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Yamaha Peter Hook Signature Bass
- Thread starter TNCreature
- Start date
The problem is that he got the EB-2 in 1983, so that's what appears in the photos and video of them live then (and there's scant visual evidence from that time period anyway).
Movement is definitely the 1200. Temptation '82 sounds like the 1200 to me, the 1987 version off Substance is the 1200S.
Age of Consent sounds like the 1200S to me. It would make sense that he bought the 1200S right before PC&L, and misremembered that it was right before Movement (as he told Yamaha). Mixing up Movement and Low-Life seems less likely.
That still leaves the question of the story about discovering the "Yamaha BB600" after they were robbed in 1980. He already had a 1200 before that trip, so what did he buy in New York?
hypercarrots posted a live performance of Thieves Like Us from '84 yesterday, if you look closely in the beginning you can see the 1200 sitting on a stand on the back of the stage. That doesn't write off that he didn't have the 1200S yet, but I feel like he would have retired the 1200 if he had the 1200S by then. Granted he could have just used the 1200S as a studio instrument until we first see it live in '84, but we don't know at the end of the day.
Since Hooky's memory isn't reliable enough to give us a straight answer as to which it is, that means the only people left to ask are the rest of New Order, and I doubt they gave enough of a damn to remember specifically what Hooky was using in the studio around then. So it's probably going to be one of those things that never gets a clear answer.
Is it possible the "BB600" he found in NY was the BB1200 he sold at auction not long ago, with the modded in bridge pickup? I think I remember him saying that the "BB600" had two pickups in it in some interview somewhere, and that it was technically a bit of a downgrade when he moved to the BB1200S. It's possible he never noticed that the BB1200 he used with Joy Division and the "BB600" are actually the same instrument, just one is modded.
Well, I did it. I reserved one on Musician's Friend. Only two total expected. Maybe mid-month arrival.
Congrats! I might've got one for myself but I've spent enough on basses this fall. Plus I don't really need it, I have two Yamaha BBs that are close to nearly spot on to the Hooky sound.
I just want to say that I love this thread, discussing the minutae of Hooky's progression of Yamahas...
My introduction to New Order was the Low-Life album which someone gave me for my 16th birthday in '85. Thus, I always think of that as "the" definitive Hooky sound (especially "The Perfect Kiss.")
Wikipedia (always at least a little suspect) says this was recorded in late 1982, so Hooky could have had a pretty much brand-new 1200S when they recorded that, right? I've always thought that album sounded like he sounds on Low-Life (especially "Ultraviolence") so I'm with @hellboy that PC&L was probably recorded with the 1200S.
My introduction to New Order was the Low-Life album which someone gave me for my 16th birthday in '85. Thus, I always think of that as "the" definitive Hooky sound (especially "The Perfect Kiss.")
Wikipedia (always at least a little suspect) says this was recorded in late 1982, so Hooky could have had a pretty much brand-new 1200S when they recorded that, right? I've always thought that album sounded like he sounds on Low-Life (especially "Ultraviolence") so I'm with @hellboy that PC&L was probably recorded with the 1200S.
Congrats! You must post pics and your impressions when it arrives, you know that, right?
I kinda want one but I already have a BB734a and it just doesn't seem different enough to justify $1200 on a new bass.
Yep. I will post. I don't need it but I waaannt it. I don't have an active BB. This one is a beaut.
I'm just glad to see it's not a PJ.
I have no need for another bass, but this is tempting. I like the look of yamahas, but the other current models just wouldn’t add much to the current stable of basses, though this with a reverse P and active would be different. I wish it was more clear on the limited made in Japan models and possible more mass market made in Indonesia models in terms of any difference in build/features and price. Also I am a bit nervous with the idea of a preorder from MF or GC at this point and haven’t seen this pop up on sweet water yet.
here's the bb1200 with the bridge pickup sold at auction
i've zoomed in on the headstock and body for you
here are closeups of the same areas of the bb1200 pictured in the movement definitive edition book i referred to previously. it's the same bb1200 both before and after the pickup was added. it's also not the one in the love will tear us apart video because this one has had no pickguard installed. my guess is that the one stolen in ny was the one in the video.
the one bernard is holding in the first picture below appears to have different wood grain but the one in the second may be the same. conclusion: there have been more than a couple bb1200 in new order's history.
^New Order live at Brixton Academy 1 December 1983 during Confusion [photo credit: Rob Pearce]
^legendary kevin cummins photo
i've zoomed in on the headstock and body for you
here are closeups of the same areas of the bb1200 pictured in the movement definitive edition book i referred to previously. it's the same bb1200 both before and after the pickup was added. it's also not the one in the love will tear us apart video because this one has had no pickguard installed. my guess is that the one stolen in ny was the one in the video.
the one bernard is holding in the first picture below appears to have different wood grain but the one in the second may be the same. conclusion: there have been more than a couple bb1200 in new order's history.
^New Order live at Brixton Academy 1 December 1983 during Confusion [photo credit: Rob Pearce]
^legendary kevin cummins photo
That's odd, I wonder who had the bridge pickup installed? It was in Barney's possession for a while wasn't it? Or if Hooky did it, is his memory that bad? I feel like he would remember having that done. Any guesses what the "BB600" that he bought in NY might have been?
Yeah I was thinking he must be confusing the BB800 with the nonexistent BB600. I think he's said before that he upgraded from the "600" to the 1000, to the 1200.
(Even though he already had a 1200 prior)
by the way, the bb1000 is a bolt on neck with an ebony board. so for those who wish the bbph had an ebony board, perhaps the pockets match and you could neck swap. maybe the 1/8” difference in scale length is even manageable with bridge adjustments.
Barney was using that 1200 to play Confusion (which debuted live in April of 1983), so it doesn't indicate anything about what Hooky was playing (in that same shot he can be seen with the EB-2). Note that in Pumped Full of Drugs Barney doesn't borrow Hooky's bass, he uses a 1200. It could in fact mean that Hooky had loaned him his 1200 because he had already gotten the 1200S and wasn't playing it anymore. That would mean he got the 1200S as early as spring of 1983, and used it on PC&L, which I suspect is the case.
Not a bad theory, but I think the bridge pickup was added to a 1200 they already had (hypercarrots just posted photos which support that).
I think you're right that we'll probably never know - my guess was that the bass stolen in NYC was the 1200 with the clear pickguard, which seems to have disappeared, but I'd been assuming he replaced it with a 1200S and it's pretty certain he didn't get the 1200S until he was back in Manchester. That BB800 seen in the Netherlands would make sense as the stolen guitar, although that doesn't explain what happened to Love Will Guard Us With Plexiglass. Hooky's been saying it was his Gibson copy that was stolen but I've seen a photo of that that I'm pretty sure was taken more recently than 1980.
