Yamaha BBN4

This was sold to me as the BBN4, but a sticker on the headstock says it's a BBN4II model, so I'm not sure! It's a 4 string, 24 fret, 2 passive single coil p/u, 2 volume / 1 tone control bass. The finish is Yamaha's "yellow natural satin". Nothing too spectacular, but certainly nothing to go wrong. Hardware is just basic stock stuff, but it's holding out quite nicely.

This has to be both the best and worst part of the N4. The bad part is that there are two sounds available with the majority of amps you're ever going to come across because the passive electronics seem to have two modes per dial - on (10) or off (0). The good part is that one of them just happens to be perfect for my style (metallica, megadeth, iron maiden, dio, rainbow etc.). To get it, all you have to do is put both volume controls to 10 and the tone to 0 and leave it - you'll have a full on, very warm sounding bass. The other sound is achieved with all the controls on 10 and i guess it would be good for slap bass due the boosted treble, but i never play slap so i'm not the one to ask about that!

I use my N4 with a Marshall B25mkII for quiet prac at home and with a Trace Elliot Commando 15 (150W / 15") combo for stage, and in both cases the amp has to do all the work in shaping the tone, whereas my (admittedly active) Jackson C5A could perform through a flat-character amp solely on the strength of it's built in EQ / tone controls.

For my purposes, this bass still kicks ass, but for some it could truly suck, so i can only really go 50/50 and give it a 5.

Nothing wrong at all here. Straight out of the box it played great - action and intonation both fine and neck perfect (just the /smallest/ bit of concave bend). The frets seemed to be finished well and all the hardware is thus far ok.

The finish - being basically a thin coat of clear matt varnish - was perfect out of the box and despite my best efforts, it's still just as good 3 years down the line! I attacked the back of it with my belt buckle a couple of times and whilst it marked the wood, it did no real damage. I've attacked doors, floors, walls and many other non-moving objects with this bass in the time i've owned it, and it's always ended up putting a bloody great mark in the thing it hits and taking no damage itself!

In other words, it's a tank.

I've played live with this bass and it really holds up well. It doesn't go out of tune, you won't damage it if you clout a bit of the stage (e.g. your drummer) with it, the hardware won't fall off it or anything dumb, and it never managed to fall off a decent strap for me, so it shouldn't for you. It really is a workhorse, and it won't let you down. My N4 has never needed anything other than a dry cloth in terms of maintenance.

I've been forced to gig without a backup with my N4, and it didn't screw up. Bass strings are hard to break under normal circumstances, and with no battery / odd bridge or tuners / strange control system to screw up, i'd do the same again if forced and not worry too much. I couldn't say the same for my Jackson, cos with all it's techno-garbage, it'd be just my luck for a bit of it to pop!

I've never had to deal with yamaha for any reason so i couln't comment. Says it all, i think.

Overall, this is an absolutely solid bass. It was my first bass 3 years ago and i'd never part with it - not because it holds any sentimental value or anything sissy like that, but because it plays well, sounds great and it's never let me down.

When i got it, i compared to squier P-Bass specials, jazz basses, even the odd yamaha RBX and TRB, but i chose this one because it's not hugely expensive, but at the same time not cheap and crap, plus there's nothing to go wrong with it.

The tone shaping abilities of the passive electronics are less than perfect, but on the other hand most amps worth the room they take up can do something about that.

If this went missing for any reason, i'd probably go and find whatever it's equivalent is these days and buy it back. Maybe in black, though, because the wooden finish - whilst very nice - doesn't scream METAL, it sings country and western!

This is a Japanese model, very much akin to the Japanese Fender Jazz. It features two single coil jazz pickups, volume/volume/tone control layout, 24 fret rosewood fingerboard, two to a side headstock, and a great, resonant alder body.

After about two months of use with this bass in clubs, the only sound that could be used without the typical "bumblebee sound" coming from the pickups was to use both full on.

I solved this by adding two DiMarzio jazz pickups (the humbucking ones). This soon lead to me a number of additions to the bass- adding coil tapping switches, removal of the tome control and replacing it with a a Gibson style toggle switch.

I also run the bass with the option to go stereo (each pick up throught its own separate amp- ala Billy Sheehan)

Action is what you would expect from a typical Japanese mass-produced instrument- good, but not great!

The fretboard buzzes from about 14 up if you get the action too low, no matter how much you play with the truss rod or bridge saddles. But other wise, not too bad.

The neck joint needed some SERIOUS tightening when I got it home. I removed the neck, sanded down the joint, and glues it in. I tightened it so much so that the plate is warped into the body (in my case this is not a bad thing). The neck is perfect and will never move!!! Sure, it will be a bitch for repairs, but I don't plan on having this instrument forever.

Because of the mods I've done to my instrument, I don't think I can fairly assess this instrument in this category! I have made mine bullet-proof. I haven't had much of a need to adjust the neck, other than after a long day of travel to studio or gigs, but thats mostly climate controlled, and I let the instrument sit for an hour or so before assessing its condition.

As a player of over 18 years now, I've played a plethora of instruments, ranging from the worst Fender P-bass copies to the best (Ricky 4001, Warwick, Spector...). I would take the Yamaha to a gig, simply because if it got stolen, I wouldn't mind. I would just buy another one.
Tone-wise, this is one of the most agressive sounding Jazz style instruments I've played. I actually like it so much (post mods, of course) that I consider one of my main instruments, both live and studio!

