Yamaha BB414

Its a old bass, i thoght it came out in the 60's and this is a re-issue. Anyway, its a 4 string bass with 24 frets. There are a Treble and bass Knob and a switch, to shoose between the Soapbar pickup and the two split single-coil pickups. The electronics are passive and it has a maple neck. The Scale Length is 34" = 864mm.

First the dislikes. I dont like that, when the switch is on the Two split single-coil pick ups, that when you pick a little bit too hard, or wrong that the strings will thit the pickup and that doesnt sound very good. I do like the sound of the bass. It doesnt realy matter what pick up You will switch on. The soap bar has a very sharp sound. The Split pickups have a very warm, allmost jazzbassy sound. Both realy make a good combination. the variety is very good, you can allmost immitate a dubble bass. Or if you like a sharp sound you can do it too with this bass. Of course its a 330 dollar Bass, but its a good one for that money. The switch seems a little vonereble though

Nothing realy bad, allthough i bought it with a broken switch. And that sucked...

Actually pretty good, The strap buttons are solid and its good enough for playing life. The finish will last for ever i think, and if you are carefull with your stuff, you wont have to adjust or repair it for a long time. Pretty good beginner bass.

I dont know, i didnt had to send it back yet...

I play this bass for a year now and im very happy with it. I wish i had known about the switch that whas broken but that is something that overcame me. I dont realy know if i would buy it again if it would get stolen or lost but i think i would buy a Rickenbacker, unlucky for me a rickenbacker is like 1000 dollars (euro for me) and this bass is 330 dollars...

Verdict:
I play this bass for Punk\rock music and i love this one. You can use it for all kinds of music and im very happy with it. A realy good beginner bass

Features are exactly what I like in a bass lately: Simple. If I can plug and and just mess with the tone knob to get the sound I want, I'm happy. The guys at the store tried to sell me on a Fender equivalent saying it was cheaply built. It's built great, lightweight, and has the sound I want.

Exactly the sound I've been looking for. Tony Kanal from No Doubt used the original BB-1500 and BB-3000 for a long time and this can get that EXACT tone of those basses. I've always had issues with basses having very poor D and G string articulation. With this bass, they just sing!!!

It was setup pretty close to what I play normally straight from the store. I raised the strings a bit just to lose some of the fretbuzz. Intonation sounds spot on. The bridge could be a little better, but not enough to get worked up about. It stays solid. When I bought it, the pickup selector switch was broken to where it would only work with the pups full on, or bridge only. Fine by me for now since it's the tone I like, but I will fix it soon. Tried out a few others in the store with the switch broken as well. Cheap part and easy to replace.

The day I got it I recorded with it. It sounded fabulous! Used it the next day for a live show and it cut through exactly as I've always wanted a bass to. My last few basses have been passive and I'm thrilled to not have to worry about a battery dieing on me. I'd easily gig it without a backup.

Hope to never have to use it.

I've owned and played many different kinds of basses and I have to say that this one is my favorite so far that I've owned. I'd like to actually find an original BB series now to see how they compare.

A brand new Yamaha BB414, made in Taiwan probably in late 2005. All the specs are listed rather exhaustively in the previous reviews, so I won't go into that again. What I like about this bass is actually the lack of (useless) features... it just has everything I need! I especially appreciate the lack of active electronics - more on this in the Sound department. The only things I might have wanted to add are a string-thru bridge (just my personal taste) and a separate volume for each pickup. But as it is, I've nothing to complain really. It came with a cheap cord and two allen keys for adjusting the truss rod and bridge, which is cool. All in all, it's a basic electric bass with the usual features. Somebody requiring a lot of fancy stuff would probably not be satisfied, hence a 7.

