No Love For Yamaha Basses?

[non]

after seeing the thread " ampeg joins yamaha family" :Ampeg joins Yamaha family

it got me thinking that i never see mention of yamaha basses on talkbass. i don't own one but i did consider a yamaha bass a while back but i never see the "pros" using them except nathan east and billy sheehan.
just wondering why i don't see yamaha basses on stage or any where else?

 

[Gorn]

it got me thinking that i never see mention of yamaha basses on talkbass.

 

[MD]

John Patitucci?

Is there a Yamaha BB club? There is now!

 

[Firewraith]

I bought a new BB435 not too long ago. I really like it. Build quality and tone are both great. Not sure about the weight but it isn't bad at all (and I am sensitive to heavy basses). I haven't started gigging with it yet as I am still adjusting to 5 strings, but I am headed in that direction.

 

[hypercarrots]

you're looking at the wrong "pros"

 

[Swerve]

It's weird. Almost every Yamaha bass I've ever played in a store is fantastic, and yet I never end up buying one. Not sure why.

 

[non]

It's weird. Almost every Yamaha bass I've ever played in a store is fantastic, and yet I never end up buying one. Not sure why.

this has been my experience to. since i never really see yamahas in the "wild" maybe in the back of my head i think something is "wrong" with them. i know that is not fair. just some unsubstantiated unconscious bias.

 

[michael_t]

I brought home my first non-Fender just yesterday - Yamaha TRBX505.

The only question I'm asking now is "why didn't I do this sooner?".

 

[Kitsapbass]

I've had 4 over the years. A vintage BB5000 has been on my hitlist for the last 10 years. Awesome basses. I sold my old BB to my drummer who's laying down bass tracks for his own stuff. Every single Yamaha I've tried I've had good luck with.

 

[bwildt]

I have a Yamaha BBG5 that I bought back in about 2001 for my first foray into 5 strings. It's not an expensive instrument, but it is perfectly capable and I will stack it up against any similarly priced Fender Jazz. I also have a recent Yamaha acoustic (I forget the model).

Yamaha makes good stuff. I have never seen a Yamaha with poor workmanship. They may not have the brand identity of a lot of instruments, but they are perfectly capable workingman's instruments.

 

[Member8675309]

Try selling a used Yamaha. It’s a P.I.T.A.

Edit: They are fine instruments. The Yamaha acoustics I’ve played were phenomenal.

 

[hypercarrots]

Try selling a used Yamaha. It’s a P.I.T.A.

Edit: They are fine instruments. The Yamaha acoustics I’ve played were phenomenal.

depends on the yamaha...
the neck through BBs from the 80s are in demand as long as they haven't been grossly modified.

 

[DanAdams]

How Am I the first person saying this?
Maybe it's because the Yamaha brand also produces
-Snowmobiles
-Motocycles
-Wave runners
-Tennis Rackets
-Archery equipment
-Skis
-Home Theater systems
-drums, pro audio, everything else musicy...............
-plus probably 1000s of other products not related to guitars that I'm unfamiliar with.
Sometimes it just feels good to buy from a company that specializes in the thing you're passionate about.
no dis to their basses, I think they are quite good.

 

[Dan55]

I had a BEX 4 once. Nice bass. Wish I still had it.

 

[DanAdams]

Dang, you can play bass on a Yamaha, or catch a bass on a yamaha

 

[bobba66]

My BBN-5 is pretty sweet. It's a p/u swap away from being perfect.

 

[REV]

Seems like everything Yamaha does, they do pretty well. I used a Yamaha BB300 for a long time. It was inexpensive and really well made. Every bit as well made as Fenders costing 3x as much. It did the job and never complained. These days I have been using a older Yamaha Attitude bass. It is made exactly the way I would make a bass. I really like it. I did a blindfold test with some bass player friends awhile back. I compared two different Fender P basses and the Yamaha. Everyone picked the Yamaha as sounding the best.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

Dang, you can play bass on a Yamaha, or catch a bass on a yamaha
View attachment 3013935

You can also play a Yamaha bass on a Yamaha.

 

[Badwater]

As stated above, there are a lot of great players who use Yamaha basses.

Here are several reason Yamaha is not a big time name in bass land:
1) They are a huge mega operation that does way more than just music instruments (google Yamaha).
2) They don't spend much in advertising and marketing because, their products sell themselves.
3) They are global sellers of products, and have a huge R&D department.
4) Only those in the know, know how great the Yamaha basses are. And they don't have fanboy behavior.
5) Yamaha always produced high end basses for low prices for over 3 decades, and continue to do so.
6) Unlike other popular brands, Yamaha has no need for mass media campain to target the masses.
7) Because they sell, there is no need for Yamaha to get into competition with other instrument only companies.

Thus, this is why you've never heard much about Yamaha basses. But now you know.

 

[Gasman]

I have not one, but two 1024x’s. They are fantastic. My only complaint is the tuners require drilling holes for a D-tuner, which is on me more than them. Superb fit and finish, sound awesome, play like a dream. I recorded our band’s last EP on one, the engineer loved it and so did everyone else. I’m not sure why they don’t catch on more. I’m guessing lack of marketing effort and few major distributor deals.