NBD Yamaha BB435

ThingsAbove

ThingsAbove

Jul 11, 2011
771
1,576
4,926
Near Raleigh NC
#1
I haven't owned a 5 string bass for well over a decade. I didn't need a 5 string bass. So of course I bought one.

I've only had time to adjust the string height, set the intonation and played for a bit. Getting used to the extra string is going to take some time. I played 5 strings basses almost exclusively for 8 years but I've "unlearned" whatever skill I'd had. I even had to concentrate to recall the notes on the B string last night.

I don't know what brand of stock strings came on it, but they have some weird "phasing" sound on a couple of the strings. I need to do some string shopping. If someone has a string recommendation for this bass I'd be interested to hear it.

This is my first Yamaha and the build quality is surprisingly nice for the price. I'm looking forward to getting better strings on it before forming an opinion about the sound.

PXL_20210427_011644599.jpg


The control cavity has some graphite paint shielding and a foil lined panel. They kindly left me quite a bit of extra wire to pick up RF.

PXL_20210426_232628453.jpg
 
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#2
ThingsAbove said:
I haven't owned a 5 string bass for well over a decade. I didn't need a 5 string bass. So of course I bought one.

I've only had time to adjust the string height, set the intonation and played for a bit. Getting used to the extra string is going to take some time. I played 5 strings basses almost exclusively for 8 years but I've "unlearned" whatever skill I'd had. I even had to concentrate to recall the notes on the B string last night.

I don't know what brand of stock strings came on it, but they have some weird "phasing" sound on a couple of the strings. I need to do some string shopping. If someone has a string recommendation for this bass I'd be interested to hear it.

This is my first Yamaha and the build quality is surprisingly nice for the price. I'm looking forward to getting better strings on it before forming an opinion about the sound.

View attachment 4248840

The control cavity has some graphite paint shielding and a foil lined panel. They kindly left me quite a bit of extra wire to pick up RF.

View attachment 4248842
Click to expand...
I am impressed! I don’t often see shielding in that price range. I already knew the bass looked and sounded good.
 
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#4
Nice bass! By the way, I had the same phasing issue with my BB434 with the stock strings. There's a long thread about it on here somewhere. It is gone after a string change. I went to NYXL's for awhile, and now running with Fender 9050L flats.

Good point on the extra wire as a possible place to pick up noise. I would be interested to hear if you notice a change in the J-pickup noise after reducing the wire length. I find that if I rotate my bass in a north-south orientation in my room, the J noise goes away completely. Probably has something to do with the direction of the wiring in the room.

Enjoy the new BB!
 
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#6
I'll give the strings some more time to stretch and make sure they are properly witnessed over the nut and bridge to make sure I don't have weirdness occurring there. I have a string through body JMJ Mustang that also had string weirdness that was partly caused by the severe string angle over the bridge. Repeated witnessing the string at the saddle settled it down.
 
#7
The strings are settling in. The B string required a lot of mashing at the nut and bridge to get the intonation stable across the frets

I had a chance to play it with a few of my cover band tracks and it sits very nicely in the mix. I sounds kinda like my Fender Player, but different. The tone control is very usable, unlike my Player bass that has almost no linearity.

This is my first P/J so I'm still trying out the bridge pickup on some stuff but it gives me a more "modern" sound than I'm looking for on most cover stuff so I've mostly left it off. It will probably be useful for worship music.

The only negatives I've come up with is that the lower horn is not conducive to playing seated. It is too short and the waist of the instrument isn't deep enough to work either on my right leg or on by left with the body between my legs, so I'm having to practice standing, with a strap. That's a bit of a bummer.

I continue to play with the neck pickup height as I'm not getting consistent string-to-string balance.

The E string should really be under a string tree, as it has very little break-over at the nut even with the string wound properly down the post. My Fender Player has the same issue with its D string. I don't know why we have to pay over $1,500 to get a bass that has a string tree that covers all the necessary strings.

The "creme" pickguard is nicely cut, but IMO really ugly. I hate to spend $50 to get a tort guard, but I know it will dramatically improve the tone :)

The B and E strings are anemic, but I'm still adjusting pickup heights so I may find the magic zone eventually.

The wood used in the neck is not cross-cut (probably not necessary with the laminate) and is not attractive, with poor grain and ugly bits that were obviously near a knot. The headstock also has a glued on cheek on the G-tuner side that looks really cheap. That being said, this bass has about triple the sustain of my 3 Fender bolt-on basses, so that laminate neck and fancy bolt-on system really works, even it it is ugly.

So overall, I'm quite happy with it. I think it will scratch the 5-string itch nicely for 1/4 of what I'd paid for for my fivers in the past.
 