I can't believe this. This bass simply puts out far better sound than any other in this price class or even far beyond. I know that's a kind of cliche amongst Harmony Central reviews, but I swear it's true! The sound is articulate, very punchy and plain good. I play various music styles (or try anyway), mainly hard rock and metal, with lots of venturing into blues/prog territory. This bass suits them all very well. I can't really come up with a music style that requires electric bass guitar and could *not* be played with a P/J bass! It's not noisy, some perceivable AC hum from the Jazz pickup, but it's very silent compared to many other J pickups. The sound can go from a dark "boom" to a rather bright "deng" with a turn of the tone knob, and the pickup selector lets you choose between P-bass punch, Jazz growl or both combined (I think the middle position sounds more like the P pickup). In my opinion the output level and range of the tone control are very good for a passive bass. What's even better is that when you plug this bass into an amp (I play mine through a PA system, and/or an ancient, modified Yamaha B100 combo that actually sounds great), the sound you want is right there, absolutely no twiddling of multiple knobs needed! Of course people have different tastes, but I never managed to get a sound this good from my active bass, despite my endless turning of the EQ knobs. I haven't recorded with it yet, but I expect it to sound very good through my Tech21 preamp (it makes anything sound decent!) and probably a bit of compression. I give it a 9, because there are better sounding basses. It's just that they are usually nowhere near as cheap and/or versatile.

Immaculate, as usual for Yamaha - the only brand of bass/guitar that I would buy sight unseen, as I did with this one! No flaws in the setup whatsoever. I don't claim to be a bass setup guru, but I do notice when something is messed up (as is the case with my other bass with dual truss rods and whatever).

I'll probably raise the E string a tad, as I tend to hit it rather hard at times, but that's another matter of personal preference. As I took the bass out of its box, all I had to do was to correct the tuning (not surprising considering that the bass was shipped from Germany to Finland in a flimsy cardboard box) and it was ready to play! I really can't believe that this low-end Yamaha has better action out of the box than any F*nder, Ib*nez or E*P-LTD bass I've played. Seriously.

Haven't tried it live yet, but there really isn't much to go wrong here. I use a locking strap, and don't throw my equipment around, so I have no reason to believe it couldn't cut it on stage. The hardware, although not state-of-the-art, seems solid and the bass gives a very durable overall impression of itself. The chrome parts might show signs of aging at some point, but I really don't care about that. I don't know how thick the finish is either, I don't worry about cosmetic features. If it works and sounds good, I'm happy!

No experience really, though I've had a number of Yamaha keyboards and their support is somewhat better than the other "big" manufacturers. However, I don't expect to have problems with my instruments that couldn't be solved with a tad of common sense.

Musikhaus Thomann, the web-store I purchased this bass from, deserves a special mention here. Along the years I've ordered a humongous amount of stuff from them, and every time I've dealt with them there have been absolutely no problems. Their customer support is outstanding compared to most other music stores anywhere, which I think is a shame because I would really like to support local stores. OK, that had nothing to do with this review, let's get on...

I'm a bit of a newcomer to stringed instruments, I've only played bass and guitar for about two years. (I do play bass in a hard rock band though.) However, I've played piano and keyboards for around 16 years. The only other bass-related pieces of equipment I own are a cheesy 6-string active Samick bass that I got used a couple of years ago, and a Tech21 SansAmp RBI bass preamp (it rules!).

I've worked with a lot of bass and guitar players, so I think I have a rough understanding of good tone, maybe even more in the bass department than guitar. This instrument has what I think is good tone, and all the features I need. I would give it a solid 8 compared to *any* bass guitar, but as value is a criteria, definitely a 10! Although I might want to add a Music Man Stingray or a similar bass with into my "collection" later on, I don't really imagine *needing* another bass guitar anytime soon. Kudos to Yamaha!

This is the new BB414 model by Yamaha which I bought right when it came out in 2005.Being a guitar player for years I always liked playing bass to play something different for a change since it was challenging but never decided to buy a new one to play seriously till now and I'm extremely glad I did!I had a cheap,very old no name Fender Precision ripoff bass which I bought for a measly 30 bucks a little over a year ago which played actually quite good once I adjusted the truss rod since the neck and action was unplayable when I got it.Also needed a pickguard,used pickups and new strings badly to get it running which in the end cost me about 100 bucks.Already had a brand new bridge installed and to my suprise schaller tuners so stays in tune like a dream.Decent bass in the end for cheap which I thought sounded not bad at all till I tried some real basses,including this beast.Now back to the Yamaha.This is a 21-fret precision style bass with alder body,a fast thin neck with rosewood fingerboard,classy oval inlays,passive p/j pickups with each a volume knob and 3-way toggle switch,Yamaha machine heads and bridge,flashy looking chrome hardware and a very cool metallic orange finish!(get plenty of ouuus and ahhs still haha).I really love the look and feel of this bass,which is suppose to be somewhat of a remake of the classic 80's BB series.The wine red looks very nice too for someone looking for more a traditional look.Feature-wise it's actually a pretty standard p/j bass,but that definetely doesn't mean that this isn't a great bass.

