I trailed though a ton of threads and couldn't find any help on this particular issue. So sorry if there is repetition.

I have bought a YBA-3 and it's my first valve amplifier. It's currently in transit so have not had a chance to check it out yet. And I'll be using it for guitar amplification.

I have heard that since this amp was intended for bass originally that it does not distort at higher volumes. I have little knowledge about the technical side of these things, but am eager to learn.

Basically, what are the best options for high gain using this amp?

How easy is it to mod the amp and fit a master volume, as I have heard this will produce some pleasant results?

What about an attenuator?

Will a Tubescreamer work well or should I just use a standard distortion pedal?

Thanks.

the YBA-3 most certainly *does* distort at high volumes! if you're playing humbuckers, it'll happen sooner than with single-coils. if you turn the volume up to about 8 or more, you'll start getting a lot of distortion. fully cranked, it's very Marshall-like actually.

it takes pedals really well, tubescreamers or others, so that's always an option.

a master volume is going to get you more preamp distortion as opposed to power amp distortion, so it'll sound different of course, but it might be what you're looking for. me, I like a good distortion or fuzz in front of a YBA-3. thing of beauty.

a powersoak or powerbrake or whatever is an option, too, and though I've never used one, i'd assume it'll sound good. another option is to pull two of the power tubes out and you'll get less power and can crank it up more. if you're gonna go that route, just make sure you know what you're doing. I can help if you wanna try it after you get the amp.

I know forum member eBeam's YBA-3 had a master volume added, not sure if he did it himself or if it was the previous owner. maybe he'll chime in. my YBA-3's have all been non-master models (they added one as a stock feature sometime in the 70's) so I don't have much input there.

by the way, depending on which version of the amp it is, it might have half of the first preamp tube unused. if you want "high-gain" (which is not in the nature of the YBA-3) that's a way to get a little closer.

Thanks Scott.

scott wrote:the YBA-3 most certainly *does* distort at high volumes!

Phew. That's okay then. I have been reading about the YBAs on the Velvet Black website and I came across this sentence:

Don't expect to be getting power tube distortion out of it - it's made to be a bass amp

Linkage

But I see now it says "power tube" distortion.

scott wrote:by the way, depending on which version of the amp it is, it might have half of the first preamp tube unused. if you want "high-gain" (which is not in the nature of the YBA-3) that's a way to get a little closer.

Yeah, high-gain was probably not the correct term to use. I just want this baby to rock. To be honest, I have little knowledge when it comes to amps, so I'm probably showing myself up on this forum.

I'm just getting excited really, here it is:






Could you recommend any places to start to do some research about tube amps? How they work? Modding them? etc.

the amp in that photo is a later model, with the stock master volume. it's the first knob on the left. so you're already set, there.

you might like www.tone-lizard.com

I've found Velvet Black to be an excellent resource for maybe 80% of its information, and terrible and inaccurate for the other 20%, somewhere thereabouts. It's particularly inaccurate (and bugs me) when it comes to dating the older amps. but there's also a lot of great stuff there.

if you do Google searches for:

viva analog traynor
or
kilback traynor

you'll find a bunch of sites worth checking out.

two totally standard Traynor mods for me are putting in individual screen resistors for each output tube, and putting in 1-ohm resistors one each output tube's cathode so you can easily get a sense of how well balanced the output tubes are, whether the bias setting is reasonable or crazy, stuff like that.

yours was made far enough into the 70's that it's got the awesome, awesome pop-top design, where all you have to do is unscrew the four bolts on the top, and the lid lifts off and the circuitry is all right there; it couldn't be easier to get to. It's a truly brilliant design.

also, I just saw that the ground switch was replaced with a line out jack, and somebody added a switch to turn the fan on and off. i'd recommend keeping it on.

also, it looks like the output tubes are EL34's, three of one type (I'm guessing Electro-Harmonix) and one different one (pretty sure it's a JJ or maybe an old Tesla even). That's not automatically a bad thing, if they're reasonably well matched. but you might wanna throw in a matched quad of something new.

and shit, how did I not think of this, sign up for the Yahoo newsgroup for vinatge Traynor amps. I forget exactly what the name is. It's got a web interface (great for searching the archives) but I just get it in email form. there's anywhere from zero to maybe 10 messages a day. usually a few. there's plenty of good reading there you might like.

scott wrote:yours was made far enough into the 70's that it's got the awesome, awesome pop-top design, where all you have to do is unscrew the four bolts on the top, and the lid lifts off and the circuitry is all right there; it couldn't be easier to get to. It's a truly brilliant design.

that is a clever idea, but I think a better design would be to have been to "flip" the chassis so that the access panel is on the bottom (since really, how often do you need to go in there?) but the tubes and transformers would not have gravity constantly pulling them down, and heat cooking the components.

also, perhaps sealing up the back, and making vents in the top, which would allow the heat to escape and pull in cool air from the front.

my YBA-3 came with 6L6's and I really like the way it sounds.
I like a bright/clangy and deep bass sound, so I crank the treble, bass, presence and bass booster is on (treble is not)

Oh, and I use it for Bass. It's ungodly loud for guitar.

I may investigate putting 6550's in it, but the 130 watts or so has proven to be plenty loud for my uses.

the thing most certainly distorts beautifully with the volume on 4 or higher, and depending on the amount of master volume you dial in.

You're gonna love this amp.

Thanks for the great responses guys.

[jealous]