• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

New Yamaha BB series

The BB735A has V7 Alnico pups + the active / passive tone controls. Plus the addition of the "B" string of course.

The BB434 has V5 Alnico pups w passive only.

Other than that pretty much the same bass.

I don't know what the difference is. Maybe someone here at TB can let us know?
734/5 have alder/maple sandwich body.
434/5 is solid alder
BB Series - Specs - Yamaha - United States
 
  • Like
Reactions: HarveyRobertson
I played this new bass for 2 more hours last night. Wish my Fender Jazz V deluxe was set-up this nice out of the box. I checked the intonation and the D string was only one bar out on my tuner. I can't believe that. Check out how low the set-up is.. no buzzing, no clacking (even with the Chromes), no fret outs, just unbelievable playability.
View attachment 3371869
The bass came accompanied with a lot of paperwork in Japanese. Only the manual is multi-lingual.

Anyway, I took off the back control cover and it's nice n tidy. Shielding paint is pretty thick. Back of cover has a thick aluminum backing.
View attachment 3371870
The battery box cover is my biggest concern. It's not hinged. And on a dark stage if you have to change your battery and drop the cover, good luck.. it fits securely though.
View attachment 3371871

Everything on this Bass and of this Bass is really spot on and of high quality. The clarity in tone is really nice. The B string saddle is flipped around to the sharp edged side, is this why the B is solid and not flubby? B sounds great.
View attachment 3371880I wanted he dark coffee burst and this color grew on me since the DCB wasn't available and on back order. Now that I have it in hand, very happy with the color.

Here's some more pics, be back shortly with a rehearsal / gig review.
View attachment 3371872

View attachment 3371873 View attachment 3371874 View attachment 3371875 View attachment 3371876
I don't own one of these, but I do really appreciate the detailed pictures and information.

If I may suggest, I do think the B saddle is a way to improve the tone of the B string. That sharp angle moves the witness point back a little, so the saddle sits a little further forward than it would otherwise. This, along with the angled string-through-body feature, reduces the break angle of the string quite a bit. IME, when a B string has a really sharp break angle due to traditional string-through design, once the bend causes the winding to separate, even a new B string can sound dead and lifeless compared to the other strings. I avoid stringing the B through the body (if I have a choice) for this very reason. To my eye, Yamaha may have solved this problem with a couple fairly simple improvements.
 
A final addition of a P35 today to the Krow Yammy herd:
Yammys - a full Trav.jpg
 
Nice! Care to compare the 735 with the 35 for us?

For sure, I would be very happy to. The key difference between the two is undoubtedly the EQ with the BB 735A having Yamaha's 3 band EQ and active / passive selector switch, whereas the P35 is purely passive.

I was out gigging with my BB1025 last night (top white in picture) and the P35 appears to me to be very much the 'spiritual successor' to the 1025. The BB1025 is, btw, a bass I rate very highly and one that holds its own with other basses I've played which cost several times the price (including Fender, Warwick and Sandberg).

Unlike the 735A, the P35 also has a couple of the key ingredients of the former 'flagship' passive BB the BB2025 thrown in. It has one of the two wood treatment that the 2025 benefited from: the Initial Response Acceleration ('I.R.A') to give it a day one 'played in' feel plus it is a MIJ crafted bass, which I suspect accounts for a chunk of its premium pricing.

I'm going to live with the P35 for a little while and gig it a couple of times before reporting back more fully - but I hope that's a useful summary.
 
Last edited:
One other little difference (that initially had me confused!) was that the EQ on the 735A follows a lot of 3 band EQs layout with volume dial, pup selector / blend dial, and then 3 band EQ in active mode and treble / tone roll-off only in passive mode.

Invalid Link Removed

So 'muscle memory' kicks in when I first pick up the P35 today and I'm expecting the same i.e, vol dial, pup blend dial, and tone dial on the P35.

But, as those of you that already have them will know, that's not the case with the new BB "3 series" passive basses: instead there is a separate volume control for each pup and you blend accordingly.

Invalid Link Removed

Will just need to make sure I remember which is which and that they are not the same when I take them out gigging!
smile.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: pedroims
One other little difference (that initially had me confused!) was that the EQ on the 735A follows a lot of 3 band EQs layout with volume dial, pup selector / blend dial, and then 3 band EQ in active mode and treble / tone roll-off only in passive mode.

Invalid Link Removed

So 'muscle memory' kicks in when I first pick up the P35 today and I'm expecting the same i.e, vol dial, pup blend dial, and tone dial on the P35.

But, as those of you that already have them will know, that's not the case with the new BB "3 series" passive basses: instead there is a separate volume control for each pup and you blend accordingly.

Invalid Link Removed

Will just need to make sure I remember which is which and that they are not the same when I take them out gigging!
smile.png
thats what i like about my BB1200s and BB1200Ss. only one pickup...
 
Weights and balance

The P35 actually 'hangs' a little more comfortably off my frame than my other three Yammys. So when I put them all on the scales I was a little surprised to find:

P35 and NE2 - 10.2 lbs

735A and 1025 - 9.6 lbs

The combination of a slightly heavier body and lightweight tuners on the P35 gives it more of a balance between neck and body and, in consequence, there is a touch less neck dive on the P35.

Still getting used to having individual volume controls on the P35 - it's actually a really nice feature, but the flip side is that it's a bit less easy to switch pups than by using the selector switch on the 1025 or dialling a pup selector knob mid song, as you have to deal with two knobs rather than just one. Fortunately not something I'm needing to do too often!
 
Last edited:
Hello there, thanks for the all the nice information in this thread.
I am very much tempted to by a bb734 but I also hear a lot of good things about the Sire P7 (which is a bit cheaper but with comparable spects).
Has any of you had the opportunity to compare these ?
Thanks a lot
 
Yammy BBs & J pup

The J pup tends to be viewed as the poor cousin on Yammy BBs and rarely gets solo'd from what most folk have said. I'm 'with the crowd' on this and typically use the P or a blended PJ on my BBs when playing clean.

Was messing about with a couple of drive pedals today, and frankly the solo J with a drive pedal blows the P and PJ settings out the water in terms of delivering a meaty drive with great sustain.

Guessing this may already be familiar to BB Land - but it was a very pleasant surprise for me and yet another facet to the capabilities of the Yammy BB.