Yamaha BBG5

I bought the translucent blue version of this bass. It features a quilted maple top, gold hardware, sealed Gotoh style tuners, 2 single coil pick-ups, rosewood fretboard, alder back, and 2 volume/1 tone controls.

To rate this category, I really have to think about the sound compared to price. For the money, it has an excellent sound. The bass feels responsive and has a nice, deep vibe to it as you play it acoustically. Really for the money, Yamaha always delivers. The only thing disappointing is the funky set-up of the volume and tone controls. It feels like it's always on either side of the spectrum and never really inbetween. (jazzy lows or punchy, funky highs) Also, there is hum when both pick-ups are turned fully up.

I can't complain at all...Yamaha is remarkable in all of their equipment I've owned. I bought this bass used and it looked brand-new. The finish and stain were pretty flawless and the bass plays AWESOME! When you buy a cheaper bass, usually you sacrifice tone and playability, but not with this bass. The action is some of the lowest I've played on with perfect intonation, no fret buzz, and the bass stays in tune all the time. Quilted maple top is definately an eye catcher and it's a good grade of wood.

All the hardware on this bass is way above what you'd find on most basses in this price range. Everything feels sturdy and the bass is very comfortable to play. Bridge is really solid. Electronics are nicely and neatly wired in when you remove back cover.

I can't say much for customer support other than I have emailed them twice with no reply yet. Haven't had any other problems that would warrant contacting customer support.

I think I chose a really great bass to start out on. I'm familiar with Yamaha and I would really suggest people look into them. They make a ton of excellent gear, yet they are almost unknown or an underdog of sorts? I've played guitar for a long time and I decided to branch out into bass and I really feel I will never need another bass besides this one. It looks great, plays great, and sounds above average, definately a standout in it's price range. The only way I would ever buy another bass was if I was going for a top of the line one that was $1200+ or so. For $300, this was a great buy...

I have 2 Yamaha bbg5 5 string basses
one is passive with 24 frets , 2 volume controls , tone control, and has transparent blue colour and the other is active with 24 frets,and it is a nice sunburst colour
they are both great and look nice!!!

The Active bass has a couple more features and has more kick or power to it
The passive keeps up pretty close tho

I hardly has to do anything to both of these basses
all i did was plug in and play away

I'm pretty hard on my basses and have been gigging with them for 4 years non - stop
a couple straches here and there but they are built alomost like steel

Bought new for #400sterling 8 months ago. 24 fret, rosewood fingerboard, maple neck, alder or ash body?,2 soapbar pickups w ith volume, balance, bass and treble controls, finished in gloss black with gold hardware it looks one hell of a lot more expensive than it was! The body is very comfortable (not too thick or big),pickups are great thumb rests,one of the nicest five-string necks ive played- that includes a Warwick and a few Wals,medium-ish frets

Sounds very rounede when the EQ is flat,a lot of cut and boost from the 2 band EQ with a nice range of tones, suits any styles really, although I especially like it for slap, the extra string comes in handy for rock and metal, the neck is slim enough to pull off some nice fast basslines a la Mark King.The treble control can be a bit hissy on full boost.I have an Ampeg preamp for home use and it sounds ok with that but I really love it played through my Laney(don't laugh0 300 watt head and 2x10 C+G cab.They fit perfectly together and each part makes up for the others weaknesses-I'm very pleased!I love it's versatility,value for money,showy looks,build quality,finish. I don't like it's lack of a mid control- but then again what do you expect for a bass this cheap?!!!

The bass hasn't needed to be set up since I got it.This must be a 1 off cos I've had another Yamaha before and that was pretty bad straight from the box.All other aspects were really good.No paintwork flaws,snug neck fitting,nicely routed cavities etc etc

Rarely needs a major tuning, very tough paint finish, the gold hardware has dulled a bit but not really noticably-this is a very tough little bass!I replaced the strap buttons with a strap lock but that was for my own peace of mind!The battery lasts about 3 months of hard playing so I don't really need a backup bass

The bass is built well enough that nothing has gone wrong so I havent tried Yamahas customer support. I do know that they delivered the bass to the shop I ordered it from within a week so that was nice :)

I really like this bass.It's an ideal first 5 string or backup bass, plenty of sounds, looks classy as hell!However, being as I've just ordered a Yamaha 6 string and have very little money, it has to go.It will be missed!!!Anyone interested email me- entwistlecymru@hotmail.com

I bought this bass brand new in Levis (Quebec), Canada in 1997. I used to play on a 4 string one piece Kramer then on a 5 string Samick that went berserk when it got cold. And it gets cold here a lot!

