stage rigs ever go belly-up
Even my drummer liked it, and like Mikey, he hates everything.

Only complaints I had was it was a little 'clicky' on the treble side,
and that contour switch took some getting used to.
To use the FX send/return on the back, you will need an insert cable,
TRS on one side, to a TS on the tip, and another TS on the ring.

Oh, and no fan. Has fairly robust heat sinks, but keep it outta the hot sun.

 

[eglacias]

I had the 400B 1x15 combo & it was my practice/gig rig for about 8 years.

The head is loud and has a ton of headroom. It's durable as all get out and the EQ is super usable. Drawbacks are that it's not incredibly musical... Kinda stale. I played w/ a pre in front of it for this reason and it helped. It takes to pedals pretty well if that's you're thing.

I'd say it's probably of better build quality than Acoustic or Behringer and probably sounds as good, if not a little better. GK will probably sound a little better, but won't be as loud.

I used this cabinet for about 12 years before I discovered… If you plug your bass into the effects return, thus bypassing the EQ section and going straight into the power amp, this amplifier becomes like night and day perfect. The EQ and preamp is just garbage in comparison.
I discovered this after playing my bass through my 15 inch cabinet through a QSC power amp hearing how incredibly clean it suddenly sounded , then in comparison, Once I bypassed preamp the 400b sounded exactly like the QSC power amp I was comparing it to! Only difference being of course it has some hiss and noise unlike the studio quality QSC.
This bass head was in a 500 person club being used by Bob Marley's original bass player, I was doing backline. Plugged into a 410 and a 15 cabinet, the bass level was actually *off* in the massive turbosound PA it was so loud!
Just found this little thread trying to find out how many watts RMS it is rated for. I assume it's a real 400.