Yamaha BBT-500H Head

The features have already been described.
It is a pretty amazing little amp.
I just got it and have used it on a couple of gigs.
It feels good when I play through it.
So far it has plenty of power for my needs.
I'm not getting the weird sounds the previous reviewer was talking about.
It comes with clamp on filters that might be the cure for his problem.

I'm using it for jazz and funk.
Fretless and slapping sound very good.
The EQ is very versatile, the compressor is excellent.
It is a bit hissy, but in a normal live enviornment, I don't hear the hiss.

I can only guess about the reliability.
The knobs seem pretty cheesy.
I hope it will be a workhorse.
I like the light weight.

So far this thing is a keeper.
I have a couple of loud gigs coming up and that will be the test for me.
If it can hang in when things are pumping, I'll be very happy.

Features are already written...Though I have to admit it's very chinese, cheap looking knobs (and not just looking).

I've used it mainly with jazz basses, and several bass cabs (800 watt marshall4x10, peavey 4x10, cheap 1x12, its own 2x10, and 4x10 yamaha cabs...). It's a really great sounding amp, actually I've never heard one amp sounding so great...But then one problem appeared, at high volumes the tweeters started to distort, peak in an ugly way. It took a time we found out the problem is not with the speakers, but with the amp itself. Taken measurments, and found out, the amp distorts all the time at a very high frequency, which becomes audible on high volumes as well. I took it back to the shop, where they found, that ALL the amps has the same problem. The digital poweramp is not shielded properly...

Well it works, but how? I don't know how these amps passed the quality check...

I haven't dealed with them, I let the music shop do it.

I think this could be one of the best (if not the best) amps all around, but I just can't trust in them this way. It really sounds monster, and even feels good, punchy, not dead like line6, or the roland digital stuff. I don't know if others have experienced this problem...
Maybe yamaha should relelase its preamp alone as well-the poweramp problem would be solved.:)

Amp made in 2005. 500 watt solid state amp with very comprehensive range of pre-sets and sound combinations, including compressor, noise gate, five band tone controls, variable parametric EQ, all programmable (including volume by pre-set) and controllable by an external midi souce such as the Yamaha MFC10 midi foot controller. Also includes a balanced DI output, pre/post EQ options, headphone jack with volume and an effects loop with blend control. The amp is fan cooled but, being digital, runs very cool and consumes much less power than conventional amps. I use this amp at home and at gigs. Being small and light it is very easy to cart around. I use the amp with an Ashdown ABM mini 4x8 and an Ashdown MAG 250 deep cabinet. The amp is rated at 500 watts into 2 ohms, more than enough power for me, but it is important to realise that it will only operate at approx 125 watt into 8 ohms or 250 watts into 4 ohms. I play a range of styles including funk, pop, blues/rock and boogie. This amp is versatile enough to deal with any style of music. The features are so many and varied that it can take a while to understand and control everything that is possible, and you may only end up using a fraction of what it can do. No Speakon output but probably no room for one as it is so small!

I use a custom 4 string with MusicMan pickup and a Vigier Arpege 5 string with twin pickups. It provides way more than I need for all styles that I play. There is a slight hiss when not playing but this is insignificant and can, if required, be suppressed with the noise gate. The range of model presets includes tube, solid, R&B, vintage, modern, classic and four levels of overdrive. In addition any combination of model preset, comp, EQ, noise gate, effects blend and master volume can be programmed into five separate user-definable presets. I have not been able to take the amp up anywhere near full volume yet but I can say that the clean setting always remains very clean. The last of the four overdrive settings is evil!

I have had no problems with reliability at all and would definitely use on a gig without backup.

No need for any so far. I believe the warranty is one year but I'm not sure as I can't find it!

I have been playing regularly for 10 years. I would definitely buy another if it were stolen or lost. I love the small size and weight, very comprehensive spec, quality and value for money. There is nothing I dislike about this amp, although I would have liked a Speakon connector. The amp is very sensitive to input noise and distortion. If you get input distortion it is almost certainly NOT the amp. Most likely it is your bass pre amp or effects. DON'T use Nicads and try to use a full 9 volt dry cell or, better still, 18 volts for the bass pre amp. Similar advice for your effects or use a mains adaptor.

