Al Krow

Ah well even if it's been weird and wonderful chase up the garden path on your J bass quest 😁 I've learned about both the BB 605 being a J, which I hadn't clocked, and that the TRBX 605FM could well be worth checking out as noise cancelling [MM/J?], so it's certainly not been futile! @TJ Spicer - does the double coil on the TRBX pups render them MM's rather than (single coil) J's similar to what Sandberg have in their TM / VM range?

I'm now well confused (not the first and won't be the last time, haha!) If you're after a more traditional Jazz aesthetic, why look to Yamaha for a J bass based on the Yammy BB given they are no longer producing Fender clones?

Sounds to me that the TRBX could be on the money as Yammy's current 'J' bass offering. Good shout. Has YGD H5 double-coil pickups, built with alnico V magnets to offer "a smooth low and high end with a warm, vintage character". Quad-pole... and noise-cancelling design. That all sounds good to me! Noise cancelling is actually a big plus in my books - the J pup on my Yammy PJs is definitely the noisier / more prone to feedback and contrast with the almost silent running (by comparison) P pup. Music to Cam's ears should be the active / passive circuitry which seems to mirror the EQ on the 735A, which you are both big fans of. At £600 the TRBX605FM-5 is half the price of the Lakland 55-06, which won't hurt either.

And some of the best ones happen to also be made by Yammy!

Yup my understanding also is that difference is just in the woods across the SR Premium range. Pups, EQ etc are otherwise the same. I've got the 1825, but I actually prefer the less glossly finish of my previous 4 string 1800, and with hindsight the discontinued 1805 would have suited me down to the ground! Some of the 1400 / 1405 series were neck through, which set them apart from the rest of SR Premium range. If / when the next neck through SR Premium comes along, I'll be tempted to trade in my 1825 for it, but that may be a while! FWIW, the Premiums are my favourite of the three Ibby SR ranges - due entirely to the Nord big single pups, which have a delicious growl. So I'd positively choose a Premium over a Prestige and being half the price doesn't hurt either!

Wouldn't it be cool if you could work out a way to monetize your expertise? I get paid by my clients who clearly value my advice (otherwise they wouldn't pay me for it!) and which is how I've put a roof over my family's head and food on the table for the past 5 years when I've been running my own consultancy. Btw I don't treat any of their questions as being 'too stupid'! So why shouldn't folk value your expertise? £1 a question for straightforward queries? More for complex guidance. Seems fair.

Maybe I'm missing something, but surely the answer is that if the only thing wrong with the 55-60 is the colour and otherwise it's just the ticket and there are no other suitably coloured 55-60s likely to be available for a while, then would it be difficult to get it resprayed exactly how you want? Methinks just the body and front of the headstock would need re-doing. Going to be a more immediate answer than waiting for Yammy to start making J basses again...

Good shout krsipn. Cam would be wanting a 605 though...

That's very frustrating, I agree! Not poss to order directly from Lakland?

Cool - so you already know what you're after. Would I complain about a Yammy J bass: nope. But would I buy one (assuming there's a hole in my herd that I think needs filling, which there currently isn't)? Well the truth is that would depend how on good they were compared to the competition - it's a crowded market place out there. What I do love about Yammy is just how well they do a PJ bass - for me, it's what they're famous for. Btw - dunno if the finish on this Lakland 55-60 is more to your liking - it's currently FS in the Bass Gallery:

Exactly! Sounds like we have managed to get back onto the 'Plan' then 😂

Haha - I do have a collection and for me each one brings something distinct and special to the party, so I am very content with my herd, thank you! I'm not feeling any need to get a J bass from Yamaha other than the one I already have (which is excellent btw) - I'm very well catered for on the J bass front by another quality Japanese brand whose Nord pup growl and immensely playable necks I continue to love Sandberg are surely not purely active though i.e. passive / active option (that was certainly the case on my former TM4) - but I take your point about you not liking the new body shape, that's obviously a personal preference thing. But Cam there are a ton of really good value and great quality J basses out there - surely the world is your oyster?

But you've got a Dingwall and Sandberg and had MTD: all great brands. I don't recall what pup set-ups you have / had on these but they all do very well regarded J basses. I'm kinda struggling to understand what it is you'd want a Yammy to bring to the party that these brands aren't already giving you?

