I was extremely impressed with this amp's tone when I heard a demo on SpectreSoundStudios channel a few years ago. They managed to get an amazing sounding heavy distortion using a master volume mod, jumping the input channels and an overdrive pedal. Sad thing the amp didn't make it to continental Europe.
Traynor made some great stuff and ultra solid construction. Pete would actually toss these off the roof of his shop to show just how reliable they were.
That was the first tube amplifier I ever played through, back in 1981 at 14 years old. It came with a 2x15 cab. I played guitar and bass through it. I wish I still had it.
My amp tech buddy performed this same MV mod and added a choke as well...Amp is solid. It sounds best with the MV up enough to move some air, channel volume at around 6 or 7. It's loud at that level, but not outrageous.
Awesome work! I wish I still had mine I would just find the sweet spot for pedal platform. But the phat midrangy head room is what I miss from that amp. Awesome work 👍
What I did with mine is that I added a preamp in/out on the two inside input jacks, located circuit-wise just after the treble control (where a typical master volume control would be). That allows me to use a volume box or even just a volume pedal as a master volume. There when I want it, gone when I don't. I also replaced the wire between the inputs and V1 with shielded wire (it's a long way back to that tube) and twisted the tone control wires together to make for less hum. . . . Among other things.
Yeah, small venues nowadays...! Volumes have to be lowered, but great power in that beast, and nice to know it's at your finger tips should you need to annoy someone..🤣 Great vid,..Ed..uk..😀
I've been loving the content you've been putting out there, really quality videos. I love vintage Traynors. They are built like tanks and seem to be the last of the hand-wired amps that you can get at a reasonable price. You mentioned that you replaced the circuit breaker with a fuse holder. I have 4 Traynors and they all have circuit breakers, do you feel they are not trustworthy?
Yeah, they use 5A circuit breakers for circuits that would usually use a 2A-3A fuse. So by the time the CB trips, bad things can already have happened. That's assuming the CB actually works after 30+ years. They do fail, which can leave you with no protection at all.
@@PsionicAudio - good to know, I have two YBA-1’s that I will consider installing fuse holders in. Wait a minute, Traynors never fail......haha. Love your videos, you do nice work.
From what I understand, all Traynor “Y” amps are 90 Watts R.M.S., except for the bigger YGL’s. Here’s a quote from The History of Yorkville by Pete Traynor’s friend Mike Holman of L&M/Yorkville. “Competitors were often quite liberal with their power ratings. Some used fully distorted maximum Watt ratings - double the sine wave rating - and called them “rms” which is perfectly legal since “rms” (root mean square) has no bearing on distortion. Others used “peak” ratings which are even less meaningful. But Pete couldn’t do this. Having established a “clean” criterion for bass amp power ratings, he naturally later carried it into PA and guitar amp power ratings. Why not use two types of ratings, a clean one for bass amps and PA, and a “dirty” one for guitar amps? Because Yorkville could end up with “90-watt” guitar amps that were clearly no more powerful than “45-watt” bass amps - a major ratings jumble, especially considering that guitar players were using Bass Masters almost from day one. So, not surprisingly, Traynor literature contained no power specifications well into the 1970s. And when the numbers did finally appear in literature, for years thereafter people would say,“There are Watts and then there are ‘Traynor Watts,’” implying that the Traynor Watts were somehow bigger. (But now you know the rest of the story.)” www.0rigami.com/vb/yorkvillehistory.pdf
That's my EJ strat. Most of the time I just grab a Fender. I never "just grab" the SG. That demands special treatment. I'm not really using the trem on the SG even though it stays mostly in tune now. I just prefer the Fender trem so much more. I'm thinking next string change I'll just take the bar off the SG. I can still shimmy it with my palm, and I love the sound the Maestro "tailpiece" gives. So I don't regret it at all. But as I don't use the bar much the nylon saddles work well.
@@PsionicAudio Interesting… I ask because I was curious about the progress and if you got the roller saddles. I am in the middle on refinishing a 2013 stop bar… I plugged the stop bar holes… installed the short trem for an ebony block 62 replica. I also plugged the Nashville holes and installed ABR1 studs and in testing It was ROCK solid… the bridge didn’t move whatsoever and it stayed in tune the entire time… unless dive bombing. I also got the Faber bridge with brass saddles. I wonder how much that bridge movement with Nashville setup was the culprit.
I was extremely impressed with this amp's tone when I heard a demo on SpectreSoundStudios channel a few years ago. They managed to get an amazing sounding heavy distortion using a master volume mod, jumping the input channels and an overdrive pedal. Sad thing the amp didn't make it to continental Europe.
