Baceface

Thanks @therealting , although I can't find anything online for the Bass Doc, other than some historical posts mentioning the name on this site. Also thanks to @AndyTravis . I hadn't considered that Yamaha might be able to supply something. I might ask them if it would fit the BB614. Having done some crude photoshopping, I quite like the black and white idea but I do like a nice torty 'guard. I suppose it's just the commitment to putting holes in the bass - no backing out then. I guess it's not worth much anyway. Thanks again. Crude 'shopping attached, just for larks...

I've been wondering if it's possible to get a pickguard made for my old BB614. These didn't come with them so I doubt that a template exists anywhere. I like the shape of the one on the BB435 and agree that the tort looks fantastic against the black. Trouble is that the BB614 has metal pickup surrounds so I'd have to get that factored in. Does @AndyTravis have a contact who can make these up? (I suppose I could ask him myself!)

I went all posh and got the sweatshirt. I think it fell to bits sometime in the early 90s, pity. Not that it would fit me now. Not by a long way!

It's hard to choose from so many great players but if you held a loaded Jazz bass to my head it would have to be Geddy Lee. I saw Rush live on the Moving Pictures tour as a callow youth and, to my shame, I hadn't really paid too much attention to the bass players at the previous gigs I'd seen. That night changed things! Amazing lines and amazing tones: deep, thunderous lows and soaring, glassy highs. Often both at once! I'd guess the strings are a big part of that so fair play to Rotosound. PS: I only have one bass and I haven't changed the strings for 13 years so, even if I changed them tomorrow, 8 more sets could last me another 104 years. That would make me 157 and by that time I might be able to play YYZ. Or probably not.

I realise this is a somewhat cheap and cheerful example of the BB genre but it's my only bass and I've just picked it up again after years of it just sitting there. (It's my first post in almost five years.) It's an early BB614 that I bought new and I must confess that it was the natural colour as much as anything that I liked about it! I did try a couple of Squiers at similar prices and the Yamaha seemed a bit nicer, although I realise that Squier have upped their game a lot recently with things like the Classic Vibe range (assuming the basses are as good as the guitars). I'm once again considering "upgrades" but probably lack the judgement to know what, if anything would make it better. I like the look of the Gotoh 201 - but accept the original seems to work just fine. I've read a lot about the active eq being the weak link in these. I must confess that I don't find the eq of any real use to me as I just stick to blending the pickups and rolling back some treble for the sounds I use. Does it make sense to upgrade the eq (something like the Glockenklang 3 band appeals but it's expensive) or even just get the eq disconnected and replaced with a passive tone control? I'm not too hot with a soldering iron so I'd probably pay a tech to do the work. Trouble is that if I replaced the bridge, preamp and got some lighter tuners (the weight is OK at 9lb 1oz but lighter would be nicer) I'd be well on the way to the cost of a CV Jazz or Precision. Not sure if they would be better but they'd offer another option sound-wise.

Hmm. Difficult as I'm not really a bass aficionado. I've tried to pick a few from the pop, rock/prog and jazz fields who've impressed me most over the years, be it on record or live... Colin Moulding Andy Rourke Geddy Lee Chris Squire Glenn Hughes Mick Karn Marcus Miller Skúli Sverrisson Tim Lefebvre and finally, the player who has struck me as having the best balance of monster chops, melodic taste and sheer visceral thump would be... Tony Levin

Hi Ben. Nice to hear from someone not too far away. My sister used to live in Sale (just off Brooklands Rd). I still head out that way every now and again to visit Steve, aka Manchester Guitar Tech who is a cracking fettler of guitars and basses. You're a youngster compared to me and yet you're miles ahead in terms of gigging experience! Hope it continues to go well and that you enjoy the journey. Cheers.

Love the upgrades Horizontaliste! I believe the Gotoh 201 drops straight onto the BB614 without any drilling? I also like the control knobs and think they're a great improvement on the stock ones. I hate the way there's no visual indication of where the controls are, particularly for the active eq. Do you remember where you got the replacements? Yours looks almost identical to mine (apart from the mods). Here's a picture:

[quote name='Horizontalste' timestamp='1410289740' post='2547931'] Welcome to the forum, if you must sell everything to buy the Ric then make sure the Bb614 is the last thing to go. I sold mine and regret it, without a doubt the best bass I've owned & I currently use a Bb1024 & a Stingray so that should give you an idea how good they are. [/quote] Cheers Horizontalste. I like the BB614 but I haven't anything else to compare it to. I took a bass playing friend along to the shop when I bought it and he liked it too so I was reasonably sure that it was OK. I guess they are not considered "lookers" but I quite like the appearance - kind of vintage/old-school without being another P or J bass clone. It's about 9lb so it's reasonably light for a larger bodied bass. I'm considering putting a Gotoh 201 on there but more for cosmetic reasons than any hope of tonal improvement. I don't really like or use the active eq so I might look into disconnecting it. The other option might be to upgrade the preamp as people say the budget electronics are a weak point on these. Not so sure about this as I only use it for recording and tend to dial in the sound I need with the amp sim and eq. Nice to hear that you rate the BB614s so highly!

