# YGM 3 ri Tone Question



## ed2000 (Feb 16, 2007)

I recently acquired a Traynor YGM 3 reissue on a trade. I had asked in the amp forum about opening up the back to reduce the bass heavyness. The frequency respone is likened to a graphic equalizer where the sliders form a smile pattern - heavy bass and glassy(almost brittle) treble with the bass set to 2 and treble to 5(treb boost off). The only mod I have done is to clip the feedback loop cap. What mods can be done to bring up or fatten the midrange and smoothen the top? The electronics appear to be untouched. I have viewed the Patfurlan youtube vids.


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## ga20t (Jul 22, 2010)

Subscribed. I found mine to be the same way but sold before I did any speaker/tube swapping or mods. I thought it sounded great at speaking volume but any louder and the highs got harsh/thin really quick. Also found it got easily drowned out/buried when I'd play with others. I am 99% certain I dislike "Jensen" "reissues" (original Jensen AlNiCos are my favourite speakers) so that's where I would've started if I had the patience and dough at the time. If there are some fixes out there now, I'd definitely consider picking one up again in the future.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

I'm surprised Parkhead hasn't replied here yet, he's posted a fair bit about mods to these.
Some of them can be found in these threads:
http://www.guitarscanada.com/showthread.php?60677-nad-ygm3-reissue
http://www.guitarscanada.com/showth...or-YGM-3-thoughts-and-experiences-appreciated


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## ed2000 (Feb 16, 2007)

Thanks all for your tips. Will follow up on them eventually.

Question about the ri 'Jensen' speaker. Why is Yorkville Sound so enthusiastic about the 'Vintage Tone' of this speaker when around these here parts, it's almost universally poo poo'd on? Before I do anything else on this potentially great sounding amp I have a Celestion V30 ready to pop in.


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## parkhead (Aug 14, 2009)

OK sometimes I have to work at my real job 

#1 the Jensen is a frisbee good bye ... it is an accurate representation of the Marsland which was also a frisbee 

To increase the headroom find the 22k power supply stepping resistor and swap it with 4.7 or 10k 

drop in any Celestion you like v30's are good, anything with an H style magnet will give you more headroom 

Find the first coupling cap .1 this is tuned so the low freq cutoff is 8Hz this is typical of a vintage amp but realistically those are just RUMBLE harmonics
so swap this cap out for .01 fender flavor, .001 Marshall flavor or 500pf AC30 flavor or whatever you have lying around 
.01 moves the bass rolloff to 80hz and .001 to 800hz .... 80hz is where your speaker starts working !

I am not a fan of removing the back, though it is commonly done!
I went from using a 73 1986 marshall 50 watt bass head and 4-12 cab in clubs to the YGM3 

after a gig where I had to Toss My 4-12 over a snowbank in front of a small club ... I remember thinking 
"there has to be a vintage 18 watt amp with a 1-12 closed back box that can I carry ... " 

then I remembered a Dead YGM3 I had bought for $50 
got the amp working, noticed the Fizzy .1 presence cap right away ...then started experimenting 

the YGM3 does not work for all scenarios 
However IMHO if you are still playing with a 50 or 100 watt amp and not playing METAL you are playing too loud for the 
gigs that are out there ! Your hearing and the mix quality of the band are also being negativly impacted by your volume.

SUB 20 watt amps are super hot right now as everyone is scrambling to find a volume solution ...
the YGM3 typically still under $600 (I just saw one trade for $200 without a speaker) is a great solution for the 
closed back cab folks... 

you may need to do some work to get these in fighting shape but it is minimal compared to buying boutique amps 
that also need work, are almost right, and do not have Hammond Iron and Mullard tubes and Capacitors (if you are lucky) 

