# Traynor YBA-1



## kyle (Oct 18, 2008)

I know that this amp has been discussed here in length before, but I have a few questions that I couldn't find the answer to using the search function. 

I picked up this YBA-1 a few days ago. It has the master volume mod and has been re-tubed. It sounds great and is in good working condition. 

I'm trying to find out what the date on it is. From pictures I've seen I believe it's a '66 or '67, but I'm not sure. Is there any way to accurately date this head? The SN is 0554 so I assume it's pretty early. Is there supposed to be a logo on the front? (pictures of the proper logo for the year?) 

Also, both volumes knobs affect the volume and tone even when the channels are not dimed. Is this normal for these amps, or is it safe to assume that it's been modded internally?

Thanks


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## wayne (Apr 8, 2009)

I'm not sure what you mean by the "master volume mod".

It is normal for the volume on the unused channel to affect the tone and to a lesser extent the volume of the channel in use, in other words if you're plugged into channel I, the channel II volume will have some effect.

Mine is, I believe, a '71 - I'd have to look when I get home. The face plate looks the same, but it has different cloth and round knobs.

Have you looked inside? Nearly all Traynor amps have a schematic, which should be dated, glued to the top cover.

W


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

It's mid 60s and should have a logo. The grill cloth is also not original.

If you can give me a shot of the back I could give you more info. Does it have a choke? Tube rectifier? What kind of output tubes is it using?

TG


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## kyle (Oct 18, 2008)

Thanks for the replies. 
The volume mod is just a master volume pot that was added at the back of the head. It's kinda cool, you can get some tube break-up at tolerable volume levels. 
I don't really know that much about tube circuits, so I just added some pics that will hopefully answer some questions. 
There was no schematic inside.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

NICE!

This is an early one like mine. Tube rectified, has a choke, originally would have ran 7027s for power tubes. Only the very early ones use this type of circuit board.

Notice something "special" about the back panel's name plate? . . . It doesn't read "YBA-1." Like mine, it simply states "Bass Amp" meaning that this is one of the early ones right after the first few "Dynabass" amp (identical to ours except in name) but before the full switch over to the YBA-1 Bassmaster model designation. 

This is basically "the" bassmaster to own. Tone for days and massive hammond trannies (although one of yours may be a replacement). Basically a JTM 45/Bassman with better parts.

Keep it, our sell it to me 

TG


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## JC103 (Oct 6, 2007)

Cool amp man, who'd you buy it from? Was it Randy by any chance?


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## kyle (Oct 18, 2008)

Thanks for the info,
It really sounds great through my Garnet Rebel 212 cab.
Didn't buy it from Randy...


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## JC103 (Oct 6, 2007)

I've have a friend who has one similar to that. It's a great sounding amp, enjoy! Do you play out in the peg much?


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## kyle (Oct 18, 2008)

Don't play out that much, mostly just when I'm accompanying my students. I do quite a bit of teaching. Violin and mandolin mostly, but some guitar.


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## Rabbit (Oct 9, 2007)

Nice Amp! According to the Velvet Black site ser.# o554 would indicate that it was manufactured in 1966 which is about the time they changed over to the 6CA7 tubes and a solid state rectifier. Its nice to see that whoever did the master volume mod used the ground switch hole instead of drilling a new one so you can return it to stock later if you want to.By the way you can (at least for now) order the correct grille cloth through Traynor dealers but make sure you specify the old stuff (YGM-3 re-issue) Regarding the logo Traynor was in the process of switching from the original Spaghetti (fender like) to the newer "rayno" logo (the T and R often broke off at the screw holes ) so yours could of had either. If you cant find an original you can order new ones from Traynor as well.Ihave some and compared them to my originals and they are pretty well dead nuts on but do not mount by screws but rather push in like a marshall. Hope this helps some!


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## breakfast (Jun 16, 2009)

Do you mind saying how much you paid or is that a no-no on the forums? I'm looking at picking up a YBA-1 myself and I'm kinda looking for a ballpark price range.


