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The Yamaha BB mega-thread


Al Krow

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2 minutes ago, Machines said:

 

Moved it on - didn't get on with the bridge pickup at all. Liked the bass mostly passive with the neck pickup, as such it was over engineered for me, sold it for what I paid.

Yeah - that's not dissimilar to my own experience. Had two separate BB735As and really wanted to like them - on paper they seem to tick so many boxes! But in the end I kept coming back to my purely passive 1025. Having said that, my recently acquired neck-through BB2005, which is pretty much the same vintage as your 415, is managing to put even my 1025 in the shade - which is saying something! So it's definitely not just a purely active / passive thing for me.

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53 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

That is sweet! Congrats! Did you hold onto your 734A or did that get moved on?

Kinda makes me feel that Yamaha got it right a long time ago, and their subsequent tweaks haven't materially changed what was a fantastic core product. And in terms of colours on offer with matching headstocks, well there's a decent argument to say that they've since gone backwards.

This. 

 

They messed with the essence of the BB range and lost that raw rock and roll coolness that you got with the 414/424/1024.

 

The current range is very tame indeed, a very poor selection of colours on offer,  and as @Machinespointed out above, over-engineered.

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Speaking of which, just got my 414 back from the tech today...

16370865330419074951987384875081.thumb.jpg.eb8baf029d57d870f4abe47c31c1da7b.jpg

upgrades complete: gotoh bridge, proper jack plate instead of the barrel-type one it comes with, and a @KiOgonloom fitted (Tech had to do the loom for me as the shaft holes were too narrow for the new pots and I'm not going anywhere near it with my black and decker with my cack-handedness). 

16370866339974411483568191100433.thumb.jpg.63304c24c3c5d393b350c04eeb29b766.jpg

 

Sounds great, have missed having her and her very loud pickups around, rehearsal next Tuesday 😎

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2 minutes ago, EJWW said:

Speaking of which, just got my 414 back from the tech today...

16370865330419074951987384875081.thumb.jpg.eb8baf029d57d870f4abe47c31c1da7b.jpg

upgrades complete: gotoh bridge, proper jack plate instead of the barrel-type one it comes with, and a @KiOgonloom fitted (Tech had to do the loom for me as the shaft holes were too narrow for the new pots and I'm not going anywhere near it with my black and decker with my cack-handedness). 

16370866339974411483568191100433.thumb.jpg.63304c24c3c5d393b350c04eeb29b766.jpg

 

Sounds great, have missed having her and her very loud pickups around, rehearsal next Tuesday 😎

That looks great, how different does it sound to the original loom 

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31 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

That looks great, how different does it sound to the original loom 

Will let you know once I've had a proper play but TBH with bridges, pots etc it's all so subjective isn't it?

 

All i can say is that the stock wiring was a bit of a tangled mess, the Kiogon loom is very neat and tidy.

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7 hours ago, EJWW said:

They messed with the essence of the BB range and lost that raw rock and roll coolness that you got with the 414/424/1024.

 

The current range is very tame indeed, a very poor selection of colours on offer,  and as @Machinespointed out above, over-engineered.

 

I had a natural BB614 in apx 2006, and whilst it played well I did not get on with the preamp - always preferred the 414 but never got round to getting one. Seen a few pop up on FB/eBay etc but never in the right colour, or location.

 

This is the first 415 in OM i've seen for many years, and it was moderately local (we met halfway, 30 min each). As soon as it was serviced and plugged in - it's the orange 414 (plus a string !) I remember trying out in Dawsons Manchester in ~2005, i'd hazard a bet @AndyTravis may have been the man that let me try it out.

 

Me with BB614 (2006 Aston Uni)

BB614_1.thumb.JPG.4c42450296a0b6cc111fb47d4f4bdfc8.JPG

 

 

BBs in Dawson's Manchester (2005- I had one of the first camera phones !)

895307989_BB414s.thumb.jpg.bd5cdb42f2f700820b82337f65b1eaa0.jpg

 

Edited by Machines
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I’m the happy custodian of Jezzaboy’s black 424. I originally bought it to be a daily beater for teaching on and as a backup for gigs but has actually ended up becoming my main bass. 
 

The bridge seems to be a popular thing to upgrade on the 414/424. Gotoh often. Can anyone recommend the exact model I might look for? I love the Yamaha bridge on my 735a. Something similar to that would be cool. Cheers all!

