spannung Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Hello Im a guy living in Sweden who has just bought a bass after having not played for 15 years. And in the quest for finding the real deal I found this forum. So I new here but it seems to be a good resource! And now the question: On friday I received my new (used) bass. It is a Yamaha BB1500A which I bought for a reasonable sum but without owners manual/wiring diagram. There might however be reasons for this. When going through everything I noticed two things. The first was that 2 of controls (lower right hand corner) wasnt wired at all. This can hardly be right? Secondly; the pickups has no covers. If Im not terribly mistaken then the pickups are supposed to have covers. And this makes me think that it is not the original pickups. Is there any way to test this? I was thinking: The BB1500A is active - if I unplug the battery will it then work? And if it works with no difference can I then assume that the pickups are unoriginal? Is there anyone here who knows about this? Im on the verge of sending it back and buying a BB414 instead, but I would like to know for sure before I do it. Best, Henning Trollhättan, Sweden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Burpster Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Some pics would help Henning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spannung Posted February 18, 2008 Author Share Posted February 18, 2008 Ok, I'll fix some pics later today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreeneKing Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 I've got a BB1500A so yes the pups should have covers. I'll help with what I can. The manual may be online I'll check. Don't think it is but I'm sure I have one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spannung Posted February 18, 2008 Author Share Posted February 18, 2008 PICTURES! Here are 2 pictures of the pickups and the wiring. Hope theyre helpful! The red and black wires coming from the battery compartment do not lead anywhere but to a white connectionsocket. The bass works without the battery. Kind regards Henning Trollhattan Sweden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 as a rough guess it looks like someone's taken the active circuitry out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOD2 Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 [quote name='ahpook' post='142743' date='Feb 18 2008, 09:02 PM']as a rough guess it looks like someone's taken the active circuitry out...[/quote] I would agree with that. It looks like you have two volumes and a master tone (all passive). There's no preamp in there, the battery is completely disconnected, and you have two spare pots also disconnected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB2000 Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 (edited) Hello Henning, The Yamaha preamp has been removed, and the bass rewired for VVT. These are not the original PUPs. [quote name='spannung' post='142742' date='Feb 18 2008, 08:58 PM']PICTURES! Here are 2 pictures of the pickups and the wiring. Hope theyre helpful! The red and black wires coming from the battery compartment do not lead anywhere but to a white connectionsocket. The bass works without the battery. Kind regards Henning Trollhattan Sweden[/quote] Edited February 18, 2008 by BB2000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spannung Posted February 19, 2008 Author Share Posted February 19, 2008 crap.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spannung Posted February 21, 2008 Author Share Posted February 21, 2008 Change to BB414? First a big thanks to you all for the help so far! I have now had a chat with the shop where I bought the bass. They are off course unwilling to give me a bigger discount on the bass ("These pups are in fact more expensive than the original Yamahas") so now I am wondering if I should trade in the used BB1500A for which I paid 250 € to a new BB414 that will cost me 75 € more. What do you think? The BB1500A does not sound bad, it feels solid, has good sustain, good overtones and I can upgrade to active eq or different pickups over the course of the next year or so while I learn to play it. But it has some dents, two holes in the body (thumbrest removed). The BB414 however is very comfortable to play - maybe even more than the BB1500. It has a lot of output, more growl. And it isnt worn. I can upgrade that as well: new bridge, new tuners. Do you think that the BB1500A even in this shape is a better bass than than its newer sister? Kind regards, Henning, Trollhättan, Sweden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB2000 Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Depends on whether you want a Jazz or Precision type bass. The BB1500 has a much better build quality than the new BB series. Personally I wouldn't bother about any dings as long as the neck and frets are in good condition (the BB1500 has been out of production for several years so you're unlikely to find one without a ding or two). I wouldn't bother about the lack of the active electronics either - I have a BB1500A and run it passive. FYI the original Yamaha PUPs are humbucking - I have compared them to Fender noiseless PUPs and they are very similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreeneKing Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 +1 on BB1500A quality being superior to the new BB's. I own a BB1500A courtesy of BB2000 (thanks) and have owned a BB615 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB2000 Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 [quote name='spannung' post='144209' date='Feb 21 2008, 09:06 AM']Change to BB414?[/quote] So did you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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