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## kyle (Oct 18, 2008)

I made a straight up trade for it, so it's hard to say. 
I've seen them advertised anywhere from $450-$600 ish. Hope that helps some.


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## breakfast (Jun 16, 2009)

kyle said:


> I made a straight up trade for it, so it's hard to say.
> I've seen them advertised anywhere from $450-$600 ish. Hope that helps some.


Thanks for the input. I'm hoping to unload my Tiny Terror and grab one of these... sound huge I've heard.


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## HarpBoy (Jun 10, 2009)

kyle said:


> Thanks for the replies.
> The volume mod is just a master volume pot that was added at the back of the head. It's kinda cool, you can get some tube break-up at tolerable volume levels.
> I don't really know that much about tube circuits, so I just added some pics that will hopefully answer some questions.
> There was no schematic inside.


It sounds to me like you have a '65 DynaBass. Look at the following from Mike Holman's whitepaper on the history of Yorkville sound:

"Before year end 1963, a batch of twenty-four Dynabass amps was produced. These had a new feature, a small
black-on-copper back plate bearing a serial number from "0001" to "0024” (such optimism), also the electrical
ratings and the words "Bass Amp, mfg. by YORKVILLE SOUND, Toronto, Canada".

Also:

""Dynabass" became "Bass Master" in 1964, and on the amp's back plate, "Bass Amp" was replaced by model
designation "YBA-1" - Yorkville Bass Amp #1. About this time power was increased slightly to 45 Watts @ 8
Ohms. 12AX7 preamp tubes were mated at first with 7027A output tubes, but later 6CA7’s were standardized."

And read this to decipher dating by serial number:

"Another thing changed in 1970. Serial numbers went from four or five digits to seven digits with the manufacturing
date coded into the first three. This system is still in use and might be worth noting. The first digit is the last digit of
the year and the next two are the month. For example, serial number 0060001 would be from 1970, month
number 06 (June). What about 1980 or 1990 or 2000? No problem. Yorkville usually changes the model
designation or the product within ten years."

Cheers.


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

hey, cool info...I never knew what "YBA" stood for!!

kyle congrats on the amp, those tube rectified ones are surely the most sought after ( aside from the original 24 Dynabass )


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

HarpBoy said:


> It sounds to me like you have a '65 DynaBass. Look at the following from Mike Holman's whitepaper on the history of Yorkville sound.


It's not a Dynabass. The front panel clearly reads "Bass master."

As my earlier post states, this is one of the earliest bass master amps (like mine) that is not a dyna bass but predates the YBA-1 model designation. I've owned a Dynabass and still have my ultra early bassmaster. Other than the name change (and gold versus silver writing) they are identical.

TG


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## HarpBoy (Jun 10, 2009)

traynor_garnet said:


> It's not a Dynabass. The front panel clearly reads "Bass master."
> 
> As my earlier post states, this is one of the earliest bass master amps (like mine) that is not a dyna bass but predates the YBA-1 model designation. I've owned a Dynabass and still have my ultra early bassmaster. Other than the name change (and gold versus silver writing) they are identical.
> 
> TG


Mea Culpa. At any rate the OP has a better picture of where his amp fits into the chronology.

For anyone interested, Yorkville Sound's history, and in particular the specifics off all of the Traynor amps up until '91, is detailed in a very interesting read located here.

Mr. Holman has been with YS forever, and I believe designed the new generation YCV series amps.

Cheers.


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## Wild Bill (May 3, 2006)

HarpBoy said:


> Mr. Holman has been with YS forever, and I believe designed the new generation YCV series amps.
> 
> Cheers.


Not true! Mike is indeed a fabulous guy but he didn't design the new series.

I used to be an 'on the road' salesman for an electronics distributor. Yorkville was on of my favourite accounts. One day my buyer told me "You have to meet Ray!"

"Who's Ray?" I asked. "One of the engineers." he replied.

