lastnotleast Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 My Yamaha BBN5 ($100.00 craigslist) has stock soap bar pickups. I have no complaints however, I am ignorant of the potential improvement better pickups might provide. I doubt that I need actives because I play finger style only (vestige of pizzacato from my double bass days in the orchestra). There is another BBN5 I am considering ($300.00 eBay) with single coil pickups and like to carry a backup bass to gigs which, at the moment, is an Ibanez 4 string. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brensabre79 Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Changing the pickups will totally change your sound. If you're happy with the stock ones I'd keep 'em, Yammy's a pretty good out of the box, in fact the only basses I've had that I've not modified are Yamaha BBs. However, if you're looking for a differnt sound, you're in luck because you have the soapbars, (The P/J BBs are a nightmare to find replacements for), EMG, Bartolini, Seymour Duncan, Lace, and a myriad of manufacturers make soapbar sized pickups - each with their own personality. The question would be what is your BB lacking? Or what would you like to change about the sound? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lastnotleast Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 Good question. I play through a GK BL600 (big improvement over the Acoustic B200H which is now relegated to backup) and (2) Acoustic B115 cabs with a BBE DI-100 with Sonic Maximizer in the effects loop. I have an Acoustic B410 on backorder ($150.00 through Woodwind Brasswind - yes, I'm cheap) which should give me a bit more definition on stage. Increased input level and better uniformity throughout the frequency range would be the only things I would want to improve. Based on your experience, it sounds as if I should just stand pat with my stock pickups and perhaps invest in another BBN5 with the J style pickups just for fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 (edited) You'll have trouble getting an exact replacement for the Yamaha soapobars, as they are a size unique to Yamaha. It's the length. You'll fine other soapbars the correct width, but they'll all be those few millimetres short, leaving about 2mm open space each end of the pickup cut-out. If that doesn't bother you, then fine. What I did was to swap out the (I think) single coil soapbars for the double-pole humbuckers off an RBX375 - and they were an exact fit too. When trying to find the magnetic field with a little screwdriver, I found that the tip was attracted on a single plane down the centre of the soapbar, hence I figured this was probably a single coil in a big shell. Luckily I found another Basschat member wanting to lose his humbuckers from his RBX375 & we made a swap - suits me Sir! G. Edited February 19, 2013 by geoffbyrne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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