Al Krow

Cheers @Hacksawbob! I know exactly what you mean about the cravings the BB 2005 model seems to induce in some of us - it's done that to me on several occasions! It is a beautifully designed bass and although I do particularly love a white finish on a Yamaha, the natural wood finish also allows the mahogany stripes in the neck-through to be seen and not masked as is the case with the white and black. Have you previously owned one of these? @martfitz - I think I came across a post recently which mentioned you had a BB 1500A, a BB 2005 and previously had a BB 2004? You're clearly way ahead of me in discovering the delights of the BB JJ series!

I think we're just all adjusting to what folk are willing to pay and given they ain't making these "2-Series" Yamahas anymore and the 424/5s are clearly great basses, it's not surprising that prices are creeping up. They were temporarily going for £270 to £280 new four years back as retailers looked to clear them off their floors and knocked the prices right down in end-of-line sales. That had a direct knock-on to used prices which saw vgc used ones going for the £200 mark. But those days are now long gone.

Yamaha BB 2005 - Quick Review I'm loving the Yamaha BB 2005 I picked up a couple of days back – turned out to be a very cheeky wedding anniversary present! It’s a June 2004 build and now has pride of place as the oldest bass in my herd. I’ve previously been tempted to get one on the relatively rare occasions that they have come up for sale but couldn’t really justify it when I had my NE2. If someone said to me that I could have 85% of a BB NE2 for 30% of the cost I would have probably laughed at them. But this bass is it and to find one in such good condition for such a good price and from such a great seller (thanks Rich!) saw me snapping it up on the day it was listed - super happy that I did! I gave it a decent work out through my BF BB2 / Bugera 1001M rig at band rehearsal last night and it sounded great. The bridge J pup adds to the grit of the Bugera amp and cuts through well; I'm tempted to describe the tone it delivers as "woody" but that probably means completely different things to different bass players! But it’s the neck pup where it really shone for me: a rich, warm, punchy tone that sat very well in the mix. The solo’d P pup on my 1025 is great at home but can sometimes struggle to cut through in a band mix and I typically then switch to PJ or solo J on the 1025; the J on the 2005 is more like the 1025’s P on steroids - really loved it! Like the NE2 it has a similarly powerful low end - definitely don’t need to boost the bass EQ! The treble EQ on the 2005 has a decent range and like the BB 604/5 and BB NE2, the sister basses in its range, it sports the variable NE mid cut. My 2005 weighed in at a fraction under 10 lbs, which is pretty much at the top of end of my herd these days, but it balances beautifully with no neck dive whatsoever which is outstanding for a 5 string bass in my experience and meant that “wearing it” for a couple of hours was unexpectedly comfortable. The Yamaha BB JJ range Must admit I’ve not previously looked in any detail at the full range of BB’s that comprise the Yamaha BB “JJ range”, headed up by the BB NE2, partly because the NE2 is the only one of the series still in production. They seem to have a similarity of thinking to the purely passive 424/5, 1024/5 and 2024/5 PJ range, with the purely active 604/5, 2005 and NE2 being the broadly equivalent basses. The budget 604/5 have a bolt on neck whereas the 2005 and NE2 are neck-through (plus other refinements as we move up the range). Just to keep us on our toes the BB 2004 is not JJ but the much sought after reverse-P/J config! With its reverse PJ, neck-through, NE2 shape and 24 frets, it looks great - particularly in white 🙂 - and ticks a lot of boxes for me. If I was still regularly playing 4 strings I’d certainly now be very tempted to get a BB 2004 too! For those of you who have never quite got comfortable with the more traditional Yamaha BB shape, but always wanted to try a Yamaha bass, this could be just the ticket...just need to find one!

Rich sold me a Yamaha BB 2005 in lovely condition, having decided that 5 strings are not for him and being very content with his BB 1024 (for good reason!) We met half-way, in time honoured fashion, having kept enough fuel in our tanks to side-step the fuel shortage! Super easy transaction and a wonderful (and inspiring!) chap to deal with. Cheers, Bas

Great job!

Very true. But if God had meant bass players to have just one bass, She wouldn't have given @ped the idea of Basschat!

I have to say I sympathise with that statement a lot! They might be willing to have a listen out as to how different settings are working in the mix - in my crew, our drummer has a decent ear, the rest almost certainly don't seem to hear any small bass sound changes in the mix! Two tips then from me: - as mentioned earlier make sure that you don't have a volume drop or spike when engaging the pedals; - secondly try giving the mid EQ a slight boost on your amp (or bass if it's active), to help you cut through the mix a bit more.