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On 16/11/2021 at 17:42, EJWW said:

The current range is very tame indeed, a very poor selection of colours on offer,  and as @Machinespointed out above, over-engineered.

I don't get the colours with Yamaha.  You'd think with the number of artists they have using the BB basses in custom colours the penny would drop with the design team.

 

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On 17/11/2021 at 00:46, Machines said:

 

I had a natural BB614 in apx 2006, and whilst it played well I did not get on with the preamp - always preferred the 414 but never got round to getting one. Seen a few pop up on FB/eBay etc but never in the right colour, or location.

 

This is the first 415 in OM i've seen for many years, and it was moderately local (we met halfway, 30 min each). As soon as it was serviced and plugged in - it's the orange 414 (plus a string !) I remember trying out in Dawsons Manchester in ~2005, i'd hazard a bet @AndyTravis may have been the man that let me try it out.

 

Me with BB614 (2006 Aston Uni)

BB614_1.thumb.JPG.4c42450296a0b6cc111fb47d4f4bdfc8.JPG

 

 

BBs in Dawson's Manchester (2005- I had one of the first camera phones !)

895307989_BB414s.thumb.jpg.bd5cdb42f2f700820b82337f65b1eaa0.jpg

 

The SWR rig under that bass ended up as mine 😂

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On 09/10/2021 at 15:34, AndyTravis said:

Well.

 

I’m mates with a local dealership manager. 

 

”Trav, you still after a BBPH? One has turned up at our warehouse, the last one we’ll ever see, last one in the UK - be here on Tuesday if you want it”

 

”yup, deposit?”

 

”yup”

 

*pay deposit*
 

”All yours pal!”


“WAHOO!”

 

That was about 12.15

 

and at 14.29

 

”Trav…erm…yeah…warehouse f*cked up. Booked a customer repair in as new stock…there’s no BBPH, sorry…”

 

”Mint”

 

”yeah, refund?”

 

”yeah”.

 

 

 

 

 

that may have been @hookys6stringbass’s in for repair...

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1 hour ago, Maude said:

🙈

I hadn't clocked that @mrtcathad also got a Spector in his life, which has blown him away. Kinda interesting that quite a few of us Yammy fans are also huge Spector fans. I'm definitely a signed-up member of that particular "dual-bass club". 

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3 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

I hadn't clocked that @mrtcathad also got a Spector in his life, which has blown him away. Kinda interesting that quite a few of us Yammy fans are also huge Spector fans. I'm definitely a signed-up member of that particular "dual-bass club". 


I’ve said it before, but it’s worth saying again - I want Spector to Make me a BB, or yamaha to make me a BB Spector.

 

It’s becoming an obsession, think I need to talk to John Shuker or something…

 

There’s equal Love here - but I know I’ll not find another bb1600.

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11 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

I hadn't clocked that @mrtcathad also got a Spector in his life, which has blown him away. Kinda interesting that quite a few of us Yammy fans are also huge Spector fans. I'm definitely a signed-up member of that particular "dual-bass club". 

 

I've not tried a Spector. I know it's shallow but I just don't like the look of them, they always look a bit Wonky. Although I'm sure there must be Spectors without the melted look. 

 

On the flip side however, I will know what a 1024 is like by the end of the week. 😁

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7 hours ago, Maude said:

 

I've not tried a Spector. I know it's shallow but I just don't like the look of them, they always look a bit Wonky. Although I'm sure there must be Spectors without the melted look. 

 

On the flip side however, I will know what a 1024 is like by the end of the week. 😁

Haha, my guitarist describes my Spector as looking like a half sucked boiled sweet. 

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8 hours ago, Al Krow said:

I hadn't clocked that @mrtcathad also got a Spector in his life, which has blown him away. Kinda interesting that quite a few of us Yammy fans are also huge Spector fans. I'm definitely a signed-up member of that particular "dual-bass club". 

I absolutely love my Spector, it just punches it's way through every mix and I find the body shape super comfortable. 

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11 hours ago, AndyTravis said:


I’ve said it before, but it’s worth saying again - I want Spector to Make me a BB, or yamaha to make me a BB Spector.

 

It’s becoming an obsession, think I need to talk to John Shuker or something…

 

BB 2004 comes pretty close - even has the reverse-P J set up.

 

image.png.4136f0ab8352361595c41d998275dd28.png

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