So we trotted back to engineering and I was introduced to Ray. He had an amp in pieces on his bench, patched together. 

It was the prototype of the YCV-40! And I was the first non-Yorkville person to be allowed to play it!

This was in 2000. I was quite impressed. Ray had done all the right things. The clean channel was essentially traditional Blackface Fender, with some extra gain available. The only solid state circuit was the reverb tank driver, which is not that critical anyway.

Best of all, there was no crappy Marsland speaker! He was using a Celestion V30.

It was indeed a magic moment!

As far as I know, Mike Holman is still the head of the service department. The amount of rock and roll history with him and some of his crew is truly awe-inspiring. I had worked on an old YBA-3 and brought it around on one of my calls to show Mike. He and one of his compadres looked at the serial number and exclaimed "This looks like one of those we did for Steve Miller, working till midnight to have them ready for his Toronto show the next day!"

Somebody should get Mike to write a book. It would be a shame to lose what's in his head!

:food-smiley-004:


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## kyle (Oct 18, 2008)

Thanks for the info guys. I'm gonna call it a '64.
Anyone have a picture of the logo it should have? (or one for sale?)


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

kyle said:


> Thanks for the info guys. I'm gonna call it a '64.
> Anyone have a picture of the logo it should have? (or one for sale?)


Call it a 1965 

The logo is a "script logo" and you will usually play through the teeth to get one (especially considering what you probably paid for the amp). There is a guy on ebay who sells reproductions and they are ok.

TG


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## SCREEM (Feb 2, 2006)

I have one just like your with only "Bass Master" no YBA-1, mine is marked 340 or so inside the chassis, logo should look like the one on the right top.

cheers


on a side note, try it with a 4ohm 4x12 if ya get a chance, it will make your pants flap around


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## asteroid (Jul 14, 2009)

Hey...first post for me!! Hi everyone!

Since the Yba-1 speaker out is 8 ohm, isn't it dangerous to plug it in a 4 ohm cab???
I know these old hammond are tough, but...


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## sesroh (Sep 5, 2006)

asteroid said:


> Hey...first post for me!! Hi everyone!
> 
> Since the Yba-1 speaker out is 8 ohm, isn't it dangerous to plug it in a 4 ohm cab???
> I know these old hammond are tough, but...


yes. Match the impedance correctly otherwise you will run into problems (blown speakers, blown OT etc).


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## jv100k (Feb 29, 2008)

Nice amp congrats.:smilie_flagge17:the amp logo/grill likely looked like the amp on top(#0018)Bassmaster.It's on top of his slighty older bro Dynabass#0002.


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## Humbucker (Feb 18, 2007)

Hey, great thread guys!

I was lucky enough to score a YBA-1 Bassmaster head for $300.00 CAD a few years ago at a pawnshop. It needed some work but I got her up to snuff for another $150.00, so the amp cost me under $500.00

I'm totally impressed with these amps and they have to be the best deal out there for PTP hand-wired amps.

I was wondering if somebody could help me pinpoint the year that my amp was built. It's got 6CA7 output tubes, solid-state rectifier, has "Traynor Bass Master Amp" stencilled under the Standby switch and Pilot lamp, there's "Range Expander" stencilled over the Low and High knobs, the output transformer is a Hammond (and it's HUGE!) but I don't think that it was the original transformer but it sounds great, the four digit serial number on the back name plate is 4128, it looks just like this internet picture except mine has the metal corner protectors.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-11/71084/68Traynor_YBA-1.JPG

I'm guessing that it might be a 1968 or 1969?


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## bcjek (Oct 29, 2010)

I think that the original poster's power transformer has been replaced. The Hammond label that I see poking out from behind the tubes is only seen on aftermarket Hammonds, not on the OEM trannies. Plus, there are extra holes in the chassis where the original tranny was mounted. 

I have three Bassmasters - one tube rectified, one SS rectified but with choke, and one YBA-4 in a head format.

Great amp.


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