Make sure you try before you buy if you go for one though. Depends what kind of tone floats your boat of course but IMHO the BB PJs all sound amazing, as does the cheaper TRBX305... the TRBX505 sure does look nice and I too wanted one for its looks, but after comparing them all it sounded the worst of the bunch to my ears!
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Make sure you try before you buy if you go for one though. Depends what kind of tone floats your boat of course but IMHO the BB PJs all sound amazing, as does the cheaper TRBX305... the TRBX505 sure does look nice and I too wanted one for its looks, but after comparing them all it sounded the worst of the bunch to my ears!
All I see is the girl. ha.
Girl cute, Bass looks ... eh. But the next music stores I go to in Europe or the States, I'm going to film or record the Yamaha basses they have there and we will see. I know they are good, but yeah, I guess resale value or something just pushes so many people away or something.?
All this talk about "resale value"... It's a non-issue for me as I fully intend to keep mine for life.
Joy Division / New Order bassist
Probably my favorite cut of his is the 'live' promo video of New Order's "The Perfect Kiss".
Some basses hold their values in some markets more than others, for sure. The point equally applies e.g. to Warwick, Spector or Ibanez (all great basses) just as much as it does to Yamaha. But resale value can work both ways though, right? In particular it means that if you're prepared to do a bit of homework you can often pick up a great bass second hand for a very decent price.
I was fortunate in managing to get both my BB425 and BB1025 new but 'end of line' from retailers, at 'sale' prices. I subsequently traded my BB425 for a value = pretty much what I paid for it. And no way would I have got my BBNE2 new, but I've managed to get one in pretty mint condition second hand for a really good price. It's still certainly not cheap, in fact it's the most I've ever spent on a bass, new or second hand but, boy, what a bass!
So if you can get a second hand Yamaha (or Ibanez etc) bass in great condition a) you're going to get a lot of bass for the money and b) have something that should hold its value.
And there are some Yammys that I wish would fall in value and come up for sale e.g. a mint condition BB1200S but which seem to be as rare as hen's teeth!
Speaking of looks, the old Super Bass series is one of my favourite Yamaha shapes. I am yet to try one in the wild though.
I used to own a Yamaha RBX 765.
The bass had a great tone once I found a set of strings that complimented the instrument’s resonance.
I eventually sold it because I never got into playing 5-string basses.
In my opinion, Yamaha makes good instruments.
Billy Sheehan and Nathan East seem to like them.
The bass had a great tone once I found a set of strings that complimented the instrument’s resonance.
I eventually sold it because I never got into playing 5-string basses.
In my opinion, Yamaha makes good instruments.
Billy Sheehan and Nathan East seem to like them.
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I'd certainly love to! All I need is for someone to point me in the direction of a BB5000 that's in good condition and available for sale...in the meantime, like dannybuoy, I guess I'll just have to make do with growing old with my BB1025
I have a Yamaha SB-35 bass. There are very few of these and I'll bet most players have neither heard of or seen one. They are the bass made to fit with their SG guitar range and was only made between 1972-75. It's a 31.5" scale, Katsura body, Maple neck with a Rosewood board. If you google it for an image and you see one in a case, it'll be mine. I can't part with it, it's just too good to play.
I own 4 Yamaha basses at the moment (MIJ BB5000, MIT BB5000, BBP35 & BB1200) - they've been a favorite brand of mine for years.
No love? How about these guys, who used them either extensively in the past or currently:
Paul McCartney - Peter Hook - Abe Laboriel - Nathan East - Jimmy Bain - Suzy Quatro - Michael Anthony - Billy Sheehan - John Patitucci - David Hungate - Verdine White - Tony Kanal - Leland Sklar - James LoMenzo - Tetsuo Sakurai
No love? How about these guys, who used them either extensively in the past or currently:
Paul McCartney - Peter Hook - Abe Laboriel - Nathan East - Jimmy Bain - Suzy Quatro - Michael Anthony - Billy Sheehan - John Patitucci - David Hungate - Verdine White - Tony Kanal - Leland Sklar - James LoMenzo - Tetsuo Sakurai
For some reason, Yamaha just doesn't get respect for any type of guitar. No one says they are bad, but they don't get fan hype either.
The thing that really gets me with this is that when it comes to brass instruments, Yamaha is a go to brand for pros, especially if they want something custom shop. Yamaha was the first company to make mouthpieces completely machine based, which was something special because every Yamaha mouthpiece in a particular size sounds exactly the same. The Bach mouthpieces back in the day had hits and misses because of the difference from one unit to the next, and they were considered on of the best.
Honestly, when I started playing bass, I just assumed that their horn shop must just be better than their guitar shop because very little hype was given to them.
The thing that really gets me with this is that when it comes to brass instruments, Yamaha is a go to brand for pros, especially if they want something custom shop. Yamaha was the first company to make mouthpieces completely machine based, which was something special because every Yamaha mouthpiece in a particular size sounds exactly the same. The Bach mouthpieces back in the day had hits and misses because of the difference from one unit to the next, and they were considered on of the best.
Honestly, when I started playing bass, I just assumed that their horn shop must just be better than their guitar shop because very little hype was given to them.
The first time I saw Chick Corea (early '80s - Tap Step tour with Bunny Brunel on bass) he traveled with his own Yamaha grand piano. We were in the alley behind The Agora in Columbus talking with Naná Vasconcelos (he was showing us how to play the berimbau) when the stage hands started loading the piano into the tour truck.