After you get over the looks and actually play the bass this is what sold me immediately.I play a variety of music while playing in 2 bands,one being a death metal band and the other a cover band of 80's rock,alternative,top40 and even a little country.From trying a bunch of different basses one thing really stood out with this Yamaha was the exceptional clarity of notes even playing at blinding speeds and that I definetely prefer passive basses as the overall sound is so much more natural,especially on high notes which are full and really cut on this bass for soloing and tapping.I tried this in a few different amps and was impressed with the tone I got from each one.I'm currently running it through an old early 70's Traynor YBA-1 tube head into an equally old Kustom 15" and it sounds amazing even with the old speaker it has but I think the head is compensating for it.Another thing that really impresses me about this bass are how the pickups are very powerful yet still sensitive to attack and dynamic playing for being passive pickups.This bass in my opinion can play any style of music.Maybe because I'm a guitarist I actually like the toggle switch instead of a Pan knob as it's very easy to switch pickups quickly on the fly to change your tone.Selecting the Precision pickup you get a very deep,rich punchy tone that sounds great and very full on all strings.The Jazz pickup has alot more raw edge and cutting power to it and is a little nasally in tone.The low end is very defined and tight and the high end is raw with lots of growl.My favorite position would have to be the middle with both pickups selected as this has the best of both worlds.Plenty of deep growling tone with singing highs and exceptional clarity of notes.Slapping and Tapping is np on this bass too.The electronics seem pretty quiet to me and their is only the slightest of hum on the J pickup but it is very low and a non-issue.I compared this to many basses including some quite expensive basses and the only one that I thought that sounded better was an Ernie Ball Musicman which is 3 times the price.Blows Fender basses away from a direct comparison from what I could hear.I really can't think of anything bad to say and I must say it deserves its 10,especially considering the price range it's totally unrivalled by the competition.

Although I believe action is a preference for each person,the overall action on this bass was great when I bought it and needed little adjustment to get to my personal taste as I like my action a little higher then usual setups.This Yamaha like all the Yamaha instruments I own have absolutely great necks that are solid,straight as can be and frets that are all perfectly in place and even which makes for great feel and action.The neck on this bass is quite thin and plays very easy and fast although some people would maybe prefer slighty more wood for a more comfortable hand position.The intonation was dead-on and their is absolutely no fret-buzz anywheres after action was raised slighty on this bass.Finish looks fantastic on this bass and no noticeable flaws were noticed.Hardware seems pretty solid,machine heads keep in tune very well which is great.Overall no major gripes.

Although I haven't had this bass for more then 6 months it seems quite solid and has decent weight to it.Only gigged with it once so far and it stood up just fine and I wasnt worried about it at all.I can't see having any problems with this instrument if basic maintenance and care is taken just like any other instrument.Neck is solid,tuners keep their tune great,electronics shouldn't give out,and the knobs seem secure to me.As for the finish I think it will last as it seems like they did a great job on it and is quite impressive especially considering the price range of this bass.

Never needed their support so I can't really say anything about it.Although I would like to comment on their website which I think needs somewhat of an overhaul as it could use more information and a better navigation system to access your way through the site.Did email them a few times about their instruments and got a pretty quick respond within 2-3 days which is pretty good

Although I've been playing guitar for about 6-7 years now,I'm pretty new to bass and I must say I'm enjoying this bass alot and I haven't been practicing like this in a long time as it's a real joy to play this bass.Yamaha is really putting out some great products recently including the AES620,new FG700-750 series solid top acoustics,redesigned RGX series all at a great value and overall quality that's hard to match.Although I don't think you should just go out and buy without trying other brands I can promise you won't be disappointed by Yamaha's new quality lineup of instruments.For the price this bass is an incredible bargain for anyone looking to start with a great bass or someone looking to upgrade from a beginner bass.There's very little I don't like about this bass from its great tone to dazzling looks you can't ask for much more.

