| Yamaha Broad Bass | |
| Manufacturer: | Yamaha Corporation |
| Period: | 1977–2015, 2017–present |
| Pickups: | Usually a split single-coil, and "blade" single-coil |
| Colors: | Rose-burst, natural, white, black, blue, etc. |
The Yamaha Broad Bass (often abbreviated as BB), is the third model of bass originally produced by Yamaha, first released in 1977.
The BB Bass is differentiated from the Yamaha Super Bass, a Yamaha version of Fender's Fender Jazz Bass, and the Yamaha Precision Bass, which is Yamaha's version of Fender's Fender Precision Bass by the neck-through body, and the pick-up and body shape.
The Broad Bass was conceived to pander to a western audience, after the SB and PB basses almost only sold in Japan.[1]
The Broad Bass 1200 was first released in 1977, the first model of BB, as the premium version of the BB Bass, the BB1000 and BB800 models were also released in different price ranges.[2] All three models of the original BB only had a single-coil split pick-up, similar to the Fender Precision, although this pickup was reverse mounted.
One year later, Yamaha released the BB2000, a higher-end model, with an added "Blade" Jazz-Bass style pick-up. A fretless version was released also.
Four years later, in 1982, Yamaha released the BB3000, an even higher end BB, and the reverse "P" pickup was changed to a regular "P" pickup. Two years after, in 1984, Yamaha released the BB5000, one of the first mass-produced five string basses.
Broad Basses are still produced today, under models like the P34, or 734.[3]