Yamaha BB players

#41
Wood and Wire said:
Ever wondered why the Yamaha motorcycles had 3 overlapping tuning forks on the logo?


(Admittedly, the first time I noticed that as a kid, I thought maybe they were meant to be motorcycle forks :help:)
Click to expand...

Check out the original Yamaha logo - an ornate design of a Chinese phoenix holding the tuning fork in its mouth. Beautiful but very busy visually. The current logo of three overlapping forks has roots back to 1916 - it's changed a few times since then but kept that design element as part of their logo since then.

thum_1898_01.gif
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wood and Wire
#44
wyleeboxer said:
My 1984 BB3000s is hands down the best PJ bass I’ve ever played. Yamaha got the pickups and electronics dialed in 40 years ago with their design. Not to mention this bass is of the highest quality production basses around and the fact that it has stood the test of time playing as well or even better then new proves it. Unfortunately I haven’t played it as much as I used to, the band I specifically used it for disbanded after Covid.. might end up in the classifieds someday :(

View attachment 4706706
Click to expand...

A tip from owning more than a few BB's with the brass rings around the pickups:

It's simple to take them off, polish the brass back to bright fairly quickly with 0000 steel wool or very fine sandpaper, then coat with a light oil or what I used to use, Alberto VO5 to put just the slightest film on the brass to keep it from re-oxidizing, if you don't want that tarnished look. BTW, do NOT do that to the keys or bridge, only the brass.
 
#49
LadyLoveStingRay5 said:
Could this have been Louis Johnson? I read in his tribute issue of Bass Olayer Magazine that Yamaha consulted with him in the original BB basses.
View attachment 4895135
Click to expand...

I don't know who @J Wilson was talking about, but Yamaha consulted with a lot of West Coast studio players on those early BB series instruments. Abe Laboriel was another that was known for playing BBs and has since been a loyal Yamaha player, but has never had any kind of production signature instrument. I always found it a little odd, given his loyalty.
 
  • Like
Reactions: stingray69 and LadyLoveStingRay5
#50
lowfreqgeek said:
I don't know who @J Wilson was talking about, but Yamaha consulted with a lot of West Coast studio players on those early BB series instruments. Abe Laboriel was another that was known for playing BBs and has since been a loyal Yamaha player, but has never had any kind of production signature instrument. I always found it a little odd, given his loyalty.
Click to expand...
 
#51
lowfreqgeek said:
I don't know who @J Wilson was talking about, but Yamaha consulted with a lot of West Coast studio players on those early BB series instruments. Abe Laboriel was another that was known for playing BBs and has since been a loyal Yamaha player, but has never had any kind of production signature instrument. I always found it a little odd, given his loyalty.
Click to expand...

There was at least an attempt at an Abe signature, but I guess it died on the vine. Yamaha can and does do custom one-offs for established figures and formal endorsement players. They’ve made a good number of instruments like this that the public can’t buy.

Abe Laboriel Yamaha sig bass
 
#52
lowfreqgeek said:
I don't know who @J Wilson was talking about, but Yamaha consulted with a lot of West Coast studio players on those early BB series instruments. Abe Laboriel was another that was known for playing BBs and has since been a loyal Yamaha player, but has never had any kind of production signature instrument. I always found it a little odd, given his loyalty.
Click to expand...

LSANCHORB said:
Click to expand...


Abe was my 2nd guess, followed by Paul McCartney , then Lee Skylar .

Oh well. It really matters not. When I think Yamaha BB, I think Abe and Michael Anthony.

When I think of MusicMan StingRay, I think Louis Johnson , Bernard Edwards, Paul S Denman, Tony Levin, Pino, and John Deacon.

I associate Sir Paul with the Hofner and Ric.

Of course Lee is always in my mind playing his old faithful modified PBass.

Life is funny that way.:p
 
  • Like
Reactions: stingray69 and lowfreqgeek
#53
cxcxcx said:
There was at least an attempt at an Abe signature, but I guess it died on the vine. Yamaha can and does do custom one-offs for established figures and formal endorsement players. They’ve made a good number of instruments like this that the public can’t buy.

Abe Laboriel Yamaha sig bass
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm aware of that one, but it's just a one-off - kinda like John Patitucci's hollow-body 6 and his 5-string BB1500A, or Lee Sklar's BB w/2 P pickups, or Nathan East's primary studio bass (or his travel bass). They exist, but they aren't production instruments.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LadyLoveStingRay5
#56
I'll be giving this one an outing tomorrow evening - my '84 BB3000.

A very versatile, warm-sounding bass.

A lot of players deride the J pickup on a PJ setup, but this one is very punchy, especially with the tone backed of just a bit. Given the resonant acoustics at tomorrow's venue, I'll probably end up using the J pickup for the entire gig.

DSC04033 (4).JPG
 
  • Like
Reactions: hypercarrots, Chickenwheels, LadyLoveStingRay5 and 2 others
#57
ToddB1963 said:
I'll be giving this one an outing tomorrow evening - my '84 BB3000.

A very versatile, warm-sounding bass.

A lot of players deride the J pickup on a PJ setup, but this one is very punchy, especially with the tone backed of just a bit. Given the resonant acoustics at tomorrow's venue, I'll probably end up using the J pickup for the entire gig.

View attachment 4896767
Click to expand...

Gotta love the figure on these ebony fretboards, with almost orange hues among the dark parts. Beautiful bass.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chickenwheels, ToddB1963 and LadyLoveStingRay5
#58
ToddB1963 said:
I'll be giving this one an outing tomorrow evening - my '84 BB3000.

A very versatile, warm-sounding bass.

A lot of players deride the J pickup on a PJ setup, but this one is very punchy, especially with the tone backed of just a bit. Given the resonant acoustics at tomorrow's venue, I'll probably end up using the J pickup for the entire gig.

View attachment 4896767
Click to expand...

I've always loved the look of those blade pickups at the bridge. I even considered getting one of the Nordstrand blade pickups to drop in, but I realized I really like the way the stock pickups sound together. I guess I could always get someone to 3d print a pole piece cover and paint it shiny silver...
 
  • Like
Reactions: ToddB1963
#59
When I was 18 in the 80s I bought a BB1600 which ended up being my only electric through college and for maybe 10 years after. It was a great bass. I foolishly sold it about 4 years ago.

When it was new, I had a buddy working in a recording studio in Houston. He arranged for some free studio time and I drove down there and recorded this demo in the middle of the night in a recording studio that might have had a million dollars of equipment in it. What I did here I could do today using an iPad and GarageBand in two hours in my kitchen and it may even sound better, which is mind blowing.

Here is 18 year old me on my new BB1600 in 1989, I wrote the composition track-by-track as I was recording it. Was fun.

 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Chickenwheels, Scott Shaw and lowfreqgeek
#60
ToddB1963 said:
I'll be giving this one an outing tomorrow evening - my '84 BB3000.

A very versatile, warm-sounding bass.

A lot of players deride the J pickup on a PJ setup, but this one is very punchy, especially with the tone backed of just a bit. Given the resonant acoustics at tomorrow's venue, I'll probably end up using the J pickup for the entire gig.

View attachment 4896767
Click to expand...

I just noticed a spelling error in my original post that I can't edit.

It should read "especially with the tone backed OFF just a bit".

I'm sure many of you reading saw it but were too polite to say anything. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back