The Yamaha BB mega-thread

[jassbass]

One of the new series?
It felt largeish to me and I often use a 50's Roadworn P bass and a 72 Fender P that's a bit of a slugger.

Unless the 434 is different to the 235 Edited July 30, 2019 by Dad3353

[2elliot]

I wouldn't class it anything like chunky. It's not wafer thin or super skinny, but it doesn't feel like much of a leap going from my 90s Stage 1 to the 734a. 38mm to 40mm with a different profile.

I think the best the for people to do is go out and try one.

[neepheid]

Chunky? The G&L Tribute L-2000 neck is a half baseball bat. I know chunky, these aren't it.

[Highfox]

I wouldn't class it anything like chunky. It's not wafer thin or super skinny, but it doesn't feel like much of a leap going from my 90s Stage 1 to the 734a. 38mm to 40mm with a different profile.

I think the best the for people to do is go out and try one.

Good advice.
They say the whole series is thinner (less chunky) than the old BB series, so they must be, just don't feel that great to me somehow.
I'll stick with what I have for now. Edited July 30, 2019 by Dad3353

[Al Krow]

Arrived today! BB425 - one of the last new ones of the old line. Looking forward to giving it a work out later tonight and my introduction to the world of passive P-Basses!

Edited July 30, 2019 by Dad3353

[CameronJ]

She's a beauty! Enjoy

Edited July 30, 2019 by Dad3353

[clivem]

Arrived today! BB425 - one of the last new ones of the old line. Looking forward to giving it a work out later tonight and my introduction to the world of passive P-Basses!

The Ibby is sidelined for a Yammy! LOL.
I've been tempted to pick up either a 424 or 1024, now that they've been replaced with the new models, but have been scared away with stories of 10lb monsters......
I'm too partial to the 7-8lb of a SR to even contemplate a 10lb instrument!
What do you reckon the 425 you've bought tips the scales at? Compared to the SR1800, on your shoulder, is it really noticeably heavier? Edited July 30, 2019 by Dad3353

[Al Krow]

CameronJ said:

She's a beauty! Enjoy

 

Cheers Cameron!
 

 

Edited July 30, 2019 by Dad3353

[CameronJ]

For what it's worth, I heartily recommend Comfort Strapps. They don't look as classy as leather but by god they do the job!

[dannybuoy]

Neotech are good too. I lost mine somehow, might need to get another now that my BB1025X is getting regular outings!

[clivem]

Neotech are good too. I lost mine somehow, might need to get another now that my BB1025X is getting regular outings!

Yep, the Neotech Mega Bass Strap is my strap of choice. I've tried the Comfort strap, a stupidly expensive 4" padded leather Levy, but always come back to the Mega strap.

BTW, any idea on the weight of your BB1025X? Is that a 10lb'er? Edited July 30, 2019 by Dad3353

[clivem]

Yup the Ibby is a pleasure to play and definitely isn't going to be sidelined

LOL. Just trying to get a rise out of you.

Edited July 30, 2019 by Dad3353

[Al Krow]

Yamaha BB425 – Review

 

Usual caveats – purely IMHO, YMMV etc! But I hope my comments below are useful / of interest nonetheless.

Neck & playability
5-ply laminated neck feels very solid (and looks good). As it’s a 5 string the neck it is obviously going to be wider than a 4 string, but I found it easy to play with a very decent action / set up straight out of the box (this model didn’t come with a gig bag) and certainly not uncomfortable or a “big and fat” neck by any means. 34” scale and easy to reach top notes. Appearance is always going to be a personal thing, but I do like how it looks and feels to hold.

B string
Just fine. Not floppy or flaccid.

