I'm a Physicist - I understand that some of you here may not understand the nuanced complexity of my argument, but you can trust me on this one. ;-)
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BB435 or 735? Help me choose
- Thread starter mapadofu
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- yamaha 5 string
I'm a Physicist - I understand that some of you here may not understand the nuanced complexity of my argument, but you can trust me on this one. ;-)
You and I have disagreed on this before and probably will in the future—but Yamaha thought of that and put in a low battery warning LED in the BB735A
Well, all the better to immunize hapless buyers of this active bass from the dreaded battery fear pandemic: They feel an institutional conscience not to abandon their customers to the dreaded malady. Good for them. If only all the other builders of active basses felt this responsibility to their customers . . . . I mean, how does EMG and others sleep at night KNOWING if you leave it plugged in, you could suddenly be stricken ?
RiffRanger, I always dig your posts, and thankfully we can agree to maybe disagree in a civilized fashion. This is a little (!) tongue-in-cheek (or just straight-up cheeky . . .), and what the hey, I think everybody should play whatever lets them make their best music. I've had great experiences with active axes, but admit there's lots to be said for great passive axes as well. I just get tickled the amount of worry about the battery as I found the chances of it happening are entirely preventable.
All the Best,
JW
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It's funny that you've had a battery go out on you live and I haven't, considering our opposing positions here (mine failed in my home studio; no biggie, but I won't get that take back, FWIW, which isn't much)
have you gotten that AEB105E yet?
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I sure did:
Bought a used BB5000A2 (the big-bodied Taiwan version with the TRB pickups) in the afternoon, took it home, set it up and slicked it up, new strings, put it in the bag and went to the gig (WITHOUT putting a new battery in).
Partway through the 3rd set, unlike other active setups where when the battery goes south you lose output over more than a few days (EMG) or once the battery voltage dips below a certain point you get distortion for a short time before it just goes dead (Alembic non-Series), the Yamaha just went dead like flipping a switch, no warning, like somebody unplugged me.
Egg on my face, over easy.
NEVER happened again.
Bought a used BB5000A2 (the big-bodied Taiwan version with the TRB pickups) in the afternoon, took it home, set it up and slicked it up, new strings, put it in the bag and went to the gig (WITHOUT putting a new battery in).
Partway through the 3rd set, unlike other active setups where when the battery goes south you lose output over more than a few days (EMG) or once the battery voltage dips below a certain point you get distortion for a short time before it just goes dead (Alembic non-Series), the Yamaha just went dead like flipping a switch, no warning, like somebody unplugged me.
Egg on my face, over easy.
NEVER happened again.
Speaking of batteries in the 73x basses - can anyone with one of these shed light on what happens if the battery does run down? Does the volume decrease, sound distort, does it just go off entirely, etc? I had to swap in a new one last night when the light came on, though that was the no-brand battery that the bass came with from the shop. There was no noticeable difference in the sound with the new battery, so it seems the light comes on before it affects anything.
I also haven't quite mastered the art of unplugging my bass when I'm done with it - sometimes I will hang it up on the wall plugged in intending to come back, and then get distracted and leave it that way. Years of playing passive basses has taught me not to worry to much about that, so it's a bad habit I have to unlearn. The low battery light is definitely a nice feature and something that more makers should adopt, IMO.
I also haven't quite mastered the art of unplugging my bass when I'm done with it - sometimes I will hang it up on the wall plugged in intending to come back, and then get distracted and leave it that way. Years of playing passive basses has taught me not to worry to much about that, so it's a bad habit I have to unlearn. The low battery light is definitely a nice feature and something that more makers should adopt, IMO.
IMO, too, along with truss rod wheels; but I digress. Yamaha thought about just about everything with the BB73XA models, it seems to me.
I do wish the new BBs had a wheel. Getting at the truss rod is a little fiddly given how deeply recessed it is, but at least that's not something that needs to be adjusted very often.
Perhaps not? So far, by my count...only (1) vote for the 435 in 3 pages!
@Issac_James. I’m seeing where if you put the 735 in passive mode it won’t drain the battery even if plugged in.
Well I kind of guessed that, but it feels like a kludge. If extending the range on only one string is such a good idea I'd expect them to do it on their more expensive bases but they don't.
I wonder if the 73x/P3x bridge just goes a little further back on all the strings? In any case, I was able to intonate the B string on mine with room to spare.
