Guest MoJo Posted January 23, 2013 Posted January 23, 2013 I recently had a fretless ebony board fitted to my black BB414 by luthier Andy Viccars. Over the last week or so, I had the idea of swapping the neck over onto one of my orange metallic BB414's so that I'd have matching fretted and fretless basses. I was amazed that the necks were as tight a fit in each others bodies as they were in their own. It says a lot about the quality control at Yamaha [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/bassman2790/20130123_213114.jpg[/IMG] The finished article Quote
AndyTravis Posted January 23, 2013 Posted January 23, 2013 That's f***ing gorgeous and I want It. Quote
Sean Posted January 23, 2013 Posted January 23, 2013 [quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1358981554' post='1948222'] I recently had a fretless ebony board fitted to my black BB414 by luthier Andy Viccars. Over the last week or so, I had the idea of swapping the neck over onto one of my orange metallic BB414's so that I'd have matching fretted and fretless basses. I was amazed that the necks were as tight a fit in each others bodies as they were in their own. It says a lot about the quality control at Yamaha [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/bassman2790/20130123_213114.jpg[/IMG] The finished article [/quote] I've heard those Yamaha BB basses are pretty good. I might have to check one out. Quote
Cygnus x-1 Posted January 23, 2013 Posted January 23, 2013 [quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1358982449' post='1948237'] [b]That's f***ing gorgeous and I want It.[/b] [/quote] I concur with this fact. Quote
stingrayPete1977 Posted January 23, 2013 Posted January 23, 2013 Strangley barring budget basses the worst bass I ever tried was a Yamaha billy sheehan thing, loose bits, faulty pickup etc but also the best bass I ever played fit and finish wise was a Yamaha BBNE5 Nathan East. Quote
louisthebass Posted January 23, 2013 Posted January 23, 2013 I've had three Yammy's and apart from a dodgy jack socket on one (which was quickly resolved), their QC is second to none. Quote
AttitudeCastle Posted January 23, 2013 Posted January 23, 2013 [quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1358984110' post='1948264'] Strangley barring budget basses the worst bass I ever tried was a Yamaha billy sheehan thing, loose bits, faulty pickup etc but also the best bass I ever played fit and finish wise was a Yamaha BBNE5 Nathan East. [/quote] Which model? Apprently there were a few issues with alot of the earlier, short run and prototype Attitudes due to the complexity of the builds in the enviroments they were built in. Weird that isn't it?! My more recent Yamaha Attitude LTD II is a corker though, never skipped a bit and solid as a rock Never touched anything by Yamaha of any kind of instrument (Drums, Brass, Wood winds, Pianos, strings, guitars and of course basses) which hasn't made me think "Wow. This just feels quality". Even the budget learner Trombone a pupil of mine has is incredible and feels lovely to play. That's mostly from the last 10-15 years though, wouldn't know about further back as haven't seen too much of that minus Trombones and Pianos (all been pretty damn good!) but that said, I am only 17 Quote
neepheid Posted January 24, 2013 Posted January 24, 2013 I've played four BBs (BB300, BB350F, BB450 and BB614) and I've been impressed with each of them, mostly the necks - sitting in a nice middle ground between a Jazz and a Precision. They've all been very well screwed together, although I think I preferred how the older models felt versus the BB614 for some unfathomable reason. Quote
RandomBass Posted January 24, 2013 Posted January 24, 2013 [quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1358981554' post='1948222'] I recently had a fretless ebony board fitted to my black BB414 by luthier Andy Viccars. Over the last week or so, I had the idea of swapping the neck over onto one of my orange metallic BB414's so that I'd have matching fretted and fretless basses. I was amazed that the necks were as tight a fit in each others bodies as they were in their own. It says a lot about the quality control at Yamaha [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/bassman2790/20130123_213114.jpg[/IMG] The finished article [/quote] Ooh very nice. Love the orangey and chocolatey colours. Oh my god, it's a Chocolate Orange! And I just love Chocolate Oranges Quote
megallica Posted January 24, 2013 Posted January 24, 2013 Looks like a great job - Andy does great work. I've owned a few Yamaha's over the years BBN4, BBN5, BBG5S, RBX270, RBX550M and an RBX800A, hard to find a better instrument in the same price category. Quote
ezbass Posted January 24, 2013 Posted January 24, 2013 [quote name='Lfalex v1.1' timestamp='1359051575' post='1949127'] I've yet to play a duff Yamaha. [/quote]I agree. No matter what price point you at, Yamaha don't seem to make a duff instrument and more often than not play/sound beyond the price point. This seems to bet same for guitars, keyboards and drums as well as basses. Quote
