Yamaha BB614

Other reviewers have covered this

Wide variety of sounds - all good

Here's my main point. I have owned many Yamaha products and all have been top of the line in terms of quality and workmanship. THIS BASS IS AN EXCEPTION. First, the E and A strins were in the wrong places and the A (being cut shorter in the E position) was practically unuseable. E string was weak compared to the other strings so I had to lower the string and adjust the neck pickup higher. I have a fretless and all the fret lines were sticking out the side of the neck on both sides. I had to sand them down. If you look sideways, what looks like wood laminations clearly show through the black finish. The bass boost pot is noisey.

Here's the worst part. Twice during my first time of using this bass at church it randomly and suddenly increased in volume by about 100 percent! It had the sound guys scrambling and me and the rest of the praise team completely baffled. Needless to say, this bass is going back for a going over by a tech. I like the bass itself and hopefully these issues can and will be taken care of, but I'm very disappointed by the quality on this bass.

We'll see.

I've been playing guitar and bass for almost 40 years. My opinion is that it's a nice bass in concept, but poorly execute - at least the one I got.

Made in 2008, in Indonesia. I paid ??380 for it at my local music shop.
- Solid body
- Controls: Pickup pan, Master volume and 3 Band EQ for the active electronics.
- One Precision ceramic magnet type yamaha pickup at the neck, and one blade magnet Jazz type yamaha pickup at the bridge.
- The body is made of Alder and the neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard. The inlays on the fretboard are mother of pearl, and are a thin oval shape, they really add to the look of the bass.
- The BB614 I have is finished in "Old Violin Sunburst" which is a dark sunburst starting from an orangey-red brown colour and fading to black, this finish is one of the selling points for me on this bass, it's a gorgeous colour and finish, and adds to the vintage look of the bass. The headstock is finished to match the body.
- The body style is unique, It's similar to a Jazz, although the body is fairly symmetrical and quite wide.
- The bridge is a standard "bent piece of tin" style bridge. I would have appreciated a beefier bridge personally.
- The tuners are vintage style open backed unbranded tuners.
- The neck is a 34" scale with 21 large frets.

This bass has a thunderous EQ. Turning up the bass knob fully is only recommended if you are planning on discovering the latest brown note. It is awesome.

I use it straight into a 300 watt Ashdown 2x10 combo on top of a 1x15 cab, and last night it happily competed with two guitarists going through the PA and a very loud drummer with no problems. The low end of this EQ is amazing.

I'm not a keen slapper, but with the back pickup selected and the mids rolled off a touch this bass is a slap machine.

I'm a classic rock type of guy and this bass is perfect for what i want it for. I leave all the knobs on their centre notch except for turning the bass eq knob up half way, and put the volume on full, and this bass copes with ANY situation with ease. It's a very versatile bass with very little effort.

I don't know how well the bass was set up out of the factory because the shop i bought it from sets all of their guitars up as standard.

I've given the bass a thorough check over and i can't spot any flaws at all.

I've only played this bass for a couple of gigs, but i would happily use it without a backup.

The hardware is all very chunky and solid feeling, and the finish doesn't look like it would wear easily.

The strap buttons are solid, and I'm happy to use them without straplocks.

No Opinion, I've never had to deal with Yamaha.

I've been playing 5 years, and this is my third bass. I would definitely buy another one if anything happened to this one.

I love the colour, the sound and the playability of this bass. The only thing i dislike about the bass is the centre notches on the EQ knobs can be a little hard to find in a hurry, they're a little faint.

I've been looking for a new bass for a long time, and nothing has impressed me like this. It's a brilliant and sexy looking bass, and i really really recommend it. It gives basses double the price more than a run for their money.

If you get a chance to try one, or buy one, don't hesitate.

Alder body,Black Pearl finish, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. 21 frets 34 inch scale, P/J pickup configuration. Volume, front/rear pickup selector 3 band active EQ. Hipshot chrome O-ring knobs. Vintage tuners and bridge. It came with a zippered Strongbox case.

The sound of this instrument is rich and mellow. Very musical warm tone with just the right amount of brightness. I have owned a few quality basses, Spector, Peavey, Ampeg and a few others. Each has had a certain feel and playing character. The Yamaha seems to have the ability to produce both a vintage and modern slap sound. I play Jazz, Raggae, and Latin, and I love the clean rich tones I get favoring the neck pickup and bass EQ. I play through a GK Backline 110 combo amp and it sounds great.

One of the things I like most about the BB614 is the Vintage look. This thing has more chrome than a 57 Chevy. The Black Pearl finish is especially sharp. The fit, finish and craftsmanship was better than average for a guitar in this price range. Very solid build. Comfortable and playable. I bought it used from a music/pawn shop, so I had them adjust the action for me.

