The Yamaha BB mega-thread

[dannybuoy]

10 hours ago, ead said:

I have a selection of ACGs, a couple of Spectors, a Sandberg, a vintage Fender P and an Anaconda.

My favourite of the Yamahas was actually the RBX270FL that I owned and gigged regularly for over 6 years.  It was my first fretless bass.  5ers just arn't my thing and didn't really gell will the P34 sadly as it's a lovely bass.

That was my first ever bass, I still have it!

[pete.young]

On 30/07/2020 at 20:55, Al Krow said:

V. interested in what you thought of your TRB 5P, before I embark on a futile 5P quest! 

I woudn't let my dodgy memory be your guide. I sold my TRB5P in 2012. Very high-quality and great-sounding instrument but it didn't really do anything better than the BBNE2. The Piezo wasn't stand-out effective and the electronics/pickup combination in the BBNE2 is better.

About the only Yamaha I'd lbe unable to resist these days is a BB3000MA.

[ead]

6 hours ago, dannybuoy said:

That was my first ever bass, I still have it!

I feel the need to see a pic of the old girl again

This was that last one I have of the bass...

[Guest MoJo]

Well I picked the BB414 up today. I was on a very tight turnaround. I literally had a minute to scan the bass for broken tuning pegs, banana neck etc before handing over the money and hopefully getting back in time to pick my Daughter up from work. It all looked intact with a reasonable action and I’ve had enough 414’s in the past to know they’re pretty well put together, so with a quick “Everything works on it?” to which the seller replied “Yes”, I was on my way home. 
Picked up the daughter, whizzed home and set about giving it the once over. Dead strings (nearly always the case), dirty fretboard, action not too bad, needs a tweak. Then I found that the pickup selection switch wasn’t selecting. The switch is the Yamaha’s Achilles heel. If it is struck from the top, the bottom of the switch breaks off. A Switchcraft replacement from eBay is a hundred times stronger. When I removed the cover over the control cavity I found this

a piece of foam placed between the bottom of the switch and the cover in a vain attempt to hold the bottom on. Clearly the seller knew this and omitted to tell me. I wouldn’t have been bothered. It’s a ten minute fix. I had a spare switch in my box of spares. Here’s the original switch in all it’s broken glory

Ten minutes later and it’s back in action

[Al Krow]

Great you know your way around 414s so well and congrats on the new bass. Obligatory pics of it once you've got it set up needed, of course!

Other than being a 5 string, is the  tone of the  pups & EQ on your 414 otherwise pretty similar sounding to your 425?

Edited August 1, 2020 by Al Krow

[Al Krow]

Loved the track and hearing a Yammy BB in the mix - hope you don't mind me re-posting your clip here @doc40hz! Btw is it a BB414 that you're playing - I'm guessing based on the matching headstock?

If you're not a fan of slap bass then stop listening a 4.07 - but if, like me, you love hearing it done so well and entirely appropriately on a Level 42 track then listen on!

 

[gobasserk]

Only two BB1000MA left. Everything else lost in direct comparison . Finally the BB3000MA lost a second time against it's cheaper brother. 

All other BB's with "normal" pu configuration sound strange to me after all this years with them... sold all other BB's to collegues .. they are happy. 

Ah there still is a BB450 (?) body... 😛 

[AndyTravis]

29 minutes ago, gobasserk said:

Only two BB1000MA left. Everything else lost in direct comparison . Finally the BB3000MA lost a second time against it's cheaper brother. 

All other BB's with "normal" pu configuration sound strange to me after all this years with them... sold all other BB's to collegues .. they are happy. 

Ah there still is a BB450 (?) body... 😛 

There was someone selling a bb300 neck

[Al Krow]

35 minutes ago, gobasserk said:

Only two BB1000MA left. Everything else lost in direct comparison . Finally the BB3000MA lost a second time against it's cheaper brother. 

All other BB's with "normal" pu configuration sound strange to me after all this years with them... sold all other BB's to collegues .. they are happy. 

