# Traynor YBA-1 Mod1 Vs 69 YBA-1



## Stonehead (Nov 12, 2013)

Thought this was cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ5ZLVtl8ys

I liked them both but i thought the Mod1 was nicer on the cleans. (I am somewhat biased cuz i own a MOD1)


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

The old one has been modded and, from what I can hear, badly. No clean headroom on a yba-1? WTF?

i would really love to hear an non-modded original vs the new ones.

thanks for the link though. Cool!

TG


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

well that was pretty pointless....

YBA-1 Mod vs f*cked up YBA-1 would be a better title


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## isoneedacoffee (Oct 31, 2014)

Thanks for the link. I'm also interested in hearing a more faithful comparison. Has anyone compared them? There's not much on the internerd.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

I almost purchased a MOD1 just to do a direct comparison (I have two 1965 tube rectified bassmasters here). In the long run, common sense won out, but if I had a local L+M I would gladly rent one and do it.

TG


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## Stonehead (Nov 12, 2013)

bolero said:


> well that was pretty pointless....
> 
> YBA-1 Mod vs f*cked up YBA-1 would be a better title


I have zero experience with the original YBA-1 other than you tube vids.


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

right, but if the guy is going to compare amps, at least get one that isn't screwed up...or get it fixed first

that youtube vid is misleading

may as well have been: "YBA Mod 1 vs a can of tuna"


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## Steve_F (Feb 15, 2008)

Having owned 2 vintage YBA-1 heads I can say that the YBA-1MOD I borrowed for a gig last week definitely gets it done. The built in attenuator is a great feature!


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## isoneedacoffee (Oct 31, 2014)

Steve_F said:


> Having owned 2 vintage YBA-1 heads I can say that the YBA-1MOD I borrowed for a gig last week definitely gets it done. The built in attenuator is a great feature!


That's good to hear Steve. Are you using pedals or the amp for dirt?


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## Steve_F (Feb 15, 2008)

Well I borrowed the head but I just cranked both channels to 6-7ish and used a tubescreamer for leads.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

i just gigged my Mod1 for the first time last weekend. I switched between it and my LSS (LSS is still my comfort factor). 

I enjoyed the Mod1 for what it did. Run through a vertical slant 212 and a passive 8 ohm load box in parallel with the cab to absorb half the power. I started with the PPIMV at '20 watts' and eventually was able to run without any attenuation as the night progressed. 

It was a nice change from the BF sound I'm so used to, but I don't know if I could go a whole night with only the Traynor. Covering everything from RHH and Amelda May to Black Sabbath and Mountain kinda requires more variety than the Mod1 can easily achieve. But if I ever did an 'exclusively classic rock' night, I would like to give it a try.


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## Steve_F (Feb 15, 2008)

very fair assessment. I only need one tone but if I needed a wide variety it wouldn't be my go to amp either. It does a very good take on the marshall plexi thing.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

I need to hear one of the new amps because everything I read leads me to believe they don't have the cleans or headroom of the original. I am very curious, however, to hear if the new and old ones sound the same while cranked up.

TG


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## isoneedacoffee (Oct 31, 2014)

High/Deaf said:


> i just gigged my Mod1 for the first time last weekend. I switched between it and my LSS (LSS is still my comfort factor).
> 
> I enjoyed the Mod1 for what it did. Run through a vertical slant 212 and a passive 8 ohm load box in parallel with the cab to absorb half the power. I started with the PPIMV at '20 watts' and eventually was able to run without any attenuation as the night progressed.
> 
> It was a nice change from the BF sound I'm so used to, but I don't know if I could go a whole night with only the Traynor. Covering everything from RHH and Amelda May to Black Sabbath and Mountain kinda requires more variety than the Mod1 can easily achieve. But if I ever did an 'exclusively classic rock' night, I would like to give it a try.


Great assessment. Thanks! I wouldn't need such versatility myself, but as long as it gets me to Mountain and Black Sabbath territory, I'm fine. Do you think the amp would be versatile if used as a pedal platform? Would it have enough headroom (doesn't have to be super-clean in my case, just enough for the pedals to come through with their own character).



Steve_F said:


> very fair assessment. I only need one tone but if I needed a wide variety it wouldn't be my go to amp either. It does a very good take on the marshall plexi thing.