I don't think that durablity is an issue with this guitar, Built like a tank. I have noticed several guys chose to replace the bridge and tuners. Personally I think they are fine. The sustain is pretty impressive, and it stays in tune.

Have not needed customer support so far.

I have tried a number of basses, (Fender,Ibanez,Spector,Laguna etc.) in all price ranges and this one outshines many in all areas. Chosing an instrument is a very personal thing. I am convinced that high price does not determine how well the instrument suits you. This thing plays great and feels comfortable and balanced. I have a Peavey Fury II as my other bass. My amp is a GK Backline 110 combo.

New bass. Features well known: 4-string, active EQ, neck PU P-type, bridge PU J-type with a blade magnet. Bolt on neck, 4 screws, vintage machine heads, vintage bridge, seems a bit cheap. Mine is natural transparent. Body alder, 3 piece. 21 Jumbo frets. Fine fret job.
No gig bag, strap, tools or other parts. The Ibanez ATK I tested would come with a gig bag!

I am playing rock, jazz-rock-fusion, blues. My amps: Hughes&Kettner 250 over a 1x15 and a 4x10 box. Yamaha combo.
Very quiet at all settings, even at EQ at full.
I tested it in the shop; first I tried out an Ibanez BTB and an Ibanez ATK. Then I grabbed the Yamaha, and it took me off my seat. Incredible drive at neutral setting of the amp, loud, full, fine high and mighty bass frequencies. Mid poti allows to enrichen the sound from a slap sound to full rock sound. Best at neutral setting of all potis, eventually with slight increased high.
PUs seem fine, no need to replace them. The P-type is fat, impressingly deep, but defined and with wide frequency range. J-type seemed a bit week, but rising it a bit it reached the power of the P-type; dry, mid-dominated JB-sound. Both can be mixed by the pan-pot. Very versatile. It is the bass for every situation you can imagine.
Overall the best sound you can get in that price range. I really have played some basses in my life and I own a couple of better ones, but this one is my favorite since I bought it.
No dead spots found up to now. Sustain could be better, but this could be fixed by mounting a different bridge instead of the pretty cheap vintage part. I thing the intention was to build a real vintage bass with vintage sound and in addition the possibility to adapt this with the very neutral EQ which never tries to change the basic character of the instrument. Perfect.

Bridge needed some adjusting; easily done. By the way, the action of the Ibanez basses I tested then was perfect. Not so the Yamaha, but with a screwdriver it was done in 5 minutes.
Finish was flawless. Perfect frets, fine work in the control cavity. Tuners are cheap but do their job.

Very solid instrument. Surprisingly low weight considering other basses. As said above the tuners not seem most solid, but that can be fixed easily.

No need to contact Yamaha up to the moment.

Great bass, really. I first was sure I would buy an Ibanez ATK for the rock things, but when I got that Yamaha in my hands there was no other bass which could beat it, even the really expansive ones. My Fender Jazz bass can be compared to it considering the quality of sound, but the Yamaha is way more versatile in every situation due to its EQ. I will try another bridge, e. g. a Badass II in order to increase the sustain which is not really convincing. But that seems to be due to the vintage style of this instrument and by the way to the need of making compromises considering the price. With slight changes this bass will be adequate to basses of a much higher price range.

New bass. Features well known: 4-string, active EQ, neck PU P-type, bridge PU J-type with a blade magnet. Bolt on neck, 4 screws, vintage machine heads, vintage bridge, seems a bit cheap. Mine is natural transparent. Body alder, 3 piece. 21 Jumbo frets. Fine fret job.
No gig bag, strap, tools or other parts. The Ibanez ATK I tested would come with a gig bag!

I am playing rock, jazz-rock-fusion, blues. My amps: Hughes&Kettner 250 over a 1x15 and a 4x10 box. Yamaha combo.
Very quiet at all settings, even at EQ at full.
I tested it in the shop; first I tried out an Ibanez BTB and an Ibanez ATK. Then I grabbed the Yamaha, and it took me off my seat. Incredible drive at neutral setting of the amp, loud, full, fine high and mighty bass frequencies. Mid poti allows to enrichen the sound from a slap sound to full rock sound. Best at neutral setting of all potis, eventually with slight increased high.
PUs seem fine, no need to replace them. The P-type is fat, impressingly deep, but defined and with wide frequency range. J-type seemed a bit week, but rising it a bit it reached the power of the P-type; dry, mid-dominated JB-sound. Both can be mixed by the pan-pot. Very versatile. It is the bass for every situation you can imagine.
Overall the best sound you can get in that price range. I really have played some basses in my life and I own a couple of better ones, but this one is my favorite since I bought it.
No dead spots found up to now. Sustain could be better, but this could be fixed by mounting a different bridge instead of the pretty cheap vintage part. I thing the intention was to build a real vintage bass with vintage sound and in addition the possibility to adapt this with the very neutral EQ which never tries to change the basic character of the instrument. Perfect.

