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The Yamaha BB mega-thread


Al Krow

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1 hour ago, M@23 said:

😍

Wow. That looks great!

I got to play a BBP35 a few days ago, reeeaaally liked it. 

Thanks Mark! 

So do you think you'll be taking the plunge with a BBP35? Remind me what your current herd comprises?

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1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Thanks Mark! 

So do you think you'll be taking the plunge with a BBP35? Remind me what your current herd comprises?

Yep, I think so. My Sadowsky goes to it's new home this Saturday. Which leaves me with only a Sire V7 5er. The Sire is wonderful, and covers my J5 needs. The BBP35 was nicer than I expected and offered far more. I found it really comfortable to play. I'm always on the look out for nice Sandbergs 5s as I regret moving my old one on, but the Yamaha definitely had something about it. Great prices too, given what the 2025 cost. 

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18 minutes ago, M@23 said:

I didn't unfortunately, but I believe they are very similar? Plus, the matte black looks the bees knees! 

I think maybe the point that DB is getting at, and the one other thing to check out, is the benefit of having an active EQ on the 735A; it just gives that added tonal flexibility should you ever want it. And obviously the BB735A is around half the price, so if you think they're very similar then that leaves you a bunch of extra cash to blow on your pedal board :) 

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38 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

I think maybe the point that DB is getting at, and the one other thing to check out, is the benefit of having an active EQ on the 735A; it just gives that added tonal flexibility should you ever want it. And obviously the BB735A is around half the price, so if you think they're very similar then that leaves you a bunch of extra cash to blow on your pedal board :) 

True. Specs and dimensions are similar. The BBP35 did have something special... Whether that's the MIJ goodness, who knows? Maybe the 7 series would feel just as good. It's usually the case that twice the money doesn't equal twice the bass! Hey, I'm selling a Sadowsky because I end up gigging a Sire 3 times a week! 

Anyone got a 735a?

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7 hours ago, M@23 said:

... the matte black looks the bees knees! 

 

6 hours ago, M@23 said:

Anyone got a 735a?

Shame you missed out on this one, seems it would have ticked all the boxes even down to being the right colour! 

...there'll be another one a long in a moment, I'm sure :) 

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16 minutes ago, pete.young said:

Eh? Where did that come from ? I dunno, away with work for a couple of days and all hell breaks loose!

Lol! Well you are without doubt massively to blame for whetting my appetite for this wonderful bass... having nearly bought the one you spotted at Wunjos. Anyway long story short one came up a couple of weeks back in the FS in pretty mint condition (and in my first choice colour) and was delivered to my door yesterday :) 

 

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3 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Lol! Well you are without doubt massively to blame for whetting my appetite for this wonderful bass... having nearly bought the one you spotted at Wunjos. Anyway long story short one came up a couple of weeks back in the FS in pretty mint condition (and in my first choice colour) and was delivered to my door yesterday :) 

 

Excellent! I do so like a happy ending.

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15 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

Shame you missed out on this one, seems it would have ticked all the boxes even down to being the right colour! 

...there'll be another one a long in a moment, I'm sure :) 

I am the proud new owner of Lorin's 735A, and it is gorgeous. It replaced a black 425X which I loved, very sorry to see it go, but boy was it worth it! Very comfy to play, lighter than the 425, very even tones everywhere on the fretboard. In passive mode it has the usual BB smoothness, and when flicked to active you can very gradually and gently mold that smoothness from a thick deep tone all the way up to a farty honk,  in combination with the rotary pickup control. Such a well-thought-out design and execution, it is easy to fall in love with it! I have tried it with nylons, chromes and nickel rounds, and it is great with all of them, depending on the sound you want. With Chromes in the studio it will be gorgeous. I am going to gig it with rounds as that is the sound I want. A good demo of the 735A (and all good things Yamaha) is here: 

 

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18 hours ago, pete.young said:

Excellent! I do so like a happy ending.

Well I have to 'fess that I'm somewhat besotted with it so far, but I'll try to avoid being overly gushy until I've spent a fair bit more time playing it; initial impressions are not a million miles off from the very positive thoughts I posted after tying a BBNE2 out at the Yammy store (a page or so back in this thread). One thing that is making me smile is realising that until about six months ago I only ever had the confidence to gig 4 string basses and was a purely passive-mode player (I didn't even have the 9V batteries in a couple of my basses that were dual active / passive) and suddenly I'm finding that the pride of the Krow herd is a purely active 5 string bass! Not entirely sure whom I've got to blame for that :) 

@pete.young - a couple of Qs for you, if I may:

I've not been able to find out from the online manuals what frequencies the BBNE2's bass, mid, and treble EQ knobs are centred on - I'm wondering if you (or anyone else) may have this information to hand? I guess a little harder to track down will be the range that the sweepable mid-cut dial covers - but again if you or anyone has this, that would be much appreciated!

