Yamaha BB414 & BB614

Somehow, Yamaha’s BB series has straddled both categories. First introduced in the late ’70s and made in Japan, BB’s became the axe to grab for a handful of rock stars and armfuls of in-the-know working stiffs, who gradually made the well-built, great sounding basses a quiet classic. In the last ten years or so the BB has been reintroduced in artist signature series—like the Nathan East and Michael Anthony models, some of which had a thinner body style, but this year’s bolt-on 400 series passive basses and 600 series active basses mark a return to the BB line’s original shape with updated electronics and the benefits of today’s high-quality automated manufacturing.

I test-drove two new BB 4-strings: a metallic orange BB414 and a pewter BB614. Both looked amazing. Chrome accents around the pickups and on the 614’s Art Deco-esque knobs perfectly complement the bodies’ sparkling finishes, which themselves inspired many a covetous glance. The split-coil P-style pickups’ exposed pole pieces and the bridge-position soapbar pickups’ single curved rail complete the stylish ensemble of understated bling. The now-classic body shape, with its rounded body bouts and asymmetrical, curved-but-not-crazy horns exuded cool. The BBs balanced near-perfectly strapped or seated, with a slight tug of gravity at the headstock. Both had the comfy, rounded BB neck profile and distinctive yet unassuming BB headstock shape. The neck-heel block is cut with a curved outline and fitted with off-center bolts to assure high-fret access.

The new Yamaha BBs’ construction quality is exemplary, reflecting tremendous improvements in less-expensive instruments and possibly exceeding that of several low-priced peers. The neck joints were tight and secure, and the necks themselves were carefully shaped and smoothly finished. Frets were seated perfectly in the rosewood fingerboards, with nary a high fret nor buzzy note. In short, these budget basses felt anything but cheap. The control cavities were more typical of offshore mass production: slathered with conductive paint, and in the case of the BB414, tangled with unnecessarily long wires. The 414’s cavity was too cramped for expansion, though adding a preamp might be overkill on this passive hotrod. Kudos for the BB614’s separate battery compartment, but I personally prefer an attached battery compartment cover that can’t be easily misplaced or broken. Careful setups added to the instruments’ inviting playability, but the BB414 arrived with excessive bridge-position pickup height, inhibiting back-by-the-bridge finger strokes and making for noticeably uneven pickup balance.

The BB414 was indeed a muscular little groover, with a satisfying dynamic sensitivity and full-bodied punch. The easy-grab volume and tone controls and three-position pickup selector delivered a suitably broad tone palette, with a wickedly punchy fingerstyle tone from the bridge pickup, and a natural-sounding, beefy boom from the neck pickup dialed in or soloed. The bridge pickup sounded a bit thin for slapping, and the soloed P pickup gave that tubby, old-school slap sound, but together they fell short of a full-bodied, modern slap sound. The 414 was also particularly responsive to finger pressure and plucking position; I found it could channel my expressiveness exceptionally well. You could, for example, get a nice midrange bump playing back by the bridge, even with the neck pickup soloed.

While the active BB614 with EQ flat sounded similar to the 414 in most respects, it had a slightly more subdued output. On the other hand, there’s quite a bit of gain to be had in the EQ knobs. Full-on, the bass knob drops quite a payload of extra-wide boom. Giving the mid pot a little goose adds notchy finger-funk burp, while rolling it back with both pickups blended gets closer to a more modern thick and snappy slap sound. The whole time I played the 614, the volume and blend seemed reversed to me, though I’m sure I’d eventually get used to it.

Ultimately, I really dug both the BB414 and the BB614, with a slight personal preference for the passive 414. Both have a responsive, inviting quality that’s the result of quality construction, ergonomics, resonance, finish, and a good setup. In other words, the new Yamaha BBs are great instruments. Only time will tell if that turns out to be great with a capital G.