Bridge needed some adjusting; easily done. By the way, the action of the Ibanez basses I tested then was perfect. Not so the Yamaha, but with a screwdriver it was done in 5 minutes.
Finish was flawless. Perfect frets, fine work in the control cavity. Tuners are cheap but do their job.

Very solid instrument. Surprisingly low weight considering other basses. As said above the tuners not seem most solid, but that can be fixed easily.

No need to contact Yamaha up to the moment.

Great bass, really. I first was sure I would buy an Ibanez ATK for the rock things, but when I got that Yamaha in my hands there was no other bass which could beat it, even the really expansive ones. My Fender Jazz bass can be compared to it considering the quality of sound, but the Yamaha is way more versatile in every situation due to its EQ. I will try another bridge, e. g. a Badass II in order to increase the sustain which is not really convincing. But that seems to be due to the vintage style of this instrument and by the way to the need of making compromises considering the price. With slight changes this bass will be adequate to basses of a much higher price range.

four sring bass , maple neck with rosewood fretboard. active electronics P/J pickups. cheap tuners. alder body i think

sounds good. the bridge pickup is noisey since its not humbucking.

well put together bass, fret work is very good. yamaha has good quality control

very stable bass should last a long time

a great value for the money

four string bass,maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. P/J pickups active electronics

very good sound the P pickup does not sound like a true precision bass to me. my favorite sound is with both pickups on with the bridge pickup being favored.

the bass is well made for an import.fret work work is excellent. yamaha has very good quality control. i would not buying a yamaha. product on line.my only gripe is the bridge pickup which is not humbucking and be noisey. the easy access to the batery compartment is also a pluswell built

well built

I bought it at Samash about a month ago. The first one I played was Pearl Black, love the many different sounds I could get out of this bass, but was tired of black guitar, I have few Fenders in black! Later I found out that Yamaha offered this in Natural Yellowed color which made me do little more research and woo!!! Was I impressed with the impressive look and already knowing just how great it sound. I found one and only one left going through samash local not on line pulled from another store and I got it for $350. Out the door! With beat-up fender HSC


DETAILS :
Construction Bolt-on
Scale Length 34" = 864mm
Fingerboard Rosewood
Radius 10" = 250mm
Frets 21
Body Alder
Neck Maple
Bridge Vintage Style
Pickups Split Single Coil X 2, Soapbar Single Coil
Pickup Switch Pickup Balancer
Controls Master Volume, Balancer, Treble, Bass, Mid Cut Frequency, Mid Cut On-Off Switch
Colors Black Pearl, Pewter, Yellow Natural

As for sound it???s awesome, I can reproduce any bass sound with the onboard active eq in conjunction with the P/Jazz pickup configuration, the neck is better then my fender USA precision it is so smooth and easy it feels great, it looks so incredible with the awesome fret board markers. This thing is shielded in the cavity control and under the pickup cavities as well. It has very little when using just the bridge pick by it self, hardly noticeable. I own several bass amps, Ampeg, Fender, Carvin. I played it through each and everyone and it just sounds incredible through all of them.

As for looks the chrome pickup rings just add to the overall look. The Natural Yellowed in my opinion looks the best! But each his own???the only change I made and I done this to all my bass guitars is change out the bridge to badass II, I was going to use the newer badass III but the two outer holes don???t line up and the Badass II fit perfect which also added more sustain to my notes.

Will see over time!

I only called on there support for old LP Standard copy I owned at one time in the past for some speces and they told me everything I needed to know!

As a bassist/guitarist playing in cover/original bands for the last 25 years! I would highly recommend this bass to any semi or pro bassist, I tried over 30 different active basses before I made my decision, and this one for the price and quality won hands down!

If it were stolen I would have to buy another and if I found the person I would pull a Dexter on them, and they would never be hard of again, just kidding!!! but I would beat the crap out of them ???I???m not kidding!

Full specs on www.yamaha.com, but basically this is an active P/J 4 string. I have it in the Yellow Natural (much nicer than the Black/Pewter) and it looks gorgeous. On close inspection it's a 5 piece body (you can only see the seams on the top and bottom of body). The grain is so well matched though it doesn't matter.

