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The Yamaha BB mega-thread


Al Krow

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1 hour ago, gobasserk said:

I recorded a quick bass lick with my cell phone in front of my little HD25. YYZ pedal for some smooth distortion. 

BB1000ma

Is it still available? I really enjoy your clips - the sound quality is always far better than it should be on a phone recording! 

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6 minutes ago, gobasserk said:

Thanks a lot Al but the bass was never for sale.. I just got it yesterday. 

Hah I knew the bass is not for sale, I actually meant the clip 😁 it is coming up as "unavailable". 

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1 hour ago, gobasserk said:

Mh....please try again! In the org. post . 

Working for me now, thanks.

@gobasserk - enjoyed that! Combination of the bass with the YYZ works well. What's particularly good is that you're not losing much, if any, low end with the YYZ (given me a little bit of pedal GAS!). I think I'm getting more low end loss with the VTDI and maybe blending in some clean with a Boss LS2 might be a plan. 

What pup setting / combination did you have it on? Be good to hear it without the YYZ also; as we all know, drive pedals can completely mask the "natural" bass tone.

Edited by Al Krow
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Well, with the YYZ you have several way to maintain the low end. I did not buy the pedal to get Geddy Lee's sound. I dont like too much distortion, I just like the possibility to keep it low AND have a bit of valve sound. 

I used both pu's - and I can do the same lick without the YYZ . And I use all my gear to shape my sound, so I am not that much interessted in a pure bass sound without everything on recordings. 
In my opinion this is eqal to the pure sound of a Gibson Les Paul - it sounds best with an distorted amp and a 412 cab 🙂  But I can of course record a lick without the YYZ 🙂 

Edited by gobasserk
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12 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Working for me now, thanks.

@gobasserk - enjoyed that! Combination of the bass with the YYZ works well. What's particularly good is that you're not losing much, if any, low end with the YYZ (given me a little bit of pedal GAS!). I think I'm getting more low end loss with the VTDI and maybe blending in some clean with a Boss LS2 might be a plan. 

What pup setting / combination did you have it on? Be good to hear it without the YYZ also; as we all know, drive pedals can completely mask the "natural" bass tone.

Hasn’t the VTDI got a blend knob?

Pretty sure it does when I had the amp

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I guess the key point is that further clean blend via an LS2 is not going to particularly add much, which is probably fair. I have it set on low EQ boost (125 Hz on VTDI) plus a touch of low end boost on the DG amp (80 Hz) to address plus a fair bit of clean blend. But the core tone on the YYZ seems fuller. 

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30 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

I guess the key point is that further clean blend via an LS2 is not going to particularly add much, which is probably fair. I have it set on low EQ boost (125 Hz on VTDI) plus a touch of low end boost on the DG amp (80 Hz) to address plus a fair bit of clean blend. But the core tone on the YYZ seems fuller. 

Looks a bit like a recipe for a muddy sound that unfortunately and may be the issue......

The YYZ is a different pedal and will give a different sound which you may or may not prefer, but even then that needs to be dialled in right too for your playing, bass, fingers/pick, playing position etc. Which is often why other peoples settings don’t work as well as you would expect

Edited by Cuzzie
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For example...if you watch the YYZ vids on youtube of this YYNOT band guy, he gets exactly the Rush sound with his Jazz Bass but I would not get there with a PJ bass. Then I have a very different attack playing fingerstyle etc. 
But I am not trying to replicate a sound but want to shape my own. 

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Simple trick to see what’s happening. Go via your DAW with a graphic eq on have a look and see what frequencies in the lows are being affected with the pedal engaged.  You’ll know where you need to boost or cut for low loss and reduce and muddy frequencies. 


Im not sure which DAW you have as there’s been a few discussed-  I know you’ve talked a lot about reaper and maybe there was something with a focusrite interface? Basically whatever you’re using should have the graphic so you can see what’s going on. You’ll learn more in 5 minutes about the ‘inherent signature’ of a bass or a pedal that you’ll wonder why you never did it before. 
 

 

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1 hour ago, Cuzzie said:

Looks a bit like a recipe for a muddy sound that unfortunately and may be the issue......

