whamni

1 hour ago, nottswarwick said:

Thank you both. There are none in Nottingham to try. How does the string spacing and neck compare to a Stingray 5?

Spacing on a ray is 17.5mm,  Yamaha is 18mm

1 hour ago, AdrianP said:

Hi all. Wasn't sure whether to post this here or in the Repair and Technical section but thought this might be better. Does the collective BB hive mind know for sure what wrench size is suitable for the truss rods in later Yamaha BB basses? Whenever I've adjusted my 424 or 1025 I've reached for a hex wrench suggested by the Yamaha website which has always been the wrong size. Do we know what the correct size is? Thanks. 

Try a 5mm, but whatever you do, make sure it's a snug fit

2 hours ago, Vanheusen77 said:

Hi! I made another one with more pickup and tone settings, plus pick and slap at the end. I got several requests for quicker bouncing back and forth between the two, and also lowered the backing drum track.

 

  It's all down to psychology now  

58 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Nice pic but shows off the lack of matching headstock even more.

Think it comes in the next Windows update ! 😎 lol

On 18/07/2019 at 08:53, Tubster said:

The new 1x8" and 1x10". Anyone got one of these? Would very much like to know more about them - so little out there. Thanks

Everyone replied to this but never really answered the question, apart from the finance side of it, I think Tubster was wanting to know how it sounded in a gig situation !

I don't have one, but I'm all ears to know how they sound at a gig and their reliability  lol    

2 hours ago, TRBboy said:

Okay cool, thanks, so standard long scale I assume? 

Don't think I'm going to have time to restring it before the gig tmrw night, but I'm sure I'll cope fine with the stock strings. 

Really hope it's every bit as good as I think it's gonna be! 😁

Hope you like the bass, I used the stock string for some time, not a bad string, but I changed to Ernie Ball Super Slinky 2834 Nickel Strings 45-100 (Pink Bag)

Then after that Ernie Ball Group 3 Flats 45 to 100, I still have them on, but depends what type of music you're playing !  

I would say you'll have to set it up to your own liking,   anyway best of luck with the new bass.

2 hours ago, Corto14 said:

Hi everyone!

I want to share with you (and others who might be interested in these new BB's) my feelings after 2 months with my 734a.

The bass sounds very, very good. I'm not a super expert, but in passive mode sounds a little different from the active mode, which for me is a great thing 'cause this allow to have a lot of "different" sounds that should cover pretty much everything (circa). 

Very nice P tone but the j pickup soloed is very accurate, compared to a jazz bass (IMHO). I use with a Fender Rumble 40 and the two work very nice together.

The most important that i've noticed is the neck: I LOVE IT, it's fantastic! Beautiful and smooth, not crazy fast, just RIGHT. 

The only cons that i have found it's maybe that is not perfectly balanced, but it could be because of my strap.

 

The only Con I have is, I wish they had put the jack socket at the front like the Fender P lol, small gripe for what is a great bass.

Dave I’m just curious to know what year your Fender is, I ask because I’m thinking it could be the radius of the fret board that’s causing the problem.

You said you have both instruments set up the same, i.e.  neck relief, action @ the 12^th fret, string height at the Nut and first fret etc.

If that is the case, they would play different because of the fret boards  being a different radius.

Because the Yamaha has a 10 inch radius,  you can afford to set the relief, action and string height at the Nut a lot lower than you would with the Fender,  resulting in a very fast playable Yamaha and still dig in without fret buzz.

For reference, the Fender radius could be anything between 7.25 and 9

I have played and set up a variety of bass guitars over the years and it’s amazing the difference you get even between the same make and year of bass/guitar.  

Could also be the feel of the back of the neck. I love the smooth gloss finish on my other basses

Funny thing, I have noticed, the back of my 734 has lost it's matt finish and gone gloss ! 

 At the gig last Sat night the neck got very sticky, so I used a baby wipe lol, cleaned the back of the neck,  then a micro cloth,  problem solved.