I played in the store and it was ad if it were made for me from the start. I really like the way it looks with the gold burst finish and the "gold" glow from the gardware. Two volume selectors and one tone control for 2 J-style pick ups (passive) to control what kind of sound you want from it. String are mounted with a string-through bridge and the neck is rosewood over maple.

No accessories were included when I bought it.

Soundwise, it gets a little difficult to control the humming when both pick ups are way up. I have to turn them down about 1/4 of a turn to avoid it. Otherwise, the player IS in control of the sound. I can get a very warm and round sound out of it or I can choose to get a very punchy and bright sound out of it if I choose to slap it around a little... I play rock, heavy rock, folk, jazz, pop and this bass never disappointed me over versatility issues. Oh, and it has a lot of sustain if you need it too.

What I like about it is despite the fact that some players find it heavy, I see it as a sign of solidity and durability.

I used it on a Peavey combo 130 (130W/15inch spkr) and a combo 300 and it sounded great in both, but better in the combo 130.

In regards to the quality of the string mounted at the factory, I have to say that although this 5 string sounded great in the store, it really came alive with a brand new set of D'Addario's.

One volume control was mounted too low and made contact with the surface of the guitar but it was adjusted immediately by the dealer before I tried it in the store.

But, the overall rating for the finish is very good. No dents, no scratches, it is beautiful.

This bass has withstanded live playing very well. Without a back up at that. It never gets detuned while playing, never glitches and never lets me down. In the 5 years I've been playing it, I never had to adjust the truss-rod. The strap buttons are solid enough for this quite heavy instrument, but clip-on buttons should be an option.

A one year warranty. Never had to have it repaired.

I've been playing it for 5 years. What I love about it the versatility of sound. I compared it to a 4 string, one-piece Kramer, and the sound from the Yamaha gives me bragging rights. I also had the opportunity to compare it to a 5 string Samick that cut my fingers on numerous occasions from the poorly finish fret extremities and a finishing flaw on the bridge that also cut my hand a few times. Also, the Samick had to be made of the poorest wood quality ever. I had to have the truss rod adjusted 3 times during the one year period I owned it.

From Yamaha.com:
"The BBG5 is an eye-catching 5-string sporting the unique Yamaha "high-definition" finish and posh gold hardware. Our longest-running bass series offers an inspired blend of vintage styling and modern precision that has been embraced as a modern classic by players of every genre. The various BB models cover a wide price range, but all supply the discriminating bottom-feeder with a big slab of resonant alder, a super-precise 24-fret rosewood-on-maple neck, first rate fretwork, formidable hardware, and a pair of versatile J-style pickups."

I really love the sound! My bass has two passive pickups and 2 volyme and one tone. You can get sharp and clean rock tones and deep jazzy sounds from it. The only thing that I don't like about the sound is that volyme one and two has to be at the same level, or else the pickups start to have a humming noise. The only way to have only one pickup on is to turn down volyme (either one or two, wich one you want) and then turn the tone down, then it wont hum...

The finish is great! I have heard many compliments about it from other musicians and I like it very mutch too. I got the translucent blue burst and gold finish. I think that the colors match great when you have a darker blue finish and gold hardware!

The wood that they have made this bass from is very heavy! I don't recommend this bass for weak people, it weights about 5 to 6 kilos! So if you drop it, then it sounds like a thunderstruck :)

I have played live with this bass many times, and it works really great. The only problem (that I mentioned earlier) is that it weighs quite a lot for a bass, that's why it can be a little tough carrying it from gig to gig. But that's not a problem (shouldn't be) :) But because it's so heavy it's really solid and dependable!

I play with it every day, and I only have to tune it maybe every month! It's quite amazin because it doesn't have any locking systems etc. And when it's a little detuned, then it's only about a half step down (or up if it's been cold).

I removed the original strap buttons and installed Schaellers strap locks, but the screws were a little bit too small that came with the locks, so I had to fill the old holes up a little bit. But I would really recommend installing locks on this one or sew the strap holes because the buttons are quite small and it might slip during a gig.

I haven't had any problems with this so I don't know. But I had to buy this bass from Estonia, because where I live (Finland) 5-string basses are rare and costs a LOT of money if you happend to acctually find one in a store.

I have used this bass almost every day in about 2-3 years now, and it's like new! The frets are like new, the gold hardware shines like a diamond and the fretboard is is perfect condition.

I really recommend this bass to anyone who doesn't want to or can't afford to pay a lot of money to basses but still wants high quality. But don't be fooled by the price, because I have met many bassists that says that "5-string basses under 2000$ are crap"... This is NOT the case with this bass!

The only negative things I have to say about it is the two volyme knobs (for the neck and bridge pickup) and their hum if they aren't at the same level, and the other negative thing was that it weighs a LOT for a bass. But that should also mean that it's very solid and dependable bass.