PUPs & Tone
This thing is surprisingly / pleasantly bright (as I think neephid commented earlier) and mostly (see below) plenty of output in the PUPs for a passive bass. It was actually brighter than my Warwick Corvette $$ 5 string played passively and comparably bright to the Nordstrand PUPs on the Ibanez SR. I’ve got my Berg, with its more hi-fi Delano PUPs, set up with old strings to get a more vintage “flat” sound which suits The Retros’ 50s and 60s music better and is therefore not a fair comparison, but the Ibby and Warwick both have new strings like the Yammy.

The tone doesn’t have the growl of the Ibby or the Warwick (which I have to ‘fess to being a big fan of), but I nevertheless really liked the tone of the split single coil P-bass neck pickup, which I guess is that classic P Bass sound and which, let’s face it, is really good! I found myself slightly bemused in trying to pin down the tone because it came across as having both that “tasty” mid scooped sound but simultaneously mid boosted so that there was no lack of punch!

Of the three other basses I A/B’d it against, I’d probably say that it was closest overall in sound to the Warwick $$ 5 string, which in my books is a pretty big compliment! With the Warwick, I slightly prefer the bridge PUP when playing it in passive mode to the neck PUP. With the Yamaha it was the other way around: for me the P-Bass mode is MUCH preferable to the J-Bass mode, which is a relief as this was all about my trying out and getting to grips with the P-Bass sound!

Weight
Well it was never going to be Ibanez light, was it?  But it’s not noticeably heavier on the shoulder than my Berg or Warwick and, as I mentioned earlier, on all my basses matters are definitely helped by having decent strap cushioning.

Value for money
End of line prices < £300 if you can still find one! Previously retailing for around £375 to £400, but has an overall quality comparable to and can hold its own against basses significantly more expensive.

Where it doesn’t quite hit the mark
The PUPs on the Yamaha can definitely kick some donkey! EXCEPT at the top frequency range. I guess another way of looking at this is that the 424 / 425 PUPs are bright and particularly strong in the mids which means that the bass can cut through the mix very well they but have uneven responsiveness which shows up as being (relatively) quiet at the higher frequency range. I’ve done a quick search on the internet and seen this same point picked up in a couple of other reviews of BB 424s and 425s, so it suggests that it is not a point limited to my particular bass (particularly as Yamaha have a reputation for being the most consistent bass manufacturer on the planet!)

I found the P-bass PUPs were very slightly boomy in the mid-range (e.g. from 5th to 9th fret on A string), with the above mentioned slightly disconcerting fall off in output on the top G string in the same fretboard range (5^th note and higher) where I was focussing. But this one negative in P-Bass mode for me certainly isn’t sufficient to offset all the other positives noted above. HOWEVER, I don’t like and suspect I won’t be using the bridge position single blade jazz bass, soapbar style pickup, by itself. The mid-range boomy-ness on the bridge J-PUP was for me overbearing and the fall-off of the PUP’s output at the higher end frequencies therefore that much more noticeable.

The consistency of the PUPs across the whole frequency range on my other three basses A/B’d is for me one of the key thing that set them apart from this Yammy model. But hey, given the LARGE price differential between them and the Yammy if there was no difference in quality between them something, somewhere, would be amiss!

[Update: following this review, Osiris' suggestion (see #166 below) for using the amp EQ has worked a treat: dialling-back to 10 o'clock (from 12 o'clock) both the bass and mid EQ knobs on my Mesa amp eliminated the boom and balanced out the frequency response of the PUPs across the strings].

Keeper?
Overall, my initial impressions are that I really do like the BB425 and think that it has a lot going for it, particularly at its price point. Definitely a really good introduction to the world P-Bass and a nice 5 string to have as a working bass. I think I’m going to have fun using it both at rehearsal and live.

The one thing that might tempt me to upgrade to a 1025 or one of the new 435s (or possibly 735s) is if they have cracked the uneven / relatively poor higher frequency response on the 424 / 425’s PUPs, without losing the bright overall tone and strong mids? I’d be really interested to hear your feedback on this point and it will certainly be something I will be listening out for when I next pop into the Yamaha centre in Central London.

