The Yamaha BB mega-thread

[TheGreek]

1 hour ago, gobasserk said:

BB1300

 

Shipping costs are the price of a nice bass..

[Maude]

Well both myself and the bass are still in one piece so we'll call it a victory, take that ya stinkin' router! 😁

 

Painted with conductive carbon stuff. 

 

 

This is kind of how it'll look, albeit everything is flipped over. Odd angles will obviously be sorted when it's fitted up properly. 

 

 

I'm going to stick with black for the scratchplate I think. I've toyed with a very dark brown tort or black pearl, I found one that was very dark, not the bluey grey, but after looking at pictures of other white basses the black just looks best. 

When these first came out I saw a demo of the white 2024X and fell in love, so it has to stay black I think. 

 

[Al Krow]

NIce job! Looking forward to hearing what you think of the reverse P sound.

[Maude]

I just want to get it put back together but I've got to order some black scratchplate material and make that. 

[Guest]

This looks so great.... and I'm enjoying imagining how it will sound.... and it's just dawned on me how jealous I am.... and how this mod needs to be on a 424X dammit

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Maude said:

I've toyed with a very dark brown tort or black pearl, I found one that was very dark, not the bluey grey, but after looking at pictures of other white basses the black just looks best. 

 

It seems to me that nestling between rosewood and off-white is the only place tort looks really good

[Maude]

That's exactly how I feel about tort, although for some perverse reason I like it on a teal sort of blue. 

 

You could do a reverse P on a non X, just make the scratchplate and don't have the chrome control plate. 

Didn't @AndyTravisorange one only have the scratchplate. I actually really like the BB without the control plate. 

[Maude]

I've actually just ordered a sheet of black but gone for single ply rather than B/W/B, but I might do a tort one as well. It'll need to be a very dark vintage brown, not red at all if poss. So who does a nice dark tort? The usual from ebay all are too naff looking. 

[AndyTravis]

17 minutes ago, Maude said:

That's exactly how I feel about tort, although for some perverse reason I like it on a teal sort of blue. 

 

You could do a reverse P on a non X, just make the scratchplate and don't have the chrome control plate. 

Didn't @AndyTravisorange one only have the scratchplate. I actually really like the BB without the control plate. 

[AndyTravis]

The reverse p/j is exactly the sound in my head…

 

it’s a bit of everything.

 

This is the fretted neck @Andyjr1515 did for me - wonderful.

 

On the body of the drunken eBay fretless purchase.

 

Alas, it’s non permanent as the fretless body and neck are to be reunited shortly when I drop it to @lee650 (I did tell him I’d be doing this…)

[lee650]

10 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

The reverse p/j is exactly the sound in my head…

 

it’s a bit of everything.

 

This is the fretted neck @Andyjr1515 did for me - wonderful.

 

On the body of the drunken eBay fretless purchase.

 

Alas, it’s non permanent as the fretless body and neck are to be reunited shortly when I drop it to @lee650 (I did tell him I’d be doing this…)

Very nice!! Now get it put back 😂😘

[AndyTravis]

This is STILL for sale. And is now mega cheap…

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/221497831379044/permalink/2039073382954804/?sale_post_id=2039073382954804

[Al Krow]

Cheers Andy, a PJ neck-through 5er with 24 frets at sub £700. Yup!!

 

I've messaged him - just need to work out how to collect the thing! Bit of a trek up to Liverpool from the Old Smoke. My daughter is up at Manchester uni, but term is not starting for a little while but I could potentially coordinate with a trip up to see her in the autumn if he's prepared to hold on to it for me.

[AndyTravis]

5 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Cheers Andy, a PJ neck-through 5er with 24 frets at sub £700. Yup!!

 

I've messaged him - just need to work out how to collect the thing! Bit of a trek up to Liverpool from the Old Smoke. My daughter is up at Manchester uni, but term is not starting for a little while but I could potentially coordinate with a trip up to see her in the autumn if he's prepared to hold on to it for me.

If it needs £100-£200 worth of TLC from a luthier - it’s still a steal.

[Al Krow]

What work needs doing, Andy?

 

He wants a quick sale, hence his pricing and not keen to hold onto it for me. We've agreed to speak next month if it hasn't shifted.

[AndyTravis]

5 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

What work needs doing, Andy?

 

He wants a quick sale, hence his pricing and not keen to hold onto it for me. We've agreed to speak next month if it hasn't shifted.

Well, it’ll want a new machinehead as he’s put a chrome one on.

 

and I’d say it’ll want a clean/setup.

 

if he’s willing to drop to me in Manchester, I can hold/pack for shipping.

