The Yamaha BB mega-thread

[krispn 1,343]

How much are you willing to pay? If they’re asking too much for you make them an offer. 

[AndyTravis 7,170]

Decent Japanese P/J?

£400 or thereabouts 

 

[Dandelion 84]

Mine.. 

[MDWagstaff 50]

So it came up on Facebook memories today that I got my BB615 10 years ago this weekend. Many basses have come and gone in that time but this one has stayed. It has seen countless gigs, travelled all over the UK, recorded 5 albums, it still sounds incredible (thanks to swapping the original pre to an obp3 which got rid of a weird high pitched resonance) and while not necessarily my go to now for gigs (that's is now the trbx605) it's always prime choice for any recording work.

Not too shabby for a bass that cost £299 new

Here's to the next 10 years with it! 

[Al Krow 5,237]

What a great story - thanks for sharing! 

And definitely not too shabby for a bass that cost less than £300 new!

[moley6knipe 116]

GREAT story. I wish I was that faithful....

[MDWagstaff 50]

I suppose the next question is, is it worth swapping the pickups out for bb2025 pickups? 🤔

 

I did enquire about the parts once but the diagram they sent out for confirmation was not very clear and they didn't respond when I asked for further clarification 

[Al Krow 5,237]

Interesting thought. I think the previous discussion on this thread about upgrading the BB615 focussed on the preamp - if I recall correctly someone said they had replaced with an Aguilar OBP-3 with good results.

After the sterling service it's given you, it (and you!) does deserve some treating  

[MDWagstaff 50]

Yeah it was this bass that had the pre changed for the aguilar, it couldn't hurt to try it with a pickup upgrade while keeping it very much a BB by using BB pickups

1 minute ago, Al Krow said:

Interesting thought. I think the previous discussion on this thread about upgrading the BB615 focussed on the preamp - if I recall correctly someone said they had replaced with an Aguilar OBP-3 with good results.

After the sterling service it's given you, it (and you!) does deserve some treating  

 

[CPCustomdubwise 72]

I note that you like it so much you bought the left-handed version as well !!

I have a BB415, similarly to yours with upgraded insidey bits....

I have some other basses too, bit every time I pick up the 415 I ask myself whether I actually need anything else...

[Al Krow 5,237]

2 hours ago, MDWagstaff said:

Yeah it was this bass that had the pre changed for the aguilar, it couldn't hurt to try it with a pickup upgrade while keeping it very much a BB by using BB pickups

Someone more knowledgeable than me on the topic will no doubt be along in a minute, but I didn't think that the 2025 pups were any different to the 1025? IIRC key differences between the 1025 and 2025 are that the 2025 has the following "extras":

- sonic wood treatment to naturally age the wood fibres to give it a played-in feel from the off;

- (??) neck or fretboard oil and fret finishing;

- Japan rather than Indonesia

But I thought the actual components and woods were otherwise identical.

[krispn 1,343]

#TriggersBroom

[Al Krow 5,237]

17 minutes ago, krispn said:

#TriggersBroom

Haha - very good!

 

[MDWagstaff 50]

They may be the same in the 1025/2025 however I believe the pickups in the 615 would be the same as the 415/425's so would be a much more noticeable change 

[Al Krow 5,237]

46 minutes ago, MDWagstaff said:

They may be the same in the 1025/2025 however I believe the pickups in the 615 would be the same as the 415/425's so would be a much more noticeable change 

I totally agree with that. I guess my thinking was more that you might get charged a premium if you were specifically sourcing "2025" pups. 

[dannybuoy 1,311]

I always thought the 1025 and 2025 pickups were the same, but they have different part numbers and Yamaha’s spares dept were charging slightly more for the 2025 ones. They could of course still be indentical!

[MDWagstaff 50]

https://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/musical_instruments/guitars_basses/el_basses/bb/index.html

 

By the looks of this they are, but they don't provide the names of the specific pickup models like the do on the current BB series 

[yourfurryfiend 27]

Hey all, I finally pulled the trigger on a BBP34. I swapped the pickguard as you can see, as the creme original wasn't for me. Easily the best quality bass I've owned. It seems to have a lot of low and low mid presence, and not loads of high, at least with how its set-up. I'm still working on getting the recording tones I want. I've just put some DR lo-rider strings on and I'm on the fence at the moment, we'll see how they wear in. I think it had D'addario's on originally when purchased.

[Al Krow 5,237]

@yourfurryfiend - congrats! That really does look great with the new PG! Have you had other Yammys before this, or did you decide to go straight for one of their current flagship models?

[krispn 1,343]

35 minutes ago, yourfurryfiend said:

Hey all, I finally pulled the trigger on a BBP34. I swapped the pickguard as you can see, as the creme original wasn't for me. Easily the best quality bass I've owned. It seems to have a lot of low and low mid presence, and not loads of high, at least with how its set-up. I'm still working on getting the recording tones I want. I've just put some DR lo-rider strings on and I'm on the fence at the moment, we'll see how they wear in. I think it had D'addario's on originally when purchased.

Strings are the way to go. Lo Riders might not give you the zing maybe sunbeams or hibeans if you’re going with DR. Ed Friesland has a great written review of DR string side by side comparison from years ago. Worth searching for? I think Lo Riders are meant to be warmer and not have the zing of the ‘beams’

 

Edited October 11, 2020 by krispn

[Cuzzie 3,611]

Hi beams are the way to go IMO

[yourfurryfiend 27]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

@yourfurryfiend - congrats! That really does look great with the new PG! Have you had other Yammys before this, or did you decide to go straight for one of their current flagship models?

Thanks!! I agree. I've had a 1024 for a few years. Love the neck, love the P pickup but not the J so much. I like the generally traditional sound of the BPP34 a little more, just got to sort out the high end I think.

[yourfurryfiend 27]

1 hour ago, krispn said:

Strings are the way to go. Lo Riders might not give you the zing maybe sunbeams or hibeans if you’re going with DR. Ed Friesland has a great written review of DR string side by side comparison from years ago. Worth searching for? I think Lo Riders are meant to be warmer and not have the zing of the ‘beams’

 

Much appreciated for the advice. I saw that mentioned before, but it appears to be a dead link. Is it the same for you?

Yeah I will definitely try one of those next time. The only reason I didn't was because I like quite low action and I believe those are meant to be less tension! 

[Al Krow 5,237]

1 minute ago, yourfurryfiend said:

Thanks!! I agree. I've had a 1024 for a few years. Love the neck, love the P pickup but not the J so much. I like the generally traditional sound of the BPP34 a little more, just got to sort out the high end I think.

Ahh excellent! Yeah I found my 1025 and P35 were similarly well matched, with the P35 just edging it overall. 

Interestingly the gritty J on the 1025 actually works really well on the low B string in the mix.

Your P34 will also be a little lighter than my former P35 which should make it super comfortable to play. 

[dannybuoy 1,311]

From an email to Yamaha back in 2011 when I was considering new pickups for my BB415 rather than upgrading to a 1025X:

Part numbers for the BB1025X:

FrontPick-up - WP917300 not in stock it could be 6 weeks delivery on this and it is a retail price of £122.32 inc VAT

Rear Pick-up - WT766600 not in stock it could be 6 weeks delivery on this and it is a retail price of £79.51 inc VAT

 

Part numbers for the BB2025X:

Front Pick-up - WR251000 not in stock it could be 6 weeks delivery on this and it is a retail price of £132.66 inc VAT

Rear Pick-up - WR254200 not in stock it could be 6 weeks delivery on this and it is a retail price of £81.62 inc VAT