That says it all. They really are that good aren't they?! Congratulations!

Besides they need to hurry up and get their replacement for the BB1200 / S into production asap and make sure that they have a 5 string option when they do!

My thanks to @Dad3353 for 'refreshing' this old thread so that the earlier posts are easier for everyone to read. So 5 years on from my initial post - I'd still be happy to recommend a Markbass Combo given the quality of the product (the AC 121 Lite did me proud over 4 years), but this time around I'd likely jump for the newer Marcus Miller CMD 102 500. The MM series seem to have nailed the EQ centre points, which were my only real gripe with the older LM3 based combos. If you want amazing value for money then the TC BG250 series, is worth a look - heard one being played with a MTD bass and a full jazz brass band outdoors today and it sounded really good! I was genuinely surprised when I wandered across and saw that it was a 'humble' TC BG 250 - which was actually the first combo I ever owned. And although I've never owned this, I would also be very tempted by the Rumble Stage 800:

Take your point about R&D Cam, but I think the first part of what bassfan said hits it on the head for me. If you want a great PJ bass which brands would you think of? Well Yammy would be right up there for a lot of folk. The Yammy PJs are arguably as good as any on the market, certainly at the price points they pitch them at. If you want a great J bass, well where do you start? The choice is endless and as well as being a very crowded space, Yammy could potentially just end up with a relatively run of the mill J-bass, which might even lower their stellar reputation with bassists if folk found them a bit meh? I think Yammy have played a very canny game and done it well over many decades. They have a dedicated following with both their BB and Line6/Helix brands and quite a lot to digest and sharpen-up with Ampeg now in the fold.

Oh dear, dear, dear....and then you're going to want to get it all midi capable and maybe wireless would be nice? Maybe I should save you a LOT of trouble and just sell you mine? 😂

Ok that's several things to check out then! SVT 4 Pro, Moogerfooger, ZeroAmp BDI You've clearly not read the script have you?! The Stomp is supposed to save you money on pedals, not cost you extra! 😂

Like the OP, I've always been a little bemused that the Akai seems to command such high prices from willing buyers, when there is a modern equivalent in the form of the Future Impact which starts with the 9 preset sounds that the Akai provides and then adds a further 90 presets and a whole bunch of options to edit and create your own effects patches with a much more powerful synth engine inside. However simple supply and demand come into play - the Akai doesn't come up for sale that often. And at some point any product that has a degree of scarcity can become a collector's item which transforms its value. You only have to look at classic car prices to see the effect. PS: while I'm on the sibject, a little plug for the FI, if I may: it's better than any multi-fx synth engine I have tried so far, including Helix, @HazBeen is currently on his fourth one (sequentially not all at once, I should hasten to add!); we have an expert in residence in patch creation and editing in @Quatschmacher who has been engaged by FI to create new patches for their (hopefully!) soon to be released Firmware 3.0 upgrade. And our own @GisserD has designed a neat smaller housing for the FI which has sold in numbers both here and in the USA.

You managed to find a workaround? I note the manual is still showing as 'for use with firmware 2.65' so hasn't been updated for 2.71 or 2.80 yet. Been having a clear out of some of the HX presets today - but one of the 2.71 direct amp & cab sims - the Hiwatt 100 ('WhoWatt100') guitar valve amp with a massive 4x12 cab sounded great and is definitely not getting culled. Dunno if anyone else is a fan of this one and will be using? Apparently Pete Townsend and Dave Gilmour were big into Hiwatt, so it's clearly got quite a guitar pedigree but, must admit, I'd never really considered pairing a guitar valve amp with bass before - wonder whether it works as well in real life as it does on a HX simulation?!

Actually I can go one better, with something I actually own and would match the Marcus Limited head nicely 😂

In defence of gold knobs! 😁

+ Mesa M6 from Wat. So how smug am I gonna be for the rest of the weekend, given that my two amps just happen to be a ... Mesa M6 and Darkglass M900? 😂

What a great skill-set that 'drummer' has - any bass player who also can also put together decent drum lines gets my respect!