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Yamaha BB1200s

M

mjrabatin

Feb 9, 2011
5
0
Whittier, CA
#1
Is this worth it? Looks a bit beat up and they mention something about not having an original pickup... but I've noticed this bass is a bit hard to find.

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Thanks! I've been lurking on this board a bit lately so I figure I should finally start posting.
 
#2
In my opinion this isn't such a good deal. Not only is the original finish totally trashed but the electronics have been modded as well. I have owned several of these basses and while the deep green color is pretty rare, the condition of this one makes it hard to get too excited about. I have seen many of these in burgundy that were in great (original) shape for about the same price. These are great basses. I've been looking for a green one in good shape for many years........
 
#3
Yeah, the BB1200S only came with the one middle pickup and no bridge pickup. The bridge pickup was added by a previous owner. The BB1100S had a similar configuration to this modified BB1200S, but with a bolt-on neck.

Anyway, I have a BB1200S in similar beat up condition (but with just the one original pickup) and I really love it. The pre-amps in these things are magical. Anyway, as long as the bass is still solid and functional and the electronics mods were professionally done, and as long as you don't care about its cosmetic condition, I would say go ahead and buy it if you want a BB1200S and have the spare cash. This model doesn't come up for sale very often, owners tend to keep them because they sound *really* good and are built like tanks.
 
#4
Thanks for the advice! I went ahead and bought it, but there is one thing that has me curious. I was looking at the serial number on the back of the head and I noticed there are two numbers stamped in. I don't know if you can tell from this picture or not (hopefully it works)...

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/RARE-vintage-1980s-Yamaha-BB1200S-Bass-Guitar-Dark-Green-/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/$(KGrHqIOKk!E6z58rT8VBP6n4tjt0!~~60_12.JPG

Both numbers do fall into the range of a Yamaha guitar MIJ in 1984, but they are two different numbers. The smaller number and the "Made in Japan" of this stamp seems to be a lot more faded than the higher number.

Thanks again.
 

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