I finally opened this beauty's case a little while ago (got it in on Thursday), and I am pleasantly surprised. I'm picky, and this one is impressive. It's built like a tank, with no gaps in the neck pocket, and with even relief on both sides of the neck before I adjusted the truss. I got the neck pretty darn flat, got the saddles down to a really comfortable and low action (a couple or few mm above the 12th fret). The bridge, for seeming like a normal Fender type, is super beefy. The plate is anchored with seven, count 'em seven, screws. The saddles have the biggest adjustment holes I've ever seen, so no flimsy little wrenches being used here. The tuners are smooth, and the pickups adjusted beautifully, able to get close to the strings how I like. They aren't loose or wobbly at all...again, built like a tank. There's only a hint of neck dive, because when you pick the bass up, you can tell more of the weight is in the body. Guessing the weight is right about 10 lbs, but the balance makes this unnoticeable until you take it off the strap and pick it up.
The reach for the fretting hand is a nice adjustment from my other bass...35" scale, 24-fret US Peavey Cirrus 5 bolt-on. The 21 frets on my new Yamaha have the 12th fret obviously closer to the body, which was weird (have played my Peavey for a while), and the easier fret stretch on the left hand is actually really noticeable around the first five frets. I learned a fast country shuffle tune recently, and it's now not much effort to get around. This might be the first 35" to 34" ease of playing that I've ever noticed. The neck shape and string spacing further this, being some of the most comfortable I've played to this day (modern "C", 18mm), at least feels like a C shape to me. The satin finish is so fast, that it's almost effortless...well done.
What surprised me the most, was the ease of dialing in a nice, authoritative and piano-like tone from a PASSIVE setup. I can dial up a great J-Bass tone, and a P-Bass-from Hell tone. The stock strings are a little dull/dead-sounding to me, so I can imagine how much nicer my nickel Elixir strings will sound. w much nicer my nickel Elixir strings will sound. Oh, and the low-B is one of the best I've ever played/heard. It's tight, and sounds HUGE. I usually play with an on-board 3-band, some with variable mid frequency, so kudos to Yamaha's simpler approach here. Also, like reviewers have said, the two volumes and one tone knob are indeed versatile, because they are very sensitive. Honestly, you move any knob a smidge, and you get different tones...really impressive. Sustain is solid, and note volume seems even across the fretboard. I don't agree with others, regarding hot pickups...medium output, in my opinion. It's similar to a Bacchus I used to own, where the passive mode was about on par in volume, as in 10 with headphones as opposed to 5 with active eq. Nothing a volume pedal boost can't handle. The big difference with the Yamaha, is that it only took about a minute to get my tone (previously mentioned) and with waaaaay more versatility in it's setup, vs the Bacchus' seemingly singular passive tone.
I can't say that I'm surprised with my BBP35, in the sense that Yamaha's best craftsmen build them one at a time. Especially as a strictly passive bass, I think it could very well be a keeper for this otherwise active-eq-only player. I'll rehearse with it on Thursday, and then play it at a gig a week from tonight, so I'm eager to see how it does. Others have had great experiences, so an update will happen after I put this new bass through it's paces.
Here are some basic vids from me...one with features, and one with tones:
The reach for the fretting hand is a nice adjustment from my other bass...35" scale, 24-fret US Peavey Cirrus 5 bolt-on. The 21 frets on my new Yamaha have the 12th fret obviously closer to the body, which was weird (have played my Peavey for a while), and the easier fret stretch on the left hand is actually really noticeable around the first five frets. I learned a fast country shuffle tune recently, and it's now not much effort to get around. This might be the first 35" to 34" ease of playing that I've ever noticed. The neck shape and string spacing further this, being some of the most comfortable I've played to this day (modern "C", 18mm), at least feels like a C shape to me. The satin finish is so fast, that it's almost effortless...well done.
What surprised me the most, was the ease of dialing in a nice, authoritative and piano-like tone from a PASSIVE setup. I can dial up a great J-Bass tone, and a P-Bass-from Hell tone. The stock strings are a little dull/dead-sounding to me, so I can imagine how much nicer my nickel Elixir strings will sound. w much nicer my nickel Elixir strings will sound. Oh, and the low-B is one of the best I've ever played/heard. It's tight, and sounds HUGE. I usually play with an on-board 3-band, some with variable mid frequency, so kudos to Yamaha's simpler approach here. Also, like reviewers have said, the two volumes and one tone knob are indeed versatile, because they are very sensitive. Honestly, you move any knob a smidge, and you get different tones...really impressive. Sustain is solid, and note volume seems even across the fretboard. I don't agree with others, regarding hot pickups...medium output, in my opinion. It's similar to a Bacchus I used to own, where the passive mode was about on par in volume, as in 10 with headphones as opposed to 5 with active eq. Nothing a volume pedal boost can't handle. The big difference with the Yamaha, is that it only took about a minute to get my tone (previously mentioned) and with waaaaay more versatility in it's setup, vs the Bacchus' seemingly singular passive tone.
I can't say that I'm surprised with my BBP35, in the sense that Yamaha's best craftsmen build them one at a time. Especially as a strictly passive bass, I think it could very well be a keeper for this otherwise active-eq-only player. I'll rehearse with it on Thursday, and then play it at a gig a week from tonight, so I'm eager to see how it does. Others have had great experiences, so an update will happen after I put this new bass through it's paces.
Here are some basic vids from me...one with features, and one with tones:
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I hope it serves you a good, long time.
. 2000$ CAD is a lot of money to spend on a bass you cant try before
