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Yamaha BB404F Price Paid / Price New: 250/discontinued Year Manufactured: 2004 Specs: Nathan East style body 3-piece alder body, yellow natural stain fretless, 4 string 1-piece maple neck, bolt on, w/ truss rod, rosewood fingerboard w/ 24 maple fretlines 2 jazz-sized single coil ceramic pickups (look like some sort of bar magnet design) passive electronics, 2 volume, 1 tone yamaha branded die-cast tuners Sound: 5/5 Sounds frickin' awesome. Good acoustic tone. Not exactly a classic fretless jazz sound, but similar (and not worse, I don't think). Very good, with overall sweet tone. Variations in balance between neck and bridge pickups very useful. I play with D'addario chromes flatwounds, and it has a deep, sweet, round, mwah. There are probably better sounding fretless basses out there, but not for the price. I like it a lot better then the Fender Fretless Jazz Standard. With a pickup upgrade, I don't see why this couldn't sound even more fantastic, but I'm already completely satisfied. Instrument Quality: 5/5 Fantastic, especially considering the price. Came flawless, with good finish (light, see-through stain), very tight neck/body pocket, and set up with low action without buzz. Holds tuning well. Really, nothing to complain about, and I have had no reliability issues with it so far. It is very pretty, although you can certainly see where the body is jointed together. I don't care, I think it adds some character if anything. Playbility: 5/5 Very good! The body style is one of my favorites; it just fits. Less bulky than, say, a jazz bass, with fantastic upper access. Reasonable weight, although I haven't weighed it. Neck very comfortable, unlike my wimpy-thin Ibanez SRX400, and perhaps a little thicker than a standard jazz neck, with a fairly flat radius. String spacing is comfortable. Overall Value: 5/5 Outstanding value. For $250 I have a bass that I am absolutely happy with. I would probably pay up to $600 if mine was broken/stolen. It is made out of standard materials (solid alder, maple, rosewood), with a good finish, quality hardware, good sounding electronics, plays well, has a body shape I like, etc etc. I have no reservations recommending it, or, by extendtion, the fretted model. This is one of my absolute favorite instruments. Unfortunately, it's out of production. I actually ordered one of the last dozen availible from Yamaha in the US through my shop when they sold the one I was thinking of getting.
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Nov 3, 2005 06:00
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 20:36 |
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