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The Yamaha BB mega-thread


Al Krow

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47 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

The only genuine “lawsuit” was Gibson vs Ibanez on a headstock copy. Possibly Tokai too on the fenders...but fender just had that factory make some guitars for them (I think I read somewhere)

The “lawsuit era” is a bit of a misnomer really.

And people shove it on listings to add some sort of magic...

Copying tried and tested designs saved on expensive r&d I guess.

As far as I remember It was The Greco Brand made by Fujigen that became where Fender Japan was made - not Tokai . 

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4 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

There’s a Yamaha bb800 on gumtree , I’ve never seen one of those before, it’s a bit like a Yamaha P bass 

I've got one. Excellent bass with the 'P' pickup in reverse orientation. I got mine second hand in 1979. How much is the one on Gumtree?

My one is black , but there was also a somewhat less desirable brown colour.

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But agree with you 100% on everything else - I think sometimes ppl want a predictable fender style instrument - whether Greco, Tokai or Sadowsky - Yamaha are a wee bit different but even then a few pages back someone was saying they had made on of the series more fender like and some have the P pup fender way around...

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10 minutes ago, pete.young said:

I've got one. Excellent bass with the 'P' pickup in reverse orientation. I got mine second hand in 1979. How much is the one on Gumtree?

My one is black , but there was also a somewhat less desirable brown colour.

Yeah that’s it pete, I clicked on it because it said it was in East End but I think it’s in Scotland 😁. It won’t paste the link 

9AB3B376-F26A-4512-9853-BAD1C81E3DB6.png

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The East end of Glasgow, a quaint reservation in the Jewel in the crown, near Celtic park.

That BB800 was on sale for a while, started out about £500 then £400. But it was for sale in Elderslie if I remember right. Either they changed the location to get more views around the Glasgow area or someone bought it and got a surprise :ph34r:

I would like to know what is under that stupid looking, cheap Jazz cover.

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1 hour ago, jezzaboy said:

The East end of Glasgow, a quaint reservation in the Jewel in the crown, near Celtic park.

That BB800 was on sale for a while, started out about £500 then £400. But it was for sale in Elderslie if I remember right. Either they changed the location to get more views around the Glasgow area or someone bought it and got a surprise :ph34r:

I would like to know what is under that stupid looking, cheap Jazz cover.

If it’s in good shape it must be worth a punt!

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15 hours ago, jezzaboy said:

The East end of Glasgow, a quaint reservation in the Jewel in the crown, near Celtic park.

That BB800 was on sale for a while, started out about £500 then £400. But it was for sale in Elderslie if I remember right. Either they changed the location to get more views around the Glasgow area or someone bought it and got a surprise :ph34r:

I would like to know what is under that stupid looking, cheap Jazz cover.

Well it should be a very heavy duty chromed bridge with engraving.

The ad does say 'with all original parts', there would be no reason to change the bridge, its miles more substantial than a typical BBOT Fender from the same period.

You wouldn't get much late '70s Fender for 280 quid, or even Squier JV from a few years later.

Edited by pete.young
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21 hours ago, MDWagstaff said:

I'll be trying this on the TRBX605 Al, sadly I don't have a 734a (yet...) 

I have both 735A and TBRX605 and can confirm that with mids full up and treble and bass down you can get a very pleasing tone, a kind of in-yer-face P sound. I like it, but have never had the chance to use it in a band situation. 

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On 30/01/2021 at 08:19, ChrisJaxon said:

I have both 735A and TBRX605 and can confirm that with mids full up and treble and bass down you can get a very pleasing tone, a kind of in-yer-face P sound. I like it, but have never had the chance to use it in a band situation. 

Now I've found that setting, I'm wondering what it might be like combined with a set of, say, Rotosound Swing Bass

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11 hours ago, Al Krow said:

@ProfJames "Got a pal looking for a Yamaha BB1100s for the last couple of weeks and there are none available."

Here you go: Yamaha BB1100S - Basses For Sale - Basschat

Somehow this is the most uninteresting BB of all for me. Nothing ist really BB...the shape, no pickup rings...the knobs.... not my choice. It might be a good bass though! 

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1 hour ago, ChrisJaxon said:

I use Rotosound 45 nickel roundwounds on both and the result is good. Very workable sound. 

Thanks. Once my G&L arrives and takes over being My Bass With Flats, I'll try those, I think they'll suit that setting better than the Chromes I've on my TRBX atm.

Getting back to BBs, yesterday I was watching Yamaha's own demo video of the 734 on YouTube and thinking what a terrible job it did of making me want one:

 

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