Just wondering if that could help with your BB 

Hope you get it solved.

I'm sure you've read all this before, but it's strange the neck spec for the BB range is more or less the same !

I'm sure you're long enough at the game to have it set up the way you want it. 

I discovered with my 734 I can get the relief down to 0.20mm and action on E to 1.80mm, with no buzz.  but then I use flats  

But if it don't feel comfortable to play, maybe it's time to move it on, just a pity as I think they are a great bass and I've played Musicman all my life !

23 minutes ago, whamni said:

depth of the neck

Are you talking at the Nut or past the 12th fret ?

3 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

Well ive given up with my P34. Love the tone, love the feel, but when i stand up to play it i find its awkward. Set up is fine for me, but i have a feeling its the depth of the neck. Tried all sorts of strap heights etc. it plays ok but i feel slower on it. I had a rehearsal last night and i kept fluffing the lines.

Im going to go back to my Fender for now, or maybe give the 425 an outing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wz0XbsqfOE

My 79' Musicman the batteries lasted years, the Sire 4 months, the Yamaha 734 since I started using Tesco own brand, they last forever, well a lot more than eight months.

I've been a Trace user since 1989 when I purchased a Series 6 GP7 Combo which I still use today, a great amp, serial number ends in 419, anyone know the year ?

It's not that long ago since I replaced the caps in the power supply, they were starting to bulge !

I came across this article about Clive Button who designed all the trace amps and speakers, some great reading.   http://www.clivebutton.com/

Thanks for this post, all good trace stuff lol 

Sounds like you could have a dry joint somewhere, try tapping around to help find it !

Looks like you put them in upside down !  

A small washer the same size as the magnet pole placed on the D & A poles

The switching system uses a small momentary button soldered on to the hidden side of the PCB and poking through the top of the enclosure

Check to see if that's working, other than that it could be one of the IC chips

The date on my Sabre is 11th May 1979, I have it from new, sadly It's too heavy for me now, so it's on the wall.

Best bass I ever played and I've had quite a few down the years lol 

1 hour ago, dave_bass5 said:

Just got back from a weeks holiday on Friday night and cant put my P34 down. Spent 5 hours over this weekend just playing it. 

Ive got a set of EB Cobalt flats arriving tomorrow. Ive never used these before. Ive used other flats but always go back to rounds. Hoping the EB’s will be less ‘flat’ and more ‘round’. I seem to kill rounds quite quickly.

Now while I’m changing strings i was thinking of rotating the E string saddle so I’m using the sharper side. I’m wondering if anyone else is using the sharper side of the string saddle for the E string. I get its a good idea for the B strings but is there really much difference? as i find the E is the least defined string (not that its a problem) on my 4 sting basses. 

I changed the saddle on my 734 and it did bring out the top a bit more on the E, I have Ernie Ball flats on.  These strings are fine for Country or jazz, but I'm not impressed with them for pop etc !

On 25/07/2019 at 09:48, TJ Spicer said:

I've never ventured to rechargeables - Are they sufficiently long-lasting? I can run my 9v in most basses for a year + - would that outweigh going rechargeable?

 

  Forget about rechargeable, I discovered Tesco's own brand and they last a long long time.

@TJ Spicer  I finally fitted  the Dimarzio 148 Ultra Jazz bridge Pup to my BB734 and it has added  lot more punch to the sound, but  most of all,  I have NO hum, happy days.  

 Thanks for that Johnny, fingers crossed it has never happened  to me,  but they are a great pedal.

On 04/07/2019 at 15:20, Danuman said:

Ernie Ball Regular Slinky’s. (45-130)

They sounded great, but they’ve already gone a bit dull due to a couple of ridiculously warm rehearsals with a few large groups in rather small studios. I’m guessing they normally have a longer life-span.

Strange they went dull, I have used Ernie Ball on all my basses down the years and they would last forever and a day lol, I also have EB on my BB734 albeit flats and love them.