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The Yamaha BB mega-thread


Al Krow

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1 hour ago, dave_bass5 said:

Wow, aren’t there plenty of fantastic jazz basses at a fraction of the cost of a Sadowsky? 

 

Well yeah, these days there are lots of fantastic basses at all price points. There are loads of PJ basses at a fraction of the cost of a P34...

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1 hour ago, therealting said:

Well yeah, these days there are lots of fantastic basses at all price points. There are loads of PJ basses at a fraction of the cost of a P34...

And some of the best ones happen to also be made by Yammy! :) 

Edited by Al Krow
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2 hours ago, TJ Spicer said:

I was always disappointed that my TRB6Pii didn't have the punch that humbuckers would have given it, so sadly I only know through research after that experience. Very nearly changed them for Aguilar DCBs but ended up selling instead. TRBX are obviously entirely different, and probably more of the sound I want from a TRB-style instrument. 

Sounds to me that the TRBX could be on the money as Yammy's current 'J' bass offering. Good shout.

Has YGD H5 double-coil pickups, built with alnico V magnets to offer "a smooth low and high end with a warm, vintage character". Quad-pole... and noise-cancelling design. That all sounds good to me!

Noise cancelling is actually a big plus in my books - the J pup on my Yammy PJs is definitely the noisier / more prone to feedback and contrast with the almost silent running (by comparison) P pup.

Music to Cam's ears should be the active / passive circuitry which seems to mirror the EQ on the 735A, which you are both big fans of.

At £600 the TRBX605FM-5 is half the price of the Lakland 55-06, which won't hurt either.

Edited by Al Krow
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3 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Sounds to me that the TRBX could be on the money as Yammy's current 'J' bass offering. Good shout.

Has YGD H5 double-coil pickups, built with alnico V magnets to offer "a smooth low and high end with a warm, vintage character". Quad-pole... and noise-cancelling design. That all sounds good to me!

Noise cancelling is actually a big plus in my books - the J pup on my Yammy PJs are definitely the noisiest / most prone to feedback.

And music to Cam's ears is the active / passive circuitry which seems to mirror the EQ on the 735A, which you are both big fans of.

And at £600 the TRBX605FM-5 is half the price of the Lakland 55-06, which won't hurt either.

On paper, all of what you’ve said is true. But alas, in my dotage I find myself after a more traditional Jazz aesthetic and true single coils - noise be damned!

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3 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Sounds to me that the TRBX could be on the money as Yammy's current 'J' bass offering. Good shout.

Has YGD H5 double-coil pickups, built with alnico V magnets to offer "a smooth low and high end with a warm, vintage character". Quad-pole... and noise-cancelling design. That all sounds good to me!

Noise cancelling is actually a big plus in my books - the J pup on my Yammy PJs are definitely the noisiest / most prone to feedback.

And music to Cam's ears is the active / passive circuitry which seems to mirror the EQ on the 735A, which you are both big fans of.

And at £600 the TRBX605FM-5 is half the price of the Lakland 55-06, which won't hurt either.

The natural TRBX has always piqued my interest. I sometimes pick up a gig at The Parrot in the Waldorf Hotel which is home to a Yamaha Music London Stage. They have a house TRBX505 available to play, but so far I've stuck with my 735A, simply because I want to be comfortable. Maybe I need to take the risk and see what one can do on a gig... 😏

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1 minute ago, CameronJ said:

On paper, all of what you’ve said is true. But alas, in my dotage I find myself after a more traditional Jazz aesthetic and true single coils - noise be damned!

I'm now well confused (not the first and won't be the last time, haha!)

If you're after a more traditional Jazz aesthetic, why look to Yamaha for a J bass based on the Yammy BB given they are no longer producing Fender clones? 

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1 minute ago, Al Krow said:

I'm now well confused (not the first and won't be the last time, haha!)

If you're after a more traditional Jazz aesthetic, why look to Yamaha for a J bass based on the Yammy BB given they are no longer producing Fender clones? 

To be fair, your confusion is justified xD

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Ah well even if it's been weird and wonderful chase up the garden path on your J bass quest 😁 I've learned about both the BB 605 being a J, which I hadn't clocked, and that the TRBX 605FM  could well be worth checking out as noise cancelling [MM/J?], so it's certainly not been futile! :) 

@TJ Spicer - does the double coil on the TRBX pups render them MM's rather than (single coil) J's similar to what Sandberg have in their TM / VM range?

Edited by Al Krow
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The TRBX 504/505 sounds much duller than a Jazz though. Humbuckers sacrifice some top end. I love the look of them though, I was interested in getting one until I played one! The cheaper 305 sounded much more lively.

I'd compare it to the difference between Barts and Nordstrands in the Ibanez SR line that you're familiar with Al. The Barts are much more polite, the Nords growl!

Edited by dannybuoy
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Some of the earlier Sandbergs especially the TSBS model looks great in that postbox yellow and if I were hunting for a jazz that would be in my top 3. But again if you’re after a five string only it changes your options somewhat

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2 minutes ago, dannybuoy said:

The TRBX 504/505 sounds much duller then a Jazz though. I love the look of them though, I was interested in getting one until I played one. The cheaper 305 sounded much more lively.

I'd compare it to the difference between Barts and Nordstrands in the Ibanez SR line that you're familiar with Al. The Barts are much more polite, the Nords growl!

Ok thanks dB, if that's the case - I suspect that my J bass needs will continue to be met very capably by Ibby, even if they happen to sport a VERY non-traditional Jazz aesthetic 😉

17 minutes ago, whamni said:

@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.  