A solid 21-fret, 34"-scale solid-bodied passive bass - a Taiwanese-made reissue of an early 80's model. It features Yamaha's own split single-coil (neck) and a ceramic soapbar single coil (bridge) in the P/J configuration with single volume and tone control and a 3-way pickup selector switch. Vintage-style bridge.

The bolt-on neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard featuring white oval inlays instead of dot markers. The dimensions of the neck are similar to a Fender Precision.

The BB414 features a substantial alder body - it seems significantly wider and longer than the Precision and Jazz bass but possibly less thicker. A unique shape with it's more pointed upper horn and lower cutaway giving good access to the higher frets.

I opted for the Wine Red colour, which goes from black to a transparent red, showing off the wood grain. The headstock is similarly finished. Coupled with the striking chrome surrounds for the pickups, this is a very attractive bass.

Weightwise, it's lighter than I expected, given the larger looking body, but not so light as to feel flimsy. It feels solid.

Included accessories are a care manual, cable and set of allen keys.

I'm running it through a Hartke A35 combo and I was immediately impressed at the beefy sound it produces - for the price, I was expecting a much thinner sound. I play a variety of music - rock, electronic, and generally whatever weirdness that comes out of my head.

Both pickups together gives a really solid sound which can be used for pretty much any style of music. With the split-coil selected, it's got the punch of a Precision (I actually prefer the P-sound on this than on the MIM Fender P-Bass Special Active I previously owned!). Selecting the bridge soapbar gives you a decent Jazz tone (especially if you roll back the tone control) and allows for slapping. It has a nice growl to it when solo'd.

Played with a plec, it's fantastic for rock (Michael Anthony being a former player). Any Stranglers fans wanting a 'JJ' sound on a budget should definitely pick one up. Played with fingers, it's got more than enough bottom end to handle reggae/ska.

Obviously, the 3-way selector doesn't give as large a variety of tones as having a volume control for each pickup would have, but two of the most popular tones (P-bass and Jazz bridge pickup solo'd) are catered for.

The pickups are quiet - I have had no hum from either in combination or solo'd individually. The controls operate silently. Ideal for recording with on that note, and it's still a solid enough bass to take out on stage.

The bass was well set up on receipt - the action was low enough without suffering from fret buzz anywhere on the neck. A medium-guage set of strings came as standard. Playable out of the box! The only thing of note was that the split-coil was set a little lower than the recommended 2mm when fretting at the 21st - I simply raised them a little.

The tuners were nice and tight and had a solid feel during tuning and the knobs operate smoothly.

The finish was flawless - even, no marks and generally of a quality I've seen on higher-priced basses. As I've mentioned, the chrome pickup surrounds really set off the finish.

I've been using it at home for a couple of weeks and wouldn't hesitate in taking it on stage. It just feels so solidly put together that I wouldn't worry too much about having a backup on standby (and even then, the backup would probably be another BB414!).

I've not dealt with Yamaha as yet.

I've been playing bass for 13 years now and I also own an Ibanez GWB-35 5-string fretless. I was in the market for a fretted passive 4-stringer, having recently sold the P-Bass Special (something about it I didn't like - sounded a bit too clinical) and considered saving up to buy a US Series Fender Jazz... until I spotted the cheap and very cheerful BB414!

I've previously owned a 1982 Rickenbacker 4001, a Fender '62 US Vintage Reissue and until recently, a Fender MIM P-Bass Special Active.

I'm not suggesting it's better than a Rick or a US Jazz (it isn't), but in terms of 'bang for buck', the BB414 comes out on top - at #229, this is a steal and it would make for an ideal first bass or as a gigging substitute for a bass one wouldn't want to take on stage. If it were stolen or lost, I'd pick another one up at the drop of a hat.

