Traynor amps were a product of Yorkville Sound. Yorkville is a street in Toronto that in the late sixties was the Haigh Ashbury of the north - all the great bars and coffeeshops etc. were there - as well as bands such as Luke and the Apostles (the fabulous Mike McKenna on guitar), the Ugly Ducklings, and the Paupers - all now lost in the mists of antiquity. Yorkville Sound was started by a music store 'Long and McQuade' <http://www.long-mcquade.com/> which is still thriving (I got an Epiphone acoustic from them this month). Yorkville is celebrating it's 35th aniversary - the current products are very functional and practical - but much less exciting than our tube Traynors - but it is nice that they are re-using the BassMaster name - the following was ripped from its web site at <http://www.yorkville.com/index.html>:
>1963-1998 >Yorkville Turns 35 >1998 marks 35 years of excellence for Yorkville Sound. Founded in 1963 in downtown Toronto, Yorkville was formed out of the back room of a music store called Long & McQuade. The repairman at that time (Peter Traynor) developed a Bass Guitar amplifier (the Traynor Dyna-Bass) that was rugged and could withstand rentals. Shortly there after, Jack Long started "Yorkville Sound", a small company that soon had more than just bass amps. By the end of 1963 Yorkville was making P/A columns. After incorporating in 1965, Yorkville expanded its sales into the USA and soon after added a guitar amplifier (the YGA-1) and a P/A mixer (the YVM-1) to the line. Through-out the 1960's Yorkville continued to grow and become a serious force in North America for P/A and instrument amplification products.
>THE LEGEND CONTINUES... >For over thirty-five years musicians have chosen Yorkville Bass Amplifiers for their great sound and durability. Working directly with players, Yorkville engineers have learned a great deal. Conceived by players, and designed by us, Yorkville is proud to reintroduce The BassMaster Series.
>In the past, Traynor BassMasters were known for their excellent sound, quality and value.... From the compact 50 watt combo to the rack-mountable 400 watt head, today’s BassMaster amplifiers reflect the latest in modern technology along with the highest quality and a legendary “retro” look to suit players of all styles and abilities. New models include the BM200T, twin10 combo!!
Hi everybody!
My Bass-Master's serial number has only four digits, something like 5XXX, is that a good thing? It has a Fender-style wrap-around case, and ehm, looks fairly old :) But seriously, can someone tell me where to find more evidence? Thanks.
--Daniel
My Yorkville BassMaster has the Serial# 2353. Someone told me its was probably made in 1969. Anyone have info to support this?My oldest is serial number 5841 (can't get to the others right now), but I'm thinking it's abit older than 1969 - like about 1966 or '67. By 1969 Traynor was doing the second generation Custom Special, which was definitely a flip-top cab. There's are two generations that I've seen or heard of in between: a _VERY_ Fenderish script logo (chromed plastic) and the non-fliptop, but same in every other way to the fliptop cab. There are older amps with tube rectifiers, but I think mine is pretty much second generation. I'd like to think that the 5xxx refers to 1965, but that would make Dave Rutherford's a 1962, which is, as far as I know, before Traynor/Yorkville was making amps, so I'm guessing we're on our own here - that they were numbered sequencially until the new serial number scheme came into play.
If any of you can explain what I'm looking for to date via the pots, etc., I'd look closer.
BTW - the Traynor in question is my main practice amp (i.e. it gets more use than all of my other amps put together) and it's just such a killer. I've got to give credit to my little "bottom half of a Sunn SB-60 combo" cab, though. I don't really lust after an Ampeg B-15 because of this rig. I wish I knew what the cheesy foam surround driver really was (OEMed for Sunn) 'cause it's a killer.
KO
Perhaps the first digit is the year of sequence of manufacture (i.e. - 1966 would have 1 or 0 as the first digit. That would make mine (SN 2353) a '67 or '68 assuming that the bassmaster was introduced in 1966. The 5xxx would then be '70 or '71.
Mine has a front panel that looks similar to the blackface fenders (black paint w/white logo and control knob designation. There is no mention of the word "Traynor" on the amp, just Yorkville Sound and BassMaster YBA-1. There is no plastic trim like the later Traynors. It also has a two pronged power cord and extention outlet. I can retrieve details and/or mfg#s of capacitors, pots, etc. if that would help out.