The other Q is in relation to the low-end output from this baby. Boy does the BBNE2 deliver a meaty bottom end punch!! I've actually dialled back the bass EQ a touch (although if I ever decide to play a reggae track with a sub woofer in tow, I'll know exactly which bass to reach for :D). I'm thinking about getting a Thumpinator, or similar, as an 'always-on' HPF to tame the sub-audio (and that will find use not just for the BBNE2). Is that something you're using as a 'default' set-up with your rig? (And if anyone wants to move on an HPF pedal - please PM me).

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34 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

@pete.young - a couple of Qs for you, if I may:

I've not been able to find out from the online manuals what frequencies the BBNE2's bass, mid, and treble EQ knobs are centred on - I'm wondering if you (or anyone else) may have this information to hand? I guess a little harder to track down will be the range that the sweepable mid-cut dial covers - but again if you or anyone has this, that would be much appreciated!

The other Q is in relation to the low-end output from this baby. Boy does the BBNE2 deliver a meaty bottom end punch!! I've actually dialled back the bass EQ a touch (although if I ever decide to play a reggae track with a sub woofer in tow, I'll know exactly which bass to reach for :D). I'm thinking about getting a Thumpinator, or similar, as an 'always-on' HPF to tame the sub-audio (and that will find use not just for the BBNE2). Is that something you're using as a 'default' set-up with your rig? (And if anyone wants to move on an HPF pedal - please PM me).

Sorry, I don't know what the centre frequencies are either or the mid cut-off range. All 3 EQs deliver a mighty boost at full chat.  There is a circuit diagram in the Service Manual so some really clever person might be able to work it out

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1072092/Yamaha-Bb-Ne2.html

in case you haven't found it yet.

I do use a Thumpinator as the second item in my chain after the tuner and have done for a while. The Delanos in my SB465 also pack a lot of bass punch, and the Thumper cleans up the signal for everything downstream.

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Thanks Pete, I'll see if I can get anything from the Yammy store on the centre frequencies; and I suspect my board is not long for a permanent HPF addition either.

Out of interest, what is the rest of your set up in terms of amp, cab and pedals?

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Pedals much reduced since my function band folded. Current project is a blues- classic rock power trio so I'm trying just to sound like a crappy old overdriven valve amp, without the back strain.

So Tuner -> Micro Thumpinator -> MXR Bass Compressor -> Boss Bass Chorus -> DHA VT1 Pro -> Amp. I'd like to add a decent octaver but that's about it for now.

The DHA is amazing and does all kinds of smart things. The idea is not to be dependent on any amp and just use something relatively clean - I have a Tecamp Puma, LMII/EBS Neo 2x12 for more volume and some old Euphonic Audio kit which gets used occasionally, or whatever junk is available in the rehearsal rooms we use.

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If you're after an octaver - I shared my thoughts on a few plusses and minuses of some of the leading contenders on the first page of this thread, in case it's of any use / interest to you:

 

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On 02/05/2018 at 21:46, dannybuoy said:

Did you compare it with a BB735A at all?

Do you have a 735a? I got chance to give one a good go yesterday. I liked it quite a bit! Hmmm... Might have to give this a bit more thought! 

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33 minutes ago, M@23 said:

Do you have a 735a? I got chance to give one a good go yesterday. I liked it quite a bit! Hmmm... Might have to give this a bit more thought! 

Hey Mark - I'd say go for it! I've totally come round to benefits of having an active EQ as an alternative to purely passive and the s735A gives you the choice of either! And it's around half the price of a P35.

Just did a quick trawl of the thread to see who's posted they have one. Well there are several guys who bought (and seem to love) their s734A with @hookys6stringbass describing it as being almost on a par with the legendary BB1200s (which lucky so and so - he also has!). The guys who bought the s735A are @jazzbass and @ChrisJaxon. Jazzbass got his back last Sept, so it would be interesting to see how he is getting on with his and whether he still has it. And Chris certainly seems to be VERY happy with his.

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