ChrisJaxon

There is a slight hum when hitting the mid blend spot, yes, and on toward the bridge pup. If you listen for it. But nothing really invasive. Typical of the pup type I guess. Mind you, I never need to have any amps at full tilt either so it is never really evident. The only time I had real hum on the 735 was when I strung it with tapewounds and had a grounding issue! That was quite annoying. The bridge pup hum is not so noticeable that I would want to swap it out with a twin or stacked coil, I would be too concerned about altering the great tone. But it is something Yamaha could have eliminated at the outset, without adding much to the cost, for sure.

Yes I kept the inverted B bridge, never changed it. Yamaha must know what they are doing with this setup.

I actually bought the 735 slightly used at a great price on 7th April 2018, so it is a year with me. I had not realised it was its birthday the other day! Before that I had a 425X and a 424X, both which had to be moved on to other eager BC'ers. Both were widely gigged and had me BB-hooked. The 735 is a real step up from the 42*, such a full and controllable sound. I think it has taken these 365 days to really get to know the 735 and what it can do. Of course I have been through the ritual of trying all types of string, from black tapewounds (grounding issues!), Fat Beams (far too lively for my needs!), La Bella flats (lovely and deep, maybe a bit too thumpy) and finally settling on Chromes which seem to give the best of all worlds for what we play. I cannot imagine playing anything else. Who wants a Fender when you can have a 735?! And the B-string is perfect. Shapes up the neck make for very relaxed playing, with no tonal concerns.

I was in 735A heaven on Saturday night. We played a large hall for a group of dance classes who wanted to strut their stuff to a live band. There was even a glitterball! I played passive all night, blues and blues rock stuff mostly, the RM800/Super Twin were set up to sound very SVT/fridge-like, and despite the size of the hall the RM volume was only at around 5%, as you can probably see if you zoom in. I love my 735 with Chromes, it is such a well-designed instrument and sounds lovely. I rarely use the active side when playing live as I can get everything I need out of the amp setup. It also makes it a lot easier to adjust tones with minimal fuss, just a half knob to turn! No fire extinguisher needed that night, thankfully!

I have just treated myself to a shiny black fiver. Lots of comments on other forums kept remarking how heavy these are, but when I picked it up in the shop I was quite taken aback by how light it is. In contrast, I picked up a flat white 4 which was next to it, and it was as heavy as a heavy thing, noticeably heavier than the 5er. Most peculiar. So a good start, then I started playing it and was instantly smitten. I am mostly a PJ player, but wanted a jazz with balls just to see how I got on. Once I had got the thing home, changed it into Chromes, set it up nicely how I like it, tightened a few knobs, it really is a lovely thing. Without the bass/treble boost it sounds like I imagine most jazz's sound, very musical. When a bit of boost is engaged (it is quite subtle, no 'in yer face' red-lining) it really turns it into a lucious growl. With the stacked boost knobs, in combo with the 'passive' tone knob and the pup blend, you can get a whole range of sounds and tones. The finish is pretty good. When setting it up, I took the neck off and found quite a lot of compressed sawdust which was making it not quite right in the pocket, so I cleaned it out, put in a little shim, and it set up much better, without the B bridge almost on the deck as before. The 19th fret is a little proud so needs a shave, but apart from these things, it is a very nice bass for the money I just weighed it on the bathroom scales and it comes out at 9lbs (doesn't show ounces!) but I know it is one of my lighter 5ers. I am looking forward to playing it with the band and probably at the next gig.

Surprised nobody has mentioned Picato yet. I have a 5-string long scale set and they were really thumpy, but the B string was not really tonefull. On a 4-string they worked well, lovely feel to them, quite high tension, and a real thump. But where Picato have excelled for me is their short scale flats. I put a set on my Squier Jaguar SS and they are excellent. Lovely tone, good feel, and the E string (which can sometimes be tonally odd on a short scale) works very well. Quite high tension. They make a fun-to-play bass feel even more fun to play, and at gigs playing blues type stuff it sat well in the mix. I suppose they do not come into the cheap category at £35 https://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/strings-c1/sets-c865/bass-guitar-c34/picato-flatwound-bass-strings-45-100-stainless-steel-short-scale-p789 but I really like these SS strings. Plus, the black silks are good on the black Jaguar SS headstock!

I find that if my flats get sticky during a gig, a quick rub around the face with the finger tips, especially around the base of the nose, gets enough grease to make them slick again. Works every time. Grim but true.

I get everything I need out of this rig, RM800 Evo + Super Twelve. No pedals, just the joint versatility of the BB735A/RM800/SuperTwelve. Perfect match!

Just bought some strings from Darren. Top guy. Thanks!

Bought some strings from Laurence. Perfect. What a gent!

Hi Ray: I didn't take the photo, I was too engrossed listening to the song and enjoying your playing! One of the organisers took it and posted in on FB here along with some other memorable photos - including a couple of me! It was a great, tiring weekend, with some great music. Gets better every year. Hope to see you next time too.

Raymondo: spotted having a crafty twang!! .....and levitating whilst doing it.......

Just bought a pair of SD jazz pups from Chris. Perfect.

I am depping for the Charlton Blues Kings on Saturday night. Be good to see anyone there.

I have put a set of Picato flats 45-100 on my Squier Jaguar SS. They fit just right, feel great, the black silk matches the headstock (!) and have a good thumpy tone for the blues band I play in. I would recommend them. Picato SS strings on Amazon

Stuart bought a Dean fretless 5 from me. Totally problem-free, pleasure to deal with. Hope to deal with him again one day.

I wanted a shortie for a short term project coming up (depping for an upright player), and I wanted to try one out anyway (good ole'gas!), so I pressed the button with GAK for a black Squier VM Jaguar SS for all of £178 including delivery the next day. What can go wrong, I thought, and when it arrived I dutifully kept all the packaging just in case. But when I took it out and gave it a quick once-over, it was faultless. Apart from a little brown knot in the maple on top of the headstock, which looks rather like a fag burn and rather hip. Then I plugged it in, and once again it all functioned without issue, and the sound was exactly as expected. I then replaced the strings with my preferred flats, set the string and pickup heights to my liking, tuned her up and -BINGO - what a fantastic little bass! And for my dainty little hands, the business end was so much easier and less tiring to play than my long scales. And I found myself able to play faster more accurate runs. I may be converted.... But how does the industry make a great 'beginner' instrument like this, with everyone in the food chain (even DHL to my door) making a profit (including the taxman) for £178? Hats off to Squier.

I gig with an RM800 evo/BF Super 12 and this combination fills any size space with luscious tones. In a pub I can't have the volume knob higher than around 10%- 20%, and even then my troosers are flapping. Really good combination and great tones.

A very happy BB735 player here! Such a versatile bass and such a delight to play. I set the amp at the beginning of the gig and make running sound adjustments on the 735 as required, from poppy jazz sounds through to thumpy P, it has it all covered. Fantastic! Enjoy!