That sounds like a really interesting / useful tip, thanks. I found today with my BB 1025 set up for an outdoor gig that I was getting feedback when I engaged microtubes on my DGM900 with the solo J, but not with the P. But alas I think it's only the newer '3' series that have 'standard' sized pups that can be easily substituted.

Although come to think of it, the P34/5 shares the same pups as the 734/5 so it could be worth clocking that tip for down the line with that bass...

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20 minutes ago, krispn said:

Some of the earlier Sandbergs especially the TSBS model looks great in that postbox yellow and if I were hunting for a jazz that would be in my top 3. But again if you’re after a five string only it changes your options somewhat

To add to that - early TSBS’s used Seymour Duncan’s, now they use Black labels

Edited by Cuzzie
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13 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Ok thanks dB, if that's the case - I suspect that my J bass needs will continue to be met very capably by Ibby, even if they happen to sport a VERY non-traditional Jazz aesthetic 😉

Somehow I don’t think @dannybuoy was trying to equate your Ibanez SR to a Jazz Bass in his post. Humbuckers - even single coils with a phantom/ghost coil - will always sound darker than a true single coil as a general rule.

I’m pretty sure Danny was just pointing out that Nordstrands are livelier than Barts, as an analogy to describe the difference in brightness between single coils (brighter/livelier) and humbuckers (darker/duller).

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3 minutes ago, CameronJ said:

Somehow I don’t think @dannybuoy was trying to equate your Ibanez SR to a Jazz Bass in his post. Humbuckers - even single coils with a phantom/ghost coil - will always sound darker than a true single coil as a general rule.

I’m pretty sure Danny was just pointing out that Nordstrands are livelier than Barts, as an analogy to describe the difference in brightness between single coils (brighter/livelier) and humbuckers (darker/duller).

Haha - yes I know that was exactly the point he was making. I was just having little playful dig about traditional Jazz aesthetics 😉

8 minutes ago, krispn said:

@Al Krow

What was different about your set up for this gig? Were your volume levels different for this gig over and above a regular pub gig? Did you have pa support or a sound guy? Same cab as usual?

Let the hive mind help problem solve!

Standing close to the amp with the J pup and drive full on resulted in feedback. Standing further away or switching to P or PJ sorted it. Not too much rocket science for the hive mind here...

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7 hours ago, therealting said:

Oh, and by BB435 was one of two of my basses to get new pickguards. Really like the tort, so much nicer than the cream IMO, thanks @AndyTravis for the referral.

I've been wondering if it's possible to get a pickguard made for my old BB614. These didn't come with them so I doubt that a template exists anywhere.
I like the shape of the one on the BB435 and agree that the tort looks fantastic against the black.
Trouble is that the BB614 has metal pickup surrounds so I'd have to get that factored in. Does @AndyTravis  have a contact who can make these up? (I suppose I could ask him myself!)

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On 15/07/2019 at 23:08, TJ Spicer said:

Their prices are no where near what they say they are. Speaking to them in store I’ve had Been offered the Attitude III for around £1.7k less than list price. And that’s just their offer without any harder negotiations. The sales guy said they won’t be beaten on price and will offer the lowest prices on Yamaha if you ask... Strange strategy to me, but makes making a deal with a real human the best option for once! 

On holiday, so apologies for going back a few pages....

@TJ Spicer, were they doing deals on all basses?  I'm still thinking about a BB434 or BB734 to go with my BBP35...   

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16 minutes ago, crabman said:

On holiday, so apologies for going back a few pages....

@TJ Spicer, were they doing deals on all basses?  I'm still thinking about a BB434 or BB734 to go with my BBP35...   

They weren’t, I just went in there one evening pre-gig. It’s their policy at all times that they’ll offer the best prices (or so I was told). However I imagine there’s way more movement on the signatures (have you seen some of those prices?!) than on the mass produced basses. Worth getting in touch with them first!

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27 minutes ago, Baceface said:

I've been wondering if it's possible to get a pickguard made for my old BB614. These didn't come with them so I doubt that a template exists anywhere.
I like the shape of the one on the BB435 and agree that the tort looks fantastic against the black.
Trouble is that the BB614 has metal pickup surrounds so I'd have to get that factored in. Does @AndyTravis  have a contact who can make these up? (I suppose I could ask him myself!)

I had the Bass Doc do mine. The quality is great and the price too. I will be asking him to do more. 

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3 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Ah well even if it's been weird and wonderful chase up the garden path on your J bass quest 😁 I've learned about both the BB 605 being a J, which I hadn't clocked, and that the TRBX 605FM  could well be worth checking out as noise cancelling [MM/J?], so it's certainly not been futile! :) 

@TJ Spicer - does the double coil on the TRBX pups render them MM's rather than (single coil) J's similar to what Sandberg have in their TM / VM range?

Definitely, certainly not J style sound like the normally designated TRBs. 

Aguilar dual coil type of sound like Janek Gwizdala’s is what I’ve always thought one would be great for. 

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31 minutes ago, Baceface said:

I've been wondering if it's possible to get a pickguard made for my old BB614. These didn't come with them so I doubt that a template exists anywhere.
I like the shape of the one on the BB435 and agree that the tort looks fantastic against the black.
Trouble is that the BB614 has metal pickup surrounds so I'd have to get that factored in. Does @AndyTravis  have a contact who can make these up? (I suppose I could ask him myself!)

@TimAl has a template for these - any colour you want, or design, pictures...whatever.

he has both designs and is a clever bloke so could probably make a hybrid 

Yamaha will supply them - in black only in the original 424x/1024x shape

Edited by AndyTravis
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