Good-Sounding, Hi-Power, But Inefficient Speaker?
Question:
I’ve got a Traynor YBA-4. This is a 1×15 combo version of the YBA-1. It’s about 50 watts with two EL34s. Sounds great cranked but I can’t turn it up much over 2 at gigs. I have a Weber Cali 15 in it now. I’m wondering what else I might put in it that’s less efficient so I can crank the amp more, but will stand up to 50 watts. Oh, and it should sound good too. Ideas? -Scott McKnight
Response:
>I’ve got a Traynor YBA-4. This is a 1×15 combo version of the YBA-1. >It’s about 50 watts with two EL34s. Sounds great cranked but I can’t >turn it up much over 2 at gigs. I have a Weber Cali 15 in it now. I’m >wondering what else I might put in it that’s less efficient so I can >crank the amp more, but will stand up to 50 watts. Oh, and it should >sound good too. >Ideas? >-Scott McKnight
Have you tried Scott Colborn’s approach of blocking the speaker’s path? I know that it’s not multiple speakers like his 4×12 cabinet, but partially blocking a single speaker would be effective too. Beam blockers would knock it down a couple notches too. Even if you just block with good old fashioned Rock & Roll tape. (Country tape won’t work) Where you aim the amp will have a huge effect on how loud it seems. If you don’t want it to seem loud, you sure don’t want it aimed at your ears. Pete — Oh look, the exploding circus is coming to town. One night only. –Brak’s Dad
Response:
50 watts? 2 el 84s? Hmmm… Chuck
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>50 watts? 2 el 84s? Hmmm… >Chuck
Best as I can tell, he has to have been talking about one of those older Traynor Bassmaster amps, which are sort of well known for being decent guitar amps. It’d have to be EL34 or 6L6 though to get around 50watts. Pete — Oh look, the exploding circus is coming to town. One night only. –Brak’s Dad
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>50 watts? 2 el 84s? Hmmm… >Chuck
No, EL34s. At first I thought maybe I mistyped but I went back and looked. Time for a new glasses prescription? :) -Scott
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I’ve got a Traynor YBA-4. This is a 1×15 combo version of the YBA-1. >It’s about 50 watts with two EL34s. Sounds great cranked but I can’t >turn it up much over 2 at gigs. I have a Weber Cali 15 in it now. I’m >wondering what else I might put in it that’s less efficient so I can >crank the amp more, but will stand up to 50 watts. Oh, and it should >sound good too. >Ideas? >-Scott McKnight >Have you tried Scott Colborn’s approach of blocking the speaker’s >path? I know that it’s not multiple speakers like his 4×12 cabinet, >but partially blocking a single speaker would be effective too. Beam >blockers would knock it down a couple notches too. Even if you just >block with good old fashioned Rock & Roll tape. (Country tape won’t >work) >Where you aim the amp will have a huge effect on how loud it seems. >If you don’t want it to seem loud, you sure don’t want it aimed at >your ears. >Pete
Actually I *have* tried that (blocking). The last time I used the amp was at a 3-gig weekend at a local club (Fri, Sat nite + Sun matinee). I have a pretty big Samsonite suitcase that I carry pedals, cables, etc. in. I put that in front of the speaker and it blocks about 2/3rds of it. When I do that at home and crank the amp it makes a big difference. At the show it made a difference, but I still could only crank up to 2-3 without blowing the drummer and I away with the volume. It probably made a lot bigger difference to the people in the house than it did to those of us a few feet from the amp. At that show there’s only one place/direction I can put the amp, so moving it around isn’t an option. So – no one has any speaker recommendations? -Scott McKnight
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->>I’ve got a Traynor YBA-4. This is a 1×15 combo version of the YBA-1. >>It’s about 50 watts with two EL34s. Sounds great cranked but I can’t >>turn it up much over 2 at gigs. I have a Weber Cali 15 in it now. I’m >>wondering what else I might put in it that’s less efficient so I can >>crank the amp more, but will stand up to 50 watts. Oh, and it should >>sound good too. >>Ideas? >>-Scott McKnight >Have you tried Scott Colborn’s approach of blocking the speaker’s >path? I know that it’s not multiple speakers like his 4×12 cabinet, >but partially blocking a single speaker would be effective too. Beam >blockers would knock it down a couple notches too. Even if you just >block with good old fashioned Rock & Roll tape. (Country tape won’t >work) >Where you aim the amp will have a huge effect on how loud it seems. >If you don’t want it to seem loud, you sure don’t want it aimed at >your ears. >Pete >Actually I *have* tried that (blocking). The last time I used the amp >was at a 3-gig weekend at a local club (Fri, Sat nite + Sun matinee). >I have a pretty big Samsonite suitcase that I carry pedals, cables, >etc. in. I put that in front of the speaker and it blocks about >2/3rds of it. When I do that at home and crank the amp it makes a big >difference. At the show it made a difference, but I still could only >crank up to 2-3 without blowing the drummer and I away with the >volume. It probably made a lot bigger difference to the people in the >house than it did to those of us a few feet from the amp. >At that show there’s only one place/direction I can put the amp, so >moving it around isn’t an option. >So – no one has any speaker recommendations? >-Scott McKnight