Marvin Posted January 24, 2013 Posted January 24, 2013 I picked up, what looked like a very tatty, Yamaha RBX something or other in a practice room several months ago. It was brilliant. Really sweet to play. Saw someone playing a TRB recently, that sounded and looked Quote
kerley Posted January 25, 2013 Posted January 25, 2013 Yamaha are a pretty safe bet. I have owned various Yamaha products and all have been well made (classical guitar, steel string acoustic guitars, bass, keyboard). I guess what is stopping them being a 'cool' brand is that they are a bit like the Toyota of instruments. Quote
JapanAxe Posted January 25, 2013 Posted January 25, 2013 [quote name='Lfalex v1.1' timestamp='1359051575' post='1949127'] I've yet to play a duff Yamaha. [/quote] +1 to that. Fender, Gibson and the rest should take note! Quote
Bobby K Posted January 25, 2013 Posted January 25, 2013 +1 to all of the above. All I've got are Yamahas now. Massively under rated, as i'm always saying. The older through neck models, like my BB1200, really are the mut's nuts! Quality you can rely on, buy with confidence! Quote
Bobby K Posted January 25, 2013 Posted January 25, 2013 (edited) [quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1358981554' post='1948222'] I recently had a fretless ebony board fitted to my black BB414 by luthier Andy Viccars. Over the last week or so, I had the idea of swapping the neck over onto one of my orange metallic BB414's so that I'd have matching fretted and fretless basses. I was amazed that the necks were as tight a fit in each others bodies as they were in their own. It says a lot about the quality control at Yamaha The finished article [/quote] Mark, that's just genius. how gorgeous does that look now? Chocolate Orange indeed, yum yum Seriously thinking about getting Mr Vicars to do my BB1100s board in ebony now Edited January 25, 2013 by Bobby K Quote
danthevan Posted January 25, 2013 Posted January 25, 2013 My first bass was a borrowed rbx200 (still borrowing it 15 years later) and probably my favorite to play. Bridge is rusty, knobs are missing, paint is chipped, jack socket was replaced a few times and has a rather large aluminium billet covering the hole that has grown over the years, and gaffer tape as a back cover. Quote
Ghost_Bass Posted January 25, 2013 Posted January 25, 2013 Never found a bad piece of gear from Yamaha, my TRB is flawless and sounds great, it's "the one i'll never sell". Regarding the OP i believe that they managed to figure out how to program CNC machines so that they can mass-build without compromising fit and finish... maybe they could do a workshop for a known company (name starts with a F...) Quote
geoffbyrne Posted January 25, 2013 Posted January 25, 2013 [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v213/geoffbyrne/P1010062.jpg[/IMG] Need I say more? I also have a Yamaha keyboard & acoustic. G. Quote
TheGreek Posted January 25, 2013 Posted January 25, 2013 The consensus is pretty much what I expected...and to think that years ago Japanese goods were considered inferior... Quote
Kobra11 Posted January 25, 2013 Posted January 25, 2013 IMO Yamaha definitely make the best budget instruments for sure, ive got one problem with my RBX170 where the E string sounds louder then all the others but other than that i cant fault it and its taken some punishment over the last 7 years Quote
Ghost_Bass Posted January 25, 2013 Posted January 25, 2013 [quote name='Kobra11' timestamp='1359113423' post='1950016'] IMO Yamaha definitely make the best budget instruments for sure, ive got one problem with my RBX170 where the E string sounds louder then all the others but other than that i cant fault it and its taken some punishment over the last 7 years [/quote] Have you tried lowering the pickup on the E string side? It could just be too close to that string giving more output Quote
charic Posted January 25, 2013 Posted January 25, 2013 [quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1359113789' post='1950021'] Have you tried lowering the pickup on the E string side? It could just be too close to that string giving more output [/quote] Or you could be hitting the E string harder! You may laugh, I did experience this when someone told me they had a problem with a bass Quote
essexbasscat Posted January 25, 2013 Posted January 25, 2013 I'd agree about Yamaha instruments in general, with the exception of a few acoustic guitars I've come across with the neck set at the wrong angle. The luthier that worked on one of my Yamaha acoustics mentioned he comes across the same problem with Yamaha acoustics time and again. That said, I'm still after a Yamaha B100ii amp (hint hint) Quote
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