Traynor YBA-1 Bassmaster Head

mine is a bumper style YBA1a. I looked it up once and dated it to 73 or so. It has the same tone knob complement as other similar vintage amps.
One thing I need to emphasize.
ITS A BASS AMP!
Go get the YGA-1 if you are a six stringer!
Mine is a little monster. I took it to a tech and he told me it was putting out more watts than he had ever seen from a pair of EL34.
It DOES burn through tubes pretty fast. Like every 8 months.
I like to run a rat pedal or muff pedal and jumper the two inputs.
These do not like 4 ohms! You will blow your tranny and/or tubes!
Stick to a 16ohm or 8 ohm load.
I have run this thru 2 16ohm 4x12 ans it was awesome! Also with an 8 ohm 4x10 it was loud as hell.
Loud is a good word for it!

Loud not terribly versatile.
Vintage vibe.
Gets a sabbath tone with the right OD pedal.

Only issue I ever had was from running a 4 ohm load.

no reason to try contacting yorkville. Had no idea they still supported it.

best small bass head ever.

mine is a 63 witch i beleive was the first year of production.it is one of my favourite amps ,i have used it live and in the studio it is built like a tank.the original grill cloth has turned to dust so i put some other stuff on and it looks like ****.i use boogie el34s in it because it has afixed bias and they seem to work well.no master no reverb no trem no nonsense just pure out put tube dist. past 4 and fat clean prior. very loud for two el34s. serial number 0669

i use primarily as a lead guitar amp with les pauls. it is touch and volume sensitive and therefore very versatile for many different avenues of music from popfolk to hard rock. plexi , bassman spaceman this is traynor built with pride and common sense. the tone just bleeds out of this beast and i feel encompassed in the music as if it had a soul.i have owned many tube amps fender boogie marshall nothing except maby dr z feels so organic

never broken easy to service.however ido bring a backup when gigging with it after all its nearly 50 years old.

yorkville sound and traynor are as strong today if not stronger than 20 years ago. ihave no dought they would take care of it as if it was purchased yesterday.

i also have a tr1 traynor tube reverb tank 1969,it sits on top the bassmaster like a good friend,together this setup is my secret weapon and prized possession.it consistantly performs for me.

As vintage amps go, this amp has a great power/weight/durability/versatility combination that sets it aside from the Bassmans and Plexi's that cost 4-5x more. POWER: 50W, but by general rule for tube amps, speakers should handle 8x as much, so compared to modern solid state this is a 400W amp. WEIGHT: This amp weighs about the same as a 400W GK head, but it's tube. DURABILITY: This amp design was tested for toughness by throwing it off a 3-storey building in Toronto, and after replacing the tubes it still works every time. Try that with an Eden head! And Yorkville still services them like they were bought yesterday. VERSATILITY: Here's where it gets a little weird. Input 1 is "voiced" for bass, input 2 is "voiced" for guitar. Run a jumper between the two with the extra jacks, you get more preamp gain and more tone options for bass or guitar. The "tone expander" knobs are really just midrange and presence knobs. It's ease of modification is an especially appealing feature of this amp. This is a great amp for a reasonably well-read novice to mess with. OVERALL: This is a COOL, WEIRD, TOUGH, POWERFUL AMP like every vintage amp should be!

This is a clean tight amp. If you're looking for an overtly nasty vintage tone like an old Ampeg that needs new caps, this ain't it. If you want an amp with clean warm tone that inpires you to play plus good power in a tough light package, look no further. Think SWR/Eden. And I might point out that the power transformer and output transformer are the same caliber Hammonds as those found in Bryston power amps you'll find in many studios driving their reference monitors. It takes some mods to really set itself apart for tone, but it's a solid buy untouched.

These are the most durable tube amp ever made. Period. Keep in mind the original tubes last a lot longer than current production tubes, so don't frown upon the amp if it came with cheap chinese tubes that wet the bed after a year or two. In fact my 1970 model still has all the originals except one preamp tube, all of which test 90% or better. Even the caps are still good after 37 years.