These amps just came out about a year ago,and are all digital,power amp and pre.This is the most versatile bass amp I've ever owned!It has 11 models that span all genres of music,a wonderful compressor(and I hate compressors)and 5 band e.q.,effects loop,headphone jack,midi in/out and 5 programmable channels.This amp weighs about 10 lbs and pushes 500w@2 ohms!My only gripe is that you have to use a midi controller to footswitch channels,a plain old footswitch would be nice!

I use a Rickenbacker 4003s5 five string with EMG jazz p/u's,a Ibanez SR505 w EMG jazz p/u's and a Hofner copy and this amp does it all,from deep,round John Paul Jones to Marcus Miller!SWR,Ampeg,you name it,it's there.I use it with a Carvin 2-10 and 1-15 at 2 ohms and it shakes the room!The overdrive is very good too,it can sustain,and get from mild to heavy without being harsh,I run my horn wide open for clean,modern sounds,but don't have to touch it when dirty.You have to be careful with the e.q.because low end can sometimes dominate!

I've used it several times at gigs without a backup,and it never breaks a sweat,when pushing it I've checked the fan in the rear and have yet to see it run!I've had her about a year with no problems

I've never dealt with them,but own other Yamaha equipment that's never failed

I've been playin'30 years plus and have owned SVT pro rack rigs,Sansamp RBI rack,Gallien Krueger 700rb's (2)and Peaveys of many types(peaveys are underrated!)and this is the best anp I've used,at 10lbs as opposed to 50lbs for heads/racks of this power, my 52 year old back likes it!Also it only draws 180 w of power,so you never have to worry about your rig tripping breakers when firing it up!I wish it had a plain old footswitch for channel switching though,but I'm using a rocktron midi exchange which does work nicely.All this for 599.00 is an outstanding value!

The Features are great. It's a digital Amp, and so it has 11 different modes, then the 5-band EQ, and the parametric 1-band EQ, genius!!!!
I use this amp in a rock band, called release. It HAS enough power for me! I use every feature, there is nothing yamaha could do better, maybe a speakon output, but for the bbt-boxes you needn't speakon outputs!

I'm using a 4string Ibanez, and a 5string Fender (precision)
it suits my music style (rock)
it isn't noisy, but if it is ever noise (what i dont believe) therefore there's a noise gate!
It has 11 different sounds, all great!
No, the clean channel isnt distortet at high volumes!
wich distortion? the special sound "distortion" as an effect, it is very soft to very brutal! ;)

No, the amp has never broken down.. no failure

Yamaha was very friendly!!
No repair!
Yes, i've found one easily
i think 2 or 3 years!

I've been playing since 3 years.
i would buy it again!
i love that it is small, and the power (500 watts!)
i dont hate my amp!
i compared it with the ampeg SVT, some SWR amps, with a Fender amp, and a Hughes&Kettner (quantum) amp, but no one was has so different modes like the yamaha!! i had to pay 854 ? (euros, i come from germany), i bought it with the YamahaBBT410S (4x10" box) as a YamahaBBT-Set!

It bought it just a week ago, so I guess it's made in 2005.
The versatility of this amp is incredible. It features 11 digital soundtype modelings, input level, a studio quality compressor (with ratio, threshold, attack, release, gain and knee controls), separate preamp gain and preamp master, a 5-band semi parametric tone control and one extra 1-band full parametric eq, master vomume. There's also an built in noisegate. There are 5 memory patches for storing own created sounds.
On the back, there are all the necessary connections. On the line out and phone jacks there's even a speaker simulation!
This amp may look a little bit too complicated for some inexperienced users. But eventualy it's quite easy once you get used to it.

