Traynor Mark II Head

YBA-1 MK II Bass Head from 1973

The amp is plenty versatile for me, which I use in my loud-quiet, dynamic, but generally heavy band. We play a style that encompasses many sounds, from Black Sabbath to Fugazi to Kinski to Broken Social Scene.

2 channels (one mellower and bassier, one louder and brighter) no switching, no FX loop, no headphone out.

Needs no extra features, and there are none that I don't use.

I use it for shows with my band at venues which range from small to medium. It is seldom mic'd. Infact, it's never mic'd or hasn't been yet.

Tube amp, unsure of the wattage though I've heard anything from 45 to 85 watts from different people I've asked about it.

Great all round sound for guitar though it's intended use is for bass. Frankly, ignore that. It's an old tube amp which makes it a nice clean palette for whatever sounds you'd like to craft. Rich warm, pretty tones are all there depending on your guitar. I use it through the matching Traynor 4x12 cab upgraded with Eminence Redbacks.

There is no "clean" channel, only two channels as described above, both of which distort at around 10:00 on either volume dial, or lower when the channels are jumped.

The distortion is nice and loud, good for almost any rock sound dpending on your idea of how you want to sound and what your band is like. If you want scooped metal distortion, its not your amp. But if you like thick, warm, tubey overdrive, this is it. The tones are rich and complex like a fine wine.

I use it with either a late 70s Japanese Ibanez SG knockoff or a stock 2004 Fender 50s Telecaster. The SG makes it distort more at the cost of a bit of volume and cut, where the Tele distorts it slightly less but seems louder and cuts through better. Thick and bassy with the SG and bright, cutting, and twangy with the Telecaster.

This is the only "department" I've had a beef with, but I know it's specific to my amp. The speaker output jack was fucked up a bit upon purchase, causing the signal to cut in and out, which understandably killed the power tubes within the 1st week of purchase, but after all, it turns out it was just the cable and nothing more. The cable was a piece of shit, cutting the amp signal in and out.

Otherwise, i would and always DO gig wihtout a backup. There is a reason Traynors have the (granted, little known) reputation thy have.

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I don't think the 19 year old zitface you'd talk to on the phone has any idea about the old amps.

Been playing for 7 years. Own a 1971 Super Reverb, and shitload of pedals.

I would fnd another one ASAP in the event of a loss or burglary.

I love the features, sound and price of this nice old girl.

I compared it to nothing, I wanted a nice old Traynor, I got a nice old Traynor. Simple as can be.

As far as I found out through the net, this amp is from 69 to 72. I just picked this up before Christams (2005) and couldn't decide If I wanted to spend the money. I paid $200.00 for the head and an old Peavey 2-12 cabinet. I do heavey string bending blues and Southern Rock and so far I this head cuts it for them all. I love 38 Special and for Years tried to get as close to the guitar sound of 38 but only got fairly close. I've been using a hand wired 72 50 watt MArshall which I fell in love with BUT!! The day after I got to actually "play" with the YBA-1A, I called my wife at work and said...Ok, I'm hanging up the Marshall!! YES!! TOTALLY AWSOME SOUND!! USE the expander controls. I use a Herritage Les Paul. Use Channel 1 top, Bass at 5, trebel at 5 Bass expander at 7 and trebel expander at 4. Whew!! The bass expander is where it's at!! Plenty of power too. Actually, I did no tube changing as of yet. For once I don't want to untill I have to!. Perfect stage volume at 5 top 7. I play in a live loud 6 piece band. I'm surprised to see that an amp without Midrange was so versitile. I "ALLWAYS" stuck to the rule that if you find a great basic head you can allways ad the effects that you want. The amp sounds best with my Fender Tube Reverb Reissue. I use a Nobels (German) GSD1 and a board with 4 different distortions at different gain levels. My Echo is a Multivox Tape Echo. Warm ehco with tone controls, and with the many settings you can get a great chorusing effect. The expantion controls on this amp make it very versitile. Better than tone controls or midrange.

I sold my 87 Les Paul and got a Herritage Les Paul. A 62 Tele Reissue (JAP, the bridge pickup has more midrange and works great for Outlaws, Blackfoot ect.. I also use a California series Tele with humbuckers that tap but I don't know what they are. As far as the amp, I get a small amount of HHMMMM but that's usually caps. I'll replace them with original values. I get to about 5 before it gets griny. Perfect for blues and stuff. My old DOD pedal isn't very gainy but it ads bottom end and makes the amp sing without using a ton of gain. The sustain is Great. The heading above says noting is perfect but if it is the amp for you, it is!!

I take an extra amp on "EVERY" gig no matter what. Everyone should if you play pro or semi-pro. The job can't go on if you were bone head enough to go with one amp head and a transformer went or you blow fuses or the tubes blow and you don't have spares on hand. On the other hand, I never saw a 70's amp that still had the original tubes in it, was used very steady, and the tubes were still good, and sounded good too!! So I would say that this amp is truely reliable.

There are many schematics on the net that are free. So far I have no dealings with Yorkville. I know the new amps I tried were thrash monsters (too much shred sound) but don't hear much about Yorkville stuff breaking down. If it does, it's usually because of non hand wired circuits. Pots, input jacks and now even tubes are mounted on boards and when you bump a pot, get a loose jack nut or push too hard replacing a tube, you break the circuit board. Allways wrap your amp cord around the handle before plugging it in and you won't break the jack off the board if you pull too hard on the cable.

