Lightening the load...BB425 is no longer P/J

[Paul S]

I have a Yamaha BB425 that I bought as a backup bass and which, for the money, is an incredibly fab thing.  I love the neck and find it immensely playable.  It is a P/J - the P pickup is absolutely lovely but I never ever use the J.  It is also a bit too heavy at 4.6kg.  It has taken me a while but I finally joined these two dots and cut off the J pickup just now.  I also have just bought a set of 4 Hipshot Ultralites secondhand and fitted them (yes, I know, one short).  Now I have a bass that weighs 3.9kg - SO much better.  I didn't realise quite how heavy that pickup would be.  There is, of course, a hole but I am not worried bout it - it is already painted black in there and doesn't really show.  I may do something with the wiring and remove the 3-way toggle switch completely but that requires a bit more thinking than cutting through the pickup wires    Put a smile on my face this afternoon

That is all, really.

[ikay]

Crikey, that's a big weight saving! I can see 4 Ultralites saving around 200g or so but I'd be interested to know how much that pickup weighs in at, surely not half a kilo?

[dannybuoy]

A travesty. The P+J setting on the BB is absolutely killer and my whole reason for owning one! 

I too have some licensed Ultralites just arrived from Bass Direct to go on my 1025X when I get a chance. Word is they pop straight on without having to drill holes as they line up with the existing one?

[Paul S]

Hah, I know what you mean but I prefer the P solo - different ears...   Mind you, the middle position on the toggle sounds just like the front position now!....

Unfortunately the holes don't quite line up.  Nearly but not quite.  Rather than going to the bother of plugging, glueing, re-drilling new holes I just moved them along a bit with the end result that the tuners sit at a slightly rakish angle. They work just fine and don't actually look that silly.  Were it a 1025X I might have done it more carefully, but this was only ever going to be a cheap fix for a cheap bass.

The weight thing got me curious so I just stuck the pickup and the old tuners on my kitchen scales.  Pickup is 200g, tuners pretty heavy at 500g.  But then there is the added weight of the Hipshots, so perhaps my luggage scales aren't quite as accurate as I thought!     Anyway, makes a difference.  Be quite a few g light once i remove the toggle switch and associated surplus wiring.

[dannybuoy]

There's a chance the USA Ultralites might be slightly different in size to the licensed ones, so maybe one matches up perfectly and not the other... They're not exactly the same, the licensed ones are not reversible for starters.

[ikay]

That pickup is still pretty hefty compared with a regular J (which weighs about 100g). Probably a hefty full length magnet under the blade I guess.

[Paul S]

15 hours ago, dannybuoy said:

There's a chance the USA Ultralites might be slightly different in size to the licensed ones, so maybe one matches up perfectly and not the other... They're not exactly the same, the licensed ones are not reversible for starters.

I fear not - I put a set of licensed Ultralites on the BB5000 I had, same issue.  Hope yours workout different as it is a bit of a nuisance, especially if you have OCD about the angle of the tuners.

14 hours ago, ikay said:

That pickup is still pretty hefty compared with a regular J (which weighs about 100g). Probably a hefty full length magnet under the blade I guess.

Yes, it has.  It certainly feels weighty.  I used the bass at rehearsal last night and it really has made a massive difference.  During a rather enthusiastic bit of playing I managed to flick the toggle switch over to 'mute' as it is now so I need to change the wiring but overall I am pleased with the result.