Vintage Yamaha BB Series???

[Les Fret]

Ok great post funkytoe! Good to hear from someone who owned both. I have some GAS for a BB2000 because of Casopeioa and because I am a sucker for BB's. But since I already own a BB1000S I can better save my money judging from your post. BB2000 basses tend to be twice as expensive than BB1000s basses.

Thanks for your help! Any other people who owned or played both models?

 

[bluesblaster]

I have a BB 2000 sitting in my living room , just arrived by the brown truck this afternoon. Since its quite cold here I wait till tomorrow to open it. I'm quite excited as I haven't owned a Yamaha BB series bass in a couple years

 

[Les Fret]

Ok let me know what you think. I have owned two BB1000S basses (red and sunburst), a BB3000A and a fretless BB350F. Didn't like the BB3000A too much but all the others I liked.

 

[buteo]

Hi, folks!
There is a yamaha bb1000 from 1977-8 in my country (Bulgaria) for sale Invalid Link Removed , it's in another city and I cannot find anywhere a sound sample of this. Anyone who owned one, please give us a brief description of the sound or a link to hear it. Thanks!

 

[Ashley Weyer]

Here is my early 80's BB 2000.
Just put flats on her and I just love the tone and neck.
I bought it from the classifieds without knowing anything about the BB series basses. What a luck!

 

[Les Fret]

Here is my early 80's BB 2000.
Just put flats on her and I just love the tone and neck.
I bought it from the classifieds without knowing anything about the BB series basses. What a luck!

What happened with the finish?

 

[Ashley Weyer]

It had the three round ugly fill marks that are still visible which really stuck out so I rubbed it down, burnt it and resealed it. Some may not like it but I am happy with the look.

 

[woodyng2]

Bought this early BroadBass 1200 last June,replaced a badly notched badass bridge with a nice new Gotoh unit. Bass is a tad heavier than what i'm used to,and i may consider taking out the brass "tone anchor" under the bridge at some point.
It's a Great sounding bass,with new DR Pure Blues,it gets very grindy and deep sounding for a passive single pickup bass. It has some sound characteristics in common with my Rick basses,but seems like a "fuller" tone in comparison. (In this photo,I had swapped out the original knobs for some black Tele knobs,but then i put those on my '57 Precision,and returned the Yamaha knobs back to this bass.)
I'd like to find some direct replacement tuning keys-even though a lot of folks seem to like them,i don't really care for the feel of the original "adjustable yoke" keys much. (And they're heavy).

 

[Vic Firth]

Does anybody know the exact year when Yamaha introduced its BB5000 model (passive model made in japan) on the market? I know in the early 80's but I need to know the exact year.
Many thanks

 

[bassclef112]

Whereas most of its competitors started to offer hot-rodded “super Strat” designs during the early to mid Eighties, Yamaha focused instead on building guitars with classic-oriented aesthetics, such as the top-of-the-line SG-3000 introduced in 1982. Yamaha still remained an innovator during this period, however. Their most notable introduction during the mid Eighties was the first commercially produced five-string bass, the BB-5000, which made its debut in 1984.

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[hypercarrots]

i'm finding different info for japan and usa. it's possible it came out earlier in japan than usa. the yamaha database has been known to be wrong though.

BB 5000 ¥200,000 December 1, 1984
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BB5000

Year(s) Sold: 1986-88
Original MSRP(US$): $1445.00
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[boristhespider7]

View attachment 1024175 Bought this early BroadBass 1200 last June,replaced a badly notched badass bridge with a nice new Gotoh unit. Bass is a tad heavier than what i'm used to,and i may consider taking out the brass "tone anchor" under the bridge at some point.

I'm interested...what is the tone anchor? Is it a block of brass?

 

[woodyng2]

I'm interested...what is the tone anchor? Is it a block of brass?

Yes,it allegedly weighs half a pound.

 

[boristhespider7]

View attachment 1066010

Yes,it allegedly weighs half a pound.

Oh wow! That is a serious bock of metal imbedded in the bass. I wonder if the added weight makes much difference to the tone? It would have a be a very beneficial addition to the tone for me to warrant an extra 1/2 pound. What's the total weight of the bass?

 

[woodyng2]

Oh wow! That is a serious bock of metal imbedded in the bass. I wonder if the added weight makes much difference to the tone? It would have a be a very beneficial addition to the tone for me to warrant an extra 1/2 pound. What's the total weight of the bass?

I've not weighed my bass, (except for the "old shoulder scales" ),but i would say it's at least 10 pounds. AndyPanda has said he removed the weight on one of his,and couldn't tell any difference in the sound. I will probably remove mine at some point,as i really do love the bass' sound,neck,etc,so it would be nice to have a bit of relief!

 

[Dave Neal]

BB1000 was the model with a bolt on neck and oval inlays with reverse P pickup.

Ebony fretboard too... killer P bass

 

[Dave Neal]

My '78 BB800 is a 3 piece body w a maple neck and rosewood fretboard. My '79 BB1000 looks like a 2 piece body (if it's a 3 piece it's matched really really well), is sunburst, and has a maple neck w/ an ebony fretboard. Also the BB800 has dot inlays and the BB1000 has oval inlays. I believe the electronics are identical because they sound exactly the same. Bridge and tuning keys are also identical.