#2 join the TAO of tone Traynor Page on Facebook

You may not like the YGM3 if you need a soldano type sound ... but if you would love to play an amp that has the feature set of a Fender Combo 
and the potential of sounding like an 18 watt version of an early Marshall and can Morph between sound via your pedal board there are no better solutions in Canada 

if you can cleanly solder to install pickups in your guitar and install a speaker without tearing a hole in it the information is out there 

I have not used my killer old Marshalls since & everyone in the Band Loves the lower playing volume & bigger sound 

My general philosophy on amp mods is informed by Caroll Shelby and Peter Brock... you can beat the high priced exotic stuff all day long if you start with good basic elements and apply old fashioned Hot Rodding know how. 

p


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## Church-Audio (Sep 27, 2014)

I think the best mod for these reissues is to sell them and buy the real thing they do sound so much better  the other thing you can do to the original is keep the original preamp tubes in it as long as you can. Replace the crap stock speaker with a Jensen neo if you can find one, the higher wattage larger mass voice coil damps down the highs quite a bit. The other speaker that works very well in this amp? Eminince commonwealth 12. 20 lbs of tonal goodness. I could never understand why Yorkville sold a hand wired amp for $1200 when you can buy two originals for that price.....and they are way better sounding.


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## parkhead (Aug 14, 2009)

I have a re-issue and 7-8 originals ...brand new the reissue did not sound quite as good as the old ones, then 
I put a red fang in mine and did the mods as discussed ...
I can't tell the difference between a re issue and an old one if they are set up the same with a red fang or quality speaker
they actually did a great job of usng the right sounding parts and building it right 
imho the jensen speaker is worse than the marsland ... really really just trash... but on paper it looks right 
in other words the re issues are really very very good... 

I use my new one 90% of the time for everything ... 
I also have tons of real tweed, real plexi and real dartford kent crap to play 
and my friends think I am very picky 

p


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## Church-Audio (Sep 27, 2014)

That's the beauty about sound it's subjective. I just found it strange that Yorkville would make an amp for $1200 when you can buy an original for $350 to $500. It's about the only example of this I have ever seen.


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## 5732 (Jul 30, 2009)

I've owned two originals and a reissue. I still have the reissue, unmodded, and I think it's a great amp. I'm not sure what mods were done to the originals, but one was the earlier closed back and one was a later pop top open back. I sometimes run my reissue through a 212 loaded with 2 WGS veteran 30s which gives it a nice full sound. I also think it's a bit odd marketing-wise given the availability or original examples for less money. The same could be said for the new supro line, and even the ampeg reissues that came out, but if you consider that it's a hand-wired, made in Canada 20 watt combo it's a great deal (especially since they were selling them for $899 new when they were discontinued). At some point I plan to do Parkhead's mods.


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## ed2000 (Feb 16, 2007)

Re: Jensen speaker - is it possible no one has ever given it a chance to break in?


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

If anyone wants to sell their Jensen I am interested. They are really inefficient which is what I want.

let me know, maybe we can work out a trade or sale.

TG


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## parkhead (Aug 14, 2009)

ed2000 said:


> Re: Jensen speaker - is it possible no one has ever given it a chance to break in?


or perhaps they just sound horrible lol (IMHO)


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## ed2000 (Feb 16, 2007)

Stage one mods: Terrific (imo) tone improvement - clipped presence cap and swapped first stage coupling cap to .0245(that's the closest I have to .02)


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## ed2000 (Feb 16, 2007)

Changed coupling cap to .01 and installed the Celestion V30 which does sound a bit smoother.


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## parkhead (Aug 14, 2009)

ed2000 said:


> Changed coupling cap to .01 and installed the Celestion V30 which does sound a bit smoother.


I have an older amp where someone has knocked out the baffle between the speaker box and the tube area 

looks stock but sounds more open back 

I also have another amp with a three inch hole saw hole discreetly cut in this same panel 

those with better tools might make a duplicate back with a small port in it ...

_ I still prefer the closed back thump unique to this amp _

you can also "virtually" change the box volume with insulation up to a point 


p


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