Sounds like you have too much power actually. Doesn’t sound like anything you do with that speaker, other than maybe running an How about an amp mod? Or maybe YellowJackets? Pete — Oh look, the exploding circus is coming to town. One night only. –Brak’s Dad
Response:
call or email Ted Weber…he’s always been very helpful to me http://www.tedweber.com/
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->>I’ve got a Traynor YBA-4. This is a 1×15 combo version of the YBA-1. >>It’s about 50 watts with two EL34s. Sounds great cranked but I can’t >>turn it up much over 2 at gigs. I have a Weber Cali 15 in it now. I’m >>wondering what else I might put in it that’s less efficient so I can >>crank the amp more, but will stand up to 50 watts. Oh, and it should >>sound good too. >>Ideas? >>-Scott McKnight >Have you tried Scott Colborn’s approach of blocking the speaker’s >path? I know that it’s not multiple speakers like his 4×12 cabinet, >but partially blocking a single speaker would be effective too. Beam >blockers would knock it down a couple notches too. Even if you just >block with good old fashioned Rock & Roll tape. (Country tape won’t >work) >Where you aim the amp will have a huge effect on how loud it seems. >If you don’t want it to seem loud, you sure don’t want it aimed at >your ears. >Pete > Actually I *have* tried that (blocking). The last time I used the amp > was at a 3-gig weekend at a local club (Fri, Sat nite + Sun matinee). > I have a pretty big Samsonite suitcase that I carry pedals, cables, > etc. in. I put that in front of the speaker and it blocks about > 2/3rds of it. When I do that at home and crank the amp it makes a big > difference. At the show it made a difference, but I still could only > crank up to 2-3 without blowing the drummer and I away with the > volume. It probably made a lot bigger difference to the people in the > house than it did to those of us a few feet from the amp. > At that show there’s only one place/direction I can put the amp, so > moving it around isn’t an option. > So – no one has any speaker recommendations? > -Scott McKnight
Response:
I still think a less efficient speak would be helpful. I considered Yellowjackets. I posted here once asking for dimensions and the responses I got indicate there isn’t enough room in the amp section of the cabinet to fit them. -Scott+
Response:
>I still think a less efficient speak would be helpful. I considered >Yellowjackets. I posted here once asking for dimensions and the >responses I got indicate there isn’t enough room in the amp section of >the cabinet to fit them. >-Scott+
Not enough room in a combo? Is a transformer too close? Pete — Oh look, the exploding circus is coming to town. One night only. –Brak’s Dad
Response:
This is a bass amp, so the speaker area is sealed – the back is closed, as is the top of the speaker cab (under the amp section). This is an earlier model but you’ll get the idea: http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~dace/vb/yba-4_bk.jpg The height of the amp section is just a little too low for the Yellowjackets. Anyway, I don’t really want to drop the volume *that* much. I’ve considered bringing it out with a little 1×10 cab I own, unplugging the 15" in the Traynor cab and just running the 1×10 (75-watt Celestion). It seems a little silly to bring out the massive Traynor combo and not use the speaker though… Tranny toaster would probably be the way to go, though I’m hesitant, for multiple reasons, one being $. -Scott
Response:
>This is a bass amp, so the speaker area is sealed – the back is closed, >as is the top of the speaker cab (under the amp section). >This is an earlier model but you’ll get the idea: >http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~dace/vb/yba-4_bk.jpg
Kind of a cool arrangement. >The height of the amp section is just a little too low for the >Yellowjackets. Anyway, I don’t really want to drop the volume *that* >much. I’ve considered bringing it out with a little 1×10 cab I own, >unplugging the 15" in the Traynor cab and just running the 1×10 >(75-watt Celestion). It seems a little silly to bring out the massive >Traynor combo and not use the speaker though…
A possible alternative might be to use an adapter ring like what I made to fit a 10" speaker in my homebuilt 1×12 cabinet: http://amplifyer.home.comcast.net/1×12to1×10front.jpg There’s a grill on a frame that goes over the front of that. I don’t recall my reason for doing that at the moment, but I’m sort of planning to put a 12" speaker back in there. Sometime anyhow. >Tranny toaster would probably be the way to go, though I’m hesitant, >for multiple reasons, one being $. >-Scott
Yeah, they’re kind of expensive these days. I used to use an early one. An Altair. Cost something like $76 in the late 70s. But my TV on UHF sort of indicated that things weren’t really coshure when I used the Altair. Now, after experimenting with several pedals, I use a ProCo "Vintage" Rat pedal. Which cost a similar amount to the Altair… if you don’t count all the other pedals I went through first. The Rat’s name would make you think that it’s a Metal pedal, but I find it more of a Bluesy sort of sound, just not in an especially mellow way though. Hated the thing at first, and just set it aside for about a year. Eventually figured out how to make it work But I really can’t step into your shoes. Don’t know if you’d ever find a pedal that’ll get your sound, and work well in your band. Pete — Oh look, the exploding circus is coming to town. One night only. –Brak’s Dad
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