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The Yamaha BB mega-thread


Al Krow

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Just now, lee650 said:

I've been watching it since yesterday! Collect only when most of the county is locked down. Don't know why he's bothering.

Flip side is that it may be an opp to pick it up for a good price? And I'm sure one of us who are in the vicinity can sort out collection for you if you manage to bag it.

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7 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

...but maybe worth holding out for a 425 and someone willing to post - given that it will be newer and benefit from a laminate neck and may not cost too much more. 

But then again, I owned a 425/415 at the same time and liked both equally...and out of all of the BB’s I’ve owned - the 414 remains, and I preferred it to the “superior” 1024x. 
 

All subjective really. 

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2 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

But then again, I owned a 425/415 at the same time and liked both equally...and out of all of the BB’s I’ve owned - the 414 remains, and I preferred it to the “superior” 1024x. 
 

All subjective really. 

Yeah, but we're they all orange / red? 😁

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1 minute ago, Al Krow said:

Yeah, but we're they all orange / red? 😁

415 was orange...

I really didn’t feel any benefit to a multi laminate neck. Same pickups, bridge, wiring, body woods, neck join...

Same player, same basslines. In fact they were so similar, I shoved flats on the 415 and ended up not using it as much...but to justify taking the two to gigs.

A bad multi laminate neck or a good non laminated neck...

I do fancy a 424x just to have that pickguard/metal plate look. And red was the least dull colour they did.

3B433F25-3045-44EB-8FF3-C9B6D4B69488.jpeg

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I guess the key point for me of a laminate neck is the additional rigidity, rather than anything to do with sound. My biggest concern with older basses is the risk of neck warping and a laminate provides additional layers of protection (literally!) against that.

I'm probably at the over cautious end on this, but both having witnessed neck warping in former Fender I had, and a fellow BCer I know had the same with a Warwick, I do personally prefer a laminate neck given the choice. 

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9 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

I guess the key point for me of a laminate neck is the additional rigidity, rather than anything to do with sound. My biggest concern with older basses is the risk of neck warping and a laminate provides additional layers of protection (literally!) against that.

I'm probably at the over cautious end on this, but both having witnessed neck warping in former Fender I had, and a fellow BCer I know had the same with a Warwick, I do personally prefer a laminate neck given the choice. 

I’d guess warping in single piece necks is a 1/1000 if not less issue. 

Maintenance, correct storage and stuff like that...

I owned a Jaydee with a multi laminate neck which was probably the least stable neck I’ve owned.

🤷🏻‍♂️

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10 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Series 2 vs 3 - they don't quite equate. 

The S3 734 is both active, with a 3 band EQ, as well as passive whereas the S2 1024, its opposite number, is purely passive with vol / tone knobs and a pup selector switch. (I've got the 5 string version of both and was just playing my 1025, and absolutely loving it in solo P mode - such a gorgeous tone!). The rest of the Series 3 and Series 2 are all passive but Series 3 have V/V/T knobs vs V/T/pup switch on Series 2.

The P34 has just one of the two special "sonic treatments" that the 2024 had, which are designed to give them an immediate "played in" feel. I guess that's how Yammy justified the price cut. But I think folk realised that the 1024s were delivering 98% of what the 2024 was but at 1/3 the price, which was also part of the reason for the price drop to the P34. 

The 1024 has a harmonically richer set of pups than the 424, which are "flatter" - but some folk prefer the 424 sound precisely because of that. The build quality of the 1024 has a few enhancements too.

If you check the OP there is a comparison table of the Series 3 for reference. 

Oh yes, the Series 3 use "standard" pup sizes (the Series 2 don't) so you can swap them out. But not sure I would ever want to - the pups on the Yammy BBs are just great! 

call them Mk.II and Mk.III

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7 hours ago, hypercarrots said:

call them Mk.II and Mk.III

Interested you're suggesting that, because obviously there were basses well before the 414/5 which I presume you would refer to as Mk.I ?

1, 2 and 3 series reference simply follows the mid-serial number on the Yammy numbering 414, 424, 434 etc. so unless Mk.I etc. is Yammy's official numbering it seems to make sense to me to stick with what we are calling them.

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10 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Interested you're suggesting that, because obviously there were basses well before the 414/5 which I presume you would refer to as Mk.I ?

1, 2 and 3 series reference simply follows the mid-serial number on the Yammy numbering 414, 424, 434 etc. so unless Mk.I etc. is Yammy's official numbering it seems to make sense to me to stick with what we are calling them.

i was confused by your system and thought you were talking about generations. never mind. 

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The most recent / "modern series" of Yammy BB basses are: 

414, 614

424, 1024, 2024

234, 434, 734, P34

together with their associated 5 string versions (and X for scratch-plate / additional chrome bits with the series 2)

You can see that Yammy are using "1" "2" and "3" in the numbering for each of these most recent / modern series, which is a departure from their pre-millenium BBs. 

There's a lovely little article from just a few weeks back that covers the history of the BB's - I'll post this on the OP for ease of reference: History of the Yamaha BB Bass – Workhorses That Became Thoroughbreds - Bass Musician Magazine, The Face of Bass

 

Happy New Year gents! 🥂🍻 

Here's to a great 2021 and hoping that those of us in bands will all get a chance to be playing our BBs to appreciative audiences again! 

Edited by Al Krow
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Why doesn't someone write a definitive book on the BB ? Looks like there would be enough interest. I guess you'd have to speak Japanese to do the research properly at source. Is there already such a resource in Japanese that needs translating into other languages ?

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1 minute ago, Ricky Rioli said:

It's got a third knob where I was expecting to see a switch 

Yeah, magically adds £350 to its value.

£250 and I’d have bought it...but £300+ and I’d go looking for a 1024

Edited by AndyTravis
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