Accidental NBD

[LukeFRC]

So...

I had no money and saw a fella selling a bass on a local forum, messaged him a few times and he's a really nice old guy. retiring and his bass was too heavy for him. Asked about it on here..... Offered him a trade, he needed the cash... thought nothing of it.

The I sold my beautiful JV precision. An amazing bass, really old vintage fender tone, played amazingly. But, as much as I like precisions just wasn't playing it and the nut width was just that little bit wider than was a comforable jump from the warwick and back.

So I have a bit of money from the sale and am looking on ebay for an old warwick... and notice that the old fella has stuck up his bass on ebay.
He's also written one of the worst auction listings I've seen for a while with a lack of keywords in it.
I go and post links several places on here saying "really nice bass, I can do the pickup for you if you want" and expect a bit of bidding on it.
I take a punt at £50 more than the starting price thinking if I did win it for that it would be a good price, but I would probably make sure the nice old guy makes a bit closer to it's worth....

.... spend the week watching the auction, wondering....

aw, no one else has bid, I've won it!

So I've got an accedental new bass day, of an amazing 1977 Yamaha BB1200 - a really early one!

And I don't really know what to say, I picked it up on monday, and not really done much of a set up or changed strings.... but it sounds like no precision I've ever heard (it's not a precision I know, it just looks kinda like one)
It's more modern sounding and loads of mids, and you know when you play a really really good instrument and it all just seems very even and musical when you play it (the JV had it) well so does this.
On monday I went from playing my warwick at practice to plugging this in and the tone I had dialed in on my wick (with the fancy ACG preamp) was pretty much the tone this thing puts out.....

So yeah, I picked up a japanese yamaha BB300 in a trade last year, sold it on, but it was a nice instrument, so I was expecting it to be nice... but this is... special. It's kinda hard to work out- I think every time I've bought something before it's been from months of saving up and anticipation. This I wasn't supposed to get and has just knocked me sideways.

Oh and cheers to noelk27 for the advice about this too!

[LukeFRC]

not the best photo either.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1981-Yamaha-bass-guitar-limited-edition-a-vintage-instrument-/181238563983?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT&nma=true&si=NtdQodEq6TDZXFvl8u93v8Dx%252FkM%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc more there

[Dingus]

Well done , Luke , you have got yourself a very usable vintage bass there for a great price , by the sound of it .

These basses are what I would describe as a congnicenti's choice in so much as they might not appear particulaly glamorous to some folks , but to people in the know they are a classic bass with a prestigious history . A lot of top players used these in the late'70s/ early '80's , and for a good reason . They are well-made and fabulous sounding basses, and I'm not surprised that you are shocked at how different the tone is to a Fender Precision . The only real similarity is the style of pickup and its placement . Yamaha basses of this era have their own distinctive sound , and it's a great sound .

I hope you get a good few years playing pleasure out of this one .

Edited October 23, 2013 by Dingus

[cocco]

Jealous! This is beautiful. Well done

[Turk]

Sweet !!

Another one here. Currently £301, with three and a half days left.
[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161131661609?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161131661609?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649[/url]

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1382550722' post='2253583']
Well done , Luke , you have got yourself a very usable vintage bass there for a great price , by the sound of it .

These basses are what I would describe as a congnicenti's choice in so much as they might not appear particulaly glamorous to some folks , but to people in the know they are a classic bass with a prestigious history . A lot of top players used these in the late'70s/ early '80's , and for a good reason . They are well-made and fabulous sounding basses, and I'm not surprised that you are shocked at how different the tone is to a Fender Precision . The only real similarity is the style of pickup and its placement . Yamaha basses of this era have their own distinctive sound , and it's a great sound .

I hope you get a good few years playing pleasure out of this one .
[/quote] how would you try and describe the sound to someone? it's not a P bass, it's a little more like my warwick streamer, but very different

[Paul S]

Nice one, Luke. 2 questions from me - how much does it weigh and how wide is the neck?

[Dingus]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1382615032' post='2254392']
how would you try and describe the sound to someone? it's not a P bass, it's a little more like my warwick streamer, but very different
[/quote]

I would say that the sound has got a very strong midrange fundamental to it and has very extended frequency range compared to a Fender i.e the treble extends further and the bass goes deeper , so you could say that compared to a Fender , it's just got more of everything . The Yamaha sounds a lot more modern than a Fender by virtue of the laminated neck-thru construction and chunkier bridge , but it's still got plenty of Precision- like.growl to get it placed just right in the mix . The reverse P pickup probably helps a bit with that , too . The BB1200 is a lot less muted-sounding that a typical Fender , with much more sustain and a wider "ping" of overtones to the note. Imagine what a revelation that sound was in 1977 nwhen the choice for most bass players was between a bog standard Precision , Jazz Bass or Rickenbacker ( if they were lucky) . Bear in mind that this bass of yours was taking on the market at exactly the same time as the then brand new Music Man Stingray , so exciting times to be a bass player in 1977 , no doubt .