The YYZ is a different pedal and will give a different sound which you may or may not prefer, but even then that needs to be dialled in right too for your playing, bass, fingers/pick, playing position etc. Which is often why other peoples settings don’t work as well as you would expect

Nah, not muddy at all sounds really good in fact, although I understand why that might be something to be concerned about "on paper". If the EQ centre points had been lower, then for sure you wouldn't want to be boosting.

But I would like a bit more low end punch as featured on gobasserk's clip. I think some circuits just suck low end more than others eg RAT drives are notorious. I think the VTDI has certain rodent tendencies!

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12 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Nah, not muddy at all sounds really good in fact, although I understand why that might be something to be concerned about "on paper". If the EQ centre points had been lower, then for sure you wouldn't want to be boosting.

But I would like a bit more low end punch as featured on gobasserk's clip. I think some circuits just suck low end more than others eg RAT drives are notorious. I think the VTDI has certain rodent tendencies!

I couldn’t care less about on paper - I never said it didn’t sound good, but it’s you that is saying it is lacking low end punch, and if something is not cutting through then there must be some mush of sounds.

I know the VTDI circuit, I know the DG amp capabilities, I know the AO circuit - They don’t lack punch. If you are not getting the low end punch you desire, then something as you are combining them or using them singularly is not quite working to give that for your bass, strings and playing style - that is the main point.

Edited by Cuzzie
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Of course good in isolation is one thing

Good with other instruments or backing tracks is another

Not that there is anything wrong playing in isolation, but it is likely the settings won’t be the same for each circumstance 

Edited by Cuzzie
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9 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Of course good in isolation is one thing

Good with other instruments or backing tracks is another

I can confirm this - that's THE reason why I don't go for a nice lightweight bass amp. I had Orange, Hartke, Tecamp and Markbass. The Hartke HD Combos ( I did stack a HD12 and a HD15 combo) did sound so cool alone. Everytime the band came in...bass was gone! Of course you can power up till you can hear the bass again but at this point the windos crack. Any analog bass amp is better than a even a Glockenklang digital amp. 
 

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6 minutes ago, krispn said:

@gobasserk you’ll have to keep me posted if you see any more of those green BB3000MA I’m jot as big a fan of the old BB but I do like that colour and that it’s passive. 

BB3000ma or BB1000ma ? The 3000ma sounds a bit different due to the neck through construction. 
Edit: As I mentioned before I liked the 1000ma better soundwise.

Edited by gobasserk
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Sorry yes the BB1000MA I’m not fussy either way on bolt v thru neck but I do like the Misty green colour. It would look well in my pub gigs. We’re an ”Irish band” playing mainly in a Irish bars on our local circuit. The Misty green would be a nice addition to my sherwood Jazz

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9 minutes ago, gobasserk said:

I can confirm this - that's THE reason why I don't go for a nice lightweight bass amp. I had Orange, Hartke, Tecamp and Markbass. The Hartke HD Combos ( I did stack a HD12 and a HD15 combo) did sound so cool alone. Everytime the band came in...bass was gone! Of course you can power up till you can hear the bass again but at this point the windos crack. Any analog bass amp is better than a even a Glockenklang digital amp. 

Hmmm...maybe. But I think owners of the Berg B|Amp would differ with that conclusion! 

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To edit the digital amp issue.... I noticed that you can't find any new test vids using analog bass amps any more. 
All cabs and basses are recorded with a digital amp now. It sounds so bad for me!!  I don't get it. Everything sounds thinner and worse...the basses, the cabs..  And nobody plays an ordinary bass anymore... everyone keeps on playing somewhere above the 12th fret, tapping, freaky (cool) fast melodies but noone does BASS... 
Strange thing...

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3 minutes ago, krispn said:

Sorry yes the BB1000MA I’m not fussy either way on bolt v thru neck but I do like the Misty green colour. It would look well in my pub gigs. We’re an ”Irish band” playing mainly in a Irish bars on our local circuit. The Misty green would be a nice addition to my sherwood Jazz

The green BB's are rare. The 3000ma even more.  Black ones are on ebay from time to time. 

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