Traynor YBA-2B Tips & Mods?

[JimiGuy7]

Hi, I am looking at getting a Traynor YBA-2B and I want to know a few things first. This model has 2xEL84 and 2x12AX7 and a 15" speaker. I would like to know anyone's opinion on using this amp for guitar and also what they thought of he sound of the 15" speaker for rock and blues applications. Has anyone tried to shorten the cab and add a 12" speaker as apposed to the 15"
and maybe you could reccomend a speaker type for me to check.

Secondly I would like to know about some things you can do (mods per se) to make it sound more like a guitar amp, if it does'nt already and what kind of process you would have to go through to put new tubes in it, ie, do you have to bias when you are replacing EL84's or preamp tubes? I know nothing about electronics, so pleasedunb it down for me.

Finally, does anyone actually know how many watts this thing really is? I keep hearing mixed things about it and it's specs, so some clarification would be awesome.

[torndownunit]

I have the head version (EL84) and have left it totally stock. It sounds great as is to my ears. One thing you should plan on is replacing that speaker though if it's a stock Marsland. They aren't a great speaker in an otherwise great amp.

I have no problem with a 15" speaker for rock. It would make the combo more portable and lighter though if you set it up for a 12".

The only thing I have considered fixing on mine is some sort of mod to give it a little less bass. You basically have to keep the bass tone knob at between zero and 2. It would be nice if I could get a little more versatility out of that. But I just leave it on one, crank the amp, and it sounds fantastic. Great natural overdrive at nice volumes.

The YBA-2 is the most under-rated out of the vintage Traynor amps IMO. I prefer it to the old YBA-1 I had, and the YGM-3 I had. The heads are great because they are so compact too. I run mine into a 1x12 pine cab with a Jensen Neo in it. A great lightweight rig.

[JimiGuy7]

That is great advice, thank you. I was thinking about putting a 12" in it. Have you heard of any mods to loose some of the bass so you have more control? Is it a loud enough amp to play with a drummer and a bass player? I was thinking of sticking a Celestion G12H in it anyone have any idea of whatthat might turn out like? And lastly, does anyone know the specs on this amp? Thanks for all your help.

[traynor_garnet]

15" speakers are great for guitar so don't think you need to switch to a 12". The Marsland (stock) speaker may leave something to desire so you might want to budget for a new speaker (mine came with a 15" Jensen!).

The amp is plenty loud enough to jam with, but if you need lots of clean headroom you might have a bit of a problem. Great rock and blues amp and nice cleans too, but if you are playing jazz you probably won't have enough clean volume. If you need more cleans, look for a very efficient replacement speaker.

Before getting mod happy, get the amp and give it a listen. Don't forget that a good eq pedal might be cheaper and preferable to extensive mods.

TG

[torndownunit]

Ya it's totally a rock beast. I think they are 15 watts, but you usually find the specs on Traynor amps' power a little under-rated. I have no issues playing over a loud drummer at all. But at those volumes you are into overdrive territory.

[JimiGuy7]

What do you mean by an efficient speaker for more clean headroom? More wattage? Do you find you can still play with a drummer at clean, not overdriven, levels? I read somewhere that if I go with a speaker that handles just a little bit more power then the amp you can acheive an excellent, alomst Jimi like, tone when you drive the amp due to tube and speaker breakup. I also read somewhere that the amp is 25 watts and that is why I decided I should go with a Celestion G12H, because it handles 30 watts. I basically want an amp I can carry down the street to the local jam and still have a good clean sound (a little bit of a dirty but not to dirty clean sound) but will also rock right up when I turn on my tubescreamer. You know, I want the Tube Screamer to push the amp over the edge. I don't really want to do any mods except for putting JJ tubes in it, if you even consider that a mod. Do you have to bias EL84's? Do you have to bias preamp tubes? I know nothing about electronics, I just know good tone. Your thoughts again, please.

[greco]

Like torndownunit, I have the head version and run it into a homemade pine cab with a Weber AlNiCo 12" speaker.

I bought mine from a member of this forum (ssdeluxe). His brother builds amps and had done some work on this one. The head was "modded" by the addition of a standby switch on front panel where the reset button (?) was originally.

If you have looked at a schem (or an internal pic of the chassis) of this amp, you will see how simplistic it really is.
I can email you both of these if you PM me with your email address

A friend of mine who builds amps, and works in the electronics field professionally, told me that the tube life of the EL84's could be enhanced by the addition of a resistor (or change in value of an exsiting resistor).

The only thing I would change at the moment (apart from the above) is the wiring of the tone stack. My amp increases/decreases substantially in volume as you turn the bass and/or treble up/down.

I have settled on the output as being "about 20 watts", after reading many opinions on this. Mine seems to take pedals (BD-2 and Holy Grail reverb) quite well. I'm not much of a pedal person.....too lazy. However, I do like a bit of reverb.

I love the size and tone of this amp. Crank it and put a strat through it:food-smiley-004::bow:

Also, I'm quite sure that you will need to adjust the bias if you put in new EL84's. Although, I might be wrong. Hopefully, someone will confirm this for you.

Enjoy your amp!!

Dave

[RIFF WRATH]

Traynor specs can be found on the Black Velvet site.
cheers
RIFF