The Yamaha BB mega-thread

[dave_bass5]

13 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

It’s not an orange 414

True. Ill get a respray and fall in love with it 😂

I am up to 3 BB’s now, and although i do love them all Ive just had a rocky relationship with it. It’s still my go to bass for anything 4 string, but i do (at least at the moment) prefer the tone of my new 435. It just that the 435 has that oversized thumb rest getting in the way.......

[dave_bass5]

Here’s something I learnt this week over on TB, and i wish i had known about this before, because I genuinely thought i had an issue with the truss rod in my P34 on a few occasions. The neck has never had an issue, but when i was setting it up i had a feeling the truss rod wasnt working 100%. Now i know it’s normal.

Not my post, just cut and pasted here for information. 

Just be aware that with a dual-action truss rod there is a "dead-zone" or "neutral zone" that a lot of articles fail to mention.

That's when the truss rod is set perfectly flat in it's middle position, meaning there is no bow happening in either direction. There will be a couple of 2-3 turns where you will feel no resistance from the truss rod before it finally starts to grab again, and start going in the direction you are asking it to.

The first time I experienced this I was concern my truss rod was busted, but it will eventually get traction after a couple of turns in your desired direction and start to do its thing.

[IanA]

40 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Here’s something I learnt this week over on TB, and i wish i had known about this before, because I genuinely thought i had an issue with the truss rod in my P34 on a few occasions. The neck has never had an issue, but when i was setting it up i had a feeling the truss rod wasnt working 100%. Now i know it’s normal.

Not my post, just cut and pasted here for information. 

Just be aware that with a dual-action truss rod there is a "dead-zone" or "neutral zone" that a lot of articles fail to mention.

That's when the truss rod is set perfectly flat in it's middle position, meaning there is no bow happening in either direction. There will be a couple of 2-3 turns where you will feel no resistance from the truss rod before it finally starts to grab again, and start going in the direction you are asking it to.

The first time I experienced this I was concern my truss rod was busted, but it will eventually get traction after a couple of turns in your desired direction and start to do its thing.

Thank you for sharing, that is very useful information for a BB newby

Edited March 13, 2020 by IanA

[dave_bass5]

8 minutes ago, IanA said:

Thank you for sharing, that is very useful information for a newby

No problem. Ive been setting my own basses up for years. Not an expert but i seem to get the job done. The P34 is the first bass ive owned with a dual action truss rod. I don’t think i even knew it had one, let alone had the above ‘feature’.

[PlasmaZombies]

Hey guys, I read this thread from time to time as I've always considered adding a BB to the armory at some point! Anyways I was watching a video on YouTube about the 3 bass players and their gear from 'The Bay Strikes Back' tour. (Testament, Exodus and Death Angel)

I came across the fact that Jack Gibson from Exodus praises his BB's and thought this may interest you guys. He has a custom one made from lucite - reminiscent of the Dan Armstrong basses.  

Saw the Glasgow leg of the tour last Sunday and have to say was blown away by the bass tone! If anything I want one even more now.

Sorry for the long list but thought someone may find it interesting. Link to video 

 

 

 

[ChrisJaxon]

Holy moley...... 

Yamaha bass guitar,
https://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/yamaha-bass-guitar/1368493735

Price: £80

[AndyTravis]

3 minutes ago, ChrisJaxon said:

Holy moley...... 

Yamaha bass guitar,
https://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/yamaha-bass-guitar/1368493735

Price: £80

Balls. I’d like that...

[Al Krow]

Pulling you on to the Yammy thread if I may:

47 minutes ago, krispn said:

I think the Yamaha BB's have ceramic mags versus the AlNiCo in the 735 so the newer range with the AlNiCo pick ups would tend to sound more vintage. I recall a talking point from the older BB fans was that the new pick ups were more 'tame' (which could mean vintage, lower output, weaker etc.) while those who weren;t so keen on the older BB's felt that they were OTT and didn't sound like their Fenders. Go figure!  Having had some recent experience of ceramic mag pick ups in a p bass they're very up front and certainly have their place but defo not vintage by any stretch!

