The little YBA-2A awoke from its' slumber painlessly. The cabinet was a no-name and unrated for power capacity, but pulling the jack-plate off (infinite baffle deal) revealed a very large ceramic magnet, and based on the size I was figuring the driver for a 2" voice coil, so this little jewel was good for 75-100 watts.
The good news was I would never blow this cabinet with my weenie 18-20 watts. The bad news was I would never get the speaker to contribute to the tone.
None-the-less, I played. The little amp was smooth and sultry up to about 4-5 on the dime dial, and thereafter crunch set in.
With single coils, by the time you hit 8 on this little monster it was howling like a two year old with a lolly-pop 5" out of reach.
This little guy would peel paint, especially if you were packing the front-end with a tube screamer.
But of course, I:
a. Now have a family and a mortgage
b. have neighbors
I used to laugh at 18 watts, but I was playing bass in a hyper-db. band at the time (just this side of a jet aircraft taking off). I am here to now say 18 watts is LOUD.
Like most tube amps, it doesn't walk the walk until you dime it. So I was still sort of looking for a tone machine solution.
Enter amp-modeling options, stage left.