I finally got most of my Traynors back (well, the Custom Special is getting converted to 6550's, but it's in my trunk waiting to go to the hospital). Here are the serial numbers:
Custom Special, YBA-3. Flip-top cab, Fenderish, silvery grill cloth front: 3021692
Mark II, YBA-1A. Flip-top cab, silver mylar (mirror) front: 3040929
Bassmaster, YBA-1. Old. Bassman style cabinet, black cloth front: 5841
I have another 70's era Bassmaster, but it's at my brother's, so I can't get to the serial numbers. The first two serial numbers listed are within the realm of reason as the dating scheme theororized and reconcile nicely with what I figured the age of the amps were.
I'd like to do more to firm up theory, though. What parts do I look for and what kind of numbers am I looking for to date the amp for corraborating evidence?
KO
Here's another one.... Studio Mate (YGM4) S/N 5021347. Not sure when it was made.
Rob
>I'd like to do more to firm up theory, though. What parts do I look for and what kind of numbers am I looking for to date the amp for corraborating evidence?
On the early models, the chassis mount filter capacitors are the easiest place to find date codes. The capacitors were a very common but expensive part - Yorkville would not be as likely to keep stock around for years - which they might do for cheaper but obscure parts. Later Custom Specials and Mark 3's use internal capacitors without obvious date codes, but there appear to be date codes on the circuit breaker. I checked transformers and pots with an extension mirror on a couple later amps but didn't find any readable date codes. I know of a couple of sites with good stuff on date codes - does anyone know of any others?
Ned Carlson at Triode Electronics:
"A list of commonly seen EIA codes seen on US made transformers, speakers, and other parts, with a explanation of datecodes"
Vintage Guitar Info:
"Dating Vintage Guitars and Amps by Source-Date Code, 11/19/97"
There is also a little info at the Weber Vintage Sound Technology homepage:
This is the part number, not the EIA date code. The number would begin with Mallory's EIA code which is 235. One cap in my Bass Master is numbered 235-7051Y - 70 is the year and 51 the week (I don't know what the Y means). The other can type cap is rotated so that I can read the Mallory label etc. but I cannot tell for sure if it has an EIA code.Heres my serial number contribution for the day:
YBA-3 Custom Special CS 2287 'Big B' Speaker Cab YC-810 SB-82799
Next question.. I neeb to replace 3 of my 10 inch speaker in the cab.. anyone have any suggestions as to type/wattage of speaker I should use? What have you used?
Thanks Dave Darling Ontario, Canada
I'm new to this discussion and I have already seen some interesting posts.I picked up my first Traynor, a '72 (I think?) Bassmaster with EL34's (Serial #2010768).
I play a PRS guitar and I'm wondering if there are certain mods that should be done to this amp to make it more suited for guitar.
Thanks, G. Crask
I just picked up a Traynor 4x12 slant top cab (circa 1981) to use with my YBA-1. It has square magnet Emminence speakers, stock I guess. It seems pretty sturdy. I noticed a diamond shaped port hole in the front center of the cabinet. Anyone familiar with these?Has anyone out there used a YBA-1 with a 4ohm SWR Goliath II Jr? Does the YBA-1 handle a 4 ohm load?
Jeff
I was in a shop listening to some of the more mature specimans of the guitarist species: There was an old (70's?) Marshall with four inputs like a Bassmaster or Mark II and a jumper (outside) across channel I & channel II. The way it was explained, you'd get your volume from one channel and mix in the other as desired. Since I'm beginning to play a little guitar I'd like to experiment with this. Is it safe? I assume so, but I'd like confirmation.
KO
I've been wondering about this. Someone mentioned changing resistors or capacitors. One thing I am curious about is if there is a way of using jumpers across channels like a sort of parallel effects loop.
What spec my YBA-1A is at I don't know. The person who serviced it said that it had been modified in some way. He also has a contact in the army looking out for some big milspec caps for ultimate replacements.
Aaron
I'm the guy with the YSR-1 who can't find a serial number. I know very little about electronics but am interested in learning all I can about this amp. Yorkville sent me an old YSR-1 schematic from when they had "Reo drive transformer" and a "choke." Can anyone help me determine whether my amp has this, and if so, what years were these made. Unlike a picture of the YSR-1 they sent me, my YSR-1 does not have any chrome or white plastic piping around the ends, and the name plate was off-center to the left rather than in the middle. Also, can you tell me or tell me how to tell from the schematic whether or not this amp has a rectifier. It has two power tubes (6CA7/EL34s) and three big brown cube-like deals hanging down behind the tubes. Also, is there a bias pot on it somewhere? I get the feeling that this is an earlier version, before they stamped the serial numbers on. The schematic for the "old" YSR-1 is dated 1/67. Supposedly it is "in the same power range as the YBA-1." What is that in watts?
