Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Yesterday my new Tarynor amp arrived. This is the first time I have owned an all tube amp, and simply put there is no turning back now !!!
I thought my c64 sounded amazing through my Fender BXR 200, well with the Tarynor there is no comparision. Looks like the BXR is going to be on EBay. Last night a few of us got together for a jam session and guys there where completely blown away at the sound of this amp. It even makes my Harke 4x10 VX sound so good I may not even consider the YBX1510 cab that goes with the amp. Loud, never got passed 4 on the master volume. The amp also has a gain control, the more you crank up the gain the more warm overdriven tube sound is achived. Another nifty little feature is a standby switch, rather than turning the down the pickups, and turning off the amp, you can simple flip the standby switch and not a sound while the amp remains warmed up. The amp is also extremely quite, not a single hiss what so ever. You can dial in so many different tones with it, and it also has a cool range control for the treble, bass, and mid range settings. I think this amp would be plenty powerfull enough for most venues. Like I said, a setting of 4 and I almost blew all the drop ceiling panels out of my studio downstairs IMO if you have a mere $600 this is without a doubt the best tube amp out there for the money. I bought from Musicians Buy on Sunday this week and it was here yesterday shipped direct from Yorkville without a scratch. The amp is just a little heavy weighing in at 44 lbs. but it has 2 spring loaded heavy duty handles on each side and it is built like a rock. The people at Musicians Buy are great too, excellent customer service.
http://www.musiciansbuy.com/mb/item.asp?ic=YBA200
Well, I could go on and on, but this amp is money well spent.
Jim, thanks for the tip. Be sure to buy one, you won't regret it.

Group shot. I was hoping you could see the tubes glowing but, too dark.
Hey, no remarks about the Fenders please

You won't get any Fender comments out of me. I also own a '75 Reissue Jazz Bass, along with a Fullerton-made '62 Reissue J-Bass and a 50th Anniversary Precison Bass.

I like the Hofner!

Back to the Yorkville, I'm trying to see if I can locate one around my way to try it out. How would you consider the sound? Is it similar to an SVT or another brand?

Congrats, and thanks for the tip Bob. They're nice-looking amps and that is a great price.

Nice Ricks. But I want to hear too!

Ron, I wish that was a Hofner. It's a cheap 200 dollar Rogue copy that sound pretty dam good for that hollow body sound.

The Yorkville has ton a bass tone to it, more so than a Bassman. I would think it's rather close to an SVT, real ballsy. Maybe others would disagree. It would be nice if you could locate one nearby to judge for yourself. I know my c64 now really has that Ric growl to it.

I'd say closer to a Bassman than a SVT...

Hi Ron,
Nice picture, and congratulations on the Traynor.

Welcome to the world of Valves (tubes) like you say, once you use an all tube amp it's hard to turn back.

I'm collecting my pennies and hope to have one in the nenar future.

By the way, it's worthwhile turning on the amp and leaving it on standby 10-15 mins before you plan to use it (if you can). Standby is a great option.

Yorkville
Yorkville
Yorkville
Glad to hear the great review Bob. Funny, I traded my Fender BXR400 in on my XS400!

Welcome to the Yorkie family!

Tellin' you guys, the best kept secret in amplification - the MOST bang for your buck.

I too am leaning towards the YBA200, but also really tempted with the new XS800H, which is a tube pre-amp with 800 watts of power. I only heard good things about this Amp, along with their new 8X8 Cabinet. I will go try it soon and let you know what I think.

Stephane, I can't imagine what the XS800H would sound like - my XS400H is a BOOMER! Haven't got it past '3' yet.
Lemme know your review, I love my amp.
That 8x8 cab looks cool too...

My Traynor YCV40 amp is the best that my father says he ever played through, and he played through quite a few that belonged to musicians that were passing through the club he once worked at. The Traynor cabinets of birch plywood and that steel mesh backed grille are much more roadworthy than the cheap pine that Fender uses. The Hammond transformers used in Traynor tube amps are also Canadian made and have a very good reputation for quality. Transformers are the heart of any tube amp. I replaced my power transformers in my old Heathkit amps with Hammonds. I can't figure how Yorkville sells their Traynor amps at such low prices and still builds them in Canada. Fender had better wake up.

I used to use an early 70's Traynor Bass Master MKII with a Traynor 8X10 cab. Huge tube tone but a little large for my purposes - I eventually got rid of it in favour of a Nemesis combo. Yesterday I checked out the YB200 head at my local retailer and while it sounded nice, I was blown away by the XS400 15" combo! It had a great tube peramp for a bit of grind, plus you could mix the distorted tone with the unaffected signal. Very cool! My Nemesis is a 2X10 combo, but I've always really prefered a 15" speaker - I might need to look into switching to the XS400 combo.

Hey Bob,
Your cab is on the Bay right now...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10171&item=3779693125&rd=1

Thanks, Chris.

The head...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10171&item=3779690665&rd=1