After-sale service is now all the rage for new cut-rate music gear companies. Traynor was doing it back when this amp was sold. They're still doing it under the Yorkville name. Have a local tube tech check the tubes and caps first, but beware the tube tech that fleeces you with unnecessary tube/cap replacements. Don't replace the caps just because they're "off-spec", soft caps still sound good, often better, but the max output drops. If the amp sounds good, the tubes and caps aren't in NEED of replacement, no matter what the meter says. If anything else goes, send it back to Yorkville. When a YBA-1 comes back to their shop, they send it out ready for another 35+ years of service, often replacing parts they expect will go sooner or later.

This is the best amp on the planet for (a) someone new to tube amps - it's a good value, plenty to "explore", and a simple tough design that every tube tech knows (b) a back-up amp for a band - one amp to be there in case a bass or guitar amp dies on the road (c) someone who wants to get under the hood - there are many "mod recipes" available online for this amp, and there are many similar amps whose mods apply (d) everyone that had their Eden head die and is now facing a repair bill more than this amp costs (I'm a sound tech, seen several Eden heads die, two such bassists borrowed my YBA-1, both bought their own rather than fix their Edens)

I believe my yba-1 is a 1968. I play in Vancouver's Kradle. An all original song based very hard rock band. The yba-1 is the perfect guitar amp for me. It has a simple layout so there's no crap between you and your tone!

I use the yba-1 head as a guitar amp. I can take it anywhere and plug into any 4x12 cab and get my sound. The amp is a totally stock el34 head. I run a boss ds-1 which is on all the time. Pedal settings are 9 o clock 1 o clock and 3 o clock. I plug into the second bright channel yet run both volumes at about the same level. The 2 volumes interact with eachother regardless of being chained together. Tones are bass 5-6, treble 8, mids half way and prescence about 8-9. When running as a guitar amp the second channel is very bright so with the ds-1 on all the time with it's tone dialed down it really gives it a warm crunch. All my dirty and clean tones i get by dialing in my volume and tones on my guitar. It really pisses of all the guitarists that regularily hang in the audience on my side of the stage. i don't do any pedal hopping and there is an incredible amount of versatility of tones from clean to crunch to shred that i get just by dialing knobs on my guitar. And it's nice to have a clean stage in front of me!!! The clean is very defined punchy and jangly like a fender twin and tele. The crunch is round and warm with definition and warm clip, (think Montrose, rock the nation). When i max the volume on my guitar the power tubes in the amp really start to pump and i get unbelievable speaker movement that only power tubes deliver. The amp sounds like it's gonna blow up but never does. This is at a low stage volume!

In the 70's i played with a bass player who used one of these. He had it sitting on 2 , 2x15 cabs on their side. it was a tall stack. He rocked his setup and the head fell off the back of the cabs onto the stage. His cable was still plugged in, as well as his speaker and power cords. we freaked when we saw it drop but it just kept running. Not even a broken tube, nothing. I bring my head everywhere without a backup. Full confidence in the reliablity of this head.

I used to sell botique amps at the original Boogie Shop in Burnaby, B.c. Matchless, Rivera, Boogie, VHT, WIZARD Macintyre etc. Most of our customers bought amps as status symbols and trophies. "Look what i use, i must be good". Thing is, once you get past the point of trying to impress other guitarists and start playing for the regular people in the audience and for the song, you really start to pay more attention to how you sound and how regular people perceive you. You, in a sense, become a better guitarist. Those chicks on the front row don't care or know what a triple rectifier is. THE yba-1 has the big warm woman tone that the AUDIENCE, not the minority of guitar players in the audience like to listen to. WHO WOULD YOU RATHER PLAY TO? I get tons of compliments on my tone, oh and the band that opened up for us, the guitarist snickered when he saw my little yba-1? He used 2, 4x12 cabs and a line 6 head, he asked me after the show what it was i was using. He asked where he could get one. Good luck bro, secrets out! Just ask FUCHS.

I guess it depends on what you want. If "featurs" to you means 3 overdrive channels, reverb, effect loop and other bells and whisles, you'll probably be disappointed. However, if yer looking for simple and pure tube tone this is it. Quite a versatile EQ as well which gives you some great tones for both guitar and bass. I have two of these, a late 60s and the rubber bumper early 70s - the 60's sounds a little nicer to my ear, but both equally amazing and stupidly loud.