What I love most about it, is that it's comfortable to play, seated or standing, it looks lovely and it sounds great! And did I mention it's only #229?! (US Jazz on hold for the time being)

Alder Body, in the familiar Yamaha BB shape
Maple Neck with Rosewood Fingerboard
Traditional BB Style Inlays (stretched ovals)
Vintage P.bass Style Tuners
Original BB Style Pickups (hotrail near the bridge & P.bass centrally)
Passive Electronics
Vintage P.bass Style Bridge
Finishes Available: Black Pearl, Wine Red, Orange Metallic
I got the Metallic orange.
Controls: 1 overall volume, 1 overall tone & 3-way selector switch
34 inch scale, 20 frets

I play this through a Fender Bassman 450 (2X10). I play Prog, Rock and Pop. The pickups are pretty powerful for a passive bass, with a good tonal range, individually and combined. They are a little raw though and definitely benefit from some compression. With some judicious tweaking of your amp's EQ and the aforementioned compression, this bass has a great range. Remarkable considering it's cheapness and passive electronics.

This bass came very well set up. I have lowered the action, very slightly and adjusted intonation on one string. Just 15 mins of tweaking and it plays like a dream. The fingerboard is particularly well finsihed. Smooth, glossy and very nice to play. I couldn't find one flaw in this bass's finish.

This bass is solid but not heavy. It is well balanced, with no flimsy or ill fitting parts. Very giggable, due to solid, tried and tested design and construction. Only time will tell, but this looks a bass to last.

Never dealt with Yamaha directly but find their website useful.

Have been playing over 30 years. Have owned a large range of guitars and basses, both pricey and cheap. This bass shows how excellent the quality of lower priced instruments are these days. I tried many other basses, Fenders, Shines, Corts, Epiphones, Ibanez and even a couple of Warwicks. This one interested me with is well rounded tone and smooth playability. One improvement for me, would have been a pan knob, instead of the the 3-way selector.
I would have scored it a 9 but the genuine need of compression to perfect it's tone, took it down a notch.

Made 2005 in Tiawan. 4string P/J passive bass. Open tuners, basic bridge, volume, tone & pick up selector switch. No details given as to what the woods are, but I think that it's alder for the body, maple neck &rosewood for the ringerboard. 34" scale, oval fret markers

This one's finished in Metalic Orange, as I didn't like the wine or the black

I play Jazz, a little funk & rock, and this is bass number three to give me a fuller compliment of sounds.

I use it with a Gallien Kruger 710RB combo, EBS, EH, & Roland effects.

What I like is that I can go from a rocking P-Bass, to a slap tone, to some finger funk without changiing my amp EQ.

The rear J-pickup is a little noisey when solo'd next to a monitor, but that's to be expected

I order the bass straight of the web as I know most Yamaha basses are pretty good straight out of the box. As it's just seen the light of day after going into a container in Tiawan it's amazing.

The intonation is slightly out, but that's no problem to fix. The neck is a little rough with some sap (?) needing to be removed. Agin this is no problem especially considering the price.

i'm looking forward to taking this bass out as it looks very solid indead. I've had a Yamaha TRB5 II for a few years now and it's never let me down once, so I expect this one to behave itself equally.

I've had to call Yamaha for other products that guitars & basses and they're usually great to deal with.

In addition to the Yamaha I've got a Warwick fretless for tuning fun. I've been playing bass for 10ys now mostly for fun.

The BB414 is exceptional value for money. I used to hang out in a specialist bass guitar shop in London and have tried just about everything that came in there. For the money I don't think that there's anything out there that can touch it. And don't forget that this is available in Metalic Orange!!!

would I buy another one? Too right!

Passive P/J 4-string, a new model based on an earlier 80's model. Mine has Black Pearl finish. Has 3-way p/u selector plus 2 pots, vol and tone.

This bass sounds great. The pickups are very distinct in sound: the P has a deep thrum and the J has a lot more edge. The bass is quite sensitive to where you play and a lot of sounds are possible with variations in pickup selection, tone and playing style. The electronics are nice and quiet -- I notice no hum when playing at home.

Mine has an arrow-straight neck that feels great, and the frets are almost perfect right from the factory. I upgraded to the bb414 from a slightly cheaper bass and the difference is incredible. For the money this bass is solid and well-built.

This bass feels tough and has survied a nasty fall with no damage at all. I've not needed any truss adjustments and compared to my earlier bass the bb414 stays in tune forever.

This bass is big and a bit heavy, but looks nice. It has a fair bit of chrome but does not look flashy or cheap; it is a classy and nice-sounding instrument for this price.