Has typical bridge/tuners, the bridge being a bit naff really, doesn't look very substantial, I may replace it in the future. The chrome pickup surrounds really set it off against the natural finish, I love shiny things. The finish seems quite solid, but only time will tell if it's going to last 20 years or 2.

As a P/J bass it's quite versatile, typical booming Precision sound on the neck - and a nice Jazzy honk on the bridge. The blend control allows you to dial in a nice combination of the 2.

The EQ as mentioned in other reviews here - is very powerful. It can be quite overwhelming when cranked to full, especially the mid and treble controls. I tend to only use a slight boost if at all. I found the bass to be noiseless on all settings (except full treble and bridge pickup only).

I play in a rock/metal band, and find this suits fairly well. I rarely use solo bridge for this though as it tends to not sound as full as the neck pickup, then again - there aren't many metal basses without a neck pickup.

I got this as an ex-demo model, it had been at a show but was totally immaculate. It sounded a little dead in store, this was fixed at home with a truss rod adjustment (was totally loose) and action tweak. Couple of very slightly loose knobs - easily fixed with an allen key.

Other than that - everything else was fine.

I've had it a few weeks now, playing it at home and at band practise. It's very solid without being too heavy. I treat all my gear well so I don't intend to test if the finish is hard or not.

I would use this without a backup as I feel it is very well constructed and wouldnt break.

Have spoke on phone to Yamaha - very helpful.

I've been playing 4 years and also have a Yamaha RBX775, I trust the Yamaha brand and find it superb value. I played many basses before setting my heart on this, from Fenders to Sandbergs and Warwicks, ultimately - I found myself drawn towards this the most.

If stolen, I'd definitely look at getting another, I might check out the BB414 (passive) range to see if that suits me any better, but would look to getting another BB614 really.

Love: Natural finish & chrome bits, classic P/J sound
Hate: Over zealous EQ, cheap bridge.

The only thing I could wish for is a Hipshot D-Tuner, but they're pricey and wouldn't ever be seen on a bass in this range.

Very nice looking and sounding bass.
Bridge is simple like current Fender stock bridges and I will most likely someday upgrade.This bass has a great vintage vibe and the fret inlays are a very nice touch.Five knobs offer plenty of detailed control.Vollume,p/u blend plus bass-mid and treble boost.

Tone is very good.Wonderful actually.
I assumed at the low price I paid I would want to customize with better pickups but the stock p/u on this are great.I love the tone.Like all good p-j basses it can be warm and woody sounding with the "p" but also bright and crisp with the "j"
This bass sounds alot like the Japanese Fender Aerodyne but is a couple of hundred bucks cheaper.This is surprising as the Yamaha has more impressive electronics(Aero is passive)and is nicer looking too.
A very cool distortion can be achieved with bass,mid and treble all boosted to 100%.

This is the real surprise.
Most so-called "cheapo" guitars/basses from Asia usually require a setup immediately.This one was perfect out of the box.
Mine's finish is a breathtaking pewter.
Ok,don't laugh.
When is the last time "breathtaking" and "pewter" were used in the same sentence? HA!
Seeing is believing.

Not too heavy but feels like a real solid chunk of bass.
I greatly appreciate the easy access truss rod at base of neck.

No opinion yet.
Nice website though.

Gotta give this top score.
I was prepared to pay $600-$700 for a Fender Aerodyne but was amazed by the Yamaha at a mere $459.
I currently have two 4 string USA Fenders(a Precision and a Jazz)and a really cool Waterstone fretless hollow body.All three are de-tuned a whole step and strung with flatwounds for a totally vintage sound.I play with my fingers exclusively.
I recently started missing the bright twang and sustain of roundwounds but didn't want to alter my current basses.
I love the Yamaha and now starting to play with a pick.I love the attack and sustain.

Brand new natural gloss finish model, active electronics, bass mid treble knobs on front of body as well as volume, and blender knob, which blends from the Precision type pickup in the neck position, to the Jazz type pickup in the bridge position. Oval inlays in the neck, which are probably plastic, but not too bad. Body is not bookmatched, but I like it its interesting to look at. Neck is not too thin, I personally don't like that anyway, very comfortable. Hardly any string buzz at all, action is plenty low for me. I'm so glad I got this and not the passive model. I could take this to an open mic and plug into a PA and be able control the sound better. The bridge is cheesy, as I have read online but who cares? It was not expensive, and I can change it easily anyway. I'm not giving a ten here only because the frets are not hand finished. They are great for coming right off a machine tho.

