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Yamaha BX-1 and BX-5 basses

P

PhloopyYoopy

Oct 23, 2021
35
33
Maryland
#1
Anyone out there still playing a BX-1 or BX-5?

There's not a ton of info out there on them out there since they're not real popular. Personally I've been really impressed by mine which I've had for a few months now. I liked it because it is lightweight, headless, and not real bulky so it's great for keeping in the bedroom for quiet headphones practice.

I'm not really into the appearance, it is comfortable to play. 5 piece mahogany (?)/maple neck thru, Ebony fretboard, full scale. And they can be picked up at a great price, all things considered. Mine is a pleasure to play and I kinda enjoy the tight string spacing. I saw another post here on Talkbass where someone stripped the heavy black finish and did a natural finish which looks great! I intend to do the same once I complete another project that is underway.

It's a 1990 made in Taiwan model. The bridge tuner hardware I believe is made by Steinberger, in case parts are needed. It's a simple and effective design, but I can see where it could potentially rust. Mine is in good condition so far. The pots and ceramic tone capacitor were garbage so I tossed those out and upgraded. Otherwise the neck is lovely, with no dead spots at all.

From what I've been able to dig up, the pickups are meaty Alnico V humbuckers, that you may also find on some of the Motion Bass models.

In any case, I feel like it may be a very under appreciated and undervalued bass, if anyone is looking for a bargain bass that plays great, check it out.

Photo of the bridge humbucker, uncovered which I haven't seen anywhere on the internet:

IMG_1424.JPG
 
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#2
I had an 85 Japanese BX-1 for a while.
I don't think the hardware was made by Steinberger but in house by Yamaha. And replacements are very hard to come by.
The only outsourcing of components that I recall from Yamaha (except like tuners) was with Warmoth in the 90s.
The 2 pickups are actually different (they should be labeled on the bottom) so when you use the bi-sound and use them as single coils they can cancel hum.
I love Yamahas, but I found it impossible to play while sitting without a strap.
Definitely an uncommon instrument.
 
#4
Yamaha-BX-1-1200_0074.jpg
Yamaha-BX-1-1200_0076.jpg
Yamaha-BX-1-1200_0079.jpg
Yamaha-BX-1-1200_0080.jpg


I had both of those models. In 1987 I bought a BX-5 brand new from Westwood Music in Los Angeles (it was my first 5-string bass). I traded it in to a small shop to cover most of the cost for my first Alembic, a Persuader (Vector body) with an Alembic P/J set of pickups in it, sometime in the early '90s.

In the mid '00s I saw an article in Bass Player magazine where there was a photo of some guy's collection of basses, and one of them was a BX-1, I contacted to guy to see if he'd be willing to sell the BX-1 to me, and he did! I had that one for quite a while gigging it in my jazz fusion band before selling it to a guy I met who was looking for one of those, about six years ago.
 
#5
Murivan said:
I don't think the hardware was made by Steinberger but in house by Yamaha...

The 2 pickups are actually different (they should be labeled on the bottom) so when you use the bi-sound and use them as single coils they can cancel hum.
Click to expand...

I thought I read somewhere that someone replaced the tuning blocks by requesting them from Steinberger. Might be dust in my brain too!

Now I'm curious to see what the neck pickup looks like under the hood, which is just about all I ever use. They do have different color wiring. I've been tempted to stuff either an EMC HBCS or force a SD Rickenbacker pickup in the neck position, but I think the BX pickups are fine as-is.
 
#6
PhloopyYoopy said:
I thought I read somewhere that someone replaced the tuning blocks by requesting them from Steinberger. Might be dust in my brain too!

Now I'm curious to see what the neck pickup looks like under the hood, which is just about all I ever use. They do have different color wiring. I've been tempted to stuff either an EMC HBCS or force a SD Rickenbacker pickup in the neck position, but I think the BX pickups are fine as-is.
Click to expand...
I should have been more specific. The pickups are different in the sense that the magnets have opposite polarity, so each pickup hum cancel (when used in humbucker mode), and when used as single coil (that use both the rear coil of each pickup) they hum cancel as well.
It is definitely possible that someone adapted a Steinberger bridge and even headpiece (drilling few more holes), but the original hardware is all Yamaha.
 
#9
PhloopyYoopy said:
So I've just discovered that my 1990 made in Taiwan BX-1 doesn't have the nice 5 piece neck. It has a single piece. I've just started stripping the finish, and I'm wondering what other surprises are waiting for me. Kinda a bummer, but still a nice bass.
Click to expand...

Apparently I am incorrect. My Taiwan BX-1 does indeed have a 5 piece neck! The backside appears to have a solid block behind the neck which I assume is for the tilt of the neck in relation to the body. These basses are really a steal on the used market.

I only removed a small patch of the paint on the back when I made the previous post. Just a few days ago I took off most of the paint, and got a pleasant surprise.

Also, has anyone tried EMG 35 pickups on one of these?
 
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#10
PhloopyYoopy said:
Apparently I am incorrect. My Taiwan BX-1 does indeed have a 5 piece neck! The backside appears to have a solid block behind the neck which I assume is for the tilt of the neck in relation to the body. These basses are really a steal on the used market.

I only removed a small patch of the paint on the back when I made the previous post. Just a few days ago I took off most of the paint, and got a pleasant surprise.

Also, has anyone tried EMG 35 pickups on one of these?
Click to expand...

Would be curious to see any pics of your bass with the paintwork removed, if you've got any?
 

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