Ah there still is a BB450 (?) body... 😛 

Ah @pete.young will be disappointed to have missed out on your 3000MA from his comment a few posts back! 

[doc40hz]

@Al Krow It's a BB3000A - fantastic bass. For that tune the bridge pickup was solod , bass and treble maxed out then through a Aguilar Tone Hammer with  bass and treble almost fully boosted and 1Khz cut  about 3/4.  

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, doc40hz said:

@Al Krow It's a BB3000A - fantastic bass. For that tune the bridge pickup was solod , bass and treble maxed out then through a Aguilar Tone Hammer with  bass and treble almost fully boosted and 1Khz cut  about 3/4.  

Fantastic. Glad to see that my basic EQ approach slap was on the right tracks  Not had the privilege of playing a BB3000/A, but I know there are a number who regard it as one of Yammy's finest BBs! 

[Guest MoJo]

The 414 has had all of the previous owners DNA removed, fretboard  cleaned and oiled, frets polished, new strings, action and intonation set and here she is with her five string cousin

[Al Krow]

@MoJo - they look just great together. And in the best colour too!

[MattiZ]

Hello all, I just finished reading this thread (yes, all of it)  and decided to join the Forum just to say Hi! 

Reason for reading it all? Well, I think you know. It started when I found a glossy catalogue, 30 years ago... fell in love with BB’s, all of them, but never even saw one for sale. Played Ibanez, later Fender, quit bass completely for a decade for guitar and synth stuff. Then 3 years ago found an ’84 BB300 in very poor shape: body cracked near control cavity, bent neck, badly treated frets, non-functional tuners, broken output jack, you get the picture. I just had to get it back in shape. 
 

That one didn’t make me a bass player again, though. It took another BB, in quite interesting condition. Just one more pic for now. 

 

[TRBboy]

5 hours ago, MoJo said:

The 414 has had all of the previous owners DNA removed, fretboard  cleaned and oiled, frets polished, new strings, action and intonation set and here she is with her five string cousin

Very nice mate, exactly the same as the one I used to have! 

[MattiZ]

BB1200S it is. With some issues: missing original tuners, P pickup & pot knobs, new cavity for bridge PU seems routed with a chainsaw, tone pot swapped for bridge PU volume, P pickup frame ruined, ugliest thumb rest ever bolted on, body scratched & dented all over.

It has an old EMG P/J set installed. The P sounds ok, the J doesn’t really bring much extra with it, thinking of removing it. Would also like to locate an original Yamaha P pickup with its frame, just to find out how the bass is supposed to sound.

Very heavy, on the other hand it feels extremely solid. Thick neck, great sustain, biting attack, balanced sound, plays nicely with Rotosound Monel Flats. 

[Fil1ip]

On 02/08/2020 at 18:49, MattiZ said:

Hello all, I just finished reading this thread (yes, all of it)  and decided to join the Forum just to say Hi! 

Reason for reading it all? Well, I think you know. It started when I found a glossy catalogue, 30 years ago... fell in love with BB’s, all of them, but never even saw one for sale. Played Ibanez, later Fender, quit bass completely for a decade for guitar and synth stuff. Then 3 years ago found an ’84 BB300 in very poor shape: body cracked near control cavity, bent neck, badly treated frets, non-functional tuners, broken output jack, you get the picture. I just had to get it back in shape. 
 

That one didn’t make me a bass player again, though. It took another BB, in quite interesting condition. Just one more pic for now. 

 

That cream and gold BB1600 ,😍😍😍😍😍😍

[andy67]

Great thread

My lot:

Yamaha attitude ltd

Yamaha attitude ltd II

Yamaha attitude plus 5

Yamaha attitude special edition

Yamaha TRBX 505

Yamaha TRB 5 mk1

Yamaha BB1600

Yamaha BB714BS

Yamaha BB424

Yamaha BB425

Yamaha BBG5s

Yamaha BB604a

 

Now I only have the BB714 and Attitude Ltd II

Edited August 4, 2020 by andy67

[MattiZ]

Yamaha BB235 review

Not a lot of reviews around, decided to write one. I am new here, don’t know if there is a better sub-forum for this. 