I bought my first one (60s) as a backup for my bass rig - I have to admit I hated this thing at first. For both guitar and bass it was either too shrill (that second bright channel can be like daggers in the ear) or too muddy and farty. I had two problems - one, I was trying to EQ it like my newer master volume Marshalls, and two, I was using shitty cabs. After putting it away in the closet for a few months, I decided to give 'er another go and EQ with my ears and try some other cabs. For bass it was a straight Fender P through an Ampeg 8x10 - this thing can get pretty close to SVT territory with just the right amount of dirt. However, this thing really shines for guitar - I finally wired this into the 12" celestion in my Marshall combo and let the SG Jr at it and wow! Shimmering, chimey cleans with lots of headroom and nice dirt and grime (think ACDC) at really high volumes. If you need high gain and are into metal, yer gonna need a pedal - lucky for you these things love pedals! The trick with these is to EQ with your ears and don't worry if the settings don't make sense (looking at one right in front of me and I have bass at 2 and treble at 0...?!) Also, jumping the two channels with a patch cable gives you extra tonal flexibility. Overall this thing cuts and is great for punk, rock, blues, hard rock, etc...Jazz and metal heads may wanna look elsewhere tho....

I would never gig without a backup - that's just lookin' for trouble. But if I had to engage in such risky behaviour, I wouldn't use anything but a Traynor - Pete was known for taking other amps, finding out what typically broke on 'em, and then he would design his amps to be better. I have two of these and both are solid. These are hand-wired, robust circuits with rediculously huge transformers housed in a rock-solid box. Legend has it Pete stress-tested these by throwing 'em out a 3 storey window - I wouldn't doubt it. Typically, these 40+ year old amps can be found without so much as a tube changed - I defy you to find me a vintage Marshall that hasn't had at least one major repair in its life.

Can't say much - never dealt with them personally. However, I have heard dynamite things about Traynor support - If you check out their website you can find lots of info about vintage Traynors too.

I wanted to write a review basically saying that these amps suck in the hopes it would discourage ever escalating prices on ebay. But I can't say anything bad about these amps. I've played Fenders, Marshalls, Hiwatts, etc..but if you're looking for the biggest bang for your buck, you can't go wrong here. Just think about how much a hand-wired plexi clone will cost you these days, then cruise ebay and see the rediculously low going prices on these Traynors - you will not find a better deal anywhere. For straigt ahead balls-out rock, these cannot be beat. My current policy is if I see one for less than $500, I grab it, but the secret seems to be getting out as prices are climbing. With that said, these jems are worth double what they are going for and as far as I'm concerned they are the best deal in the vintage amp market today.

'71 bumper variety YBA-1. This could be used for jazz, rock, country and more. 2 channel amp, good EQ section. Plenty of power moderately estimated at 50 watts.

This is what it's all about- the tone. I use it with Les Pauls with PAF style pickups, and it loves them. Also play a Tele, Strat, LP Jr and others through it. Mine has no extra noise at all when polarized correctly. The clean is reminiscent of Fender, but fatter, yet it still cuts like a knife through the mix. When cranked to distortion (it distorts later than most Marshalls) it sounds like a Plexi- very musical and pleasing sounding. So clean is Fenderesque and dirt is Marshallesque- this is what many guitarists are looking for.

As important as anything IMO is that this amp takes pedals better than any amp I've ever heard. It will take your quality distortion/OD and seriously make it react like the gain channel on a channel switcher. It makes pedals part of the amp. This goes for all types of effects.

It has extremely deep bass (I usually keep the bass knob dialed almost all the way down) but it's not a problem due to the effective EQ section. It can also be very bright, but once again just dial down the presence (high expander knob) and treble to taste. There are small mods that optimise this amp for guitar but I do not want to change anything on it. They were equipped with the desireable "Mustard" caps that the vintage Marshalls used. It sounds as much like a Hiwatt as a Marshall I suppose, although the cleans are superior to both IMO.

The tubes used are important. I noticed when I used RCA and GE 12ax7s it sounded extremely American, and when I used original Mullard 12ax7s it had a decidedly British sound. I left the Mullards in, and retubed the power section with Shuguang EL34Bs, prefering them to JJ EL34Ls. The amp really seems to love those Mullards and Shuguangs and I highly reccomend giving this combination a try.