This amp smokes! It really sounds good. It digitally emulates 11 different soundtypes, from clean solid state over tubedrive to extreme fuzz... and does that very well (to my ears anyway...).
There probably will be a difference between this tubedrive and the sound of a hard driven SVT classic, but hey... with this amp I can have a very close simulation at any volume and even through my headphone. I had all tube amps, so I can compare and believe me, you won't miss real tubes... I like this amp even more because it sounds tighter, more focused then most tube amps. The solid state type amps are also very good. The noisegate works very well and if you need to, you can always turn it off (which is no problem because the amp is not really noisy).
I play in cover band, so I need a lot of different sounds and this amp has got them all. I use Fender precision, Warwick Thumb and Fortress One Fretless, Hotwire Vintage Five basses, and for all these basses there's a suitable sound. I also use the Yamaha BBT 410S cabinet, which is great too.

Works fine, but haven't got it that long, so...

I always heard that Yamaha has a very good customer support.
But the manual came in Dutch, so that's already ok - it's the first time I got a manual for an amp in my own language... great!

It's a full digital amp, so some people it may find it horrible that there's a slight delay when turning the knobs to change the various functions... but that's something that doesn't bother me. I like this amp al lot.
I had various different amps (Ampeg SVT IIIpro and V4, SWR Workingman's 4004, Ashdown ABM Evo II) and I like this one the most.
It replaces all these amps in one time (it even does a lot more...)at a price you can't leave it for!
I didn't gave it tens, because that would mean that the amp would be perfect, and it probably is not :-)

New amp released November 2004. Has 16 different amp sounds (eleven preset amp sounds plus 5 user banks). I find this amp to be VERY versatile in the studio and live. Single input with adjustable input gain and overload LED. Has headphone jack with level that sounds fantastic (thick and tight). Has effects loop rear jacks. Midi pedal jacks for use with midi switching pedals and data saving -very cool. I use this amp with a very loud band and it has never crackled or shut down. A very quiet amp both onstage and in studio. Onboard noise gate is not needed as each model/amp sound is super high quality sounding. Unlike Pods and other makes which need a gate.

I use a 1966 P-Bass stock, 1965 Kay bass stock, and a James Tyler bass stock. They all sound great, particularly the passive basses. It seems like this amp loves high impedance pickups, though my active Tyler sounds fine, too. This amp sounds warm, thick, even, and VERY tubey, not like any other solid-state amp on the market. This amp is the best amp I've ever played, this includes my Glockenklang Heart Core and Bass Art rigs I just sold, and my vintage Ampeg and Fender amps. They just sit idle now since I got this the BBT 500H. It is also my recording rig now -replacing my Demeter compressor and Alembic F1X -yeah that's right. I'm able to change bass sounds with a turn of the knob- while never having to touch the tone knobs -engineers love this when they ask for a rocking or different sound I can give it to them with compression! The amp models are only affected by the EQ knobs when you turn them away from the 12 noon setting. Keep the Master volume wide open when using the 11 models, then adjust Master volume of the 5 user programmable models to match the level of the 11 models. This allows you to always keep the Master Volume wide open at all times for ease of use and consistency. Trust me on this. The Compressor is the most incredible sounding one ever offered by a bass amp manufacturer. I've played through the finest Comps made when recording, and this one does all of what the best do and is easier to set- becuase it is one knob. Yamaha obviously had a world-class mixing engineer set the workings of this compressor, as it sounds unbelievable at loud volumes. For example, set the amp model knob on the "Solid" setting then set the Comp knob at 10 o'clock, the Gain, bass, low mids at 12 o'clock, Master at wide open, then set the mids, high mids, and highs @ 3 o'clock. Turn the amp up loud and check out the sound and the big-time sustain and "radio station bass" comp sound. The EQ is great and hardly needs to be set away from 12 o'clock. The angrier models sound very SVT-like, and the "Vintage" setting is dry and heavenly sounding like the best Ampeg B15. I've recorded and played live with this head through my Glockenklang Take Five 4x10 cab wired with two 16-ohm 10's married to two 8-ohm 10's sharing the load creating a 2.6 ohm load for the cabinet. 2.6 ohms drives the Yamaha to almost the full 500 watts.

Very good package.

Yamaha has one of the better customer services

Get this amp at the ridiculous 600.00 price and sell all your other gear so you can spend your left over money on different basses not amp related items.