Paddy777

It’s a really lovely bass, the only thing is I also took delivery of a US Lakland 55/94 this week as well, which is a totally different type of bass, but has upstaged the Yamaha a little bit! I’m going to give the Yamaha some love & attention this week, it’s maybe not used to being a side-piece 😂 I’m also undecided on strings - whether to keep rounds on or stick some EB Cobalt Flats or even some Tapes on it, I’m going to try a few and see what sounds best, I know a few people who have tapes on Yamaha BB’s with these pickups on and they sound really good, not my usual strings but could be a nice change

Yeh I will do @RobD 👍

Yeh there’s no tools included with it unfortunately so looks like it has been lost over time, but I’m very glad to hear that there is a fix - I was quite surprised that the tuners were seeming to be knackered when everything else is so well made? I’m sure I’ll be able to sort them out then, very pleased with that thanks for that

Well my BB3000s arrived today and i have to say I’m absolutely blown away by the quality of it! 🤩 I had obviously read/heard how good they were but I guess I’m still taken aback somewhat at how nice it is to play, and also how great it sounds - I don’t quite know how to explain it, but the tone is absolutely perfect, it’s like it’s hard to sound bad playing it (but I’m sure I’ll manage to give it a good shot 😂). It has a really lovely neck - it’s not particularly wide but it’s a bit thicker than a jazz front to back, it feels like you just glide your hand where it needs to go and you get this lovely even tone all over the fretboard. I do have a bit of a tendency to get carried away with new basses and then a month or two later after a few gigs I’ll find there’s one or two niggly things I don’t like, the only with this I can see at the mo is that the tuners don’t hold their tune very well at all, in fact the A string is so bad it actually turned back the other way a quarter turn after I’d tuned it, but I just put it down to being 40 years old. I’ll have to sort something out - see if I can find some replacement gold Yamaha ones the same otherwise I may stick some Gotoh’s or something on for now. Anyway, suffice to say I am more than impressed with it - it’s really got some mojo, decent weight too - a few grams over 9lbs Couple more pix 👇

I did trade with Lukasz meaning we both had to send each other basses due to distance - a notoriously difficult type of deal. Lukasz couldn’t have done more to help make it a smooth deal - great communication, and did everything we agreed on, very conscientious and would happily recommend him to fellow Basschatters

I’ll take some better ones later on, these are the sellers pics. Not perfect condition but it’s 40 years old, so taking that into account it’s pretty good - it’s been bought as a working bass anyway, so a few chips don’t matter, came in the original Yamaha hard case, which is a bit battered but always nice to have it

I’m finally joining the Yamaha BB club this week - waiting on delivery of my new (to me) 1984 BB3000s so I can get my Jonathan Maron-on! Was looking at a BBP34 tbh, just fancied a decent passive PJ 4 string but I’m not massively clued up about the old Japanese ones, however this looked like a good decent deal and I think just going from YouTube videos etc it sounds like it has a bit more mojo than the BBP, I’ve always liked the pickups in these older Yamaha's too

Ah I played one and thought it was pretty good! Probably indicative of the fact that at the cheaper end of the market there are some fantastic bases, but consistency/QC can be poor so as always said - it’s best to try them! 35” scale isn’t the be all and end all when it comes to a good low B, the bridge is also important and the general design of the bass - Stingray 5’s are 34” scale and aren’t really thought of as having a poor low B. As I said before, I’ve had 2 great 5 string Sire’s - the P7 (Active PJ bass) was the better of the two, but the V7 (Active Jazz bass) was pretty good too

Yeh I don’t doubt this - I’ve heard it off many people but haven’t played enough US 5 strings to really pass comment, I’ve played a U.S. Fender Jazz 5 Deluxe and the B was alright TBF but I know they can be hit and miss. The OP will not likely find a US Fender in his budget anyway so it’s a bit of a Moot point

There’s a Peavey Cirrus on here for £300 which is really good value for money - excellent 5 strings. I’d swerve the Ray 5’s or any Squier 5 strings IMO, i have had 2 decent Sire 5 strings and I’ve seen Yamaha BB1025’s for about £500 and they’re absolutely excellent. Alternatively I have also heard good things off a friend about the Markbass Gloxy 5’s but haven’t played one myself - they sound good on demos I’ve heard, decent B, and you may get a Cort Modern 5 second hand for that money and these are lovely basses too - loads of choice but IMO avoid SUB Ray 5’s, Squier and MIM Fenders (although some people like them, I’ve never liked the B string on them)

4 or a 5?

If you ever want to part with that 55/64 @pmjos just give me a shout! 🤩 haha - they’re bloody hard to find! Loved my 4 string /64

Well 1 out of 3 ain’t bad - I’m definitely a bass player 😂 You don’t usually see ads for roles like this, it’s all word of mouth and referrals so I’m sure they’ll get loads of fantastic players applying

Aye I love the Empress, best compressor I’ve had I think, the Lusithand Alma was also decent but the Empress can do an awful lot more and there’s options to add bits of saturation in with a mid scoop and mid bump switch that I think sounds fantastic in certain situations. It pricey but I like it a lot more than I do the Cali76 I’ve never used the little Tonex pedal but the quality of the amp and cab sounds For that money is really good value, however you really need the full fat one to take proper advantage of all the different ones available and Tonex Max with all the Amplitube captures like GK, Ampeg etc which are outstanding. Some very good Noble and Noble + Cab captures available too

Sorry to hear that, I’ve lost a couple of people close to me this way and the aftermath for everyone is awful, makes everything else pale into insignificance

Board I’m running at the mo for festive function stuff - Empress into Capo with Tonex in post FX loop running an Aguilar DB751 and a cab of some description, also getting chorus and extra dirt channel from the Tonex and a clean boost from B side of the Capo. I usually have an octave pedal but it’s on the blink so I’d rather not take it to a gig till it’s sorted/I inevitably bin it and buy another one Also battery charger + rechargeable batteries for IEM pack & wireless 😁 (which I stood on so currently not using) Really very impressed with the Tonex, not sure why I don’t see much Bass love for it but they’re as good as any capture I’ve ever used and much better than Stomp amp/cab sims, and there are tonnes of free user generated captures on Tone.net, also get the full suite and Amplitube to use on your computer/DAW - I’m not selling them or anything 😆 but as far as amp/cab sounds go they’re top of the tree IMO

Finally finished my PJ5 following @carlsim guide - first one went awry for me too so I’m glad I’d ordered two decals! Pretty pleased with the outcome all in all, and they’re great cheapy basses