Extremely overbuilt, these things are possibly the most reliable amps out there. I received mine in perfect working order totally stock. I changed the electrolytics only to be safe. Many still have the original tubes in them.

I have no idea, but I've heard that the current Traynor company is receptive to correspondence.

I've been fortunate to have played and owned lots of great amps over the years including boutique like /13, original vintage Fenders, Marshall Plexis, even an offset JTM45. It doesn't really get any better than these, and for my purposes this amp gets my vote for the best amplifier ever made. I get compliments on my tone regularly, often by guitarists from the bands we play with.

Sometimes I feel kinda weird in that I want to own a boutique amp as my main gigging amp, but this makes that unnecessary. It would be nice to be able to say that my main amp is some boutique jobby and get the instant status that brings in the minds of some, but I just can't when this amp is this great. So if you want to be able to flaunt a highfalutin rig don't ever try one of these amps!

On the flipside these amps can still be obtained for relatively low prices, though they are rising steadily.

This amp has 2 input channels and 2 guitar channels.. bass, trebble, and 2 expander knobs.. the 'low' expander is really a midrange and the 'high' expander is really a presence..i think peter traynor did this in order not to get sued by whoever were holding the copyrights..

you can link the 2 channels with a patch cord and then adjust the bass and guitar chanells to individual linking.. which makes this amp very versatile..

i'm putting an 8 because it doesn't have an overdrive channel or a reverb..which other traynor amps of the era do have..

this is the best sounding amp i ever owned. period.. i've owned all the major player's amps and to my playing, its the best..one of them does come close to what i expect in an amp and that is a jcm800..i did try the 2 channel model and dind't like it at all..
i use a es335 and a japanese strat with lace sensors.. its a pretty quiet amp and installing a 3 prong ac plug made it very stable..
the overdrive in this amp is pretty growly.. i would describe it as more lower harmonic register which makes it PERFECT for tha toverdrive pedal you have..i personnaly have a Keeley modded SD-1 and a Fulltone OCD.. awesome pair..

this thing is built like a tank.. when i got it , it still had ALL the original tubes..Phillips..
i changed the power tubes because they were getting we3ak..the repairman that did the biasing installed used sovteks and they wobbled like hell .. it sound like santa on his sleigh at high volumes..

i was having a problem with a buzz that was happening at all volumes..i had Mesaboogie power tubes intalled and a new bias.. it wasnt doing it all the time but it bothered me very much..it was when i was playing the bass string in my guitar..and i tried different cabs i own and it was still there..

i finally found the problem .. it was the SWITCH on my guitar.. duhhh..
btw..i don't know where the mesa's are made..and i once owned a rectoverb with a pussy reverb unit and i hated it..but the power tubes i put in the amp are FANTASTIC!..

do i need to add that this amp has a removable cover which enables access to the POINT TO POINT wiring.. easy to service.. but it doesnt break!

easy repairable but doesn't break.. the warranty has long gone.. forget about it..but it's easy to fix.

i have been playing for more than 30 years.. if it was stolen, i'd buy another for sure because they are awesome amps.

the signal that comes out of this amp is PURE.. absolutely NO processing here.

the 2 complains i have are :

1- the cabinet is too deep. tricky to stand on top of some speaker cabinets..

2- it's called a BassMaster but it's like a marshall plexi..it confuses people when they see the name..'you're playing in a bass amp??" even here, it should be in the guitar category.. most people who own this amp use it for guitar..like a Fender bassman

This amp has everything you need to sound amazing- that is, simply a good tube amp circuit. No amount of processing or useless "features" can come close to the real sound of a simple, awesome tube amp like this Traynor. It is extremely versatile if you "play the amp" as well as the guitar. I use it with guitar like many others do, but it is a bass amp so it should sound great for either. Almost identical to the Fender Bassman/Marshall Superlead controls, layout, and circuit design.