Conclusion
A good work-horse bass and very good value for money that will easily cut through the mix. Comfortable to play and well made. Very decent P-Bass mode (I recommend avoiding using the J-Bass PUP by itself!) with a bright sound particularly for a passive bass and good P-Bass tone. Marred only by the slightly uneven frequency response of the PUPs which are relatively weak at the higher end - but something that I subsequently found can be easily addressed by dialling back the bass and mid EQs on your amp.

 

Edited October 2, 2021 by Al Krow

[Cuzzie]

Great review Al, really thorough (think Dood's job may he on the line....)
Welcome to the P bass world, and it almost sounds like you are setting up for more acquisitions....

[Al Krow]

Cuzzie said:

Great review Al, really thorough (think Dood's job may he on the line....)
Welcome to the P bass world, and it almost sounds like you are setting up for more acquisitions....

 

Cheers Cuzzie. Nope, I don't think Dood has anything to worry about. As far as more acquisitions are concerned, never say never, right? Besides, I've got a very long way to go to catch up with edstraker123 - see #46 on the Ibby SR thread!

 

Edited July 30, 2019 by Dad3353

[Osiris]

That's a good thorough review

Assuming the P pup is voiced like a traditional P then I wouldn't expect too much in the way of inherent top end in the tone anyway as P's tend to be more about mid-range punch than top end. But there should be more enough there unless you're looking for that glassy high end, in which case you probably wouldn’t have gravitated towards a passive P in the first place!

Regarding the boomy mids on the 5th to 9th fret on the A string and weaker notes on the G, that sounds like it could possibly be an eq issue, perhaps? Dialling in a touch of upper mid may help to alleviate the weaker notes on the G string. If not, see if there's any way to easily raise the side of the pickup that covers the G string and just it up a mm or 2 to see if that helps? As for the problem notes on the A, maybe a slight cut of the lower mids might help calm things down? I'd try simple things like this before considering any drastic action!

Edited July 30, 2019 by Dad3353

[dannybuoy]

You mention P vs J mode, but how about P+J? Mine is in that mode 99% of the time!

[Cuzzie]

Sid - astute as ever, and Dannybuoy, i couldn't agree more.

Different bass i know but whenever i use my jazzes - one a Sandberg MarloweDK the other a MIM Fender with Nordy fat stacks and a J East Marcus Miller Retro preamp - i always have a slight bias to the bridge pup dialled in unless i am going very reggae dub.

Al you will find a dial in point for your ears, combining that lovely Two notes LeBass with it

[CameronJ]

A very good review indeed!

You mention P vs J mode, but how about P+J? Mine is in that mode 99% of the time!

Couldn't agree more with this though. P+J is definitely the sweet spot! Edited July 30, 2019 by Dad3353

[Al Krow]

Cheers guys - will defo be giving the P+J setting a listen to and see how it compares to the P only.

Osiris - a ton of really useful suggestions, as ever, cheers buddy. Interestingly the EQ on my Mesa is less nuanced than on the Markbass amp. The Mesa has a mid (boost only) plus a "voice" with pre-set EQs, including a light and heavy mid scoop. I'll give it a try with the mid boost fully cut. As you say, it may be as easy as that! The Markbass AC amp head has both low mid and high mid EQ knobs so I can see how cutting the low mids and boosting the high mids impacts on the sound. And I'll see what scope there is for raising / lowering the PUPs to increase the relative G string sensitivity - seems to be easily possible on the P but less obvious on the J. If need be I can get that done with some more "expert" assistance from Grizzly Guitars on Hackney Road.

New 435 and old 1025
Had a couple of meetings in town this morning and couldn't resist popping into the Yamaha centre after. I made a beeline for the new 435 and also an "old" model 1025.

