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The Yamaha BB mega-thread


Al Krow

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8 hours ago, marleaux62 said:

To be honest I have 4  bb Yamaha’s and I haven’t played the 414 or my 1024 x for ages. I’m actually thinking of moving them on I’m only really playing the bb3000A and my BBPH.

That's exactly my situation with my 1000MA's. I owned about 15 (?)  BB's in total but I only play my 1000MA's. I sold even the 3000 and the 3000MA (besides two 1600, 1024, several 414.424,614)  but every time I am in love with anything else and then play the 1000MA again... it's clear that this is my bass. Sometimes I just don't realize that I found my bass and tone and feel many years ago. Well, it is so much fun buying another bass, but in the end it always comes down to my two- for me - very special basses. 
I do need a different tone from time to time for more hifi sounds on recordings. But my fingers fuse with the fretboard on this bass like with no other. 

If I would realize this there would be no reason for any new bass and this for about 20 years backwards now. Thank god I'm not that smart ! 😛

And sorry for my bad English- I'm trying 🤪 I can oder a beer but telling a story forwards / backwards ... I am still struggling ! 😉 

Edited by gobasserk
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1 hour ago, gobasserk said:

That's exactly my situation with my 1000MA's. I owned about 15 (?)  BB's in total but I only play my 1000MA's. I sold even the 3000 and the 3000MA (besides two 1600, 1024, several 414.424,614)  but every time I am in love with anything else and then play the 1000MA again... it's clear that this is my bass. Sometimes I just don't realize that I found my bass and tone and feel many years ago. Well, it is so much fun buying another bass, but in the end it always comes down to my two- for me - very special basses. 
I do need a different tone from time to time for more hifi sounds on recordings. But my fingers fuse with the fretboard on this bass like with no other. 

If I would realize this there would be no reason for any new bass and this for about 20 years backwards now. Thank god I'm not that smart ! 😛

And sorry for my bad English- I'm trying 🤪 I can oder a beer but telling a story forwards / backwards ... I am still struggling ! 😉 

Your English is fine if you can rder a beer.....I'll haev a Guinness please...............

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Cheeky cross-post here as I'm selling my BB734A. No gigs, no justification for multiple basses as far as in concerned (will the GAS stay away though...?). The TRB 5 now reverts to its former position as principal axe for the time being...

 

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1 hour ago, Fil1ip said:

I have a BB414 and it's ace. But a subjective question is what BB would be an upgrade i.e better pick ups etc 

A 1024 (or 1024x with scratchplate and added chrome) would be the obvious choice for me, but as you will gather from very contented 414 and 424 (which is the same thing as the 414, but with a laminate neck and body through stringing) owners on here, not all folk agree with me (or Yamaha) that a 1024 is a step up 😄

If you want to go seriously posh then you are into P34 or 2024 territory. 

PS I've added you to the "wall of shame" of BB bass owners on the OP

Edited by Al Krow
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10 hours ago, Al Krow said:

A 1024 (or 1024x with scratchplate and added chrome) would be the obvious choice for me, but as you will gather from very contented 414 and 424 (which is the same thing as the 414, but with a laminate neck and body through stringing) owners on here, not all folk agree with me (or Yamaha) that a 1024 is a step up 😄

If you want to go seriously posh then you are into P34 or 2024 territory. 

PS I've added you to the "wall of shame" of BB bass owners on the OP

Thank you

I really like by BB414, nearly bought a 424 first but at the time there was a £100 difference. 

Are the 734As worth it? However I much prefer basses without scratch plates. I would definitely like to try a MIJ Yamaha. 

I placed an order for an ibanez but cancelled it as I really like my Yamaha ☺️

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1 hour ago, Fil1ip said:

Thank you

I really like by BB414, nearly bought a 424 first but at the time there was a £100 difference. 

Are the 734As worth it? However I much prefer basses without scratch plates. I would definitely like to try a MIJ Yamaha. 

I placed an order for an ibanez but cancelled it as I really like my Yamaha ☺️

I had one. I sold it because I mostly use 5 string now (a BB735). The 734 is an amazing bass.

