My "new" 1982 Yamaha BB1200S
 

Look what arrived yesterday! My "new" 1982 Yamaha BB1200S. I have been pining for one for a while and I can't believe I finally have one let alone in the color I wanted too. It's battle worn with a few nicks and dings but that's all overshadowed by the sound it makes. I've never played a thru-neck bass before. THE TONE! I CAN'T BELIEVE THE TONE!!!

They are great aren't they! A P-Bass on steroids. One suggestion..Even if you're a die-hard rounds guy do consider at least trying D'Addario Chromes on it. With the preamp engaged, you can make it sound as bright as new roundwounds but with no string squeak. I didn't believe it either...until I tried it. I'm hooked.....

Another TB'er gave me some great advice for the preamp settings when I got mine: "Bass-all the way up, Mids-neutral, treble-all the way up. Depending on how your rig sounds, you can tweak them slightly. Sometimes I back off from those default positions just a tiny bit-- lows if the bottom is overwhelming, highs if it sounds too harsh, and mids to get a slightly more glass-like tone. For a more vintagey tone I'll back off the highs to neutral, and turn the mids all the way up. For true vintage tone, you can just flick the toggle to turn it off, and then there's just a single tone knob for passive mode. It's a really marvelous pre-amp, very well-voiced."

I've got a pdf of the service/parts manual for it. Shoot me your email address in a PM and I'll send one to you if you want.

Congrats! I have several really great basses, but my 1986 Yamaha BB5000 is the one closest to my heart. Just an amazing instrument, finely made and still sounds amazing to this day.

Sweet bass congrats.

I had the same thing in green, loved everything about it except for the color. The red is beautiful!

Nice Bass! I Love my 1983 BB3000s it's ajust such a marvelous bass. Congrats that BB1200s is killer!

Suh-weeeet!!

Thanks, guys! Kenstee, I'll send you a PM right now.

Radical! Those old BBs are awesome. So awesome that I have two! Not a 1200 though.... Have fun with it!

I have two as well, both red 1984 1200S's. Congratulations on an awesome bass! If it's battle-worn that just means it was played and appreciated. These are hugely underrated in my opinion, and yours looks like an excellent specimen. Enjoy!

Man I really love this bass

I recall that they had great necks with less than perfect frets

I'm really not versed in frets. What do you mean?

not dressed well when they left the factory. A lot of leveling work needed to be done right out of the box on the one I owned

Congrats on your new bass!

Congrats on that killer red bass. That has such a great vintage look to it. I hope to happen upon one of like this at a can't pass up price. Enjoy !!!:)