Is there a Yamaha BB club? There is now!

[Al Krow]

BB735A second-time-around

Arrived today and delivered to my door by the seller, which is always a great way to take ownership of a used bass!

Very happy with it and a really nice weight at 4.4kg / 9.7 lbs - the same weight as my BB1025 and a lighter than my NE2. I was debating whether to drop / replace the PG e.g. with a white one but having seen it in the flesh the PG is staying on!

My first time around with a 735A, it arrived pretty new but with a set-up that the previous owner had never quite been happy with or was able to fix, including trying lighter tuners. I'd largely got it set up how I wanted but shortly afterwards bagged a played-in P35 which had the additional benefit from the I.R.A treatment and was a bass that had been set up beautifully by the pro-bassist, whom I bought it off. I was never really tempted to pick the 735A up to play after that, so I moved it on. Interestingly the chap I sold it sold it to managed to get the 735A to just how he wanted it and absolutely loved it!

The only adjustment I've made today is to lower the pup heights - the seller had set them quite close to the strings and then put tape over the bridge J to prevent unwanted clicks / pops when he dug in hard. I'm just going to settle for lower pup heights and turn my amp up instead!

Sounds and feels good - lovely balance and no noticeable neck dive. I immediately preferred the active circuit to the passive on this, which I found less articulate / crisp - but each to their own, I know others prefer the passive tone. However, the passive setting is still a really "nice to have" for me: not least for peace of mind if the battery fails mid set.

The other reason for a grin on my bass-face today is that, having had GAS for an active PJ with 3 band EQ and active / passive option, that was not too heavy and had more accessible frets than I was getting from my Sire P7, this ticks all the boxes and I've managed to spend < 20% I was half-thinking of forking out on an equivalently spec'd new bass(albeit with nicer woods), and the tone on this 735A easily goes to toe to toe with that high-end bass. So my wallet is also feeling hugely relieved and the ulterior motive of turning this into a poor man's midi bass with an additional GK3 pup and pairing with a Boss SY-1000 can move onto the next step!

 

[odarellmc]

BB735A second-time-around

Arrived today and delivered to my door by the seller, which is always a great way to take ownership of a used bass!

Very happy with it and a really nice weight at 4.4kg / 9.7 lbs - the same weight as my BB1025 and a lighter than my NE2. I was debating whether to drop / replace the PG e.g. with a white one but having seen it in the flesh the PG is staying on!

My first time around with a 735A, it arrived pretty new but with a set-up that the previous owner had never quite been happy with or was able to fix, including trying lighter tuners. I'd largely got it set up how I wanted but shortly afterwards bagged a played-in P35 which had the additional benefit from the I.R.A treatment and was a bass that had been set up beautifully by the pro-bassist, whom I bought it off. I was never really tempted to pick the 735A up to play after that, so I moved it on. Interestingly the chap I sold it sold it to managed to get the 735A to just how he wanted it and absolutely loved it!

The only adjustment I've made today is to lower the pup heights - the seller had set them quite close to the strings and then put tape over the bridge J to prevent unwanted clicks / pops when he dug in hard. I'm just going to settle for lower pup heights and turn my amp up instead!

Sounds and feels good - lovely balance and no noticeable neck dive. I immediately preferred the active circuit to the passive on this, which I found less articulate / crisp - but each to their own, I know others prefer the passive tone. However, the passive setting is still a really "nice to have" for me: not least for peace of mind if the battery fails mid set.

The other reason for a grin on my bass-face today is that, having had GAS for an active PJ with 3 band EQ and active / passive option, that was not too heavy and had more accessible frets than I was getting from my Sire P7, this ticks all the boxes and I've managed to spend < 20% I was half-thinking of forking out on an equivalently spec'd new bass(albeit with nicer woods), and the tone on this 735A easily goes to toe to toe with that high-end bass. So my wallet is also feeling hugely relieved and the ulterior motive of turning this into a poor man's midi bass with an additional GK3 pup and pairing with a Boss SY-1000 can move onto the next step!

View attachment 4037146

Confused you sold a 735a or P35?