The new 435 is a touch lighter than old 1025. Body sizes are broadly identical although the 435 has a slightly thinner neck, but neither were at all difficult to play and both had a really nice action. I slightly preferred the B string on the 435 to the 1025 but I think that may have been down to Yamaha using a slightly thicker guage string on newer models, which is very easily fixed. Differences in sizes and weight of the old and new models seemed pretty marginal to me. I was obviously listening out very carefully for even-ness of the frequency response of the PUPs across the strings, given my review comments above, and it very much sounded to me that both the new PUPs on the 435 and also the better quality (as compared to the cheaper old 425 PUPs) old 1025 PUPs had a much more balanced frequency response across all the strings and no fall off with the higher end / G string. The amp in the store had all EQ dials set at 12 o'clock i.e flat.

For completeness, I did note some single coil hum on the 1025 on the J only setting (which I was expecting) but also on the P+J setting. I guess I either didn't notice or wasn't listening out for it on the 435, so can't comment if that was any better. (Neither bass came across as particularly "bright" in the store, but I'm guessing that was probably entirely due to playing through a Harke 50W combo at mid volume rather than a 600W Mesa amp at home, so I'm not putting any weight on that at all). Pars, the main man in the guitar and bass section of the Yammy store, did quote me a discounted price on both basses but came out at double, or more, than what I had managed to get the BB 425 for, so I didn't feel tempted to bite his hand off. Besides I definitely need to give Osiris' suggestions plus the P+J setting a decent work out on the 425 first...

Update on the 425 PUPs.
Had a further play this afternoon and the P&J setting is definitely also good! Osiris' suggestion for using the amp EQ has also worked a treat - but actually it needed both the bass and mid EQ knobs on my Mesa dialing back to 10 o'clock from 12 o'clock to eliminate the boom and balance out the frequency response. Nice easy solution (and kinda obvious I guess in hind-sight, but hey 20:20 vision and all that!) I just need to remember to make the amp EQ adjustment each time I get the Yammy out, as the tone control on the bass definitely doesn't get there by itself. Starting to feel like I have a great value new P-Bass!

Edited July 30, 2019 by Dad3353

[Yaanmengk]

Got myself a new BB734a in matte black and its gorgeous.
I'm still not so great with getting nice tones with the active EQ.
Can someone give me some general settings for different kinds of tones so i have somewhere to begin?

[Al Krow]

Yaanmengk said:

Got myself a new BB734a in matte black and its gorgeous.
I'm still not so great with getting nice tones with the active EQ.
Can someone give me some general settings for different kinds of tones so i have somewhere to begin?

 

Hey congratulations (and welcome to Basschat!). Looking forward to you posting an obligatory pic of your new bass

I'm sure one or more of us can give you some tips for getting some different tones from your new Yammy. A few Qs to get the ball rolling:

- what amp are you using?
- are you more used to playing passive rather than active basses?
- what sort of tone are you looking for / what type of music are you playing?
- are you just using a bass and amp for tone or are you using a pedal board (if so what are the main effects you typically use)?

 

Edited July 30, 2019 by Dad3353

[jassbass]

Got my bb735a yesterday.so far so good.only played it in house through little practice combo.but sounds great with a good b string

[Al Krow]

Got my bb735a yesterday.so far so good.only played it in house through little practice combo.but sounds great with a good b string

Hey congratulations! The 734/5 model definitely seems to becoming the most popular model on this thread! Enjoy! (And you could maybe give Yaanmengk some tips on how to get the best from his active EQ on his 734 - although I guess it will depend on what amp etc he is using)?

We should really get one of you guys to post a review of the 734/5s (to follow on from the one I did for the 425 a week or so back)? Edited February 24, 2018 by Al Krow

[2elliot]

Use your ears and remember the EQ can be used to cut as well as boost. Or flick it in to passive and use the treble control for tone.

Set the amp up first then have a fiddle with the bass controls. I'd start with every thing on the bass set flat and both pickups selected.

And congratulations on the awesome new bass.