The Yamaha BB mega-thread

[Guest Corto14]

5 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

You have a 734 in your sig?

Yes, and I like a lot but as I said above, I'm tempted by the five strings
I don't want to have 2 basses around (for now) so I need to choose.

I've found a good deal on a satin black 735a (670€ new, when the standard price are usually around 750€), so here I am

[CameronJ]

I can’t make any promises re: the transition from 4 to 5 strings - I willingly made the switch because a lot of the music I listen to requires more range than a 4 string offers. It also just so happens that my hands “fit” a 5 string neck better than a 4 string neck anyway. Most books are indeed geared toward a 4 string neck but they can still be applied to a 5 string fingerboard - as with anything, practice makes perfect! 

[dave_bass5]

57 minutes ago, Corto14 said:

Yes, and I like a lot but as I said above, I'm tempted by the five strings
I don't want to have 2 basses around (for now) so I need to choose.

I've found a good deal on a satin black 735a (670€ new, when the standard price are usually around 750€), so here I am

Cool. I was just wondering about your question regarding the satin finish, seeing you already own that finish.

I will say that I find the satin neck on my P34 to be quite sticky compared to my glossed backed Fender necks. 

Edited August 25, 2019 by dave_bass5

[hooky_lowdown]

13 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

I will say that I find the satin neck on my P34 to be quite sticky compared to my glossed backed Fender necks. 

Rub your neck with the rough green side of a washing up scourer, it'll remove whatever is making it sticky, and won't do any damage to the neck, just don't rub too hard. 😎

[Guest Corto14]

18 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Cool. I was just wondering about your question regarding the satin finish, seeing you already own that finish.

I will say that I find the satin neck on my P34 to be quite sticky compared to my glossed backed Fender necks. 

I was referring to the body of the bass, not the neck with is FANTASTIC and I absolute love it. For me the satin neck is much more playable than the glossy counterpart, especially during the summer;  sultry weather plus sweat is deadly during my practice time 😒

Edited August 25, 2019 by Corto14

[dannybuoy]

1 hour ago, Corto14 said:

Thanks for the reply
 

I'm "sick" about cleaning things, especially reflective surfaces (I pass a cloth over the phone every time I use it, I know it's very worrying) so seeing even the fingerprints makes me nervous. 

I am also doubtful about the passage from 4 to 5 strings; I'd really like to have the fifth string, especially because I'm just starting out and therefore relatively fresh in everything concerning the bass, but I'm afraid that it's even more difficult as a self-taught person (all books and videos are related to the 4 strings)

Most players are self taught, I wouldn't worry. I made the transition pretty easily from a 4 string Precision to a Yamaha BB415. The neck was a similar size which helped, I found most other 5 string basses too wide!

[dave_bass5]

40 minutes ago, Corto14 said:

I was referring to the body of the bass, not the neck with is FANTASTIC and I absolute love it. For me the satin neck is much more playable than the glossy counterpart, especially during the summer;  sultry weather plus sweat is a deadly during my practice time 😒

Yeah I understood what you was saying. I was just pointing out that I find satin to be more sticky.

I do think the black 734/734 look fantastic. Much better than gloss finished basses. I used to have a TRBX505 in brown. Very similar  to the 734/735 although still not as nice.  

Edited August 25, 2019 by dave_bass5

[dave_bass5]

17 minutes ago, hooky_lowdown said:

Rub your neck with the rough green side of a washing up scourer, it'll remove whatever is making it sticky, and won't do any damage to the neck, just don't rub too hard. 😎

Cheers, I’ll give it a go. Its not that it’s too sticky, just not a smooth as my gloss necks. 

[Cuzzie]

Or 0000 wire wool

[hooky_lowdown]

1 hour ago, dave_bass5 said:

Cheers, I’ll give it a go. Its not that it’s too sticky, just not a smooth as my gloss necks. 

It will be if you rub it enough. 😀

[dave_bass5]

3 minutes ago, hooky_lowdown said:

It will be if you rub it enough. 😀

Oh, there goes the tone of the thread lol..........

 

 

....it’s normally something I would say so high five 🙌 

[dave_bass5]

1 hour ago, Cuzzie said:

Or 0000 wire wool

I’m really not to fused at the moment, as I’m used to it and still thinking about moving it on at some point (not just yet though), so dont want to mess too much with it. 
In fact it plays just fine until i pick up a gloss necked bass, and then I notice the difference. 