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I once had a 1024x. It surely felt somehow more high end than the 400 series, yes. Everything feels a bit like an upgrade. But although it has the "better" pu's and everything, I liked the 400 series better. The 1024x was heavier and somehow sounded not as "fresh" as my 1000's or the 400 series. So it had to go I think 3 weeks after I bought it. Maybe it is a psychological thing... If a "cheap" bass sounds very good I love that bass, while when an expensive bass sounds good, it is what is expected of it to do. I owned (in my younger years) anything from Wals (3) to Modulus, several Status, Warwicks etc etc... and to be honest, I miss some of them now because I know their today's market price ( oh man..) but not because I miss their sound! 

Edit: But I love my 1000MA's because every time I enter a studio it is this bass that get's the job! No matter what other bass was arround. So I am happy. 

Edited by gobasserk
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11 minutes ago, javi_bassist said:

Do you guys know a 5- string BB that has jazz style pickups? I'd love to have one. I think the 605 and the 405. Any other model?

You have the BBNE2 which is crazy expensive. Occasionally used you will find the BB2005 which is the model in between the BB605 and the BBNE2 in terms of price and quality. I don't think they've done a traditionally styled BB 5 string with jazz style pickups, I could be wrong though. 

I always think these models look more like reshaped TRB's than BB's. They did at one point offer a shape which looks more like a smaller bodied version of the traditional BB (like the BBNE and G5) but they all had soap bars as far as I'm aware

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For reference I've attached the 3 main iterations of the 'BB' shape. When looking for stock photos it did in fact bring up the BBG5 (smaller version of the traditional BB) with Jazz style pickups so that is also an option if looking used.

bb-2025-vintage-sunburst-600-2-89865-rotate.jpg

BB2025

yamaha-bb2005.jpg

BB2005

yamaha-bbg5-27279.jpg

BBG4/5

 

Obviously there will be slight differences across similar models (BB3000 and BB2025 while having the same body template do vary from each other), but I think this is useful to highlight the extent of variation that has happened over the years.

Edited by MDWagstaff
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I've only seen the BBG4/5 with soapbars. And I have to admit that in blue looks pretty cool. Thanks for the info! 

I'm also curious in how a BB1025x would compare to a BB735. I have a lot of GAS for a BB1025x in caramel brown... Maybe I'll pull the trigger so that I can compare it by myself haha.

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4 minutes ago, javi_bassist said:

I've only seen the BBG4/5 with soapbars. And I have to admit that in blue looks pretty cool. Thanks for the info! 

I'm also curious in how a BB1025x would compare to a BB735. I have a lot of GAS for a BB1025x in caramel brown... Maybe I'll pull the trigger so that I can compare it by myself haha.

No, problem! Al Krow is probably best placed to answer that question. The biggest difference will be the electronics and the fact the 735a can be active or passive where as the 1025x is purely passive. 

 

The version the G5 with the soapboars is active while passive versions have the jazz pickups 

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6 minutes ago, javi_bassist said:

I've only seen the BBG4/5 with soapbars. And I have to admit that in blue looks pretty cool. Thanks for the info! 

I'm also curious in how a BB1025x would compare to a BB735. I have a lot of GAS for a BB1025x in caramel brown... Maybe I'll pull the trigger so that I can compare it by myself haha.

I personally preferred my purely passive 1025 over the two active/passive 735As I've had. I think I boiled that down to not being blown away by the preamp in the 735A, whereas I love the 1025 passive tone. Just my two cents worth. 

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4 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

I personally preferred my purely passive 1025 over the two active/passive 735As I've had. I think I boiled that down to not being blown away by the preamp in the 735A, whereas I love the 1025 passive tone. Just my two cents worth. 

In my case, I like the preamp of the 735. It does what it has to do, without anything else. But I also love older Yamahas and I had the 1025x for some time.

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50 minutes ago, javi_bassist said:

I'm also curious in how a BB1025x would compare to a BB735. I have a lot of GAS for a BB1025x in caramel brown... Maybe I'll pull the trigger so that I can compare it by myself haha.

33 minutes ago, javi_bassist said:

In my case, I like the preamp of the 735. It does what it has to do, without anything else. But I also love older Yamahas and I had the 1025x for some time.

Hah! I'm now confused, if you have had the 1025X and have a 735A you should have a pretty good idea how they compare already?

Edited by Al Krow
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