BB300 v's BB300

[Guest MoJo]

Being a huge fan of the VFM Yamaha BB range, when I found myself requiring a no-nonsense P-Bass clone, my eyes fell on a BB300 on eBay with a [i][b]Buy It Now[/b][/i] of £115. A few days later I had it in my grasp and was very pleased with my purchase. A few weeks later I decided that If another came up for sale, I'd buy that too and string it BEAD for the songs in the set that went below Drop D that I normally used my BB415 for. Lo and behold two came up for sale on fleabay in the same week. A red one belonging to a basschat member and a black one. Being a sucker for black, I contacted the owner, a deal was struck and today I went to collect it.

It wasn't until I got it back to the van and had a good look at it that things appeared odd. It didn't have that 'short-horned' look that typifies the BB range. Also I noticed that the pick-ups weren't in the reversed configuration like my other BB300. I smelt a rat! When I got it home, I put the two side by side and the differences became apparent.



Th original bass is on the left, the later addition is on the right. I have changed the bridge on my original BB300 and there is no nut as I am having a brass nut made. Note the length of the top horns, the depth of the cut-out for the lower horn and the configuration of the pick-ups.

The headstock on my original BB300 has the tuning fork logo


The other hasn't


Thinking someone had bodged together a Frankenbass, I took my latest acquisition apart a was amazed to see that the neck bore a stamped mark, stating BB300 followed by a mark that could possibly be 'II'


...and the body bore the same


along with a date stamp that clearly shows 26/7/79. So it all seems original.

Can anyone help me? Does anyone know anything about the BB300 II?

[LeftySteve]

Hi and welcome to the world of the BB300!
I have had three of these in all including one fretless (all lefties). I now only have one though, I sold the fretless and gave one of the fretted ones to a good friend.

I have kept what I considered to be the best of the ones I have had and it is identical to the one on the right of your photo. The bridge, pickup configuration and body shape are the same. Mine was bought by the original owner in 1979. The one on the left of your photo is identical to the fretted one my friend now has. The bridge was much lower quality on mine, the pick ups routed the other way round and the body shape was different like yours and much heavier than my original one. I cannot remember if mine had the tuning fork logo but the one I still have does not.

So, I would say that your latest purchase is an original BB300.

I wouldn't part with mine, it has been the most used of all the basses I have owned and would recommend the early ones highly. Why anyone would pay £1000 for a 70's Fender P when you can get one of these for £100ish is beyond me... but then that has never stopped me spending £1000 a time on basses now I think about it :-)

How are the tuners on yours? Mine are well shot now but being such nice old nickel ones I cannot bring myself to change them. I undersand they were always a weak point on these basses.

Cheers.

Steve

[Guest MoJo]

[quote name='LeftySteve' post='86723' date='Nov 11 2007, 12:41 AM']How are the tuners on yours? Mine are well shot now but being such nice old nickel ones I cannot bring myself to change them. I undersand they were always a weak point on these basses.

Cheers.

Steve[/quote]

The tuners aren't as smooth and positive as those on my BB415 but they are almost thirty years old. The finish has dulled but they still hold the strings in tune. I must admit I prefer the shape of my latest 'original' BB300 to the one in the left of the above photo. Thanks for the info Steve.

P.S. There's a basschat member who loves well worn in strings and the set that were on this bass certainly qualify as that. Probably the original set judging by their complete lack of brightness. If anyone knows to who I'm referring and he/she wants them, PM me.

[silverfoxnik]

I had an old BB800 a few years back and it was a great sounding bass and dirt cheap too! They are definitely underrated these old Yamahas...

Looks like you've got two very good examples there Bassman, well worth hanging onto I'd say!

[SJA]

in my old Yamaha catalogue from around 1991 the BB300 listed looks exactly like your new bass on the right (no tuning fork logo either).

it's funny how Yamaha keep changing the split coil P-style pickup between reversed and non-reversed config on the BB basses-

the recent Mike Anthony sig. BB3000MA started off as reversed P, but the ones he plays live now are non-reversed.

is there much tonal difference? (ie. E and A sounding tighter with the reversed-P, D and G fuller?)

[synaesthesia]

[quote name='SJA' post='86852' date='Nov 11 2007, 01:10 PM']in my old Yamaha catalogue from around 1991 the BB300 listed looks exactly like your new bass on the right (no tuning fork logo either).

it's funny how Yamaha keep changing the split coil P-style pickup between reversed and non-reversed config on the BB basses-

the recent Mike Anthony sig. BB3000MA started off as reversed P, but the ones he plays live now are non-reversed.

is there much tonal difference? (ie. E and A sounding tighter with the reversed-P, D and G fuller?)[/quote]

Ibanez are like that too, little details change but the instrument keeps the model number. I suspect the changes really occur when production shifts from factory to factory. In Asian MI biz, the large OEM factories make the insturments for various badges, and Fujigen Gakki made many of the Ibanez and Fender Japan models in the 80s. Matsumoko made the Arias and several other brands. Yamaha, FWIW , tend to largely have their own manufacturing facilites as opposed to contracting OEM factories. Somewhere between the late 80s and the early 90s, some Yamaha production, particularly for the 'budget models', shifted from Japan to South Korea briefly and settled in Taiwan.