This is my first 5-string bass. Never even played one before, so can only compare to 4-string ones. Took a risk, ordered it unseen, but I trust Yamaha - have played and liked their basses, guitars, synths, amps and so on. Chose the cheaper model instead of BB435 because didn’t feel like paying almost double the price for an instrument I might not find any use for (and liked the BB235 finish options more). No used basses available where I live either. Also considered an even cheaper Ibanez TMB105 as an alternative but decided to go with Yamaha. Ordered from Thomann, arrived in 5 days.

First impressions: very well packaged. Vintage White with black headstock & pickguard looks much better than in pics (it is my first white bass ever).

Maple neck has nice flames, extremely thin matte finish, rosewood fingerboard looks good, it’s dark (maybe dyed?) with even grain. Neck seems almost perfectly flatsawn, don’t expect it to be warping easily. Very good!

Surprisingly light weight, less than my BB1200S. Construction seems fine. 

Very comfortable neck profile: similar C-shape to BB1200S, not as thick and slightly flatter radius. Close enough to feel familiar immediately. 

Set-up is adequate: strings had been loosened for transit, after tuning up neck stayed straight with minimal relief (0.3 mm or so). Excellent! String height quite optimal, intonation good enough, nut seems cut just right. There was no need for retuning in the first half an hour of playing. Tightened the neck, bridge and tuner screws before tuning up, a few were slightly loose. 

How does it sound? Played at home (Zoom MS-100BT SVT model to home stereo with cheap subwoofer, some AKG headphones) I’m surprised. It sounds perfectly usable as is. Pickup balance seems well adjusted, so is string-to-string balance. No need to adjust anything. The factory strings sound clear, deep and balanced, they hold their tuning quite well.

Negatives? Of course. After half an hour of so, the smell of the strings started bothering me. Hard to describe, but I can’t stand it. They also coloured my fingertips black. Anyway, those strings performed better than I was expecting, as I was prepared to change them right away. Got an evening of play time off them, fair enough. 

Scratchy pots, all of them. They work smoothly, but all three have scratchy noise when adjusted. Poor quality? Probably. But what to expect, I’ve changed pots on instruments costing three times more. Might try cleaning them first, see if it helps. Might be dust or something in the control cavity. Or, maybe the cavity shielding leaves something to be desired. I’ll find out later.

Close inspection of the body, its countours and finish reveals little surprises. The contouring is functional, if not exceptionally pretty. The paintjob is fine until very close inspection, which reveals some imperfections. Jackplate is plastic, so not the most durable. The output jack nut was slightly loose out of the box. Nothing serious. 

The 235 is new and shiny and I’ve owned it for less than 24 hours now. I’m quite  happy with it. String change next, some more playing at home, then in a few days I’ll take the bass to my studio to test it with a Darkglass/Ampeg rig. More to follow.

Btw, sorry for the autocorrect. There may be some inexplicable mistakes because my IPad insists on translating everything to Finnish as i type. 

 

Part two: new strings & findings

I had a 5-string set of D’Addario Chromes ready. What happened: the .132 low B string end wrappings did not fit through the bridge! Not happy to do any major modifications on the bridge, yet. Four local music shops later no 5-string flatwound sets anywhere. Returned home with Dunlop Nickel Wound 45-125s. They are fine, much better than factory strings. No smell, no dirty fingers. Intonation needed adjustment - the bridge works and seems stable enough. Still want them flatwounds, though! 

Control cavity has no shielding whatsoever, I doubt the pickup cavities are any better. Pots are made by Alpha, so the quality is ok. Pot noise must be a grounding/shielding thing. Some Copper Tape Magic needed. 

More to follow in a few days, after some testing at proper volume levels. 
 