Love the sound. I bought it because I happened to take it off the wall at the music store and play around with it out of curiousity and couldn't get it out of my mind after that. I can get just about any sound I want so far, I can make it sound passive and mellow, or really good for slappin or whatever. Not muddy at all to me. I think you have to keep in mind that there is no bass that will sound like everything, and I may buy another bass someday with active humbuckers but this really covers everything I play like jam band, blues, jazz, fusion, rock, americana, etc. I'm not so much for metal so not too worried if it doesn't fit that bill...
I'm really impressed with it, and even tho I haven't been playing for years and years, I have a pretty good idea of what sound I want and I can get it with this one. If I wind up gigging a lot more I'll get a backup.

Action is excellent, neck is straight and true, a couple tweaks with the allen wrench provided did the trick to the truss rod, and the bridge heights. There are a couple very minor finish flaws but I'm not really concerned, and you can only see them because the finish is clear natural gloss. Like some very small sanding marks under the natural finish. The other finishes are not translucent so you really wouldn't be able to see anything under what seems to be a very hard finish. Nothing else that I can spot. I wish it was more satin, or maybe if there were other color choices like pearl white or something...I'm not unhappy at all...

It seems well made, and I have always thought Yahaha was a good import brand and I'm more than happy to give them the business this time. I'm going to assume that this will be long lasting and durable.

Don't know never dealt with them.

I've had a few quality basses, from Reverend to Ernie ball, I currently use a Trace Elliot commando combo amp, with some light effects, chorus, compressor, octave, real nice smooth sound or nasty as I want. If it were stolen I would certainly buy another. Its not an Alembic by any means but it is a hell of a deal for 450 bucks. I think it puts a lot of really expensive basses to shame, and for me its the perfect take out bass. Don't really have to worry about it, its not custom made or anything.

The BB 614 is a reissue of the legendary BB series basses, made in Taiwan by Yamaha.
I guess that, after the success of the BB 1000 MA and the more expensive BB 3000 MA (the Michael Anthony signature basses), Yamaha decided to put back into production this "classic" in a more standard version.
They even offer a BB 5 string version (based on the BB 5000), as far as I know, one of the first 5 string basses available way back in the 80's.
Basically the BB 614 is built like a Fender bass: long scale, 4 string, bolt on neck (maple with rosewood fretboard), alder body, a P-Bass style pick up at the neck and a (kind of) J-Bass style pickup at the bridge.
The electronics are active, the controls are volume, balance and a 3 band EQ (bass, mid & treble).
At the shop they had it in very different colours.
Mine sports a nice, high-gloss natural finish, very well done.
The stock bridge and especially the tuners are - straightly speaking - crap.
I guess they decided to use cheap parts to keep the price as low as possible.
The good news is that you can replace those parts easily, without spending necessarily a fortune (which I did immediatly with Shaller and Gotoh parts).
No accessoires included.

What can I say...this thing sounds absolutly amazing.
I own about 20 basses, most of them are really expensive instruments (Fender custom shop, Music Man, Kubicki, Hamer) but this cheap Yamaha blows away many of them.
That's almost frustrating, why did I spend so much money ? :(
To be honest, at the shop there were 4 or 5, I took some time for testing and not all of them were as good as mine (although none of them was bad, actually they all sounded quite good).
I just picked up the best of that crop.
The sound is fast, precise and focused, both pick ups do a great job, the EQ sounds good too (but you shouldn't boost frequencies too much, otherwise you'll get some bad distortion).
No dislikes or complaints at all.

The factory set-up was absolutly OK.
When I replaced the bridge and the tuners it took maybe 5 minutes to re-adjust it.
The neck is absolutly straight, the string action is reasonably low and the frets don't buzz at all.
It definitively has less buzz problems than most of the basses I own and it plays like a dream.
The finish is great as well, (again) much better of many expensive instruments I know, the guys at Yamaha/Taiwan really seem to know what they do.

The BB is a solid, well built, straight forward bass, I'm sure it won't let you down.
I replaced the strap buttons with Shaller security locks, as I use to do on all my basses.
The only thing I'm not completely sure about are the electronics...time will tell.

1 year warranty - never hat to deal with them

I play bass since 1982, I earn my living making music since more than 16 years and during my career I owned maybe 50 or 60 basses.
I don't think you'll be able to find a better bass for less than 500.- Euro.
And I'm quite sure you'll have to compare it to many other basses to find a better one in the 1000.- Euro category.
Does it still make sense investing a fortune in expensive instruments, when you can have such a great bass for so little money ?
These new Yamaha BBs made in Taiwan are amazing instruments.
Buy one, replace bridge and tuners (maybe a 100.- Euro investment) and be happy (...and still rich :)