Yamaha Attitude 10th Anniversary Billy Sheehan Signature

Japanese-Made.
Alder body (scaled-down Fender P shape), Maple neck with a hefty P-style profile.
Phenolic Fretboard with Billy Sheehan's fingerprints as markers (Yes, really!)
Two pick-ups, one split "P" DiMarzio Willpower (mid) and one DiMarzio Willpower HumBucker, set right up at the neck.
TWO output jacks, one for each pick-up!
All passive electrics. Two volume, one tone- with two push-push pots; These govern the volume for each pick-up. Tone only applies to Neck HB.
Push-push pots combine twin outputs into one single one (useful!) and engage a mid-cut on the Neck pick-up (also useful!)
Finished in Purple sparkle, including the phenolic fretboard, neck and headstock.
Black Hardware throughout.
Has a heavyweight Yamaha bridge (top-loading) and Hipshot "D"tuner (the other 3 are Gotoh)
Has a White Pearl scratchplate.
Control cavity cover bears Sheehan's signture and serial number (0-300!)
These were also made in black. I presume 150 were made in each colour.
Came with a Yamaha case, lead, tools and instructions.

This bass can produce a fairly broad spectrum of tones for a passive instrument. They all have a similar voice, as there are no coil-switching options.
The one outstanding tonal quality is the fundamental output of each note, which is massive.
The pick-ups are as hot as or hotter than many active models!
Being Humbucking, noise is not an issue.
It is primarily a rock/heavy rock/alternative/prog instrument, but could probably excel at Reggae, worship or fingerstyle funk also.
This instrument can be awkward to mix in a live or studio environment.
Soundmen have asked me to turn the bottom-end down (assuming it to be active) because of the weightiness of the sound.
Mixing engineers have struggled to contain the bottom end and make it sit in the mix.
I once ran eack pick-up into a separate amp-
Mildly drove the "P" through an Ampeg SVP-Pro, and left the HB clean through a Trace Elliot AH300SMX's pre-amp.
It sounded utterly amazing in the control room, and the engineer agreed. The rest of the band vetoed it, as it sounded too deep, too excessive. That's because we were mixing through 1x15 PA tops and not proper studio monitors!
In Summary;
Deep and powerful sound, but the "P" pick-up is a lot "toppier" than you'd expect, to balance out the Neck HB.

Made in Japan in approx 2000.
Not the 80's when Japanese labour was relatively cheap.
This probably cost a lot to produce.
It certainly feels like it.
Fit and finish are exemplary, bettering my US Fender and Stingray.
It even feels more solid than my Warwick (!)
The action was a shade high on receipt, so I lowered it.
Truss-rod has never needed adjustment.
It seldom drifts far out of tune.
Black Hardware hasn't worn or oxidised in 4 years of ownership.
Still as good as the day it left the factory, in spite of my sticking the headstock through a low ceiling above a stage!
World-class manufacturing quality. Well done Yamaha.

It seems very solid.
I changed the supplied strap buttons for Schaller straplocks, and these haven't shifted since I installed them.
No damage to finish in spite of frequent gigs. I DO look after it, but it is well made, well finished and solidly assembled.
No adjustments after original set-up!
All passive electrics, so no batteries to worry about.
I have, and will continue to play without a back-up.

No dealings, I'm afraid.
But that's a good thing, surely!

I've been playing for 12 years.
I bought this because it was ridiculously cheap. They couldn't sell it due to the (purple) colour! Yes, it is THAT bad, but the bass is THAT good, so I'll overlook it!
I've been offered 4 times what I paid for it, but won't let it go.

Best bits;
Fit and Finish
Solidity
Reliability
Tone
Quality of parts

Worst bits;
Heavy for a 4-string
Neck-dive from long/heavy headstock
Lack of tonal variety
Colour(!)

I've never played a "regular" Attitude, so I can't compare it (unfortunately)
I wonder what the addition of a "J" pick-up might bring- but I'm not ruining this one to find out!
Perhaps a plain black/white/black 3-ply scratchguard might look better than the pearly one, but now I'm splitting hairs...