Fyi Yamaha certainly had the AlNiCo pups with their higher end 1024/5 and 2024/5 basses in 2010 when these were brought out; the more budget end of the range retained the ceramic pups. Not sure what the pups were in the previous top end basses (e.g. BB1200, 2000, 3000, 5000) - need @AndyTravis or another BC'er with greater Yammy history than me to jump in to confirm that.

The current series which came out in 2017 saw the the AlNiCos being extended to the whole range, with 'higher end' AlNiCos for the 734A/5A and P34/5 than the 434/5s and only the 234/5 still having ceramic.

My experience is that the ceramics are indeed higher output / more punchy but 'flatter', and the AlNiCos more harmonically rich, which I personally prefer.

[AndyTravis]

6 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Pulling you on to the Yammy thread if I may:

Fyi Yamaha certainly had the AlNiCo pups with their higher end 1024/5 and 2024/5 basses in 2010 when these were brought out; the more budget end of the range retained the ceramic pups. Not sure what the pups were in the previous top end basses (e.g. BB1200, 2000, 3000, 5000) - need @AndyTravis or another BC'er with greater Yammy history than me to jump in to confirm that.

The current series which came out in 2017 saw the the AlNiCos being extended to the whole range, with 'higher end' AlNiCos for the 734A/5A and P34/5 than the 434/5s and only the 234/5 still having ceramic.

My experience is that the ceramics are indeed higher output / more punchy but 'flatter', and the AlNiCos more harmonically rich, which I personally prefer.

 

[Guest]

On 14/03/2020 at 07:28, PlasmaZombies said:

Hey guys, I read this thread from time to time as I've always considered adding a BB to the armory at some point! Anyways I was watching a video on YouTube about the 3 bass players and their gear from 'The Bay Strikes Back' tour. (Testament, Exodus and Death Angel)

I came across the fact that Jack Gibson from Exodus praises his BB's and thought this may interest you guys. He has a custom one made from lucite - reminiscent of the Dan Armstrong basses.  

Saw the Glasgow leg of the tour last Sunday and have to say was blown away by the bass tone! If anything I want one even more now.

Sorry for the long list but thought someone may find it interesting. Link to video 

 

 

 

Great stuff, I'll definitely give that a watch! I'm a big fan of Steve DiGiorgio and his work in Autopsy, one of my favourite bass performances of all time on Severed Survival!

[krispn]

My bad it’s just the bridge in the BB102X which is ceramic 

 

[TRBboy]

The 43X series has essentially the same pickups as the 73x and P series, its what made me finally decide to go for the 435 instead of forking out for a higher range model..... And they sound killer! 

[Al Krow]

13 minutes ago, TRBboy said:

The 43X series has essentially the same pickups as the 73x and P series, its what made me finally decide to go for the 435 instead of forking out for a higher range model..... And they sound killer! 

They do sound great. The pups are indeed close but not quite the same - a little higher end in the more expensive basses.

YGD V5 (Alnico V) in the 434/5

YGD V7 (Alnico V) in the 734A/5A & P34/5

[TRBboy]

21 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

They do sound great. The pups are indeed close but not quite the same - a little higher end in the more expensive basses.

YGD V5 (Alnico V) in the 434/5

YGD V7 (Alnico V) in the 734A/5A & P34/5

Well that's the thing, they're different in name, but essentially the same. I exchanged emails with the Yamaha UK Guitars Marketing Manager to find out more, and as you can see in the table above, the only differences are that the V7 have enameled wire, whilst the V5 has vinyl, and the V5 is slightly higher resistance. He said the resistance is just to take into account the slight wire difference and body construction; in practice they sound the same (or at least that's the aim). 

This is what made me decide to go for the 435, the pickups are basically the same as on the top end models. 😊

[dave_bass5]

2 minutes ago, TRBboy said:

Well that's the thing, they're different in name, but essentially the same. I exchanged emails with the Yamaha UK Guitars Marketing Manager to find out more, and as you can see in the table above, the only differences are that the V7 have enameled wire, whilst the V5 has vinyl, and the V5 is slightly higher resistance. He said the resistance is just to take into account the slight wire difference and body construction; in practice they sound the same (or at least that's the aim). 

