Broken Fingers Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Hi. I am 55 and started playing bass when I was 18. Then I went gallivanting about for a few years until about ten or eleven years ago when I bought myself another bass and started attempting to play it again. I have been attempting ever since and have played in a couple of bands.....mainly heavy stuff like Sabbath, Iron Maiden, ACDC, Metalica and so on. When I was 18, in 1976, I bought a Fender Jazz Bass in a music shop in Newcastle for £330-00. It was a lot of money at the time. When I stopped playing I sold it......Oh god, how I wish I hadn't. Anyway, when I started playing again, I bought a 2002 Mexican P Bass in Midnight Wine, to get started on. It was great.....still got it. In 2006, I bought a Fender Custom Shop 1975 reissue Jazz bass. Made in the USA. It cost £1100 quid I think. Maple neck, block inlays. Nice bit of kit and its what I play most of the time. Since then I bought a few different basses. A Warwick Streamer, which I still have but don't like, so I don't play it. I have another red Mexican P Bass, and Ibanez Gio Soundgear and a Musicman Sub Bass 4. I tend to buy any old bass I see if the price is right. Today, I was rang by a guy I know from the pub who told me that during a house clearance he recovered an old red Yamaha bass. I went round to have a look. The neck was straight it looked OK so I gave him £40.00 for it. Gave it a clean, put some new Rotosounds on it and plugged it in. Its a phenomenal piece of kit. Its a BB300 and judging by the serial number it was made around Spring 1984. So it is 30 years old. I have never played a Yamaha bass before. It's a P-bass but I would say that it plays and sounds better than either of my Fender P basses. Its had a bit hammer and has more than its fair share of dents and scratches.....but hey-ho, it cost 40 quid! I was bloody impressed by it generally but what really impressed me was that the pots, which are original, don't make so much as an odd crackle. You can feel the quality of them when you turn them. So.....that's me and I am looking for you guys to tell me whether Yamaha basses are the world's best kept secret. So what do I play through. At home for practice I have a Laney 100w R2 Combo. I have a 100w Torque combo as well. For live gigs I use a Trace Elliott AMS 400 with a 5 band equaliser. The cab is a Trace Elliott 1x15 4x10 cab that weighs an absolute tonne. Its old but its bloody good. I bought it from my friends estate when he died. My wireless is a Line 6 G55 with a rack mount kit and a Korg Digital Pro Rack tuner, neither of which I have used in anger because I have just built it, so its waiting for its first run out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]"So.....that's me and I am looking for you guys to tell me whether Yamaha basses are the world's best kept secret. "[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]well they were up to 9:52 when you started this thread[/font][/color] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 (edited) I've not owned or played a Yamaha bass but the general consensus on this forum is that they are great players, great value for money and are put together really well. I'm trying to think of an excuse to get one myself... but £40 has to be a bargain, imho. Welcome to the forum! Edited February 12, 2014 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1392242944' post='2366483'] I've not owned or played a Yamaha bass [/quote] really? come have a shot on my bb1200 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 [quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1392243106' post='2366491'] really? come have a shot on my bb1200 [/quote] I've heard that particular bass is... not bad. I'm in London though, so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1392243170' post='2366494'] I've heard that particular bass is... not bad. I'm in London though, so... [/quote] denied by the length of the M1 ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 I don't really like Yamaha basses, but in the right pair of hands they are amazing sounding pieces of kit, especially for the price. Incredibly well made too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I can't see me ever owning one as I'm not a great fan of the styling (and I'm a fickle git ), but the BB range has been around for well over 30 years now, which it certainly wouldn't be if the demand for it wasn't there. From what I remember of them back then, it was one of the biggest sellers in the music shop I worked in back in the 80's, beaten only by the Westone Thunder 1A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 BB basses from the 80's can have pretty chunky necks but they have a fabulous P bass sound. Little River Band's bassist Wayne Nelson was a big endorser during the 80's (and sported one of the first BB5000 5 strings when they came out). The RBX series left me a little dead but are also good instruments. The TRB through necks in the 90's are also stunning value although I've found the string spacing to be very wide. For 40 quid you did extremely well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyctes Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Forty quid?! Result! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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