You may be interested to know that , if I recall correctly, that Yamaha were so keen to make a big impression with the first production run of these BB basses that were allocated to the North American market that , rather than just send them from Japan to their U.S distributor , they were instead shipped to Alembic, the most revered guitar builders in the World at that time ( and probably still are now) to be given a final check-over and setup . The resultant uber-Yamaha's were then presented to , among others, the cream of California's bass musos who took to the immidiately and Yamaha's reputation for making great basses was established . Players like Lee Sklar , Jimmy Haslip , Larry Klein , Verdine White and Abraham Laboriel ( to name but a few ) adopted Yamaha basses and used then to great effect on loads of records from that era ( I can tell you which ones if you are interested . ) Like so many Japanese companies of the time , Yamaha had a long -term plan to establish themselves a major force in their chosen market and were willing to invest time, money and effort in achieving that goal . Like so many other Japanese business modelsin other industries , it worked,

Not so long after these basses were introduced , Yamaha introduced its; PB1 bass preamp , and if you ever get a chance to buy one of them cheap I would grab it with both hands . They were relatively affordable , beautifully made and had one of the best sounds of any bass preamps I have ever heard right up to to the present day . A monumentally good piece of kit , but you don't see that many about secondhand, for some reason . One of the best bass guitar -orientated products ever , I have got my own conspiracy theory that it was discontinued because it was too good and made most other companies products look like a waste of money by comparison . A lost classic that will still beat most of the competition hands down , no doubt .

Edited October 24, 2013 by Dingus

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1382617687' post='2254454']
Nice one, Luke. 2 questions from me - how much does it weigh and how wide is the neck?
[/quote] 10 and a bit pounds, and 41-42mm sounds and feels so so so different to your JV!

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1382620069' post='2254495']
I would say that the sound has got a very strong midrange fundamental to it and has very extended frequency range compared to a Fender i.e the treble extends further and the bass goes deeper , so you could say that compared to a Fender , it's just got more of everything . The Yamaha sounds a lot more modern than a Fender by virtue of the laminated neck-thru construction and chunkier bridge , but it's still got plenty of Precision- like.growl to get it placed just right in the mix . The reverse P pickup probably helps a bit with that , too . The BB1200 is a lot less muted-sounding that a typical Fender , with much more sustain and a wider "ping" of overtones to the note. Imagine what a revelation that sound was in 1977 nwhen the choice for most bass players was between a bog standard Precision , Jazz Bass or Rickenbacker ( if they were lucky) . Bear in mind that this bass of yours was taking on the market at exactly the same time as the then brand new Music Man Stingray , so exciting times to be a bass player in 1977 , no doubt .

You may be interested to know that , if I recall correctly, that Yamaha were so keen to make a big impression with the first production run of these BB basses that were allocated to the North American market that , rather than just send them from Japan to their U.S distributor , they were instead shipped to Alembic, the most revered guitar builders in the World at that time ( and probably still are now) to be given a final check-over and setup . The resultant uber-Yamaha's were then presented to , among others, the cream of California's bass musos who took to the immidiately and Yamaha's reputation for making great basses was established . Players like Lee Sklar , Jimmy Haslip , Larry Klein , Verdine White and Abraham Laboriel ( to name but a few ) adopted Yamaha basses and used then to great effect on loads of records from that era ( I can tell you which ones if you are interested . ) Like so many Japanese companies of the time , Yamaha had a long -term plan to establish themselves a major force in their chosen market and were willing to invest time, money and effort in achieving that goal . Like so many other Japanese business modelsin other industries , it worked,

Not so long after these basses were introduced , Yamaha introduced its; PB1 bass preamp , and if you ever get a chance to buy one of them cheap I would grab it with both hands . They were relatively affordable , beautifully made and had one of the best sounds of any bass preamps I have ever heard right up to to the present day . A monumentally good piece of kit , but you don't see that many about secondhand, for some reason . One of the best bass guitar -orientated products ever , I have got my own conspiracy theory that it was discontinued because it was too good and made most other companies products look like a waste of money by comparison . A lost classic that will still beat most of the competition hands down , no doubt .
[/quote] Oddly the closest thing I've played to this before now was an alembic, didn't want to say before cos it would sound odd - but it's got a similar playing feel, musicality and evenness to it.

[Dingus]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1382630825' post='2254721']
Oddly the closest thing I've played to this before now was an alembic, didn't want to say before cos it would sound odd - but it's got a similar playing feel, musicality and evenness to it.
[/quote]

The laminated neck-thru construction has probably got a lot to do with that. Essentially , Yamaha directly copied it from Alembic .

[Paul S]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1382630714' post='2254718']
10 and a bit pounds, and 41-42mm sounds and feels so so so different to your JV!
[/quote] Thank goodness! I've spent enough recently...

Edit - I should say - without finding myself looking for more basses to try and buy.

Edited October 24, 2013 by Paul S

[LukeFRC]

took it to practice today. In possibly the worst room for amplified music….
It needs a set up still… but it sounds nice - very try different to anything i've played before soundwise. Can do quite rock.