Hi Paddy - is it when the rest of the band are playing in rehearsal that effects seem to lose their edge? Or are you hearing the difference through the TB500 and BF SC even when playing solo and without the rest of the band? If it's in the band mix, then not being able to hear the nuances of the bass tones when in competition and overlap with the rest of the band is not unusual. If it's even when playing solo, then worth checking that your volume settings on clean by-pass are the same as when you have your pedals engaged with your full rig - this may well differ from what you have them set on with the practice amp and headphones.

Ok our views on what is a "pretty good day!" differ slightly, Woody 😁

Not every beginner is going to be familiar with how to market, wrap and courier their bass to maximise the sale price. If they bought from a retailer they're likely to think about selling it back to the retailer who will want to take their cut. Spending £120 on a bass that's "good enough" has gotta be a pretty low risk way to dip your toe into the world of bass and, besides, which of us long-in-the-tooth bass players hasn't lost a few quid on a bass when moving it on?

Which model did you go for, the 4 or the 5?

But aren't you making a very big assumption that an HB Stingray won't be good enough for a beginner? I mean the OP @mcnach is a very experienced bass player and, from his comments, has been happy with this bass "out of the box". If it's good enough for him with his knowledge and experience of basses, it should be more than decent for a beginner, no?

What is the quality of the aux in / headphone out for use as a headphone amp - is it broadly similar to the quality you get from your Zoom B1-4 or is it a step up as a headphone amp? If it is, that would definitely be another string to its bow.

And we've all failed to mention the most important thing about a 5 string which comes for free...that fantastic thumb rest (aka the B string) 😁

There lots of positional benefits to a 5er including ease of being able to change key, in addition to the the low D, C and B notes - which do give you the ability to play an octave down in those keys as compared to a 4 string, which can be good. And there's pretty much nothing you can do on a 4 string that you can't do on a 5, but not so true the other way around. But I'm sure you know all that already! It's pretty much why I mostly play 5s these days, apart from three solitary basses a EUB, an 8 string and a 6 string, which are all different again. Quite a few folk set out to make the move from 4 strings to 5 but give up before getting confident on 5s. You've cracked it, so why not keep one 5 in your herd and use it when it will be useful and revert to 4s when you don't? Just my tuppence worth.

Agreed about the beyond help, but as long as the missus is on board that's all that counts! 😁 (I'm not currently listing duplicates on the original OP - it's mainly to highlight who has actually owned which models, in case we need to pick folks brains plus a bit of fun...besides youve got your wonderful mega list on another thread which has gotta be one of the most liked posts of all time!)

I did an A/B of my BF BB2 with an AT 212 a little while back (at home during lockdown rather than in a band mix) - this is a summary of what I found: Overall, there was not a huge amount of difference in tone between the two. BB2 mellower and would probably sit better “in the mix”; AT212 was richer and more resonant = more “acoustic” / akin to having reverb added to vocals. Its greater clarity and articulation mean that it would likely “cut through the mix” more easily. Whilst they both handle the open low B well, the AT212 delivered the low B with more punch whereas the BB2 was slightly muddier. Sadly my AT212 was a little mangled by the courier and went back and I've stuck with my BB2 since then, partly due to its more robust construction which I was obviously sensitised to by my unfortunate experience with the AT212.

Which BBs do you still currently have (and clearly weren't a waste of money! 😁)?

And now I know it does presets I might spend some time watching those videos 😁 But tbf, a synth keyboard is unlikely to be on my wish list for a little while, so I'll probably get to hear you playing yours before then.

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Oh you should see his "all the basses I've ever had" thread for the full picture!! And Andy's had more than one of most of these basses too! Check out the very first post on this mega-thread for our collective "wall of shame" of Yammy BBs, which is there for a bit of fun (plus we can also pick the brains of some specific BB owners for their experience). But was it a waste of money, or did it give you a lot of fun and pleasure along the way?

Cool! How close is this to being a roughly correct wall of shame entry for you now then: currently - 414, 1600 (incoming), BB350F(refretted) (prev: 200, 300, 350f, 1100s, 1300, 614, 714BS, 1024x, G4sII)?

That's plenty for me, more than adequate for most live work.

Haha - well that's told me then! 😁