A bass guitar that sounds like a piano — Paul Barnham listens to its key notes.

This elegant bass guitar is finished in a very attractive burgundy (deep green is the alternative), through which the wood grain of the body, neck and head-stock are clearly visible. The lacquer is of a very high quality, producing an excellent finish. The body is of solid alder; the two halves being separated by the five-piece laminated-through neck of maple and mahogany. The brown ebony fingerboard is also very attractive and smooth to the touch. For me, however, the most outstanding feature of this instrument is the superb craftsmanship used at the juncture of the end of fretboard and the guitar body (you couldn't see the join — honest!). Pearly elliptical inlays on the fretboard, along with complementary pearly dots on the side of the fretboard add a touch of finesse.

Twenty-one immaculately finished medium gauge frets were not even one thou' out of line (I'm sure), because the strings simply refused to buzz until the action was set ridiculously low. Generous sculpting at the rear of the body made the bass very comfortable to play, when both sitting and standing. At the front, the body was however a little too severe — this was unnecessary, to my mind. The body shape is best likened to that of a Strat, the deep lower cutaway making those high notes easily obtainable for any budding Stanley Clarkes. The burgundy headstock bears a resemblance to the Strat again. The truss rod is enclosed in an aluminium U-channel which must add somewhat to the ridigity of the 33⅞" scale neck. There is good access to the truss rod with the tool provided, so there is no fiddling about with awkward cover plates. It's unlikely, though, that the neck would ever need much attention however, if the perfectly straight neck on the review model was anything to go by.

Bridge That Gap

The bridge has the same adjustment facilities as a Precision-type bridge. There are four adjustable saddles with two screws per saddle for adjusting height with an Allen key. These seem at first quite difficult to adjust, due to the difficulty encountered in actually locating the Allen key in the socket of some of the screw adjustors. To be fair though it was just a case of knocking off a few rough edges with the Allen key during use, as this small problem was soon overcome. Regrettably no Allen key was supplied with the bass.

The overall appearance of the bridge is quite chunky, and at odds with the looks of the rest of the instrument. I disliked the curly design featured at the bridge bass plate, but that's a matter of personal taste.

The chromed machine heads are of the open type and have an expensive, well made feel about them. When operated they worked extremely well, and gave fine control for exact tuning. The machine heads were "torque-adjustable", ie they featured a collar which alters the machine head action, making it either more or less difficult to turn the peg as you choose. This is an excellent idea.

A no-frills white plastic nut and chrome-plated string retainer for the 1st and 2nd strings complete the hardware at this end of the instrument.

It's worth mentioning that it was possible to lean this bass up against something whilst the jackplug was still plugged in. This is because the jack plug socket is sufficiently far away from the bottom strap button, so the plug doesn't touch the ground at all when the bass is left upright. A small point, but there is nothing more annoying than a guitar that can't be momentarily leant up against a wall for example. The strap buttons were sensibly large, and the guitar balanced very well when played with the strap on.

Active Declarative

The single split pickup is of Precision style, in black, with a black plastic surround. An interesting feature allows the pickups to be tilted to match exactly the angle the strings make to the body. Pick-up height is easily adjusted with a Phillips screwdriver (kindly supplied by Yamaha as a part of their truss rod tool). Surprisingly, the pickup poles themselves were not adjustable, though the output from each string seemed well balanced.

In the active mode the mini-toggle is switched up. (Up for "on" — logical eh?) Tone is controlled solely by the three smaller knobs farthest from the strings, and the large tone knob has no effect at all. The knob nearest the guitar neck cuts or boosts the lowest frequencies, the middle knob controls the mid-range frequency band, and the knob farthest from the neck looks after the treble. Each pot is blessed with a central detente position, presumably where the frequency band is neither boosted nor cut. Hence one can feel the Eq settings, a must if your band goes in for murky, dramatic on-stage lighting. It would be nice if the three active equalisation knobs were numbered, this would be useful for studio work. As it is the knobs merely have equally spaced lines all around them, which are totally meaningless in their unnumbered state.

The active circuit is powered by a 9V battery which resides in a cut-out in the rear of the body. The black plastic battery cover is removed by unscrewing the two Phillips screws holding it in place. Surely by now a more sophisticated method of enclosing the battery could be employed, as the little screws are so easily dropped during battery replacement. The active circuit board is attached to the inside of a larger black plastic back plate by four Phillips screws. The back plate itself is removed by unscrewing the five Phillips screws that hold it in place. The active circuit is screened completely from interference by plenty of metal foil lining the cavity and back plate. Screening paint is also used in the battery cavity.

Bit Of A Performer

In passive mode a reasonably wide range of tones is obtainable, the tone control working in even increments right across its range of travel. Even on full bass setting the tone is clear and not at all muddy, and similarly the tone given when at full treble is not too extreme either. So the whole range of tones possible is quite useable. Unfortunately the volume control is a little too sensitive in the very last ⅛" of its rotary travel to full volume. Therefore the large increase in volume is not truly proportional to the small degree of volume control movement. However, this problem did not occur at all when the bass was switched to the active mode.

In the active mode the bass really gives a superb, clear, bright tone, and is a joy to play, as it was so responsive to the slightest touch on the strings. The range of tones available by adjusting the Eq knobs is phenomenal. The bass player is immediately at an advantage on stage with this instrument because they can alter the tone so much without even touching the pre-amp.

Overall the BB-1200S has a certain ringing 'piano-like' quality to its sound, this is noticeable even in the passive mode. The neck-through-body construction naturally gives a very impressive sustain. It's a really full, "rounded" sound that this bass gives out, and is conducive to a positive, attacking playing style. There can be no half-measures with this super-responsive instrument. It particularly suits thumb slapping, the percussive element of this style being greatly enhanced by the Eq gadgetry.

At a RRP of £429, and as top of the Yamaha single pickup range unlikely to be greatly discounted, the bass is hardly cheap. However, even with fierce competition from other reputable firms offering similar features at more reasonable prices I feel the BB-1200S will retain its niche in the market. It is after all, a very high quality bass, and as such will always be sought after by the discerning musician willing to part with the money. Next time I win the pools, it'll be on the list.