Thanks for any help anyone can give me.
Hi Jeff
Tremolos are covered in "The Ultimate Tone vol.2"-- $40US.
To use the tremolo stage as a gain stage: 1)Connect the bias feed from the output tube grid leaks directly to ground-- if the output stage is cathode biased; or directly to the bias supply-- if fixed biased. 2) Remove the 20nF cap from between the Speed/10nF/20nF node and plate of the tremolo stage 3) Connect the wiper of the Intensity pot to the 10nF that feeds the splitter 4) Lift the 3M3 and 10pF from the above junction, and connect them to Spped/10nF node.
The Speed is now a tone control and the Intensity becomes a master volume. To give this control a more "logarithmic" feel, add a 25k between the wiper and ground.
Over-all, this mod produces a warm overdrive, depending on the pickups on your guitar-- good for jazz or blues.
Have fun Kevin O'Connor
Hi:
Someone told me that this address is a source for info on Traynor amps. Can you maybe help me with a question about a mod I'm trying to do on a Studio mate? Jeff
Hey Fellow Traynor Freaks! Does anyone know where I can get a copy of the TR-1 Reverb Unit schematic? I'm a recent Traynor convert with a TR-1, a YGM-3 and a YBA-1A BassMaster Mk.II. I'm crazy about this stuff,, just silly!! This is my first time mailing you all so I'm eager to see what kind of Traynor community exists out there. Thanks, Charlie
Hi everybody,
can someone give a rough estimation of today's Traynor prizes for my web site at http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~dace/vb :))? I'd like to know the prize, an opinion about it (good, bad, average), amp model and condition, and the year the prize was paid/seen etc. thanks.
--Daniel
>I have never seen a Traynor outboard reverb - is it similar to the classic Fender outboard? You can get a schematic from Yorkville - they send them out at no cost:
Hello, thanks for pointing me in the direction for obtaining a schematic for my Reverb unit. Yes, it is very similar to the classic Fender reverb unit. When I bought it, I actually played the Traynor and a Fender side by side. The Traynor sounded a little nicer and was (of course) a lot less expensive. I knew I wasn't going to buy the Fender anyway, but I wanted to compare, you know? Not only does it sound great, it's a real cutie too. It is shaped like a YBA-1A Bassmaster head only much smaller (about the same size as the Fender). Covered in black tolex with the wooden faceplate being covered in a coarse black weave. The chassis faceplate is black with three inputs, three chickenheaded controls for "reverb gain", "tone" and "mixer" and a red fender-style jewel pilot lamp. A chrome Traynor nameplate also graces the front making it a real black beauty! I believe it was priced at $175. A real deal when compared to the Fender. I'm sure the design is very similar to the Fender. Grab one if you see it. Thanks again for your help, let me know if you have any other questions. Charlie
Yorkville Sound 550 Granite Court Pickering, Ontario Canada L1W3Y8 Phone (905)837-8481 Fax (905)839-5776 Email: yscanada@yorkville.com
Yorkville Sound Inc. - United States 4625 Witmer Industrial Estate Niagara Falls, NY USA 14305 Phone (716)297-2920 Fax (716)297-3689 Email: ysusa@yorkville.com
I now have the serial numbers of a couple of amps I have loaned out (if I kept all my amps in my apartment the floors might collapse):
2110865 on the Mark III (YGL-3) - November 72 1110094 on the Bass Master Mark II (YBA-1A) November 71
These dates are consistent with other evidence - so the embedded serial number date concept does seem to work. Both amps are in flip top cases. The Bass Master is 6 months newer than my other Mark II, which is in a strange transitional case. It has a case that looks identical to the later removable top models (with rubber wrapped end plates), but the top isn't removable. The only obvious clue is that there are no bolts through the endplates to fasten the amp chassis to the box. As the top plate is not removable, the amp is dirrectly bolted to it - the side bolts are not needed. I was very suprised when I was unable to pry the top off!
There are images of the different Traynor case styles on the net - Therse examples are from Velvet Black
The original Fender style wrap around case ( a Custom Special crushing a Voicemaster - Mark 3's used the same case size as the custom special, Bassmasters ans Signature's used the same case as the Voicemaster):
My transitional Bass Master Mark II (looks like flip top but the top doesn't come off):
Later flip top case (Mark 3):
One of my brothers has an old solid state Traynor mixer (May 74?) he likes - I have quoted his remarks below. As he also likes his transistor Peavy, you may want to take what he says with a grain of salt! :-)
>Incidently, the serial number on my Traynor 8200 Mixer Amp is 4050686 - I am trying to find out how many watts it is (i.e., whether it is 100 watts per side or 200 watts per side). I also wouldn't mind coming across the kind of information that one would find in the user manual - recommended setups for various applications - its got tons of jacks on the back. If you happen to come across any information on the 8200 please pass it along. (I realize that, like my Peavey guitar amp, most collectors haven't yet recognized the true value of an early '80(?)s transistorized mixer amp that is destined to be a classic.)