I use an Epiphone Elite '61 SG with this amp (now discontinued). This isn't the best guitar around, but this amp makes it sound like a million dollars. Rock-solid, screaming AC/DC type tone for days. And with a flick of the pickup switch or volume knob, it can do a beautiful creamy clean or singing blues type sound. And holy shit, is this thing LOUD! Things LITERALLY come crashing down when I play this puppy full bore in the basement. Awesome! And I'd like to second somebody else's opinion that this amp "eats up pedals like a fat man on a bag of chips." My wah and tubescreamer make this thing SING.

TO HEAR THIS BABY RECORDED, visit my band's myspace page at myspace.com/thecutlassband. The guitar solos were recorded with this Traynor and my Epi SG.

Very, very reliable. I haven't had it for long, but it is 100 PERCENT STOCK - besides the tubes - from 1971... that seems reliable to me!

These amps are literally the easiest amps to work on, the top lifts right off and the amp chassis and circuit is right there to work on. Any competent tech can work on this amp in a jiffy.

I have been playing seriously for about 10 years. My last main rig was a Peavey Ultra 60... not a bad budget tube amp, but not the real deal like this Traynor. As others have said, one of the best kept secret amps out there... Its almost a shame to give it good publicity because the prices might skyrocket soon. Pick one up while they are cheap. I couldve found one for less but I HAD to have one in mint original condition, of course, haha. But some POS solidstate amps go for more then 500, so go figure.

1974, RUBBER BUMPER VARIETY, It's a simple Canadian twist on the 59 bassman and JTM 45. these three classic amps were sent straight from heaven by God himself for the sole creation of rock on earth. Pete Traynor was wise in sticking close to a classic, proven design. I might add, took it a step further by overbuilding unlike the others I mentioned. You will NOT find any amp at 5 times the price better for classic rock. A true masterpiece, and (agreeably with a previous fellow) the best kept secret in amplifiers.

I am using Floyd Rose Strats with Duncan little 59's in the bridge. It is a perfect amp for any good pedals, just like the JTM 45. I have found a Tech21 Sansamp original to yield a truly AWESOME thick power tube saturation VH style overdrive at minimal volume. Much better than any attenuator I've tried. The tone shaping capabilities between the different inputs, the range expanders (midrange and presence on a JTM 45) and the bass and treble offer a lot of variety. It can be real bright or real dark and anywhere in between without losing it's ability to stand out and without being harsh. A full bodied, warm tone. You hear folks say an amp loves pedals? right, this one eats em like a fat man on a bag o' chips. If you like a classic rock tone and want to try something as good as any blackface Fender or other overpriced classic, get one. It's not almost as good, it's more like hmmmm? maybe BETTER. I have reviewed many high end amps I've owned and never given a 10. I can't for the life of me understand why these are so obscure.

You can not believe how well designed, easily serviced and completely overbuilt these are. It would cost a fortune to produce one like this today. I challenge you to find a broken one no matter how abused it was for 30 years.

I have been playing for 30 years. Pro in the 80's and hobby record now, Jamming with some freinds now and then. I have owned a Marshall DSL 100, Mesa MK3 green stripe, Fender Prosonic, 70's Fender Twin Reverb and many others. I have never given any of these a ten in any category. This is a TRUE TEN.

Made in 1971.

Like a Bassman or JTM45

Great Tone. Sounds best with my LP & good with my LP Jr too!
Sounds like a JTM45 & Bassman. It still has it's own unique tone.
If you crank up to about 4 or 5 it breaks up Nice!
The Low end is between a Bassman & JTM. Not quite as punchy as a Bassman.
Poin to Point Hand Wired. The Canadians did a great job on this tone machine. EL34's in the Power section.

It's a tank. Has Gigantic Hammond Tranformers.

No support for this 1972 Bassmaster.
Although the Yorkville site has some info on all the vintage Traynors.

If I wasn't so into my Fender Bandmaster's, this YBA-1 could one of the coolest sounding amps I've come across. I use it at rehearsal & will probably use it on some studio tracks in the future. It's a great sounding Hard Rock/Punk Rock amp. I usually run a pedal in front of it, but if you can crank it you don't need a pedal, it has smooth Tube break-up. You can find these for next to nothing. The tone of this head is much nicer than my JTM45 reissue. The Heads are kind of ugly, square boxes. The Generate some incredible tone, so I can get past the looks.
Find one & Buy one!