Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Bob: Carrying that cab for me is like carrying a lunchbox of mercury. Perhaps I should take the Bassman 100 head off it when I carry it.

Like the Trayner,I know someone selling a 73,Marshall 100W super bass,for $1000.00 I dont know too much about them exept there sought after.

A compressor in your line will save your amp from clipping. I have a limiter on my SWR, but bought a compressor as extra insurance. 5 strings really abuse the amp when you boost the low end quite a bit.

John,
Getting a "little dirt with some natural overdrive" isn't hard at all. Just crank the master up and keep adding gain until you get the overdrive you prefer of course without clipping the amp. I haven't had any problems. Yes, this amp is bright, but you can dial in so many different tones you can overcome that HiFi sound easily. The range control will boost or lower all of the EQ settings, treble, mid, and bass.
Hope that helps. I would hate to steer 2 people in the wrong direction like I did with Lindsay, but I would have to agree with the majority on the reviews.

This is what Lindsay Hahn said after trying an Avatar, and later try an Aguilar 2x12.

"Well, I fought the good fight with it, but ended up returning the amp
with about two days left to go in my return period. I had doubts about my
cabinet, as you may recall, doubts which were confirmed by someone at
Yorkville. I then bought an Aguilar 2x12 cabinet for it, which I may have
told you about, but still could not get rid of the distortion I described
to you earlier. It sounded pretty damn good up to a point, but anything
above six on the volume just sucked, regardless of the gain or other
settings. I tried your ideal setting, too, and had the same result. I
spoke with another person at Yorkville, and one at Aguilar, and was told
the same thing by both people: the amp is too small to drive a bigger
cabinet. It turns out that the amp and the Traynor cabinet that you have
are designed as a unit, so anything other than a 400 watt 4 ohm cab is
going to draw too much power and cause the amp to start to clip. At
least, this is what I've been told, although reviewers on Harmony Central
have evidently used big cabs without problems. After all, an SVT has only
300 watts, so how does that work"?

You may want to chime in Lindsay.

Thanks Bob. I always did things in reverse... boosting gain and keeping the master low to get overdrive. I figure it is tougher on the preamp but you don't need to blast the amp to get the distortion. What do you think? I'm thinking my logic was wrong.

So the YBA200 range allows you to control your eq blend (i,e turn down or turn up your dialed in eq boosts/cuts?)

My only issue with the traynor right now is the lack of ability to control which mid frequencies you cut or boost. What cab to choose is also n issue... but if I get the head with it's matching cab I can at least get a deal on it.

thanks again for the info

Present and chiming, although I'm still not sure that my experience is representative. First, let me say that Bob was very friendly and helpful, any "steering" was done by me. Second, let me say that I'm not an expert so some of what I said to Bob may be obvious to the electrical engineers among us.

Bob's posted the details, but FWIW I can't get past the disparity between the HC reviews and what I experienced. I would just suggest to anyone considering the YBA that they talk to their dealer about the power rating and impedance of their cabinets.

I find when there is a huge difference between what you experience and what others experience... then something is usually wrong with the setup (I'm guessing there was a tube issue with your traynor). But then different people prefer different things.

Did some more looking on the traynor website and found a better explination of the "range" function. I guess it alters what frequency ranges the eq effects (so it can allow you to target high mids for example). The website also mentioned jacking the master and then dialing up the gain to get distortion.

One more question... is the YBA200 self biasing? I remember hearing that somewhere, but then traynor does not advertise that.

John, The tubes are self-biasing.
If you go back to Yorkville's site and download the manual (Adobe required) it's states that the tubes, preamp and power are all self-biasing.

I'd be surprised to find the power tubes are self biasing, that implies a cathode biased 6550. Usually cathode biasing is used on preamp tubes and low power amps in the 5- 15 watt range generally.

John, I agree. I may have mentioned that my first thought, and that of the dealer as well, was that there was a tube problem. We were both puzzled by the person at Yorkville's insistence that it was power drain caused by my cabinets, but in theory he makes 'em so he should know.

maybe, but then I have heard of people using a 100W ampeg v4b to power a 8x10 and 2x15 stack with no problems.

I agree with you on wondering if it was the amp... sometimes it is just easiest to point fingers and I think that is what traynor did.

With that being said, I am pretty sure I want that amp with it's matching cab.

So what's the verdict John?

To buy, or not to buy.

I want to buy the amp... but I just got my 72' so I will have to save for a while. I'm on a student budget... and first I need to fix my tubeworks (so I can sell it to help get the traynor).

I have been impressed with the traynor every time I have tried it out (2x) and the price is good. To get the matching cab or not will be the issue. 85 pounds is a lot and I don't have my own wheels... the band would surly grumble every time I brought it for a gig. An avitar 1x12 (500W) or 2x12 neo (600W) seems like a smarter idea on that level... and I can get them in 4ohm if needed.

V4B=fart city! I've always hated those heads. Every time I had to use one back in the 70's, I could never get a clean sound of of them. However, if you want dirty.. there you go!

I haven't tried any of the new Ampegs. My first good amp was a B-15N that I liked quite a lot, but in general I was never a big Ampeg fan.

FWIW after more years of playing bass than I care to mention I now have a versatile & portable system. I’ve got an Ashdown 500 watt head and 2 x 2x10.

For small gigs, recording and rehearsals I use one cab on its end with the head on top, this then has an output of about 320 watts.

For larger gigs I use both cabs with the head giving the full 500 watts. For major gigs I use this rig and put it through the PA.

I can’t imagine ever changing this set up.

I also use an Ampeg porta bass 250 with their 2x10. This is great for very small jazz gigs and practice. This ‘rig’ doesn’t set my world alight but it is very portable and light.