 

[Al Krow]

Confused you sold a 735a or P35?

Both, in fact. I sold my first 735A 15 months back shortly after I got the P35. But in the end I moved the P35 too, as it was a little too heavy for me and I still had my BB1025 which is almost as good, but is a little lighter.

This is my second 735A and I suspect will be hanging around for a while longer, this time! So my Yammy herd now comprises these three basses once again :

 

[Sanshiro]

Does anyone have a solution for classic BB tuner rattling? On both my BB300 and my BB1200 the g-string tuning key wiggles a bit and as such will rattle somewhat when playing, it has nothing to do with the tuner collar adjustment, the actual key itself is loose, about where the key attaches to the peg. It looks like there's a pin that attaches the two together, could that be the issue?

 

[Fishheadjoe]

Does anyone have a solution for classic BB tuner rattling? On both my BB300 and my BB1200 the g-string tuning key wiggles a bit and as such will rattle somewhat when playing, it has nothing to do with the tuner collar adjustment, the actual key itself is loose, about where the key attaches to the peg. It looks like there's a pin that attaches the two together, could that be the issue?

The sleeve on the tuners of the old BB's has a tension adjustment and typically folks lose that little wrench toot sweet! On mine, I use a bit of inner-tube rubber, wrap it around the tuner shaft and use pliers to tighten. Depending on how loose they are, you could tighten them by hand. Questions, hit me up!
Fishheadjoe

 

[Sanshiro]

The sleeve on the tuners of the old BB's has a tension adjustment and typically folks lose that little wrench toot sweet! On mine, I use a bit of inner-tube rubber, wrap it around the tuner shaft and use pliers to tighten. Depending on how loose they are, you could tighten them by hand. Questions, hit me up!
Fishheadjoe

Thanks, but it's not those. It doesn't matter if I tighten them to the point that you can't turn the key or if I loosen them to the point that it's at risk of falling off. It's something to do with the actual key itself. Like I can wiggle it and it jiggles a bit, whereas the other keys are rock solid.

 

[Fishheadjoe]

Oh, OK, gotcha! So the clover is moving inside the post? Perhaps a drop of solder would fix the issue?
Fishheadjoe

 

[Sanshiro]

Oh, OK, gotcha! So the clover is moving inside the post? Perhaps a drop of solder would fix the issue?
Fishheadjoe

Yep, it's not securely attached to the post or something. There's a pin at the base of the clover, I wonder if it has something to do with that.

 

[Sanshiro]

Actually, I found post regarding this a while back in this thread. Is there a Yamaha BB club? There is now!

Might see if I can give that a go.

 

[Penphoe]

Yep, it's not securely attached to the post or something. There's a pin at the base of the clover, I wonder if it has something to do with that.

Yah, the pin probably secures the clover to the post so that when you turn it, the torque also gets applied to the post. If it's rattling, something is loose.

LaterZ!
Darren!!

 

[whamni]

The only thing which needs to be sorted is the higher string action at the nut. Makes it a bit harder to fret the strings at the first fret/s. I am not sure if it's just my bass, but the string action is a bit higher at the nut compared to the previous basses I have played.

Have you done a setup in this order, 1. with a capo on the 1st fret and holding down the string at the 17th fret check relief @ the 7 or 8 fret 2. string action @ 12th fret adjust at the bridge saddle and last check the 1st fret gap holding down the string at the 3rd fret. if the gap there is too high you will then need to file the nut.
LAST thing to set the pickup height. With flats on you should get a low action.

 

[Hristo Georgiev]

Hello "whamni" and thanks for the advice. Recently I made a complete bass setup following the sequence of setup video quides on "Scott's bass lessons" channel with Chris May. For years I have been eyeballing the measurments, until I get comfortable with the strings height and neck bow, while avoiding any fret buzz.
I am fairly confident that now the isntrument is set up to the correct measurments. Now with the string pressed at the 3rd fret, I could almost fit the thickness of 2 credit cards underneath the strings at the 1st fret, which is quite a gap
Instead of filing each individual nut slot I sanded off the underside of the nut to reduce the overall nut height. Now the gap has been reduced to the thickness of a thin piece of paper at the 1st fret (with the strings pressed at the 3rd fret), the bass is much more playable at the first frets, and most important - no fret buzz on the open strings.

