Traynor YBA-2 Bassmate

Mine is the earliest version, 2x6V6, 5Y3, 12AX7, 6AV6. Let's tell it like it is, this is a guitar amp masquerading as a bass amp. Along with the Dyna Bass, these are the holy grails of Traynor Amps. I'm guessing circa 1967. It was a 1x15 combi, I removed the chssis and made a head cab as the 15" was shaking the poor tubes. It is a classic rock/blues/harp amp, no B.S., just great tone. I am having the tone knob taken out of the circuit ASA finacially P, it sounds great as is, but every extra knob in the signal path is a tone-sucker, let's face it. It's basically a tweed deluxe, other than the price. Won;t hang with some drummers, will with others.

like I said, blues, rock, harp. It clips around three and sags out at about 6. It has a great jazz tone, pre-clip. It can get a little over saggy, but a Weber copper cap should rectify that. HAHA, get it? Sorry, I'm a little cheesy when I've been drinking.

I wouldn't gig w/o a backup, it's an old tube amp. traynors are by far more reliable than other amps, but use your head, gig with a backup.

Who know, let's say at it's out of warranty. Seems like any tech worth his salt could fix it, though. it's champ-simple

Have had another bassmate, el84's w/ss rectifier, it was great, but is smoked by this one. I have five mastiffs to protect this thing, it's not getting stolen. If it were, a replacement wouldn't be easily had.Buy Traynors but please don't tell too many people about them, they are getting expensive as it is.

Made I would guess in the 70's - Im not really into dating amps, if they sound good, then thats good enough for me - this model has 2 inputs, either high or low. I guess it depends on your perception of 'features'. If you want a bank of switches for chorus, distortion, overdrive, reverb etc etc etc etc, then you'd have to give this a 3 as it's just got 2 tone controls, ie, bass and treble. If, on the other hand,you can live without fifty different interchangable split channel overdrive boosting reverbing chorus and warp zone facilities, then give it a 9, and buy a couple of decent pedals which in my experience,[25 years]do the job better than any 'built in' effects ever did.

Being rated at around 15 watts you wouldnt expect it to be loud enough for gigging. Wrong! I dont remember seeing any pictures or videos of Buddy Holly standing in front of a Marshall stack. The Shadows played halls using AC30's! Admittedly, if you're into heavy metal this isnt going to be your first or even 10th choice, but for clubs and pubs, playing Blues, Pop or Jazz, this is the best Ive had. I have a '49 Gibson L5 with a floating Dearmond pickup, a '59 Gretsch Single Aniversay, and a PRS CE22. The jazz sounds are perfect, clean and woody, with clarity right across all the strings.The depth of tone is just spine tingling. Pop and Rockabilly ?? just turn up the treble and back off your own tone controls, and as for Blues...I truly cannot understand how these things arent on every Stevie Ray Wannabe's shopping list!! The 15" speaker is just perfect, distotion is so creamy , this is probably the best 'Blues Amp' Ive heard or played. Stick a decent overdrive pedal and a little reverb in the mix and prepare to be amazed. Over the years Ive had virtually every type of Fender[Concerts,Twins, etc etc,]Musicmans, an AC30 - basically all the usual suspects, plus a few tranny amps like HH L100, Randall, Roland JC's etc. The trannys, if we're going to be honest, were bloody 'orrible. Everything sounded cold and characterless.The clean channels had no soul, the distortion and built in effects like reverb were either too shrill - distortion is meant to be smooth guys, and reverb was always so unnatural. Plus of course, they all thought that they needed 20 controls on the front to justify their existance. Believe me, after 25 years of playing, there is no reason to buy a transistor amp. Most 60's and 70's tube amps have gone through the roof, but these Traynors remain a bargain. If you see one, buy it.

Spit 3 times: but so far ,,,,,,,Im not tempting fate, so I'll just list 'no opinion'!

See above, although Im pretty sure its out of warrenty.

Nothing is perfect, but this, for my needs, is pretty d-mn close. Life is simple, why complicate matters? This amp has all you need, its pure tone, nothing else matters. Buy a couple of decent pedals, plug in, and the smile will be on your face all night- especially when you think of what people are paying for Fenders and Musicmans etc etc etc.... If it got stolen Id look for another, although if too many people read this review, its going to be pretty hard to find one!

A '60's amp, but no real info is given. Even the S# has been written on the back with a Sharpie.
Barebones cool, with two inputs, volume, bass, treble, on switch, fuse, and pilot light all up front. Runs the internal speaker only.
This has been used in combination with another bass amp for live rock use and fit the job well.
Tubes are 6v6 and 12ax7, the rest must be ss.