 

or use that man and van guy to collect that walshy put me on to - would be £50/£60 to your door

[Al Krow]

Cheers Andy - thanks for the offer of holding on to it for me. Appreciated! That could be a really good workaround if he's willing to drop it off; and the Walshy man with van is also another decent option.

 

I'll probably "live" with the chrome machinehead before replacing the lot with some ultralites. I know that's sacrilege - but it will shave the best part of 1lb in weight I suspect, and I could get maybe the head refi'd at the same time to sort out that unsightly chip. I'm also trying to track down a decent local London luthier who won't charge the earth...

[MDWagstaff]

1 hour ago, AndyTravis said:

This is STILL for sale. And is now mega cheap…

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/221497831379044/permalink/2039073382954804/?sale_post_id=2039073382954804

It always makes me super gutted to see it still out there. I used to work the guy who owns it and have been offered it so many times since he decided to sell it about 4 years ago but I've just never had the money to pull the trigger on it 😢💸

[TheGreek]

Nice looking bass 

[LukeFRC]

I had just presumed it was close enough to Manchester that We were all leaving it for Andy?

[AndyTravis]

9 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

I had just presumed it was close enough to Manchester that We were all leaving it for Andy?

It has 5 strings…y u no listen? 🥴

[Maude]

2 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

It has 5 strings…y u no listen? 🥴

 

Remove the B string and install a series of pressure sensors to trigger sound effects with your thumb. 

 

You too can then make music like Ross in Friends. 

[LukeFRC]

7 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

It has 5 strings…y u no listen? 🥴

Achh eventually you’ll want to “give it a go” again 

Edited August 16, 2021 by LukeFRC

[Muzz]

Pimping my 414...

 

OK, after giving up on finding a VW BB3000A for less than a king's ransom anywhere, and realising that the majority of BB necks are a bit too chunky for me (1024, 424, 1100, etc), I've decided to stick with the VW 414 I picked up a while back... It's a specific bass for a specific band, and we've a few reunion-type gigs coming up, so a VW BB is a must.

 

So far, so meh, on to the interesting stuff...I love the pickups; the neck, while not exactly my broom-handle ideal, is close enough, and it plays pretty well. The weight's borderline, but doable. The only things I really considered changing were the tuners and the bridge; tuners for weight, and I play with the heel of my hand on the bridge a lot, so the BBOT is literally a pain, especially if the grub screws are protruding. So I lashed out £30 on a Fender bridge and £17 apiece on Hipshot Ultralites, and the bass feels a lot better. The whole quality of the thing has gone up a notch, and I'm very happy with it.

 

Aaaaand this is nowt without pics, so here they are:

 

 

Yeah, I know it says 'Fender', but I don't care; it's a fantastic bridge for £30, and verrry smooth under the heel of my hand. The whole 'more sustain/more tone' thing is very contentious and very relative, but I do like it. I'd put one on anything for that money...

 

 

And the new tuners; the screws fit into the original holes, and they tighten up nicely from the front. Good solid tuning. I also kinda like the tan lines... 

 

Total screwdriver/fitting time was under half an hour, total cost £98, and for that money, it's a big improvement... 😃

[Muzz]

4 minutes ago, Muzz said:

Pimping my 414...

 

OK, after giving up on finding a VW BB3000A for less than a king's ransom anywhere, and realising that the majority of BB necks are a bit too chunky for me (1024, 424, 1100, etc), I've decided to stick with the VW 414 I picked up a while back... It's a specific bass for a specific band, and we've a few reunion-type gigs coming up, so a VW BB is a must.

 

So far, so meh, on to the interesting stuff...I love the pickups; the neck, while not exactly my broom-handle ideal, is close enough, and it plays pretty well. The weight's borderline, but doable. The only things I really considered changing were the tuners and the bridge; tuners for weight, and I play with the heel of my hand on the bridge a lot, so the BBOT is literally a pain, especially if the grub screws are protruding. So I lashed out £30 on a Fender bridge and £17 apiece on Hipshot Ultralites, and the bass feels a lot better. The whole quality of the thing has gone up a notch, and I'm very happy with it.

 

Aaaaand this is nowt without pics, so here they are:

 

 

Yeah, I know it says 'Fender', but I don't care; it's a fantastic bridge for £30, and verrry smooth under the heel of my hand. The whole 'more sustain/more tone' thing is very contentious and very relative, but I do like it. I'd put one on anything for that money...

 

 

And the new tuners; the screws fit into the original holes, and they tighten up nicely from the front. Good solid tuning. I also kinda like the tan lines... 

 

Total screwdriver/fitting time was under half an hour, total cost £98, and for that money, it's a big improvement... 😃

 

Edit: I am ummming and aaahing about taking her to my local luthier and getting a brass nut and a fret dress done, but I'm gonna gig her with the pub band on Satdy night, so we'll see how that goes before I spend any more money...