NBD Yamaha BB350F

[Gene Doctor]

Picked up this ‘98 Yamaha BB350F yesterday for $175 - it’s my first foray into fretless (it has lined fretboard). The seller bought it new and never really got into it so it’s been sitting in a closet for most of its’ 22 years and is in fairly pristine condition - only 1 scratch by the bridge.

I upgraded the bridge with a Gotoh high mass bridge I had laying around, gave it a good cleaning, oiled the fretboard, put new GHS Precision Flats on and set it up (I still need to tweak the truss rod and file down the nut slots a bit).

Plays great and sounds pretty good - the single coil J bridge pickup has quite a bit of hum in my basement but the P is solid. And I don’t completely suck at playing it! If I feel as if I want to keep it I will likely upgrade the pickups - I was thinking of the Geezer Butler PJ but am open to suggestions for pickups that have a noiseless J.

Pics or it didn’t happen:

 

[woodyng2]

Nice score! My first fretless was a yamaha with a P pickup.
I replaced the stock pickup with a Lollar vintage type,which sounded full,warm,and fabulous on that bass.
I always longed for a bridge pickup sound on that bass, so i resold it after playing it for a few years.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Picked up this ‘98 Yamaha BB350F yesterday for $175 - it’s my first foray into fretless (it has lined fretboard). The seller bought it new and never really got into it so it’s been sitting in a closet for most of its’ 22 years and is in fairly pristine condition - only 1 scratch by the bridge.

I upgraded the bridge with a Gotoh high mass bridge I had laying around, gave it a good cleaning, oiled the fretboard, put new GHS Precision Flats on and set it up (I still need to tweak the truss rod and file down the nut slots a bit).

Plays great and sounds pretty good - the single coil J bridge pickup has quite a bit of hum in my basement but the P is solid. And I don’t completely suck at playing it! If I feel as if I want to keep it I will likely upgrade the pickups - I was thinking of the Geezer Butler PJ but am open to suggestions for pickups that have a noiseless J.

Pics or it didn’t happen:
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Wow! I love Yamahas from that era! That is a great bass!

 

[Inara]

Picked up this ‘98 Yamaha BB350F yesterday for $175 - it’s my first foray into fretless (it has lined fretboard). The seller bought it new and never really got into it so it’s been sitting in a closet for most of its’ 22 years and is in fairly pristine condition - only 1 scratch by the bridge.

I upgraded the bridge with a Gotoh high mass bridge I had laying around, gave it a good cleaning, oiled the fretboard, put new GHS Precision Flats on and set it up (I still need to tweak the truss rod and file down the nut slots a bit).

Plays great and sounds pretty good - the single coil J bridge pickup has quite a bit of hum in my basement but the P is solid. And I don’t completely suck at playing it! If I feel as if I want to keep it I will likely upgrade the pickups - I was thinking of the Geezer Butler PJ but am open to suggestions for pickups that have a noiseless J.

Pics or it didn’t happen:
View attachment 3914252 View attachment 3914254 View attachment 3914255 View attachment 3914256 View attachment 3914257 View attachment 3914258

Congratulations! My first fretless was one of those things, bought new way back when. It's a fine instrument. If you end up not bonding with it and want to sell, please let me know! But I hope you do bond with it and that it serves you well for many years.

 

[Killing Floor]

That's super cool. Looks practically new. I love speed knobs, making me want a new-to-me bass now.
Little known secret, nobody sucks at fretless. No frets = no fret buzz, and no wrong notes, haha. Call it vibrato!
Enjoy.

 

[Gene Doctor]

Was unhappy with the stock pickups so I installed EMG Geezer PJ pickups and pots and set it all up. Had to ditch the speed knobs though as the pots have solid shafts, but I like the chrome knobs as they match the Gotoh bridge. Plays and sounds amazing! I’m really digging playing the fretless and look forward to improving my form.