 

[whamni]

Hello "whamni" and thanks for the advice. Recently I made a complete bass setup following the sequence of setup video quides on "Scott's bass lessons" channel with Chris May. For years I have been eyeballing the measurments, until I get comfortable with the strings height and neck bow, while avoiding any fret buzz.
I am fairly confident that now the isntrument is set up to the correct measurments. Now with the string pressed at the 3rd fret, I could almost fit the thickness of 2 credit cards underneath the strings at the 1st fret, which is quite a gap
Instead of filing each individual nut slot I sanded off the underside of the nut to reduce the overall nut height. Now the gap has been reduced to the thickness of a thin piece of paper at the 1st fret (with the strings pressed at the 3rd fret), the bass is much more playable at the first frets, and most important - no fret buzz on the open strings.

Brilliant, glad you got it sorted, the gap at the first fret sounds about right now.
Take care and stay safe
Alec

 

[plu604]

Can I join the Club with my newly acquired bass, fellas?

I was in the market for a new bass recently, after a year of playing a 2nd gen Sire v7 and a Sterling Stingray Classic24, I started to realize that they do not necessarily feel comfortable. I went to a few local instrument shops in my area but the stock was very limited; due to COVID, very few manufacturers can provide a steady supply of products, and the line of backlog orders are very long. I live in Hungary btw.

Nonetheless, I was able to try a Squier precision bass, which felt way more comfortable than any of my basses, mostly due to its neck. See, both of my basses have slim necks and I always thought that it's the type of neck I prefer, but this understanding was challenged hard by the Squier. I expressed my surprise about this to the salesman, who suggested to try a Yamaha BB434, and I was blown away. Even though its neck is way chunkier than I was used to, it was tenfolds more comfortable.

I did a little bit of research for similar basses, but very few basses with this type of necks were available. Obviously some Squiers (the one I tried was good but not that much and I didn't like the look anyways), the Fender Player P-bass (way over my budget, and I couldn't even find one to try), Ibanez Talman (couldn't try one as the shops only had a shortscale - man, that was a fun little bass though! I have my next target), and the BB434. Long story short, I slept on it and bought it. I'm more than happy with the purchase now, and have put up both of my previous basses for sale. It's very convenient, an entirely different world to play it compared to slimmer necks, and I like its tone a lot. Love it.

Funny story though, as I brought it home, and started to set it up, I noticed that the neck could use a little bit more relief, so I adjusted (loosened) the truss rod a bit, turning it counterclockwise. Nothing happened, and I felt that it was very loose already which was weird but I figured that they probably didn't tighten it in the factory, and since then it was lying in a warehouse, all boxed up. Didn't really think it through though, and gave it a few more counterclockwise turns (nothing happened regarding neck relief), and the truss rod started to TIGHTEN. I was scratching my head because it obviously wasn't supposed to happen, double-checked the manual to ensure that I was doing everything right, but it was still tightening. So I fired up google and as a result I realized that my newly acquired bass has been lying in a warehouse for weeks or even months DETUNED and the truss rod untightened - without any significant forces affecting it, its neck must be pretty much a straight slab, and probably needs to have a few days to get acclimated to my room's environment, and start to bend as a result of the (now) tuned strings... And I was about to "unscrew" the "nut" (is that the right term for it?) from the truss rod by turning it counterclockwise. I quickly corrected my mistake and gave a few clockwise turns to the truss rod, so first it loosened, then started to tighten again, and now I could also see that the neck started to have a backbow, meaning that the truss rod was in the right position for now. So the setup has to wait a few more days, while the neck adjusts itself, but I'll keep an eye on it until then - hopefully I didn't damage the neck. Has anything like that happened to you before?

