Traynor YBA-300

[Aussie Mark]

I gigged this on Saturday night.  It is absolutely awesome.  Being able to walk into a venue while carrying a 300 watt all tube head in one hand is way cool. Bravo, Traynor.

[jumbodbassman]

GAS attack

[SKATE RAT]

last summer my band recorded at the same hourly studio we practice at. i recorded with my '74 Traynor the engineer "Z" loved my amp so much that he went out and bought one. now the new "old school room" has a killer YBA "Custom special" wow that thing kick major butt cheeks! with just a single 18" i must have one! yo, PBG what is the difference between the "Custom special" and the "Super Custom Special"? Traynors are the best thing to ever come from Canada. now if only they would do something about their Beer. yuck!

[Psycho Bass Guy]

what is the difference between the "Custom special" and the "Super Custom Special"?

They're competely different animals. The YBA-3A Super Custom Special uses a quartet of 6KG6 top-capped tubes for 240 watts and has a deeper voicing the the YBA-3 Custom Special which uses a quartet of EL34's. Traynors are basically Marshall circuits built with better parts.

[Thornton Davis]

I have the original Phillips 6CA7's in my 1973 YBA-3 Custom Special. I also have a spare new quartet of 6CA7-EH's for it if and when any of the Phillips decides to give up the ghost. In my neck of the woods (Traynor's home town), most YBA-3's were left stock and not switched over to EL34's. That seems to be more of an American thing to do which is cool if that's what you're looking for.

TD

[Psycho Bass Guy]

6CA7's ARE for all intents and purposes, EL34's electrically, though true 6CA7's are better tubes for most bass amps. Matter of fact, the Philips (many of which are actually Mullards) "6CA7's" that shipped with Traynors aren't even true 6CA7's; they're all just relabelled EL34's. The difference between an EL34 and  6CA7's is that a 6CA7 is a beam tetrode with a higher peak current capability, while the EL34 is a true pentode with an extra emission control grid.

Early YBA-3's (And YBA-1's and host of other Traynors) were initally equipped with 7027's, which are just 6L6GC's with an extra grid connection on the base; those require much less bias voltage and don't put out as much power and the two types CANNNOT be swapped without bias circuit modification.

[Thornton Davis]

Traynors are the best thing to ever come from Canada. now if only they would do something about their Beer. yuck!

You gotta be kiddin' dude.

TD

[SKATE RAT]

don't get me wrong most American beer sucks too. but the best beer is free beer.

[Pilgrim]

don't get me wrong most American beer sucks too. but the best beer is free beer.

Free beer is better than no beer at all!

But for those of us who live in Fort Collins, the north end of the Napa Valley of beer, fine beers are ubiquitous!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2013275333_trcoloradobeer31.html?syndication=rss

(Somehow they missed Odell's, Coopersmith's and CB& Potts, and we've added more micro-breweries since this article was written.)

[Freuds_Cat]

Beer here is the same as what you guys are alluding to. The multinat owned breweries produce the swill and the smaller privately owned companies are the ones that make the good stuff.

[Aussie Mark]

Detailed review here, with sound samples ....

http://www.bonedo.de/artikel/einzelansicht/traynor-yba300.html

Audio samples are on the "praxis" tab

Google translate -

The first look at an angle from the top of the YBA 300 is admittedly a bit scary: rage behind a removable grille fewer than twelve of the type 6L6 tubes and provide for 300-watt power amp. Three 12AX7 preamp tubes and one 12AU7 Driver complement the lush tube equipment of the 300th YBA That's all kinds of smells, and from afar, after much effort service, the Traynor met but with a user-friendly system for handwritten bias adjustment of the tube pairs. Then I will discuss in detail later. The case itself is compared to the YBA 200 grew only very slightly, and the weight about 23kg with higher minimal.

The YBA 300 is a tube amp in this power class that is still very easy to transport. Here, the construction is rock solid, the 19mm plywood panels are covered with durable Tolex, protected the corners with metal caps and thick rubber feet, both well below and to the left before slipping back up the amp. Is a folding handle for transporting it to any page that can be 23 kg but also relatively easy to carry with one hand, at least over shorter distances. The front has been compared to YBA200 done a lot: the "grille" with the silver "Trayor badge" is now sitting up and the control panel with the knobs and connectors has been thinned out thoroughly what the YBA 300 in total a much more classic look gives, in my opinion.

Two jack inputs (0 dB and-6dB) for the connection of passive and active basses with mostly higher output level, sit still on the left, flanked by three switches labeled "Deep", "Bright" and "Resonance", the the little brother YBA 200 not exist. The Deep and Bright functions most likely to be known bassists from other amplifiers, they are hidden behind EQ presets that make the sound in the bass either thick (deep) or just the highs and upper mids (Bright) stress. Resonance with the switch of the damping factor of the low frequencies is reduced, the membranes of the speakers vibrate and therefore produce a slightly more open and perhaps even a little "sluggish" sound. Other way, the sound activate Resonance switch due to a higher damping factor will be "tighter and more compact. At YBA 200, the resonance feature was continuously adjust with a knob, the Traynor YBA 300, has probably decided in favor of ease of use for a fixed value. In the center of things, there are six pots in vintage-look: gain for the input signal, a passive 3-band EQ with bass, mid, including frequency selection knob (200 to 3.0 kHz) and heights. To the right of the master page provided for adjusting the final volume. Stay for the front, only the Power and Standby switches to mention, including the operating lamp.