[TRBboy]

Scored a BBN5 for very little not long ago, in very good nick! Bought as a backup /practice bass, but it is fantastic, I really love this era of BB's. Planning to refinish in a teal/turquoise stain, make a cream jazz bass style scratchplate, and change the knobs for cream speed knobs. Thought I was going to change pickups, but they sound superb, pretty hot too! 

[Al Krow]

@TRBboy - that is sweet!

Looking forward to a 'before and after' pic when you've put through your mods. You about to become the next BB AndyT?  

[AndyTravis]

7 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

@TRBboy - that is sweet!

Looking forward to a 'before and after' pic when you've put through your mods. You about to become the next BB AndyT?  

Waiting for a cheap 424x to come up - need to follow up on an idea.

[TRBboy]

29 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

@TRBboy - that is sweet!

Looking forward to a 'before and after' pic when you've put through your mods. You about to become the next BB AndyT?  

All time dependant really Al, have a kitchen to finish, benches to make, various other DIY things which have to take priority at the moment! Not sure about the pickguard yet, think it'll be a PITA to make...  Maybe do the refinish and knobs first, then see how I feel about it. 

[TRBboy]

Hey BB fans! I realise in advance that this is probably a bit of a dumb question, but.... The 434/435 have a split coil neck pickup; do they do a pretty good approximation of a F%@#$r Precision with the neck pickup soloed, or do they somehow quite different? Thanks

Also, I SOOOOOO wish they did the 435 with a maple board too! 😞

[Guest MoJo]

13 hours ago, TRBboy said:

Hey BB fans! I realise in advance that this is probably a bit of a dumb question, but.... The 434/435 have a split coil neck pickup; do they do a pretty good approximation of a F%@#$r Precision with the neck pickup soloed, or do they somehow quite different? Thanks

Also, I SOOOOOO wish they did the 435 with a maple board too! 😞

I've no experience of the pickups in a 434/435 but the 414/424/415/425 have a split pick-up at the neck too but don't quite pull off the P-bass mid-growl. The 434/435 have standard size pickups so you could swap the neck pick up in a 434 for a Fender CS '62 set and it should sound very close to a P-bass

[Al Krow]

I think the consensus is that the Yammy BB's have their 'own take' on the P bass sound and a lot of Yammy owners prefer it to the original Fender P sound; which is part of the reason I guess why we have gone for a Yammy rather than a Squier P or a Fender P.  Further differentiated by the PJ config on the Yammys and the much liked PJ setting used by a lot of Yammy players in preference to either a solo'd P or solo'd J.

I've updated the OP with a table showing a comparison between the 234/5, 434/5 and 734A/5A for ease of reference, which is particularly for anyone thinking about getting a 3 series Yammy BB.

[dannybuoy]

The new generation (434, 734A, P34, etc) will sound closer to a Fender than the previous generation (424, 1024, 2024, etc) due to their more traditional alnico pickups.

[Al Krow]

10 minutes ago, dannybuoy said:

The new generation (434, 734A, P34, etc) will sound closer to a Fender than the previous generation (424, 1024, 2024, etc) due to their more traditional alnico pickups.

Are you sure that is correct dB?

My P35 sounds pretty close to my BB1025 and certainly when @dave_bass5 was over we both felt that the 1025 was the slightly 'flatter' of the two and closer to what might be thought of as a traditional P bass sound. And certainly flatter / more P bass-like still is the BB425 which I've previously had and Dave still owns.

[CameronJ]

I certainly feel like my 735a has a more traditional P tone than my old 1025x did, although I sold the 1025x a few years ago so perhaps failing memory is a factor! 

[Cuzzie]

What ‘classic’ or ‘traditional’ P bass sound are we talking

’52, ‘58, ‘65, ‘70s 

We are talking 50-80 years ago in range where lots was happening 

[Al Krow]

8 minutes ago, CameronJ said:

I certainly feel like my 735a has a more traditional P tone than my old 1025x did, although I sold the 1025x a few years ago so perhaps failing memory is a factor! 

You're getting old and wise eh Cam? 😉

Having also had the 735A, my sense is that if you played a set of Yammy BBs (passively in the case of the 734A/5A)  you would find that they all sounded much closer to each other than any of them do to a Fender P

Edited August 27, 2019 by Al Krow

[dave_bass5]

I agree with @Al Krow, neither of my Yamaha's sound as 'fender' as my Fender. I know its different woods and pups etc, but still, i think think Yamaha has a signature tone that can get a P bass tone, but not a traditional one when put up against a Fender.