I contacted Traynor, and they said that the MOD1 is not just based on the YBA1 circuit. It makes sense as it is a "MOD1," and most people who have modded the circuit went in a plexi direction.



traynor_garnet said:


> I need to hear one of the new amps because everything I read leads me to believe they don't have the cleans or headroom of the original. I am very curious, however, to hear if the new and old ones sound the same while cranked up.
> 
> TG


If it has 80% of the headroom and as good a cranked sound as the vintage ones, then for me it's a no brainer, especially with the added attenuator and the flexibility in tone shaping with the series/parallel channel options. In fact, I'm trying to sell stuff to get one right now. If I get one, I'd be happy to compare a vintage vs a MOD1 with you TG. I'm in Montreal, you're in Sherbrooke, right?


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## Steve_F (Feb 15, 2008)

isoneedacoffee said:


> Great assessment. Thanks! I wouldn't need such versatility myself, but as long as it gets me to Mountain and Black Sabbath territory, I'm fine. Do you think the amp would be versatile if used as a pedal platform? Would it have enough headroom (doesn't have to be super-clean in my case, just enough for the pedals to come through with their own character).
> 
> 
> 
> ...


If you run it at the full 40 watts the headroom is pretty good. I didn't want headroom so I was running it at 20 watts.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

isoneedacoffee said:


> If it has 80% of the headroom and as good a cranked sound as the vintage ones, then for me it's a no brainer, especially with the added attenuator and the flexibility in tone shaping with the series/parallel channel options. In fact, I'm trying to sell stuff to get one right now. If I get one, I'd be happy to compare a vintage vs a MOD1 with you TG. I'm in Montreal, you're in Sherbrooke, right?


Yep, I am here. It would be really cool to do a comparison. Let me know how the hunt goes.

TG


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

isoneedacoffee said:


> Great assessment. Thanks! I wouldn't need such versatility myself, but as long as it gets me to Mountain and Black Sabbath territory, I'm fine. Do you think the amp would be versatile if used as a pedal platform? Would it have enough headroom (doesn't have to be super-clean in my case, just enough for the pedals to come through with their own character).


I find, with regular (not higher output) humbuckers into the low input, the amp is quite clean till about 10:00 on the two volume controls. After that, it gets pretty distorted. But at 40W, that 10:00 setting is pretty loud. So yea, good pedal platform. It'll never be Twin Reverb clean, but tweed or JTM45 clean (which at least to me always sound less glassy and more hairy, if those words make sense).

Also, with the pull-to-cascade switch on the Mod1, you can get quite distorted at lower volumes, and even moreso using the 'attenuator' on the back. Just another option (that I don't personally use) for a few more flavors. There is some variety of sounds in there, but it isn't changeable on the fly, like a footswitchable amp. And not nearly the range of a Mesa. If you don't like the basic sound, the tone controls, etc. won't get you very far away from that.


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## isoneedacoffee (Oct 31, 2014)

Thanks High/Deaf for the detailed response. I'll be using PAFs, so I'm quite encouraged by this.

I actually ended up getting a good deal on a MOD1, so I am really pumped about trying it! The problem is, I won't have it until July when I return to Canada (bummer).

I had a sort of epiphany. I was wondering if one could use the two channels as a sort of wet/dry rig if the channels are run in parallel mode and using an A/B/Y splitter. I would love to have one half of my signal going pretty much directly to the high input for amp tube OD, and then run the other half of the signal through modulation effects to the low (-6db) channel. I figure this could give me almost a poor man's parallel effects loop.

I play mainly 70% of the time without effects, using mid to high gain... but I like to have trippy, spacey effects sometimes too! So, could this work? Would the amp allow two "separate" inputs? Or would something be compromised in terms of tone?

I have no way of testing this until July, and I will certainly do so at that time, but I am curious if anyone has tried this?


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Unlike the originals (and the Tribute, I think), the Mod1 doesn't really give you access to the two channels. Both inputs are always 'jumpered' internally and then go through both volume controls in parallel (or series, if you pull the knob). You could probably use both inputs (if one isn't a switching jack) but you wouldn't be able to control them separately. The two volume controls would affect both incoming signals the same, except one input will be 6 dB quieter than the other.

I don't really see an advantage to this, but there's no harm in trying. People probably laughed at the first guy who jumpered a JTM45.


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