Hi everybody,
ja, it should have been 'prices'... sorry for that. Maybe someone could submit some prices for less-known models...? thanks.
--Daniel
I recently picked up a seemingly early YBA1 that i cant find a schem of info on. The differering features on it is that theres a GZ34 rectifier and 7027A outputs. Of course this pins it more as a Marshall JTM45 copy, as it seems to share the same preamp voicings, I was wondering if you could tell me how rare this head is, as i have heard no mention of this tube rectified unit anywhere. thank you.
Lee
-- Indiana's best equipped hack guitar player. Remove _no_spam_ to reply.Please add my name. I have a YSR-1 (Custom Reverb).
Lee
To all, I'm new to the world of Traynor amps and I'm having trouble locating the tone caps in the circuit. I have a '72 YBA-1 BassMaster. If someone could help that would be great.
Also, what values have you guys found work best in the circuit? I understand that these things can be made to sound like a JTM45 with a little work.
Thanks, G. Craskgacrask
Hey G, I can't help you out with the tone caps but I can say that according to Dan Torres (amp guru) our traynor (i have a bassmaster too) is designed very similarly to a fender bassman,, so it's also very close to a JTM45. With a few simple changes you can make it an exact copy of a Bassman, a JTM45, or even have it rigged with a master volume for a more modern Marshall sound. He wrote an a couple of articles in Vintage Guitar Magazine (I'm guessing it was early '98) that gave you all the info you needed to do any of these options, including schematics and diagrams. The first article dealt with the flip top Bassmaster, and the second dealt with the normal top. I own a '71 JTM45 too and the Bassmaster sounds very, very close to it even without a mod. I can't decide which one sounds better, honestly.
Hey Traynor Gang! I'm thinking about setting up a website dedicated to showing off all our Traynor's. How many of you have or can have scanned pictures of your beauties and would like to send them in to have posted on this site? I'm thinking that maybe with the pictures we could have some notes by the owners, a little history on the particular piece and maybe the going rate for the piece. If there is enough interest, then maybe I'll consider launching this project. Thanks, Charlie
Attn: all Traynor buffs,
I have four CTS square magnet speakers that I took out of a Traynor 4x12 cabinet (circa 1982) which I'm going to sell. E-mail me at dhr@superlink.net if anyone is interested. I'm asking $90 for the four (includes shipping), or best offer. I'll sell pairs or single speakers at comparable unit pricing if I get no offers for the set.
DaveWhile inspecting my YBA-1 (circa 1968), I noticed an extra wire from the OT that is cut at the chassis hole. Could this be a 4 or 16 ohm tap? (I assuming the OT is wired using an 8-ohm tap).
Dave Rutherford
Has anyone tried a master volume mod on a Custom Reverb with any success. I tried a couple of Kevin O'Connor's circuits and both were too buzzy to be useful. I haven't tried the post-inverter design yet nor I have tried cascading the channels.
Lee
Hi Lee
ANY master-volume will create the same effect you noted, since the point is usually to MAKE distortion.
The key to making the mastervolume SOUND good, is to tweak the rest of the preamp to work in the new "master" environment.At 12:11 PM 9/18/98 -0400, dhr@superlink.net wrote: >While inspecting my YBA-1 (circa 1968), I noticed an extra wire from the OT that is cut at the chassis hole. Could this be a 4 or 16 ohm tap? (I assuming the OT is wired using an 8-ohm tap).
>Dave Rutherford
I have a Traynor Signature of the same vintage that I think used the same output transformer. The Signature and early Bassmaster's used 7027 output tubes. The schematic for the 1966 Bass Master lists (see the schematic archive at
T1 (Power Transformer) 78632 L1 (Choke) 68347 T2 (Output Transformer) 68348
My Signature (1967, I think), uses (according to my schematic):
T1 (Power Transformer) 78633 L1 (Choke) 68347 T2 (Output Transformer) 68349 (the last digit might be an 8, it isn't clear).
I suspect Signature's and Bassmaster's built at the same time had the same transformers - the circuitry was similar (the later 6CA7 equiped Bass Master's used 1323 then 1338 output transformers).