I have a 3rd reissue of BBN4. BBN4 III is more or less the same as standard model accept for pickups which are Double coil (like on active models (bbg4s etc), but it is PASSIVE!!!). Wood configuration is the same. Alder & Rosewood. I have natural finish. I don't know for collor models, but mine is WITHOUT varnish on top! 3 potentiometars: front & rear vol. and tone. Sometimes I really miss that master volume, but I'm getting used to it :-). Frets are the same... 24, bridge: die-cast, bolt-on neck construction... I changed plastic caps for metal on potentiometars

I give it 10 because of low price! This is more then good sound for 350$ BASS, and passive pickups. I play in hardcore/punk band, but at home I'm usualy in to slap, and finger play. It is good for both. From bright warm sound, to rich metal sound with a minimum of EQing. BUT!!! Don't expect 2 much from 340$!!!!!

This is the worst part!!! First of all it is too hard (strings were to high)! If you try to lower them, then you have to play with pickups, and lower them, and eaven after that there is still not much to do. The only thing I gave 6 for (otherways it could be 1) is the dammn GOOD neck. Neck is really GOOD. For this price it is PERFECT!

I am only sceptic about this finish. People are sayng that it is wery good, but I don't know how long will it last without of varnish :-/.

I have it for 7 months now, and I wouldn't change it for anything (accept someone give me Fender American Jazzbass :-)). I've mainly choose it because of price. I think that there is no such bass bass that will give you that much for 340$.

I bought this bass second hand from my local music store. It was the first bass I had ever bought (previously, I had been playing a Warwick for half a year which I borrowed off a friend). It has 4 strings, and 24 frets. The neck is extremely good. It feels excellent, much better than the Warwick I had been playing previously. The stock pickups are OK, but as people have said they tend to buzz a _lot_ when one is turned down. But keep them both on and it sounds excellent, a nice punchy tone. Comes with 3 knobs (saucy!): Neck pickup volume, bridge pickup, and tone. I love the bridge, big and damn chunky. The tuners are good for stock, too.

I play mostly metal, but also punk and a lot of funk. It sounds good with all styles and is nice and bright, but also can get down and punchy on the E string. Overall, a nice darkness to it. I normally play it through my Peavey practice amp. Through the amp, I knock off all the treble, and just keep the low and mid up to max. Like I already said, very noisy when one of the pickups is turned down, but keep them both on and its good. Sounds best that way, anyway. The slap sound is average, good on the E but doesn't sound too good on the other strings. But that's just my style, no doubt (I play like a chimp on speed).

Hmmm... well, I didn't like the action much at all. This could be because of the previous owner, but the shop did service it. I found the action a bit too high, but when I lowered it it gave some buzz. Also, I play very hard, and the springs on the bridge rattle when really slammed by my fingers. Pickups can get a little loose. The neck pickup has some indentation marks from hard slapping! It seems to scratch easily, too.

It's a solid bass. I don't feel in danger of it breaking it or anything. I replaced the strap buttons with a DeMarzio straplock system, and while it was good it has loosened itself. Not sure whether that's a problem with the bass or the DeMarzio system. The actual finish of the bass is average: it gets a lot of fingermarks on it, and the shine has been rubbed off with continued use where I rest my fingers. I would gig with it without a backup for sure, I trust this bass completely.

Never needed to deal with customer support, never really think I will.

I've been playing with this one for a year now, and have been playing bass for a year and a half. It is an excellent starter's bass. This week I am going to trade it in (and with a large sum of money) for an Ibanez EDB600. I really wish it had active electronics, and the buzzing from the pickups can get mind gnawingly irritating. If it was stolen, I'd buy an Ibanez-equivalent model. But seeing as I am going to be buying an EDB600 I wouldn't hunt the guy down.

This is a 4 string 24 fret bass. It has 3 controls, 2 volume controls (for each pickup) and a tone control. It has a natural finish and I got a free cable with it.

This is a really solid sounding bass, and is especially good for slapping, there is some hum when the two volume controls are not at the same setting

The action on the bass was set up quite well, although there is some fret hum on the higher frets, but other than that it was setup perfectly.

This is bass is rock solid, I had one for 4 years, and although there were some minor damage (ie. two of the volume knobs were caused to fall off, and the strap bolts came loose) there was nothing else wrong with it.

I have been playing for six years and the Yamaha BBN4 mk2 was my second bass, and it served me well for four years before it got nicked. So I bought the latest model, the Yamaha BBN4 mk3 - which has larger pickups, and it sounds just as good, if not better, than my original. This bass compares to other basses which are alot more expensive, and is definately the best for under #500.

'97(i think im remembering right)
24 fret maple bolt on with rosewood board
solid alder body, the darker satin stain, i get all kinds of complements the the look of this bass)
jazz bass set up
pasive electronics, volume-volume- tone controls
house brand p/u's i believe
"vintage" bridge(nice and heavy)strings thru bridge, not sure of the brand of tuners, but they feel solid and have worked well
34" scale
i replaced the factory strap buttons with dunlops locking strap locks

Wide range of sounds
can get a brite funky sound to a dark heacy rock sounds by rolling off the tone. If the pickups arnt both on the same level they get that damned 60cycle hum, but they are single coils, so that is expected. With a nice set of aftermarket pickups this bass would sound simply amazing.

I love the finsh. Held up very well, there are a few scratchs, but it took lots of abuse to get them. Finish is great, color is very nice, makes the bass look much more expensive then it actualy is. Fret work is really good for this price range.

Bass has held up well. It was my only bass for about a year. The only finsh flaw is from where i keep my thumb while playing. Holds tunning well, stap buttons very solid(granted it did relace them). I used to gig with out a back up, but this bass recentally become my back-up to my new Warwick Streamer.

Havnt delt with them

Ive been playing about 5 years, this was my second bass and ill keep it till it dies. If it were stolen i would probaby get another Warwick, but if you play a Warwick youll understand why. The neck is nice, sounds good. I would suggest this bass to someone looking for a really good starter bass, or a quality back up; even though it could be your main bass.It served me very well, and will still see regular actio, just not as much