Part three: more volume & finally flats

So,  took the BB235 to my studio to play it through Darkglass M900 & Ampeg 1x15. Everything seems ok: it holds its tuning and sounds perfectly usable as is. With 45-125 Dunlop Nickel Rounds at a loud level, the imbalance of non-reverse P pickup feels a bit irritating: G and D strings sound unnecessarily bright, the lower strings slightly out of focus. Nothing wrong with that, just one of the reasons why I prefer reverse P configuration. 

No surprises, the BB235 really is a solid instrument and performs quite well. As noticed earlier, the finish on the back of the neck feels extremely thin, almost non-existent, and either it isn’t perfectly sanded or, playing the neck makes moisture off my hands lift the wood grain just very slightly. Whichever it is, I think the feel could get better with some extremely fine grade steel wool and suitable oil or polish. 

Yesterday I finally got a set of Dunlop Stainless Flats (45-125). Did not have much time to play the bass after changing strings, but I liked the feel and sound already much better than the roundwounds. Minimal adjustments were needed, trussrod was fine with 1/8 of a turn, couple strings needed their intonation checked. 

More analysis and final verdict to follow, in a week or two. Maybe better pics too. 

Edited August 17, 2020 by MattiZ
Added part 3, autocorrect corrections

[Al Krow]

@MattiZ nice review, thank you!

Do have other BBs, other than your 1200S (which many of us will be very jealous of!)? Pics of that too please! 

And which BBs have you previously owned? 

[MattiZ]

3 hours ago, Al Krow said:

@MattiZ nice review, thank you!

Do have other BBs, other than your 1200S (which many of us will be very jealous of!)? Pics of that too please! 

And which BBs have you previously owned? 

Thanks! More on the BB235 coming soon. 
I’m no photographer (and my BB1200S is hardly the prettiest one there is), but I’ll take some more pics. My BBs at the moment: 

’82 BB1200S (Japan)

’84 BB300 (Taiwan)

’20 BB235 (Indonesia)

... and it seems now that next week, there may be one more. We’ll see!
 

[MattiZ]

@Al Krow took some photos of my BB1200S for you to... enjoy. I hope.

Not much of a looker. But it plays well and sounds just fine with the active EMG P pickup. The EMG J does not seem to do much - broken, or incorrectly wired? I don’t know.

I’d really like to know how the bass would sound with just an original passive Yamaha P. Or, since it already has been routed for a bridge J, maybe install a Yamaha J (from a BB1000S for example, if I can ever find one, or basically any J pickup that would cover the hideous routing). Then, on the other hand, I’ve been thinking of getting the J hole filled and having a partial refinish. Oh well. Anybody have a reverse Yamaha P pickup for sale? Or a rev P/J pair? 

The machine heads have been changed to an old set of Schallers (of West Germany? Probably). They work just fine, but I still prefer the original heart-shaped ones. Luckily, a fine member of this Forum agreed to sell me a set, so I’m already a bit closer to getting the bass restored to its original glory!

[Al Krow]

@MattiZ, thanks for sharing that. Unusual to see anything but Yammy pups on a Yammy bass - I think they really are the core of the Yammy BB sound, and I'd associate EMGs much more with Spector.

If you get a wanted ad up, you might strike lucky with sourcing some Yammy pups. If you were to get the bass refinished (which I suspect would turn it into a valuable looker), would you get it done in the same colour? 

Edited August 7, 2020 by Al Krow

[crabman]

If Yamaha ever read this thread - make sure your various BB models are always available in white. Classy.

[jezzaboy]

5 hours ago, Al Krow said:

@MattiZ, thanks for sharing that. Unusual to see anything but Yammy pups on a Yammy bass - I think they really are the core of the Yammy BB sound, and I'd associate EMGs much more with Spector.

If you get a wanted ad up, you might strike lucky with sourcing some some Yammy pups. If you were to get the bass refinished (which I suspect would turn it into a valuable looker), would you get it done in the same colour? 

Well guess what I happen to have kicking about 

The pickups are from a Jap BB 1100s and even though the P pickup is the usual way round, I`m sure putting it on the other way would work. Might need to extend the wire? I`m selling Matti the tuners so I will send him a pm.