All other ports, such as the tuner or line-out jack, which had yet to find the YBA200 the front, when YBA300 walked to the rear.
Some of the users will surely find something impractical, others will appreciate the simple and cleaned up acting front - a matter of taste. On the connectivity latched changed very little: two jacks (send / return) allow the addition of an effects device, one more is to connect a tuner provided and with the balanced XLR output, the signal can be routed to a console. This output also has a Pre / Post EQ switch and ground lift switch to eliminate ground loops. At YBA 200 could connect the speakers via phone only, the Traynor YBA 300 has donated an additional and more reliable now standard belonging Speakon jack. The impedance of the YBA switch 300 allows a choice between 2 or 4 ohms, the previous one could not decide between 4 or 8 ohms. Due to the increased power output, I think this change for quite reasonable, experience has shown that most bassists use several smaller 8-ohm speakers or just great examples 4-ohm and no more big-box 8-ohms.

Finally we see the rear "grille" all lights and controls, which allow the user to the above matching all six pairs of tube. For each tube pair are three LED's are labeled "Protect", "Low" and "High" and a recessed knob with Phillips for individual bias adjustment available.

Immediately after pressing the power switch and then you get to enjoy the full light organ, as in the standby mode, the power tubes "be attracted" and all the red, blue and yellow lights are impressive. It gets really exciting when one switches from standby to normal operation mode, namely, should, ideally, all LEDs go out, which means that all 12 tubes work properly and correct the bias of the tube pair. In my Testamp the bias has been on two pairs of tube too high and at too deep and I could direct me to start my testing with the familiar balancing system. And what shall I say, it would Traynor also easier for the beginner can do little. The blue LED, the bias is too low and the wheel must be rotated for adjustment with a Phillips screwdriver to the right, the yellow lamp is the bias too high and the perfect setting with a rotation reaches the left when everything is right , all LEDs - finished!
The red LED labeled "Protect" indicate a defect or malfunction of a tube. As a consequence, the pair in question is automatically removed from the game and the amp runs on "10 cylinders," continues with a little less power tube. Pretty clever system, it really is to operate from any layman. One can only hope that it works technically flawless.

Once in my test-tube amp now all work properly, I am finally able to enjoy the powerful tube sounds. Even without a direct comparison is immediately clear that the new Traynor has significantly more power than the YBA 200 and can be really loud. He has much more headroom and is very long, "clean". Only when he starts to gain full wide open easy to crunch. Although I overdrive sounds like the YBA 200, I find that he had a bit too fast in the Zerre is too small and can provide a range of clean sounds. At YBA 300, it is the other way around, right overdrive sounds are not there, but he stays clean even at high volumes and provides an immensely powerful and warm sound. With a relatively neutral recommended by Yorkville "Flat" setting (if something with a tube amp even exists), with bass and treble on 5 and the middle knob at 1.0kHz to 3 or 4, the YBA 300 music sounds as expected, less aggressive than the YBA 200th This is not least because the centers be somewhat milder. You can hear the audio clip in the "flat". I used to clip the same bass with the identical setting as the YBA 200 test and also played a similar groove, so you can compare.

Except for the somewhat milder Mittenvoicing the YBA 300, which may of course be due to a different mode of action of the EQ, the basic sound is different but not significantly different from that of the smaller brother YBA 200th The bass is very solid and sounds relatively open, not as compressed as in some other tube amps. The highs are clear and the upper mids are not too intrusive, but still have enough for a transparent and balanced sound.

A pronounced difference between the two amps is audible only at much gain cranked. You can also refer to the audio clip "Full Gain" with the appropriate file from the YBA Compare 200th In both I have again used the same bass with identical settings on the amps and only slightly boosted the mids.

Traynor YBA of the 300 is actually a very successful development of the YBA Vollröhrentops 200th The bass player is not at least because its a tube amp, and its compact size, low weight, yet very popular, many bassists but wanted a bit more power and headroom. They are getting now with the YBA 300 - without which the basic data have changed great. Traynor has some additional features such as Resonance - Scoop simplified or the department, or new, like the very user-friendly bias means or the more reliable Speakon Speaker Jack added. The new "12-cylinder" Traynor is typical for excellent workmanship and will remain affordable, with a street price under thousands of brand. Highly recommended for tube fans!

Pros
Sound
Headroom / Performance
processing
portability
Price / Performance

Cons
-

[Thornton Davis]

I picked up a 4 month old TC-810 cabinet earlier this week to pair up with my YBA300 for those gigs where bringing two 410 cabs is inconvenient. Got it for less than half the retail price from a private seller (no tax).



This thing's a friggin' monster!

TD