#8
I just got the exact same bass (though mine is that green color they call blue for some reason). My (BF)GF(E) gave it to me as an unexpected B-day present. I've never owned a 5-string before so I'm having a ball with it.

My first impression is I can't believe how good this thing is, especially given the price tag. I mean, I have basses that cost three times as much that aren't really better than this thing. So this isn't just a great bass for the money. It's a great bass period. Yamaha must have production down to a science. I have a P125 electric piano of theirs and it's the same thing. Unreal they can produce something that good at that price.

Anyway, my only complaint about this thing (and it isn't really a complaint) is that it came in desperate need of a setup. I mean the neck was dead straight and all five strings were buzzy. I tend to like higher tension strings so I took off the D'Addario EXL170s that it came with. For now I've put a set of Ernie Ball Power Slinky Bass 5's (2821) on just because that's all the local shop had in stock. Those run from a 50 G string up to 135 on the B. I've ordered a set of D'Addario pro steels in those same gauges to see if I like those better but I have to say those Ernie Balls sound really good. I tend to like steels better than nickel and the D'Addarios usually have a bit more tension, which I like. But these Ernie Balls really are good. Worth checking out.

Even with the thicker strings I still had to take about a half turn out of the truss rod to stop the buzz. Interestingly that still left less bow than I usually shoot for. But I can't get any of the strings to buzz so I'm just leaving it alone. That and setting the intonation has this thing playing nicely and sounding great. I love the neck profile.

B
 
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#9
BigBadBen67 said:
. . .
Even with the thicker strings I still had to take about a half turn out of the truss rod to stop the buzz. Interestingly that still left less bow than I usually shoot for. But I can't get any of the strings to buzz so I'm just leaving it alone. That and setting the intonation has this thing playing nicely and sounding great. I love the neck profile.

B
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Same, here. The neck came with zero relief so I had to backoff the truss rod a bit. And those XL170's required most of the saddles to be cranked out almost to the end of their travel to get the intonation correct.

The neck has a great profile and the fretboard is even slightly radius'd at the edges so no need to use my ham fisted application of a large diameter steel rod to the fretboard edge like I do with most cheap basses.

I am trying to get used to the bump at the back of the base of the headstock... when I slide up to the nut I'm apparently feeling that and stopping short of the first position. All my Fenders taper slightly out at the headstock and that's what I'm accustomed to.

Did your neck have some gritty feeling bits from the finish left over on the backside? I'm debating whether to sand the back of the neck lightly to remove them but don't want to go through the thin finish back there.

Lastly, are you able to practice with it seated?
 
#10
ThingsAbove said:
Did your neck have some gritty feeling bits from the finish left over on the backside? I'm debating whether to sand the back of the neck lightly to remove them but don't want to go through the thin finish back there.

Lastly, are you able to practice with it seated?
Click to expand...

I don't have that on the back of my neck. Seems odd that would get past quality control. Maybe smooth it out with some 0000 steel wool? either that or maybe some really fine grit sandpaper, like 600 or finer. I just refinished the neck on my upright using those two and it came out really smooth.

Personally I can play seated with it but I get what you are saying about that lower horn being small. There's definitely less there to hook your leg than on the Fenders.
 
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#17
Tubehed said:
It might be a bad E string or maybe twisted? That hasn't been my experience with that set. XL's tend to be really consistent from pack to pack.
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You were correct. It was twisted. I took it off and carefully rewound the E. It's happy now.

Man that is a harmonic loving bass. Trying to find muting positions for my right thumb that don't generate harmonics is tough. Maybe it's just new strings. I haven't had a set of new round wounds on a bass in a long time.

Really makes me concentrate on my muting technique (or lack thereof)
 
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#18
ThingsAbove said:
You were correct. It was twisted. I took it off and carefully rewound the E. It's happy now.

Man that is a harmonic loving bass. Trying to find muting positions for my right thumb that don't generate harmonics is tough. Maybe it's just new strings. I haven't had a set of new round wounds on a bass in a long time.

Really makes me concentrate on my muting technique (or lack thereof)
Click to expand...

Good to hear it was an easy fix! Enjoy your new bass.
 
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#19
Tubehed said:
Jimmy, what do you like better about the Dunlop's?
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The lower tension, the new sound, which I think of as a cross between steels and nickels, and the dead sound, which take on a lot of the characteristics of flats while still enabling me to get some decent zing when needed. I never liked the sound of XL's dead, quite honestly.
 
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#20
JimmyM said:
The lower tension, the new sound, which I think of as a cross between steels and nickels, and the dead sound, which take on a lot of the characteristics of flats while still enabling me to get some decent zing when needed. I never liked the sound of XL's dead, quite honestly.
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@JimmyM Do you like the Dunlops straight from package to your bass or only after some "treatments" ?
 
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