For reasons still a bit unclear to me, I wanted an inexpensive bass that I could putter with. I have several nice basses, all of which are set up well and just as I like them; i.e., no puttering is required on them.
Besides practicing and playing, I get a kick out of cleaning up and fixing (minor issues) on inexpensive basses with potential, especially those with all original parts. I've done this with a few Ibanez's, old G&L's and a Tokai P bass. They all turned out great but I sold all of them.
I found this nice bass, a Yamaha BB 604, at a local outlet of a national chain that sells used instruments of various sorts. It was dirty and had a horrible set up. So far so good. All the parts seemed original, all the controls seemed to work, and it sounded pretty good. I've flirted with several Yamaha's but have never owned one. I was out the door for $163.
First order of business was a general cleaning, including light rubbing compound to remove superficial marks. Then I oiled the fretboard and polished the frets, which were in nice shape under the tarnish. This is an active bass, and all the electronics appeared to be in original condition, with no signs of modifications or non-factory soldering. So, nothing to do there. Weirdly, all the pots and the tuners were loose, but a wrench made quick work of that issue. The roundwound strings were obviously ancient, and whoever put them on did a terrible job. The truss rod moved as it should and required only a small adjustment. Intonation took some work but anyone with patience can prevail. I was going to put Rotosound Jazz Bass flatwounds on, but found the old roundwounds sounded and felt good. I guess age mellowed them to my liking. Total work time: about four hours.
I'm pleased as punch with my new bass. The serial number indicates it was made in February 1992 in Taiwan.
Will I hold on to it? Maybe, but for now I'm enjoying it.
Besides practicing and playing, I get a kick out of cleaning up and fixing (minor issues) on inexpensive basses with potential, especially those with all original parts. I've done this with a few Ibanez's, old G&L's and a Tokai P bass. They all turned out great but I sold all of them.
I found this nice bass, a Yamaha BB 604, at a local outlet of a national chain that sells used instruments of various sorts. It was dirty and had a horrible set up. So far so good. All the parts seemed original, all the controls seemed to work, and it sounded pretty good. I've flirted with several Yamaha's but have never owned one. I was out the door for $163.
First order of business was a general cleaning, including light rubbing compound to remove superficial marks. Then I oiled the fretboard and polished the frets, which were in nice shape under the tarnish. This is an active bass, and all the electronics appeared to be in original condition, with no signs of modifications or non-factory soldering. So, nothing to do there. Weirdly, all the pots and the tuners were loose, but a wrench made quick work of that issue. The roundwound strings were obviously ancient, and whoever put them on did a terrible job. The truss rod moved as it should and required only a small adjustment. Intonation took some work but anyone with patience can prevail. I was going to put Rotosound Jazz Bass flatwounds on, but found the old roundwounds sounded and felt good. I guess age mellowed them to my liking. Total work time: about four hours.
I'm pleased as punch with my new bass. The serial number indicates it was made in February 1992 in Taiwan.
Will I hold on to it? Maybe, but for now I'm enjoying it.
