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The Yamaha BB mega-thread


Al Krow

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4 hours ago, Kiwi said:

I've been gassing this week for a BB5000A, mainly because it has 15mm string spacing and can do fairly traditional sounds.

Oooh really, 15mm string spacing, not the usual 18mm?! That is very interesting. 

Edited by Al Krow
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My first ever 5 string - a Yamaha BBN5 bought from the Bass Centre when they were still in Wapping. Chris installed an EMG BTC circuit & new pots, and it was my mainstay until I bought a TRB II 5 string in early 2000. I later sold this to @Owenin about 2009 or 10 (I think). A good starter 5 string that served me well on many gigs.

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22 minutes ago, Owen said:

It is still alive and kicking at work (FE College). Or i bought one for there a well. Sadly, a lot of my guitarist students cannot grasp the concept of a 5 string so I frequently find it tuned EEADG!

 

I guess at least not EADGB!

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7 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Oooh really, 15mm string spacing, not the usual 18mm?! That is very interesting. 

Yeah my Status has 15mm string spacing and it feels like the strings just fall under my fingers.  It's going to be a must have in the future. 

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18 hours ago, Kiwi said:

Yeah my Status has 15mm string spacing and it feels like the strings just fall under my fingers.  It's going to be a must have in the future. 

 

14 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

My most long lived bass (ie, the one before I came here) had 15mm it it was perfect. i built one with 15mm, I just need to update the neck on that.

What make model bass was that Woody? Our Ibby SR Premium 5ers were 16.5mm and had a super comfortable neck - but I've kinda fallen into the 17.5mm/18mm string spacing with the rest, although 19mm on a 5er now feels a bit of a stretch.

 

I was intrigued by the 15mm spacing on the BB 5000A comment, as no one had mentioned that before on this thread as far as I can remember. Did a bit of digging and apparently it was only the very early models (early 80s) that had the narrow neck and 15mm spacing before Yamaha switched back to their more standard wider neck.

 

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

 

What make model bass was that Woody? Our Ibby SR Premium 5ers were 16.5mm and had a super comfortable neck - but I've kinda fallen into the 17.5mm/18mm string spacing with ranges with the rest, although 19mm on a 5er now feels a bit of a stretch.

 

My 15? My current one is the one I built myself, but my previous bass with 15mm spacing was called a westwood or some such thing. When I came back from the states, my Aria 'the cat' had gone missing, I can't remember how, and I didn't have much spare money so I went down to my local guitar emporium, which was at the time PJ Walkers in portsmouth and bought this 'Westwood' bass, which I think was one of those far east branded names, that was a 5 string (my first) 15mm. Played that from 1998 to 2010, when I went mad and bought an ibanez SR1000 from Utah, and had those two basses. Then I joined basschat so obviously now have 10!

 

For me, 17.5 is the very limit of what I can go to, which is the narrowest I can wind the strings on the EHB to. Beyond that, it seems like a good idea but they aren't basses I pick up so they get moved on.

 

I have been playing a lot recently, but the last gig I picked up my old #1, the SR1605, and it was like putting old slippers on, it played and sounded so good. Made me wonder what all the other basses are for!

 

 

 

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

I have been playing a lot recently, but the last gig I picked up my old #1, the SR1605, and it was like putting old slippers on, it played and sounded so good. Made me wonder what all the other basses are for!

Yeah I was tempted to get another Ibby SR - love the finish on the 1805 (my first Ibby was the 4 string 1800).  "Fortunately" for my wallet, the one in the FS had sold by the time GAS had set in! I know you and I are both huge fans of the Ibby growl that their Nord pups deliver - I only moved my 1825 on as my Spector was delivering all that and a little more, but the Ibby has a lot going for it including being very light.

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7 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Yeah I was tempted to get another Ibby SR - love the finish on the 1805 (my first Ibby was the 4 string 1800).  "Fortunately" for my wallet, the one in the FS had sold by the time GAS had set in! I know you and I are both huge fans of the Ibby growl that their Nord pups deliver - I only moved my 1825 on as my Spector was delivering all that and a little more, but the Ibby has a lot going for it including being very light.

 

I do like my new spector, and I can see it has a lot of familiarity with the SR, apart from the weight (and remembering the 1605 was cancelled quickly as it was so light it was head heavy). I haven't tried the Spector live yet, but honestly the SR would still be the first one out of the burning building!