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1410124768' post='2546454'] For me, there can only be one choice: ca 1973 era Jethro Tull. [/quote] Good choice. Passion play would probably take a bit of learning though! I'd have gone for the '77 or maybe even '82 tours. Either way, as a bass player, you would end up getting your backside thrashed with a riding crop during "hunting girl". This may or may not be a good thing, depending on whether you're into that sort of stuff

Arghh! My eyes! Thanks for the biggest smiley I've ever seen. With a "thumbs up" too. Is that some Macca reference? Or maybe it's something to do with slap bass? I'm probably reading too much into this.

Great thread. I'd say the two bass players I was the biggest fan of in my early-mid teens have been referenced here - Geddy Lee and Glenn Hughes. I was more of a MKII Purple fan but thought Glenn was a fantastic player. Loved his clanking tone all over the Burn LP. Not sure if that was the Ric he played early on (it sounds very Ric-like to me) or the P-bass he used later on with Purple. Saw Rush on the Exit... tour (sort of a continuation of the Moving Pictures Tour but the live LP jad just been released). Amazing band with a stunning bass player.

Saw Whitesnake a few times in the 80s. First was in 1980 with all the Ms (Marsden, Moody and Murray) which was, I guess, the classic lineup. Agree with the Admiral about the Fool For Your Loving bassline - really bubbles along without being intrusive and is a massive part of the track. In later years, I used to like "Bomber" Hodgkinson's solo slot - seem to recall shenanigans involving an elastic strap. Saw them last when Murray had rejoined but it was all getting a bit too much like some kind of Coverdale & Sykes hair mouse expo at that point.

Thanks iiipopes. I will definitely try some new strings. I might even try flats. Not sure whether to wait and replace the stock bridge with something like a Gotoh 201 while I'm at it. I realise that this is probably just liking the cosmetics of a chunkier bridge! I've no doubt that I'd be better spending the money on some instructional materials. (Or just practising a bit more.) Thanks again.

Split the difference - Daisy Ric?

Sorry Barkin. I didn't mean that you'd made me feel stupid - I'm more than capable of that on my own! I just felt a bit daft having said I'd searched the web for info on Yamaha stock strings but not thought to look on the Yamaha site. To be fair, the stock strings might have changed in the last 9 years. I was just after a guide to what might be on the BB. I've read that 45-105 is pretty much a standard set so I'm now thinking it's not the gauge that's the problem, if indeed there is a problem. The boomy E might just be usual on a bass. Fingerstyle bass seems so much more touch sensitive than picked guitar! It might be my lack of technique that's the real issue here. When recording, I've taken to compressing the jingo out of it, just to get that string-to-string (and note-to-note) evenness that is missing in my ham-fisted performances. Anyway. Thanks again for the information. Cheers.

Thanks a lot for the warm greetings. Loving BassTractor's "Lemmy/Daisy Rock" avatar! First gig I ever went to was Motorhead on the Bomber tour. My tastes are a bit less noisy these days but I wonder if it's part of why I think of Rics as the definitive bass?

Oooh eck. First proper post and I make a complete arse of myself. Sorry barkin and thanks for the info. Looks like I should try out a 40-100 set.

Gulp. This is not easy. My name is Baceface and I have not changed my strings since I bought my bass in ....err... 2005! Thing is, I've not used it that much and I've never much liked the set that are on there. The low E seems to dominate (despite me backing the pickups off on the bass side it still booms out louder than the rest) and the whole thing feels under slightly more tension than other basses I've tried. I'm going to change them (along with possibly a bridge upgrade and, in the future, either disabling, or upgrading, the stock active electronics). However, I don't know what gauge strings they are so I'm not sure what to buy to get a slightly lower tension feel. I might even try flats as I like the sound of these on various YouTube vids. So, it's a long shot, but does anybody know what strings Yamaha were putting on their cheap basses in 2005? It's a BB614, if that helps. The strings have brass ball ends and are wrapped with some kind of red cotton/silk thread at the machine head end. Thanks and sorry for the long post. I've searched for this information here and web-wide but not found an answer.

Just saying hello after lurking for a while. I'm not a real bass player (or welder). I play guitar and own a bass that I use for recording and general fun. It's a very modest Yamaha instrument but I like it a lot. I've noticed that these days I seem to enjoy playing the bass much more than I do the guitar. Not sure if it's the righteousness than comes with owning a cheap bass (that matches my cheap playing) or the simplicity of just having the one, as opposed to loads of guitars that don't get played too often. Anyway, I suspect I'll be asking for help and advice until this phase passes or turns into something altogether nastier when I sell loads of stuff to get a 4003. Regards.