To finally get to the point; my Signature also has a clipped transformer wire. I investigated it in the mid 80's - it is an output. I hooked it up and used that way for a while - I know longer remember what I determined about the impedance. The amp is now out on long term loan to a nephew, who would undoubtedly prefer a solid state Peavy like his friends have, so it is not available for me to figure out. The Bass master and Signaturew are both 8 ohms - did Traynor make any 4 ohm combos in that period that they would want a 4 ohm output for? (it is expensive for a manufacturer to have to buy many different transformers).
With your amp off, and capacitors discharged, check the resistance of the wire stub. The resistance between it and the wires going back to the output tubes tubes should be infinite. The resistance between the stub an the other two output wires (one connected to ground, and the other to the speaker output) should be very low - just a few ohms. If this is the case, you can cautiously try it connected to a speaker and see what it sounds like. If you get satisfactory results, you can then try to establish what impedance it is, either by listening to the results of tests with each wire on different loads (difficult), or by measuring the output voltage on each wire under identical conditions. You must keep a load on the output while you do this or you may damage the amp. Test at low power (5 volts or so into a 16 ohm or so load).
There are standard transformer wire color codes (I tried to locate a copy), but they are not consistently used.
I will be very interested in hearing about what you can find out about your output transformer.
I wandered into my favourite music store (Used Sound, Ottawa) today to see what they had. There was a Traynor Mark 3 combo that had been crudely cut down to just a head for about $375 (overpriced), a later flip top Bass Master in good condition for $189, assorted Traynor solid state stuff and PA speakers, and a shabby and very dusty Bass Master in the early style wrap-around Fender style case. I couldn't resist buying it for $150 (about $100 in USD).
This is the earliest Traynor I own (pre October 1966) and the only one I have seen with a tube rectifier. There is no serial number or model identification on the rear panel. There is a glued in tube chart identifying it as a YBA-1 and listing the tubes as 5AR4, 7027A, 7027A, 12AX7, 12AX7, 12AX7. The amp has been converted to 6CA7's - probably a long time ago as the 6CA7's fitted are 'Made in Canada' Sylvania's which must be more than 15 years old. The preamp tubes are also old but the rectifier is a recent Sovtek (I have heard bad things about Sovtek 5AR4's). It has a choke and big transformers for a 45 watt amp. The electrolytic capacitors look original, but have no date code. It has a script logo similar to Fender's, rather than the later block parallelogram logo's.
I haven't tested it much yet, but it sounds great. I haven't opened it up - it is such a pain to do with the early style case. I may restore the output circuitry and use 6L6's for that Bassman sound.
Eric
I like you Traynor web page. Great schematics. I could not get the catalogs to work though.
A good freind of mine and I have been playing and fixing Traynor amps for over 25 years, since high school.
Any other Tranynor sites out there?
Great job.
Thanks!
Dave Leeds
I have one of these as well, but mine was both converted to EL34's and diode rectifiers as per the Yorkville service bulletin of the day.
The circuit in my example is built on a phenolic turret board instead of the Fender style fibre board used on later Traynors. I'd be interested to hear if yours has the same arrangement.
Mine does have a serial number (199), but it sounds like it may be from the same era as yours.
Good find!
Scott
>I wandered into my favourite music store (Used Sound, Ottawa) today to see what they had. There was a Traynor Mark 3 combo that had been crudely cut down to just a head for about $375 (overpriced), a later flip top Bass Master in good condition for $189, assorted Traynor solid state stuff and PA speakers, and a shabby and very dusty Bass Master in the early style wrap-around Fender style case. I couldn't resist buying it for $150 (about $100 in USD).
>This is the earliest Traynor I own (pre October 1966) and the only one I have seen with a tube rectifier. There is no serial number or model identification on the rear panel. There is a glued in tube chart identifying it as a YBA-1 and listing the tubes as 5AR4, 7027A, 7027A, 12AX7, 12AX7, 12AX7. The amp has been converted to 6CA7's - probably a long time ago as the 6CA7's fitted are 'Made in Canada' Sylvania's which must be more than 15 years old. The preamp tubes are also old but the rectifier is a recent Sovtek (I have heard bad things about Sovtek 5AR4's). It has a choke and big transformers for a 45 watt amp. The electrolytic capacitors look original, but have no date code. It has a script logo similar to Fender's, rather than the later block parallelogram logo's.
>I haven't tested it much yet, but it sounds great. I haven't opened it up - it is such a pain to do with the early style case. I may restore the output circuitry and use 6L6's for that Bassman sound.