I have a BB424X, and that fantastic split coil is what keeps me coming back. I never even bother touching that 3 way switch, I just keep the split coil solo all the time. I'm curious how you would compare the sound of the solo split coil on the 1025 vs the 425? It seems as though all the Youtube comparison videos always have both pickups on, which IMO isn't nearly the best sound on the 425. The 1025 is definitely a step up with both pickups on for sure, I'd just be afraid to lose some of that P bass grit if I did the upgrade.
I had a 424X and then I sold it to get a 1024X. What I can tell you is that you can see the upgrades in the 1024X constrution details: the head has a gloss finish, the neck is smoother and more refined, including the fretwork and markers in the scale board, the hardware shows better quality. But the main diference are the pickups. They're not better but different. The 424X has more punch and bite on the neck pickup, while the 1024X is more tamed and refined, smoother but clearer tone. Each have that great P-bass feel, but the 424X has a more agressive bite, great to play with a pick, while the 1024X has a more vintage feel and more definition in the notes.
This clip makes me want a 2024X:
Man, I never knew that Justin Meldal-Johnsen used to play a Yammy BB with NIN. One of my favorite bass players with one of my favourite basses. And such a tone! Love it!
My 2 cents on this subject. I had only one bass up until 2015 (for the frequency that I played it was enough...), then one day I saw a Yamaha BB424X hanged in a local store that belonged to a friend of mine that was the son of the owner back then. It imediatly grabbed my atention with that vintage look. I knew nothing about Yamaha BB basses back then, but I liked the visual so I asked to try it. When I grabbed the bass I felt quite solid, heavier than the bass I played but in a good way, like it had more wood to it. I tried it unplugged first, and I imediatly liked how it felt. The neck was really confortable and when I played it resonated through the body and the sustain was incredible. My friend was there and he told me that he hanged the bass there because he wanted to sell it since he wasn't playing with it for a while and he said that I could take it to try it and if I liked it we could settle a deal. So I took it to try at my gig that same night. I still hadn't tried it plugged on and I thought of using it on soundcheck just a bit to get the feel of it and then switch to my main bass for the gig. Man, when I turned on the volume I was blown away by the tone and bite it had. I loved it so much that I played the whole gig with it. After that I searched for more info about these basses and I couldn't believe that I was playing the lower level model of that series. I used it for most of the summer season and by the end of the year, a deal came up with a used BB1024X so I passed it to get this one.
My BB1024X is one of my never-let-go basses. I just love the way it plays and sounds. It has a set of 2 years old chromes on it and it sounds better than ever. I wouldn't trade it for any other bass, not even an american Fender P-bass. It has THAT tone that I love and more. Not only the neck pickup sounds great, but also the bridge pu sounds amazing soloed for that finger-jacoish tone, and the 2 pickups together sound great, round and defined. A friend of mine that swears for his fender p and j-basses, once came to one of our gigs to play 2 songs with us and used my Yamaha BB and at the end he came to me and said that if I ever sold that bass I should go to him first that he would buy it without questioning the price. That's just how good these basses are.
And now I have a Yamaha BB735A coming my way. I wanted to add a 5 strings PJ bass to my colection and I thought about one of the new BB's or a Sire P7 to fill that spot. Then a few months ago I had the oportunity to try a Sire and honestly I wasn't much impressed about it. So when a barely used BB735A was placed for sale by a friend of mine on a facebook group I didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. I should get it only on thursday, but I'll take it out to play that same night for sure.
