Yamaha BBP35 or EBMM Stingray Special 4h

[Gizmot]

To be 100% honest, all of these basses are reasonable choices. Right now I'm playing a Yamaha and after a year and a half it continues to impress me. The only thing I wonder about is whether the preamp could be improved on - - but I still love the 3 band EQ.

I've had a couple of EBMMs and they were both outstanding basses. The workmanship and materials were absolutely wonderful.

If you can, touch all of these basses and take the one that feels best to you.

 

[SunByrne]

Which sound profile are you looking for? StingRays are indeed not one-trick ponies, but they do NOT sound like the Yamahas you're looking at.

I own both a Yamaha BB734a and an SBMM StingRay, so basically the same kind of thing you're looking at but just one (significant) price class down. And, frankly, if I had to cut my stable down to two basses (egad!), it'd probably be those two. They're both great—you have nothing but good choices here—but they do sound quite different.

So your first choice is what kind of sound you want. If you want the StingRay sound, then get the StingRay.

Howefer, if you decide you want the Yamaha sound, then the question is four strings or five strings. I personally prefer fours, but I have a five in the arsenal if I need it. Just depends on what you're playing; does anything you play (or plan to play) really need a five? Then get then five. But only you can answer that—seems like an odd thing to ask in a poll.

 

[Cicis Dad]

Voted BBP34 as I'm a sucker for the BB's and I mostly play 4's. Own a few of the lower end models, BB234, BB414, BB425, BBX. Love all of them, in fact I've never played a Yamaha that played or sounded bad.

I would vote for the SR Special if I were a flipper going after resale value (assuming this one is in good condition). But then SR belongs in the "only sound good when other people play it" category for me. Owned one years ago, just couldn't make it sound good, sold it.

I would vote for BBP35 but I was never comfortable playing 5's. Wanted to, tried, but not good at it.

 

[songwriter21]

Nice deal on the P35 here:

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[jam.majors]

Nice deal on the P35 here:

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Oh man…