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Yamaha Attitude Special. Opinions?

Kinda BassVI

Kinda BassVI

Nov 26, 2007
169
117
Detroit, MI
#1
I posted an ad on Craigslist looking to trade a Squier VM Tele for a P bass of some kind. I received a response from a guitarist who will trade a 1994 Yamaha Attitude Special in Sea Foam Green for my Tele.

Now, I vaguely remember these from back in the day, but I don't know much about them. I know this one won't be stereo, and lacks the scalloped fretboard. Will I be able to get a good P bass tone if I roll back the woofer pup volume? Is it a fair trade for a $275 guitar?

dare4e6u.jpg
 
#3
It's really hard to pin down values on Yamaha stuff of this era, although the most similar bass I can find on eBay to this one did significantly better than $275. It's really all about who's looking that day.

I would personally trade the Squier off in a heartbeat for this, but I am a total sucker for Yamaha's necks from that particular era (I own three 500 series Pacificas and two 1200 series Pacificas, all from '89-'92 - and just had a custom Tele built at some expense *around* the neck profile on one of my 521s). So I'm pretty biased. :)

But yeah, this is one of those trades you'd best only make if you like the gear you're trading for. You can probably get what you "paid" for, maybe much more, but it's not as easy a guarantee as the Squier.

(edit: and yeah, it should be a really nice bass / instrument if it's not been abused unduly. Yamaha don't make no junk.)
 
#8
An Army Of Juan said:
Is the neck profile more similar to a jazz bass or a precision?
Click to expand...

I have never personally played one of these but I would be willing to bet closer to a P. That's strictly an educated guess based on Yamaha's predilection for thin necks with wide nuts / fingerboards and flat radii in their (very similarly constructed) guitars of the era.

Most modern Yamaha basses I've picked up have similar neck profiles but nut width much closer to a J.

edit: Juan, you don't like the color? That thing looks amazing!!!
 
#9
I saw an interview with billy that said people were afraid of the thick chunky neck on the attitudes, so that's why they came out with the Billy Sheehan BB bass with a smaller profile. So by what he said, I would guess its pretty beefy.
 
#10
wild4oldcars said:
I saw an interview with billy that said people were afraid of the thick chunky neck on the attitudes, so that's why they came out with the Billy Sheehan BB bass with a smaller profile. So by what he said, I would guess its pretty beefy.
Click to expand...

Interesting... I'm curious what Juan ends up finding out. I was looking at picking up one these myself because I like super thin / wide / flat necks, have yet to find one thin / wide / flat enough for me, and was assuming they followed a "philosophy" like the upper-level Pacifica guitars they so closely resemble.

Can you take a caliper to the trade meet, Juan? :)

(it's also possible that the Billy sig model had a much thicker neck than the "lower level" Attitudes, i.e. this one. The Mike Stern signature Pacifica has a chunkier neck front to back than just about any other guitar that was ever produced in that line.)
 

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