 

[L1011TriStar]

I purchased my first ever bass guitar, a Yamaha BB734A, from Sweetwater today as well as an Ampeg BA-115. I can't wait to get started playing it and learning the instrument in general. I went with a Yamaha because I have a Yamaha electric guitar already, a 702B with P90s, and I love that guitar like I have no other. I sold my telecaster after getting that one, and if the BB734A impresses me, I don't think I will buy anything other than a Yamaha again. I guess I am a rare Yamaha fanboy. I may even have to sell my BMW motorcycle to get a Yamaha motorcycle.

 

[CassiusS]

I purchased my first ever bass guitar, a Yamaha BB734A, from Sweetwater today as well as an Ampeg BA-115. I can't wait to get started playing it and learning the instrument in general. I went with a Yamaha because I have a Yamaha electric guitar already, a 702B with P90s, and I love that guitar like I have no other. I sold my telecaster after getting that one, and if the BB734A impresses me, I don't think I will buy anything other than a Yamaha again. I guess I am a rare Yamaha fanboy. I may even have to sell my BMW motorcycle to get a Yamaha motorcycle.

I started as a teenager with Yamaha with an FG75 guitar that I played very poorly. I also had a 1971 Yamaha R5 motorcycle that I dearly loved when I was in college. I started bass with a Squier P-bass with a maxed out truss rod. Sold that and bought a Yamaha BB434 - and I LOVE it, especially with Fender flatwound strings. Great axe! Enjoy your 734. Yamaha makes great instruments.

 

[drb20176]

I purchased my first ever bass guitar, a Yamaha BB734A, from Sweetwater today as well as an Ampeg BA-115. I can't wait to get started playing it and learning the instrument in general. I went with a Yamaha because I have a Yamaha electric guitar already, a 702B with P90s, and I love that guitar like I have no other. I sold my telecaster after getting that one, and if the BB734A impresses me, I don't think I will buy anything other than a Yamaha again. I guess I am a rare Yamaha fanboy. I may even have to sell my BMW motorcycle to get a Yamaha motorcycle.

I’m a total mark for all things Yamaha as well...my theory has been, they know and understand the human body and that a proper fit is paramount...motorcycles bass guitars keyboards and the wife’s acoustic guitar...I’m all in on Yamaha!

 

[L2ATJR]

I took your advice and swapped-out my strings and replaced them with D’Addario 45-100 flat wounds. While I was at it, I lined the body cavities with copper foil tape, changes the mini-Alpha pots to full size CTS 250K pots - audio for the P/J pickups and linear for tone control, and installed Aguilar AG 4P/J-HC pickups, a Babicz thru the body bridge, and, just for the heck of it, a Pure Tone full-contact output jack. I love the looks of the guitar,
I love the sound, and I especially love the fact that the 60 cycle hum is gone!

Thanks for your insights and encouragement.

 

[skycruiser]

I took your advice and swapped-out my strings and replaced them with D’Addario 45-100 flat wounds. While I was at it, I lined the body cavities with copper foil tape, changes the mini-Alpha pots to full size CTS 250K pots - audio for the P/J pickups and linear for tone control, and installed Aguilar AG 4P/J-HC pickups, a Babicz thru the body bridge, and, just for the heck of it, a Pure Tone full-contact output jack. I love the looks of the guitar,
I love the sound, and I especially love the fact that the 60 cycle hum is gone!

View attachment 4049353

Thanks for your insights and encouragement.

Nice but it's not really a Yamaha anymore!

Is the single coil noiseless or do you think it's the shielding that cut the hum? I'd like to do that to mine too - add shielding in the cavity. Seems like it is only needed around the J pickup.

 

[L2ATJR]

Nice but it's not really a Yamaha anymore!

Is the single coil noiseless or do you think it's the shielding that cut the hum? I'd like to do that to mine too - add shielding in the cavity. Seems like it is only needed around the J pickup.

You maybe right. It's not OEM. But, it's my Yamaha... A lot can be said about making something your own, and I love it.

The Jazz pickup uses Aguilar's split coil design. That is the hum cancelling component of this P/J combination. However, I believe that the copper foil tape helped. While I was at it, I verified that I had an intact ground to the pickups, pickup cavities, pots, main wiring cavity, cavity cover, bridge, and output jack. It all worked.