Traynor YGL 3 (1973) maintenance

[Arhythmic]

Hello

I've recently bought a Traynor YGL 3 because I was looking for a more compact amp than my 1967 Traynor YBA1 with a 2X15 cab... YGL 3 is heavy as hell, but is more compact
The amp is all original from 1973, down to the Mullard (Philips) tubes (which I tested and sold to compensate the price of the amp). Everything works, even the reverb and the tremolo!
I quite like the original Marsland speakers, but everybody keeps telling that those are the weakest point of the amp, so I ordered two Eminence speakers (Cannabis Rex and The Tonker) to try them out and see if I'm missing something.
I also want to replace those Mallory dynamite stick capacitors ( 2X40uF/450V), but I can seem to find a multicap that can do 2X40uF at 500V or more... I found 2X50uF/525V but I've read somewhere that it makes the amp feel ''stiffer'', is that true?
I replaced all the tubes with JJs because they are cheap and I like their sound, especially for live shows. Other that checking the bias, do I need to replace any other electrolytics/components?

Oh, and, the power transformer buzzes, but now I know how to deal with it, thanks to this forum!

Thank you all in advance!

[Leo_Gnardo]

I also want to replace those Mallory dynamite stick capacitors ( 2X40uF/450V), but I can seem to find a multicap that can do 2X40uF at 500V or more... I found 2X50uF/525V but I've read somewhere that it makes the amp feel ''stiffer'', is that true?

The difference between 40 & 50 uF is miniscule, besides the tolerance is often plus or minus 20%, so swap in new caps without another thought. Just make sure you have the polarity right or you will have an experience you don't want to repeat. JJ, F&T, a couple other brands have dual 50 uF at 500V, they are 1 3/8 inch diameter, or you could select single 47 uF / 500V and do it that way.

Worry about "stiffer" if you went for huge or multiple filter caps, say 200 uF. You're not going there so there's no worry.

[xtian]

You should replace all of the electrolytic caps, including the filter caps and the cathode bypass caps and the bias filter caps. Cheers!

[Justin Thomas]

And I'll be danged if a few months ago, someone else had a Traynor with a buzzing PT, and eventually either got it fixed or determined it was harmless... well, at least two threads:

http://music-electronics-forum.com/t8481/

http://music-electronics-forum.com/t44126/

HTH!
Justin

[Arhythmic]

Thank you all for suggestions!
I will replace all of the electrolytics then... It makes sense, especially for an amp that I will gig a lot with.
Justin, that second thread you mention, is in fact my other Traynor that used to have a buzzing power transformer and which was fixed with the suggestions from members of this very forum! Works great now!
To Hammond's defense, there's a pretty sizable dent on the transformer's bell side, so I think it started buzzing because of a drop...

[cjenrick]

maybe series a pair of 100uf/350 volt = 700 volt limit, use 220K 1 w divider resistors to keep equal voltage across the caps,

Canadian power was a bit lower than US, so B+ will rise above schematic value, especially since 117 = 120 nowadays,

maybe check heater voltage to see if tubes are getting 6.7 instead of 6.3 AC

some people stuff F&T duals into an old multicap can to save $, do not know if that applies here,

yes very heavy and loud! turned mine into a Rivera overdrive circuit from the 80's and it rocked outdoor gigs big time.

Garnet made some cool amps that you might steal mods from, (Canadian)
Does it look like this? middle amp is a musicmaster bass, 6AQ5's and a innerstage xfmr, nice amp to mod, speaker cab sounds good for guitar, 74 BC Rich Seagull 64 Vibro

built in BC 10x preamp thru the YG would break windows,

[Arhythmic]

I'm about to order the electrolytics (all of them that I found in the amp) but I have a little question: I'm hesitating between F&Ts cans (50/50uf / 500V -10%/+30% (so potentially 65uf!) tolerance) and Sprague Atoms 40uf/500V. I really wanted to get the Atoms but those guys are expensive (25$ each compared to 38$ total for the F&Ts). I hesitate because of the price and also the mounting space as I will need 2X Atoms to replace each Mallory dynamite stick that are in place right now.
Is there anything that I overlooked or missed?
Thank you in advance again!

[Leo_Gnardo]

I'm about to order the electrolytics (all of them that I found in the amp) but I have a little question: I'm hesitating between F&Ts cans (50/50uf / 500V -10%/+30% (so potentially 65uf!) tolerance) and Sprague Atoms 40uf/500V. I really wanted to get the Atoms but those guys are expensive (25$ each compared to 38$ total for the F&Ts). I hesitate because of the price and also the mounting space as I will need 2X Atoms to replace each Mallory dynamite stick that are in place right now.
Is there anything that I overlooked or missed?
Thank you in advance again!

Sprague Atoms are over rated & over priced. Save your cash, and your worries, for something more important.

Inside currently made Sprague Atoms, you'll find a small modern cap and a lot of stuffing. They're made to extract money from those who still believe they're something special.

[Familyortiz]

If the tubes are socketed, it may be worthwhile to reflow the power tubes solder joints. The power load tends to degrade the joints over time, particularly the heater joints. Cheers and great acquisition of nice older gear!

[Arhythmic]

Thank you Leo_Gnardo! I was indeed buying into hype ''After all you're changing those caps every 20 years or so... Maybe it is worth it...'' F&Ts it will be!
Thank you for the reflowing advice Familyortiz! I will certainly do that at the same time (while changing caps and removing the power trasnformer).
Those Traynors are incredibly well overbuild, love that! Also they do sound amazing! I was thinking about changing the tolex on the cab, adding casters, etc. But this morning I decided to just extract the chassis and build a head and a separate 2X12 to keep the original intact, honor the legacy of Pete Traynor. Plus I can make it funky with no remorse!

[Mick Bailey]

FWIW old can caps are very often rated at -20%/+80% tolerance and I get quite a few marked as such. If you have a means of measuring capacitance do a check when you remove the old ones to see what their actual value is.

+1 on Sprague Atoms being a waste of money. Not because they stuff a modern small cap inside a 'traditional' sized casing, but because they're just a waste of money. Nothing better or worse than anything else.

[cjenrick]

suggestion: measure your B+ voltage before ordering,

[Arhythmic]

Damn... I forgot to do that cjenrick!.. And I just bought the capacitors.
They are all rated at 500V (with peaks at 550V) instead of 450V ratings on the old ones and I was using the old '73 Mallories for a couple of weeks with no problems, so I hope that the new ones will work for a while...
It is not an extremely scientific, more of an empirical approach
Also I didn't find a lot of suppliers with voltage ratings above 500V in the 40uf range.

[Arhythmic]

Hello

I have a quick question that have been torturing me for days now...
As I mentionned earlier in this thread, I would like to build a separate head + speakers (2X12) cabs for the YSL3. However, I also have the YBA1 head which I would love to use with that same 2X12 cab.
I already have the speakers (Eminence Cannabis Rex and The Tonker) and both of them are at 8 ohm as the YSL head expects to see 4 ohms (so speakers will be wired in parallel). But I want to use the YBA1 head, it needs to see 8 ohm total at the output... I was thinking of wiring a switch in the back that will be able to bypass one of the speakers and thus re-creating the 8 ohm. But I would really like to use both of those speakers with YBA1 too. I noticed that there's a second output jack for the extension speaker on both heads: YSL expects 4 ohm for the extension speaker (according to the manual) and the YBA's manual states that the '' the extension speaker
should be the same as the main speaker cabinet'', hence 8 ohm.
So here's finally my question: can I just plug each output jack into each individual speaker (with a switch that will provide me with parallel/individual speakers arrangement)

Thank you in advance!