Used with the 4001 bass at the store, then the Dan Armstrong humbucker-loaded bass live/at home, it was warm and fuzzy. The more tone you added, the more the fur sprouted. Max volume created the distortion sound Party of Helicopters was noted for, but at tolerable volumes.
With a humbucker guitar, it's pretty. Breakup above 3 is a given, but it is so sweet. I like its sound better than the similarly-tubed Princeton I have. Could be the fifteen speaker, could be that it's a little more ragged.
There is a hum that hides itself depending on where I stand. A tube and filter cap replacement helped, but didn't eliminate it. The man who did the work said that it should be expected for an amp as old as it is. I'm not complaining since the work didn't cost an ass and an ear.
People say that these are desirable for bluesmen, and I'm nowhere near being such a man. I like it for the sounds it can create and the bearable, yet satisfying volume it can push.

It's worked everytime I've flipped the switch. It had its only servicing 2 years ago and has been used infrequently the past year (mainly for practice vocals, but more now for guitar practice at home).

I'd sell it only if I were to pick up a bassmaster/bass mate head. I play guitar through it now and just can't believe its wonderfulness. No way I need a Delta Blues when I have this low-priced gem!

This is mid 60's model with a 5y3 recitifier, 2 6V6gt output tubes, a 7025 phase inverter and a 6AV6 preamp tube. This amps controls are simple and great for those who hate 20 knobs on an amp. There is the power switch, and 2 pots for volume and tone, and 2 inputs.... it doesn't get much simpler than this. The power output is in the area of 20 watts give or take, cranked tube tone can be had a reasonable levels that wont make you go deaf.

I play a Les Paul standard with a duncan '59 in the bridge. The clean sound of the amp is nice if you crave a dirty clean, there isn't much headroom to speak of as breakup starts at 3 on the volume. Beyond that the amp crunches up VERY nicely and 7 on the volume knob gives THE classic rock sound, great for chord work. Diming the volume with give you a great fat lead tone, that has great sustain and compression (courtesy of the 5y3). When I first got the amp the sound was horrible, that was courtesy of a bad sounding jensen that had just plain had the biscuit. I made a new baffle board and installed a 12" celestion G12-75 that I had lying around. The amp was louder, tighter and really agressive sounding, with a big huge bottom end. If you are a clean picker then there are better choices, but if you are a rocker.... you would be hard pressed to find a better choice than one of these for the price you would pay, although they are scarce, they do show up from time to time.

Very simple circuit and hand wired design means repairs are painless... but traynors are known to be tough mothers, so I doubt that one will be problem ridden.

Yorkville sound owns the Traynor name, they were the parent company back when Peter Traynor was building these things. The company is EXTREMELY helpful. If there is ANY way they can help out a traynor owner, they will. A great bunch of guys to deal with.

Despite the original speaker being a dog, the amp is an able performer for those who crave true classic rock tone. I hope to hell it never gets stolen, this has become a personal favourite of mine. Other amps I own fender 75 combo, '64 fender bassman, crate vintage club 30, garnet gnome, Univox u-1226 Lead. And this amp pales to NONE of them.

Volume and tone controls only. It has two inputs, seems to be high and low, no major difference. My repairman told me it was between 12.3 and 15 Watts. All tube pre-amp and power-amp,would not expect anything else from Traynor.My amp is a combo, with a 15 inch speaker ( the speaker even has a small tear in it but I don't want to replace it , cause it seems to sound so good) Hard to give this amp a rating but personaly I love the fact that there is no choice in the matter.

This amp sounds great, With the volume control from 1 to 3, there is little difference in tone, but gives a nice clean sound from my stock 89 American strat.Turn it up past 3 and the power tubes start to overload as you increase the vol. With my guitar vol. on 10 and the amp all the way up you get the most beautiful natural distortion for lead. By backing off on the vol. pot it cleans it up just enough for chords. The Tone control seems to add more top end from 1 to 4, but from there on there is no major difference, but with both on full lookout, cause Clapton may knock on your door and wonder if Stevie Ray did pass away, or is just hiding out in your closet.

The amp was built in the early seventies, and its still kicking, especially when you consider that the amp is almost always driven on max. I had a few problems in the begining ( tubes, hum), but everything is o:k now. Hand wiring, and you can imagine how basic the circuit is. Very easy to fix.

Traynor has long since folded, and is now Yorkville sound. But I doughtthey would care to help any.

I've looked in every pawnshop I've come across and haven't found one yet that only has a vol. and tone control. If I could find one I would buy it. This is the best practise amp you could ever want. Classic distortion at HOME(bedroom) volume. I feel sorry for the beginner guitarists who have to settle for some cheesy little practice amp that has no relevance for existance, besides turning every new guitarist into a solid state distortion junkie, never realizing , and thats if they ever do, that distortion is not harsh but rather warm, cozy and natural. Maybe if some of the salesmen out ther would give some advice, and pass on some musical knowledge, instead of smiling for every sale of recyclable junk.