IMO, the best basses you can get for the money. Mine were $350 and $450, respectively.

No truer word spoken, Been playing BB's since the early 80's and have a 78 BB1000 as my better than a P bass P bass. .

 

[Dave Neal]

My 1983 BB1000s, un-played since 1991. It really is a truly fine bass, absolutely magnificent sounding. But it had such bad emotional baggage I never played it. I dug it out this winter for the first time in 17+ years and had it set up and it still feels and sounds amazing. But this bass still breaks my heart because now its tuning pegs are badly tarnished, the bridge it pitted, and the lacquer clear-coat has a blotchy haze. I know the hardware is an easy fix but I was told the haze is inside the lacquer finish and the only way to get rid of it is to have it re-finished.
I can feel its accusatory presence haunting me, demanding restoration.

Straight on you dont notice the hazing

Then you turn it slightly...

What a shame. I dont know if I'm gonna sell it, restore it, or what.

Nice bass and well worth a rainy day spit and polish. The tuners will clean nicely with a metal polish .. Brasso will work. Rubbing the pups with aluminium foil will remove the rust and a good automotive glaze past will clean up the bright work.

 

[Dave Neal]

Here's a better pic...

Fishheadjoe

Had one of these .. best bass I ever owned but it got stolen and I still miss it. Blues ,funk, pop... it could take on anything with ease.

 

[JW56789]

I was obsessed with these things, and owned quite a few in the 80's and beyond.

My intro was the original BB1200. Massively built, big neck, reversed P-pickup, which was the Achilles' heel for some on these axes: They did not easily interchange with DiMarzio's or any other aftermarket pickup because of their different mounting ring system. Otherwise, a great P-Bass, and different than a Fender, gorgeous in that cherry over yellowed natural finish. Stout bridge, and the adjustable tension keys are fantastic IF you score the little spanner wrench you need to adjust their tension. All these axes ran a 33 7/8" (!!) scale, which with their pickups gave a more airy, not quite as dense a tone as most Fender pickups, great for recording. MIJ at Yamaha Music Craft.

The BB2000's were groundbreaking in that they were the first fully-realized P/J bass. Essentially built on the 1200 with the additional pickup, these were the s**t back in their day, and you saw lots of famous guys with brought-over-from-Japan examples (the decal says 'Broad Bass', a name never used by Yamaha in this country) in pics and on album covers. That blade pickup had a lot of talking to do, and these were great basses . . . except for some guys, it had a BIG neck, like the 1200. Which led to . . . . .

Yamaha in Cali was courting a famous bassist (you WOULD recognize the name) who liked the 2000 but raged about that thick neck and a few other fine points. This led to the BB3000 which to me is WAY better than 2000's, as the neck is just that much more useable, and they just look too cool with the brass pickup surrounds. They are a bit thinner back to front, so they're a little lighter, not a bad thing. BTW, said player over time wore out his welcome and the proposed signature model never appeared, but the changes he pushed resulted in the 3000. The orginal passives are fine, and the A models with active electronics (vol-bal-bass-treble) are good and sound somewhat EMG-ish. Of the fours, the BB3000's are the best.

These all ran the same wood recipe: Alder body wings glued to a maple/mahogany neckthru, with a thick Macassar ebony fingerboard, so they are zingier than darker. Yamaha was cool in that they didn't dye the fingerboards to all black, so most have that wonderful curvy chocolate stripe running thru the grain. Again, all of these MIJ by YMC.

And then, the BB5000. Essentially the 4-string BB3000 'subdivided' from four to five strings, same neck and fingerboard width, so it's a little tight at the nut end, not a big deal if you're used to Jazzes or Rics, but it can be a bit much for some. Yamaha added the original 3+2 P pickup (not adopted by the rest of the industry until recently), built a accompanying blade pickup at the bridge, added a 5-string bridge, and a 5th key on a slightly bigger headstock, and that was that. Same wood recipe as its' 4-string brothers, and essentially a BB3000 with one more string.

The 5000A1 was the second version, the bass above with the active electronics package of the 3000A with corresponding new active five-string pickups. MIJ.

The 5000A2 was a completely different animal. Made in the then-new Yamaha Taiwan factory (now closed, as they've moved all non-Japanese production to China), this was a different, bigger body, and previewed the electronics and pickups from the forthcoming TRB basses. Same wood recipe, but a bigger, different body, and a MUCH wider fingerboard (though the neck shape was fine, kinda flat oval). Still a fine bass, but for me it somehow lacked the gracefulness of the MIJ axes.

I owned all of these, and a 400 and a 1600, and my faves (by a lot) were the 3000A and the 5000A. Like all the Japanese makers, they abandon classics at a stupendous pace and throw something else against the wall to see what sticks, but I wonder what the hell they were smoking to think RBX's, Motion Basses, and TRB's were replacements for the BB's. Oh well . . . . . but I can tell you the ones they sell now as BB's are nice basses I suppose, but nothing at all like these.