Yamaha BB players

[stingray69]

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.

Nathan East had a lot of input on the voicing of the BB pickups.

He talks a bit about it here:

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

Sounds like Yamaha took input from some great players. ….. Nathan, Abe, Louis, Lee, & probably Michael Anthony too. That’s wisdom .
No wonder they sound so good and are used in so many different genres .

 

[Verne Andru]

Brilliant, thank you. Are these consistent over the years? Also, unless I'm missing something all of their 5s are 33 7/8 scale. Are there any with 35" or do they only offer those in their TRB series?

AFAIK the TRB's distinguishing characteristic is the 35" scale among other things.

Not sure why but during the 1990s Yamaha changed the BB body to the same shape as the TRB but left the BB headstock and a 34" scale length. Perhaps it was Nathan East's influence because that is how his sig model is. During the 2000s they change back to the traditional BB body.

Here's my BB 405 from the 1990s with a vintage Yamaha YBA200 amp.

 

[Jigmay]

Tell us about those pickups above?

 

[Verne Andru]

Tell us about those pickups above?

Those are Q-Tuner neodymiums. The bass came with single-coil jazz-type but I didn't like the noise. Since I was swapping pickups I figured I might as well get the best-of-the-best which lead me to those.

I did an A-B comparison after the install here -> Q-Tuners are good for NOTHING!

Here's how they sound in a [busy] mix.

 

[Jigmay]

Just read your other thread and listened. Great improvement and they look great in your instrument!

 

[hypercarrots]

I'm in a market for a used 5 string BB. I've played a couple over the years and they have all been amazing.

However, I don't understand their model names. There's 5000, there are 2000 and 3000 and according to this thread a 1600 as well. I remember seeing a Michael Anthony model too.

Is there any source which would give me an overwiev over the production of this series?

I posted a list of BB models here. Models ending in 5 are generally 5 string models:
Is there a Yamaha BB club? There is now!

 

[lowfreqgeek]

Sounds like Yamaha took input from some great players. ….. Nathan, Abe, Louis, Lee, & probably Michael Anthony too. That’s wisdom .
No wonder they sound so good and are used in so many different genres .

Other early LA users included Dave Hungate and Jimmy Haslip, too. I'm there were a bunch of session players in the late 70s to mid 80's time frame that at least had one available to them, even if they weren't too involved with design feedback. It was an interesting time, for sure!

 

[LASANCH]

Just acquired a 1989 BB5000 today. What a machine. Also have a 1979 BB2000. These are so under rated. Anyone out there dig theses as much as IView attachment 4705253 View attachment 4705254 View attachment 4705256 View attachment 4705257 View attachment 4705258 View attachment 4705259

Yes

 

[Bajo_63]

I bought my BB 450 new in 86 I think. Still have it.