For sale REDUCED: 1979 Yamaha BB1200

For sale is a circa-1979 Yamaha BB1200 in Sunburst; made in Japan during the golden era of quality. This four-string bass is a neck-through, with beautiful ebony rosewood fretboard with inlays, single split P-style pickup with original black speed knobs, and engraved bridge. These basses were popularized by bassists Peter Hook and Paul McCartney, among others, in the 70’s, and have a great P-bass sound. I bought this bass in 1982 in Austin, it was my first quality bass, and I gigged with it extensively as my main bass through the 80’s and 90’s. At some point in the mid 80’s, to reduce noise, I had the pickup replaced with an EMG active pickup (no additional routing, the battery fits in the existing cavity) with a stacked bass/treble EQ, and didn’t keep the original pickup or trim ring. I also have the original clear pickguard somewhere, but couldn’t locate it in time for the photos, if it’s important to you, send me a PM and I’ll dig it up.

Weight on my kitchen scale is 9 pounds 15 ounces. Nut width is 1 3/4". Serial number 0035XX. It plays and sounds great. There’s a number of nicks and scratches and wear on the body as you might expect on a forty-year old bass, the neck is clean in the playing area with a couple of small dings (see photo). I believe all the hardware is original, and includes the original hard-shell case, which is somewhat beat up but still serviceable, all latches and hinges are in good shape.

Bass ships strung with relatively new Sadowsky Black round wounds. I will ship it the original hard-shell case. It will be wrapped in bubble wrap and packed in a new cardboard box.

I'm asking $800 $700, PayPal is fine, contact me for other payment methods. Free delivery anywhere in the Houston area. Will ship to continental US FREE or to Alaska/Hawaii for actual shipping. No International shipping due to CITES restrictions, sorry.

This bass has sentimental value to me but doesn’t get played, and it deserves to have someone who will appreciate this great bass. I’ve been asked to reduce my stable to a “normal” number of basses, so no trades, sorry.

Feel free to ask questions in the comments or PM me directly.