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4 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Did a bit of digging and apparently it was only the very early models (early 80s) that had the narrow neck and 15mm spacing before Yamaha switched back to their more standard wider neck.

 

The passive and first active version were both 15mm, they were the bulk of the production run.  The broad neck version with 18mm string spacing was limited in numbers and right at the end of production.  They are around but they don't pop up often and the only examples I've seen seem to be heavily modified with pickguards and soap bar pickups.

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On 30/03/2022 at 10:18, Al Krow said:

 

What make model bass was that Woody? Our Ibby SR Premium 5ers were 16.5mm and had a super comfortable neck - but I've kinda fallen into the 17.5mm/18mm string spacing with the rest, although 19mm on a 5er now feels a bit of a stretch.

 

I was intrigued by the 15mm spacing on the BB 5000A comment, as no one had mentioned that before on this thread as far as I can remember. Did a bit of digging and apparently it was only the very early models (early 80s) that had the narrow neck and 15mm spacing before Yamaha switched back to their more standard wider neck.

 

As Kiwi points out, the broadneck version was only offered for a short while and is pretty rare. The BB5000 was Yamaha's attempt to capture the fledgling 5 string market in the mid-80s. It's basically a four string BB3000 with five strings on, from what I remember. Lots of early 5 strings had very tight spacing, and it put a lot of folks off getting into playing a five, myself included. 18/19mm spacing was the prerogative of high-end custom builders like Tobias and Ken Smith.

 

Nevertheless, a lot of top pros like Nathan East, David Hungate and Larry Klein adopted the BB5000. In fact , I seem to remember that Larry Klein used his BB5000 fretless on Boys of Summer by Don Henley, where it is featured fairly prominently. And Nathan East plays his BB5000 to great effect on Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves by Eurythmics.

Edited by Misdee
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16 minutes ago, Misdee said:

As Kiwi points out, the broadneck version was only offered for a short while and is pretty rare. The BB5000 was Yamaha's attempt to capture the fledgling 5 string market in the mid-80s. It's basically a four string BB3000 with five strings on, from what I remember. Lots of early 5 strings had very tight spacing, and it put a lot of folks off getting into playing a five, myself included. 18/19mm spacing was the prerogative of high-end custom builders like Tobias and Ken Smith.

 

Nevertheless, a lot of top pros like Nathan East, David Hungate and Larry Klein adopted the BB5000. In fact , I seem to remember that Larry Klein used his BB5000 fretless on Boys of Summer by Don Henley, where it is featured fairly prominently. And Nathan East plays his BB5000 to great effect on Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves by Eurythmics.

18mm does feel pretty good! I guess there's a reason it's become standard. 

 

Old uncle Ken Smith certainly knew what he was doing and seemingly, from what you're saying, before mighty Yamaha Corp came along and took a leaf out of his play book! 

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23 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

18mm does feel pretty good! I guess there's a reason it's become standard. 

 

Old uncle Ken Smith certainly knew what he was doing and seemingly, from what you're saying, before mighty Yamaha Corp came along and took a leaf out of his play book! 

Five string bass was a rare and specialist instrument back in the early 1980s. It really took off when most pop music became keyboard-orientated and bass players needed to play in keys and registers that were more accessible to the left hand of keyboard players. Even then, it was the domain of pretty advanced players, on the whole.

 

Just like "savvy" bass players nowadays gravitate towards a P Bass strung with crusty old clothes line played through a vintage valve driven radiogram, so in those days the same demographic would aspire to a five string fretless with a graphite neck played through NASA's mainframe computer via a graphic equaliser of some kind. With lots of compression and a chorus pedal on it.

Edited by Misdee
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10 hours ago, Folkesy said:

 

My favourite Yamaha BB model! Too pricey for me to get this just as a "spare" though, although given how good they are and how rarely they come up, I can't say I'm not tempted!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Is anyone in the Derby area looking for a bargain budget BB? 

 

There's an 'as new' BB234 with case and a Rumble 25 amp for £250 or best offer. 

 

Admittedly I'm not up on the newer BB range, but it seems like a good deal, especially if you could get it nearer to 200 smackeroonies. 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yamaha-BB234-Bass-Guitar-Fender-Rumble-25-amp-/194964438635?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

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