Yamaha BB N5 II Mods / Suggestions

[BrotherRay]

I vote for concentric too. Depending on your technique,that knob could get in your way. Nothing worse than bumping a knob and changing your tone or volume at the wrong time. I remember seeing an article where Wooten had to give up a bass for this very reason.

And whatever you do don't move your bridge!!!

 

[JW56789]

CAN and WILL. You're 'locked into' that scale by the fret spacing.

 

[ragetoca]

Everything going well so far!

 

[GodsLove66]

Would've suggested option 2, but looks like it's too late

 

[ragetoca]

Would've suggested option 2, but looks like it's too late

Thanks for the suggestion I seriously considered it but most people liked the 3rd option

 

[thewildest]

Hi there, these Yamahas are very generous accepting modifications, so good luck and good process so far!

Couple of suggestions, since you are there already, is covering the inside of the control cavity with copper film, it will help with interference; if you have it in you, also make control cavity/battery compartment covers in wood, they look much nicer than the acrylic ones.

 

[ragetoca]

Hi there, these Yamahas are very generous accepting modifications, so good luck and good process so far!

Couple of suggestions, since you are there already, is covering the inside of the control cavity with copper film, it will help with interference; if you have it in you, also make control cavity/battery compartment covers in wood, they look much nicer than the acrylic ones.

Yea, I already got a roll of copper tape and will tape it once I am done drilling the battery cavity. Also, I am thinking of getting a Ray Ross bridge for this bass

 

[thewildest]

Yea, I already got a roll of copper tape and will tape it once I am done drilling the battery cavity. Also, I am thinking of getting a Ray Ross bridge for this bass

Should you ever in need of inspiration, here was my (similar) journey with a 30 year old TRB-6P I recently worked on
1992 Yamaha Trb-6P transformation

 

[Lackey]

I can't imagine throwing this much money into a BBN5 - but it's a good bass regardless of how cheap it was/is, I have the 4 banger version which I grabbed for 200 bucks.

Curious to hear your final thoughts when its done!

 

[ragetoca]

I can't imagine throwing this much money into a BBN5 - but it's a good bass regardless of how cheap it was/is, I have the 4 banger version which I grabbed for 200 bucks.

Curious to hear your final thoughts when its done!

well, I have a super soft spot for Alder Bodies and rosewood fingerboards. I own a custom Roscoe SKB and this $300 Yamaha plays at least half as good as a $5000 bass and besides it just feels so good in my hands. I am getting the preamp tomorrow so I should have everything finished by this weekend. I will post some audios and videos once done. By the end of the day I probably will be in about $700 bass and mods.

 

[FishDub]

Damn I may be alone on this but that bass sounds killer without any mods..I tried one years ago and was floored..

 

[ragetoca]

Damn I may be alone on this but that bass sounds killer without any mods..I tried one years ago and was floored..

yes, you are correct, It does (did) sound very good but with very limited tonal control. For me, a bass tone is in the woods 1st, then electronics 2nd.....this bass sounds amazing by itself (no electronics) thats why I love the Alder / Rosewood combination

 

[2cooltoolz]

Looks like you're on track. Keep us apprised! I'm interested to see the final back rout (and cover!).

 

[ragetoca]

So far so good! Updates:
-Expanded cavity and routed new cavity for 18v/batteries.
-Will be doing the cavity covers tomorrow.
-Installed and wired preamp and pickups today. I got sound and no hum but still needs some tweaking.
-I installed the 4 knob Aguilar OBP-1 pre with l: Volume, Blend, Stacked T/B and VTC. Something is off, the volume and treble both are controlling volume
-The Aguilar DCB pickups have 3 wires, white, black and gray. I connected the white wire to the hot (bridge and neck to the blend pot) and put the black and gray wires together with all the ground wires (bridge ground and Jack ground) can you tell me if I am doing something wrong? Was kinda thrown off by the 3 wires, I have usually seen 2 or 4 wires.....

thx
-

 

[ragetoca]

So far so good! Updates:
-Expanded cavity and routed new cavity for 18v/batteries.
-Will be doing the cavity covers tomorrow.
-Installed and wired preamp and pickups today. I got sound and no hum but still needs some tweaking.
-I installed the 4 knob Aguilar OBP-1 pre with l: Volume, Blend, Stacked T/B and VTC. Something is off, the volume and treble both are controlling volume
-The Aguilar DCB pickups have 3 wires, white, black and gray. I connected the white wire to the hot (bridge and neck to the blend pot) and put the black and gray wires together with all the ground wires (bridge ground and Jack ground) can you tell me if I am doing something wrong? Was kinda thrown off by the 3 wires, I have usually seen 2 or 4 wires.....

thx
-

**UPDATE** Everything working Perfectly, sounds amazing! I would describe it close to a Sadowsky Modern tone....Nino Valenti is the one who suggested that the OBP1 with Aguilar DCBs was the closest to Rogers modern tone....

 

[ragetoca]

Here is an audio sample