This is what made me decide to go for the 435, the pickups are basically the same as on the top end models. 😊

Probably the wood or treatment then, (i dont really buy in to that but that's for another thread) but my 435 sounded very different to my P34, both with the same stings on them (although P34 slightly older, but hardly used).

[Al Krow]

1 minute ago, dave_bass5 said:

Probably the wood or treatment then, (i dont really buy in to that but that's for another thread) but my 435 sounded very different to my P34, both with the same stings on them (although P34 slightly older, but hardly used).

Interesting. How so in terms of the difference in tone? I must admit I wouldn't have expected a great deal of difference.

If there is, I suspect that any difference in the pups are going to make a bigger difference to tone than the wood treatment. But the bigger factor, if anything, is likely to be wood and construction - you have a solid alder body in the 434/5 but alder /maple/alder laminate in the higher end models.

Can't believe you found a 435 which you loved, for just £399 new, and which weighed in at just 9 lbs and have returned it! 

[TRBboy]

30 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Probably the wood or treatment then, (i dont really buy in to that but that's for another thread) but my 435 sounded very different to my P34, both with the same stings on them (although P34 slightly older, but hardly used).

Interesting! I guess for me, what the guy said, plus looking at the pickup chart, have me confidence that the V5 pickups are decent enough. 

[TRBboy]

30 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Probably the wood or treatment then, (i dont really buy in to that but that's for another thread) but my 435 sounded very different to my P34, both with the same stings on them (although P34 slightly older, but hardly used).

Interesting! I guess for me, what the guy said, plus looking at the pickup chart, have me confidence that the V5 pickups are decent enough. 

[dave_bass5]

6 minutes ago, TRBboy said:

Interesting! I guess for me, what the guy said, plus looking at the pickup chart, have me confidence that the V5 pickups are decent enough. 

I much preferred the 435 tone.

[TRBboy]

7 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

I much preferred the 435 tone.

I love the sound of it, I have to say! Out of interest, how come you sent yours back? Sounds like it was a very lightweight one too! 

[dave_bass5]

Just now, TRBboy said:

I love the sound of it, I have to say! Out of interest, how come you sent yours back? Sounds like it was a very lightweight one too! 

It was light, and had no issues. I just felt with things the way they are, it was a bit of an extravagance, and im still not convinced i need another 5 string. My heart still lays with 4 string basses. I ddnt want another unused bass sitting around. I also fidn the more basses i have the harder it is to chose one. 

I would have (probably still will) sold the 425 to soften the blow, but even so. the 435 only cost £399 as it was ex display at Dawnsons. If anyone is looking for one, keep an eye on their website for it to be re listed.

As it was i was put on a 3 day week from today, so right decision.

[dannybuoy]

5 hours ago, TRBboy said:

The 43X series has essentially the same pickups as the 73x and P series, its what made me finally decide to go for the 435 instead of forking out for a higher range model..... And they sound killer! 

That diagram says they have different wire coating, wrap material and DC resistance, so not entirely the same. They could well sound identical though for all I know!

[TRBboy]

39 minutes ago, dannybuoy said:

That diagram says they have different wire coating, wrap material and DC resistance, so not entirely the same. They could well sound identical though for all I know!

Yeah, as I said before, those are the only different things, but the magnets, bobbins, and all the other stuff is basically the same. I'm not sure how much difference enamel vs urethane wrap coating makes, but the lead wire cloth vs vinyl covering is purely cosmetic. 

Whatever, they sound great! 😊👍

[IanA]

On 13/03/2020 at 20:26, dave_bass5 said:

 

Edited March 22, 2020 by IanA

[dave_bass5]

22 minutes ago, IanA said:

On 13/03/2020 at 20:26, dave_bass5 said:

well unfortunately that was a very short romance, the 4.5 kg weight was just too much for my shoulders even with a Gruv Gear strap, so off to Bass Direct it went yesterday 😕

What’s this about? I never said that.🤔

Edited March 22, 2020 by dave_bass5