Hi folks, this is actually my first post. I've been reading the forum for years but only joined today.
I'd like to weigh in on a few things that have been mentioned already, if I can.
First, I've read a lot of posts describing how people are never able to find any BB's in stores, which has largely been my experience as well. Perhaps it could be the fault of Yamaha's sales and marketing departments as has been mentioned a few times, but I'm going to offer an alternative. I worked in instrument retail in eastern Canada for approximately 10 years and have seen the politics in action. In addition to instrument sales and rentals, The company I used to work for was also responsible for Canada-wide Gibson distribution. At the time I remember asking our guitar department manager "Why don't we sell Yamaha SG (SBG) guitars? We sell tons of Yamaha acoustic guitars, pianos, keyboards, drums, orchestral instruments, and studio gear, why can't we get those guitars?" The answer I got was that Yamaha electric guitars competes "too" directly with Gibson, especially the SG (SGB) which was essentially a Les Paul that was pound for pound a better guitar and sold for a grand less than a LP Standard. While I'm not suggesting a conspiracy of sorts, the instrument industry is full of politics and is not immune to lobbying. I really can't say this with any certainty, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if a company like Fender uses it's weight to lean on retailers. Much like the case I mentioned about the similarity between SGBs and LP's, the BB is basically a sounder PJ bass. Put a $1000 Fender against a $1000 Yamaha, and unless you're a diehard Fender fanboy, you'll probably notice how much better Yamaha's QC is. Again, I really can't prove anything, but I wouldn't be surprised if something like this were the case. If Yamaha was fraught with sales and distribution problems, why do music stores all over the world have tons of stock when it comes to Yamaha Pianos, drums, etc... When I started in the industry, there was bit more competition and less monopoly (Guitar Center in the US, Long & McQuade in Canada), and manufactures and distributors used to make similar deals with individual retailers all the time (and likely still do), eg. "you can carry our Product as long as you don't carry brand X. Or we'll give you exclusive access to our products in your city/state/province, but as a stipulation, you can't sell our competitor."
Second, In my experience. If you're in a small city or isolated region, markets are generally more traditional. What I mean by that is, a lot of players in small cities and towns tend to go for Fender/Gibson. Having worked in the industry in a small city I was always kind of surprised by how little curiosity there was for anything beyond those two brands, especially in guitar sales. This wasn't necessarily the case when it came to pedals, everyone was excited to try the latest boutique brand, made in someone's garage in the middle of nowhere. I always thought it was strange that there are so many companies who make superior quality teles to Fender, yet guys kept shelling out thousands of dollars for guitars that often had faulty N3 pickups and short circuiting S1 switches... It was only the biggest basement-collector/gear heads that expressed any interest in brands like Reverend, Suhr, Framus, G&L, or even Yamaha (when it comes to electrics). So, to a fair degree I think these retailers are making calculated decisions to stock what they know is going to sell over what's new and exciting. I remember we got Warwick basses once. They sat there for years while the same 3-tone sunburst Jazz bass sold again and again. For this, it's hard to blame the retailers. Instruments sales are down everywhere, the internet is squeezing them out, and the retail space is more monopolized by the day. They have to stock what they know is going to sell. That said, I've seen high-end Yamahas in stores, but always in large cities where there's a market for it.
Lastly, I've noticed a bunch of people say they prefer the V, T, 3ws to the current V, V, T. I have a BB1025X and have been toying with the idea of changing the setup to V, T, blend and was going to ask for advice about what kind of pot I should get to be able to have a blend knob. Ultimately it's not the end of the world, I don't mind the 3-way switch, but I've always enjoyed getting those in-between tones you can get from VVT or VVblend.
Glad to join the community.
Cheers