I'm 51. I've been playing since I'm 14. I opened for many big acts. I use "OLD" Marshall, silverface "fender" pro-reverb (with midrange ONLY) A custom built Wynfield amp (totally Awsome), An old Peavey TUBE amp...Triumph 60. (distortion channel sucks but as a basic amp and with good pedals..It really rocks. I use A Marshall 1960A cab, now an old PV 2-12 cab with square speaker magnets (remmeniscent of Greenbacks)A really cool Jackson JX-3 tube pre-amp, My baby is a Multivox Tape Echo (goes to every gig) At times I use a Quadraverb or a quadraverb GT, a midiverb, Nobels Pedals (Fantastic pedals but watch the board mounted pots), and much more. Usually the Marshall goes to evry Job with the Wynnie as a back up or I use the Wynnie and Mashall as a spare. I totally love the expantion controls on the YBA-1A. I don't like effect loops. Everything you plug in effects or takes away from the original sound. I don't hate anything about this amp. I want to but another one for a sterio set up or as a spare. I'm sorry but for Southern Rock and Blues...This amp has everything I need and the sound I've been looking for for 30 years!!!!

My Mark II was build in the early '70s, due to the internal fan which was a feature they added in the '70s. *Thank GOD. The other guitarist in my band has a '60s model YM-3 and has the external side mounted fan -- LOUD*The features on this amp are pretty standard. Bass, Treble, and then an Expander section with High and Low. It' got 2 channels, 4 inputs. My second channel is really scratchy *Probably the jacks* so I only use channel 1. I reallllly wish this model had reverb, w/ a reverb tank this amp would be beyond killer.

My main axe is a 1970 Les Paul Deluxe, and let me tell you it SCREAMS through this amp. I'm playing a Danelectro Daddy-O overdrive through a Marshall 1936 2x12 cab w/ british celestions. *Couldn't deal with the cheap chinese celestions that all the new cabs have these days* The traynor pushes that cab with such power it's unreal, and just think TWO power tubes, that's it! I went from a Mitchell Pro-100 *AKA- Mesa/Boogie Mark I* and it was 100 watts and the Traynor blows it out of the water as far as power goes. The tone is amazing, I love it. It can get really crunchy if need be, or smooth and mellow. The clean tone is great, personally, my Mitchell has a better clean tone. This Traynor is my backup amp, and I would suggest that ANYONE who plays guitar buy one of these if they can find one.

This amp has held up remarkably well. It's built like a rock -- just pick it up and you'll see what i'm talking about. So far it's never given me any problems. As far as I know the tubes are original, Never had any problems with them. I should probably swap them out but since they're vintage GE tubes, I think i'll just wait until they go.

Never dealt with Yorkville Sound, nor have I ever played their new amps, but I very seriously doubt the new stuff could compare to the amps of the '70s.

DO NOT hesitate to buy one if you can, they're great amps and I guarantee that you'll be happy with it.

Made in Toronto, Canada 1973. Four inputs. Three 12AX7 preamp tubes and two EL34 power tubes. Control Panel has Volume 1, Volume 2, Treble, Bass, Low Range Expander(midrange), High Range Expander(presence). It's rated at 90 Watts rms before clipping (which is very impressive for one pair of EL34 tubes). There is also a cooling fan in this unit. It's pretty versatile when using the tone controls and the bright inputs.

I mainly use humbucker equipped, solid mahogany body guitars. (anyone guess yet?) I play my own style mainly influenced from 60's and 70's music. The sound of this amp is really in a class all by itself. It's not a marshall, but it has the marshall kind of crunch that I like when it's cranked. It's not a Fender, but it has the sparkly clean sound that I like as well (without the reverb of course). This is a versatile combination for my taste. It's not a master volume head so getting a distorted sound all depends on how loud you play it, or what other distortion generating techniques you use. I use two different distortion pedals for high saturation when I want it, and use a clean boost pedal for driving the amp harder into clipping. But keep in mind that it is very loud when the power tubes distort. The clean sound is very nice with lots of bass and a sparkly treble. It's a great amp overall.

It's built well, but I would never consider gigging without a backup. Especially with an amp this old. But it's built much tougher than many other amps I've seen. The cooling fan is pretty important since the power tubes seem to get pretty hot.

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It's the only amp I'll every need. I'd buy it again if I had too.

1 channel, loud as hell. There are 2 volume knobs that can be blended to get different sounds. One sounds kind of like a "bright" channel and one sounds regular. Treble and Bass knobs with a High and Low "expaner" knobs that you can tweak to fine tune that sound.

Class A circuit so there is little distortion even through a 4 x 10" Traynor Cab. The sound is very punchy and clear. Very mechanical sounding. SRV and Hendrix heads need not apply. If you are looking for something original sounding and with a good bit of style, this is it! (if you can find one) More power and punch than Fender, less ruggedness than MArshall. I'd say its closer to a Vox type sound, but if you want VOx sound, this will not suffice.

I just got it. Its old. I don't know what year, but it still works and plays well. Make sure the cooling fan works because this thing runs HOT!

I don't think they make this stuff anymore.

I want more of these things. I'm gonna sell my old bandmasters! If you like Shellac or Rodan or Devo, give one of these a try. You can get 'em cheap (cheaper than I got mine for), but only if you can find one.