Traynor made some great stuff and ultra solid construction. Pete would actually toss these off the roof of his shop to show just how reliable they were.
That was the first tube amplifier I ever played through, back in 1981 at 14 years old. It came with a 2x15 cab. I played guitar and bass through it. I wish I still had it.
I'd love to see a tutorial on this
Every traynor amp iv been around (4 or 5) has been good quality stuff .
Gotta love those old amps!
My amp tech buddy performed this same MV mod and added a choke as well...Amp is solid. It sounds best with the MV up enough to move some air, channel volume at around 6 or 7. It's loud at that level, but not outrageous.
Awesome work! I wish I still had mine I would just find the sweet spot for pedal platform. But the phat midrangy head room is what I miss from that amp. Awesome work 👍
What I did with mine is that I added a preamp in/out on the two inside input jacks, located circuit-wise just after the treble control (where a typical master volume control would be). That allows me to use a volume box or even just a volume pedal as a master volume. There when I want it, gone when I don't. I also replaced the wire between the inputs and V1 with shielded wire (it's a long way back to that tube) and twisted the tone control wires together to make for less hum. . . . Among other things.
Very clean sounding MV. Nice work mate
Yeah, small venues nowadays...! Volumes have to be lowered, but great power in that beast, and nice to know it's at your finger tips should you need to annoy someone..🤣 Great vid,..Ed..uk..😀
I've been loving the content you've been putting out there, really quality videos. I love vintage Traynors. They are built like tanks and seem to be the last of the hand-wired amps that you can get at a reasonable price. You mentioned that you replaced the circuit breaker with a fuse holder. I have 4 Traynors and they all have circuit breakers, do you feel they are not trustworthy?
Yeah, they use 5A circuit breakers for circuits that would usually use a 2A-3A fuse. So by the time the CB trips, bad things can already have happened.
That's assuming the CB actually works after 30+ years. They do fail, which can leave you with no protection at all.
@@PsionicAudio - good to know, I have two YBA-1’s that I will consider installing fuse holders in. Wait a minute, Traynors never fail......haha.
Love your videos, you do nice work.
BEUTIFULL!!
From what I understand, all Traynor “Y” amps are 90 Watts R.M.S., except for the bigger YGL’s. Here’s a quote from The History of Yorkville by Pete Traynor’s friend Mike Holman of L&M/Yorkville.
“Competitors were often quite liberal with their power ratings. Some used fully distorted maximum Watt ratings - double the sine wave rating - and called them “rms” which is perfectly legal since “rms” (root mean square) has no bearing on distortion. Others used “peak” ratings which are even less meaningful. But Pete couldn’t do this. Having established a “clean” criterion for bass amp power ratings, he naturally later carried it into PA and guitar amp power ratings. Why not use two types of ratings, a clean one for bass amps and PA, and a “dirty” one for guitar amps? Because Yorkville could end up with “90-watt” guitar amps that were clearly no more powerful than “45-watt” bass amps - a major ratings jumble, especially considering that guitar players were using Bass Masters
almost from day one. So, not surprisingly, Traynor literature contained no power specifications well into the 1970s. And when the numbers did finally appear in literature, for years thereafter people would say,“There are Watts and then there are ‘Traynor Watts,’” implying that the Traynor Watts were somehow bigger. (But now you know the rest of the story.)”
www.0rigami.com/vb/yorkvillehistory.pdf
Sounds like my ygm-3
Is that the lar mar type master volume using a dual gang 250k pot?
Yup
Is that the SG you’re playing? Any update on that bridge/trem?
That's my EJ strat. Most of the time I just grab a Fender. I never "just grab" the SG. That demands special treatment.
I'm not really using the trem on the SG even though it stays mostly in tune now. I just prefer the Fender trem so much more. I'm thinking next string change I'll just take the bar off the SG. I can still shimmy it with my palm, and I love the sound the Maestro "tailpiece" gives. So I don't regret it at all. But as I don't use the bar much the nylon saddles work well.
@@PsionicAudio Interesting… I ask because I was curious about the progress and if you got the roller saddles. I am in the middle on refinishing a 2013 stop bar… I plugged the stop bar holes… installed the short trem for an ebony block 62 replica. I also plugged the Nashville holes and installed ABR1 studs and in testing It was ROCK solid… the bridge didn’t move whatsoever and it stayed in tune the entire time… unless dive bombing. I also got the Faber bridge with brass saddles. I wonder how much that bridge movement with Nashville setup was the culprit.
It was pretty dreadful in my experience.