Yamaha BBNE2 Nathan East Signature Bass - Black Review

The Beast

I ordered this bass 6 months ago, and was going to say forget it, I'm tired of waiting, man am I glad I didn't. This thing plays and sounds awesome right out of the case ( which by the way the case is even sweet). I've been playing for 30+ years and own an 80's Warwick Streamer, 90's Fender Precision Special, Ernie Ball Music Man Stingray, Fender Precision Ultra, and now this "Beast".… read more This guitar will stand up to, and surpass anything I've owned. It's well worth the money, and the wait, props to the luthiers at Yamaha, and to Nathan East, Thank you so much for this guitar, it is Phenomenal!!!!

---

Cancel Comment

Amazing Bass

This bass is a beast sound machine !!I own 12 basses and Yamaha BBNE2 is my priority bass for gigs. I'm in love with my Yamaha. Great job for Yamaha guys !

---

Cancel Comment

Yamaha Nathan East Signature Black

I've owned this bass guitar for roughly 1 1/2 years (playing it nearly everyday), so I think I've gotten to know a decent bit about. Indeed, I put off my review until now so that I might be able to have fair background with it. What I'll say is this; this instrument is sublime. It is, without a doubt, the finest bass guitar I have ever played. I waited 3 months for it to arrive… read more after placing my order and my patience was rewarded. The people at Yamaha, along with Nathan East, have crafted something truly impressive here. When you pick it up and really put in some time with it, you start to notice all the facets that the engineers and Nathan put into the guitar. Nathan East is, of course, Nathan East. He has played with just about everyone of note in the music industry in the past 35+ years. This very bass gets a tremendous amount of work put into it, traveling the world, being used in front of hundreds of thousands of people annually, in addition to Nathan's continued studio work. Enough of that, though; this website, among others, and Yamaha's website all reiterate that. The craftsmanship on this instrument is luthier/boutique-quality. I cannot find a single issue with it from a physical standpoint. Every note is balanced, speaks with clarity, and possesses the sustain that one would desire from a neckthru instrument, although the "bolt-on vs. neckthru" argument is a non-issue, in my opinion. There are no dead spots, despite the "Fender-like" headstock. The frets are small profile, and one can get just about as low of an action as they would like with it, or one can set the instrument up to "fight" them some. Either way, it sounds great. The guitar is so smooth feeling. I always had the thought of freshly-cleaned glass when I would take it out of the case. The ebony fingerboard is especially well-suited for this instrument and reminds me of my upright bass. The hardware is the best that Yamaha makes, which is set at a high bar. The tuning keys are made of mother of pearl, hold tuning extremely well, and respond to even slight variations made by the player. The abalone inlays are beautiful, and grab the eyes without being gaudy. The individual bridge pieces are very easy to deal with: changing strings has never been easier. Lastly, the neckthru construction gives unimpeded access to every fret on the neck, again with the extremely smooth-feeling of the instrument. Now, the guitar is covered in a gloss-finish, so there is that. This is not the fastest-playing bass you can get. Your hands can stick somewhat to the neck if you have a bit of perspiration on them. Still, the guitar's physical characteristics are superb. This bass feels like it costs more like a $5,000+ instrument. The electronics on this instrument are second-to-none. The pickups in this guitar PICK UP everything; all of a player's nuances, all of the feeling. Some players say that active basses miss some of the subtleties of their playing. I wholeheartedly disagree, and I think anyone who has played this instrument will say the same. The preamp is powerful, if only powered by a single 9-volt. It has the most powerful 9-volt preamp I've ever tried, though: There is a lot of headroom to work with. I imagine that they designed it this way to work in conjunction with the "magic box" mid-range switch, which affects the sounds of the instrument drastically. Now, due to the power of the preamp, the 9-volts do tend to die a bit quicker in this bass compared to my other basses. I put at least an hour a day into this instrument, and the battery probably dies every 3 months. It's just the nature of the BBeast, as it were. Now, onto the "magic box", which I believe is what interests most players. It's a mid-range switch. I do not know the exact numerical values that it is set at, but I do know that it goes from treble-less low-mids to almost feeble, possibly unusable high-mids. The magic in the "magic box" exists from roughly 0% to around 90% on the knob. Again, the really high-mids, where the knob is turned away from the bridge pieces, can get into the unusable range, but that all depends on one's preferences and what type of gear they're using. Even after all the time I've spent with the guitar, there are still plenty of sonic spaces I haven't found yet in the variations one can get with the whole EQ package. It's hard to describe. If I had to really narrow it down, I would say that the "magic box" gives the instrument a cleaner, high-def sound. Again, one has a huge range to work with in-between the mid-range selector and the 3-band. The pickups are stacked humbuckers and are of the finest quality. The neck pickup is pure P-bass in nature, and Yamaha spins the wiring underneath the B-string a bit more and a bit more tightly to give the B-string extra definition, which can be a problem with 5-string P-style pickups. I personally feel that it can sound like a truly passive P-bass, or an active one, depending on how one dials in the EQ and uses their hands. The bridge pickup sounds and feels more like it's in the 70's position; a little closer, a little brighter. It is a little close to the bridge pieces, but I've readjusted my playing to fit this, getting used to the extra tautness. The bridge pickup gives one everything one could desire from a bridge pickup, plus it doesn't hum at all. Between the two pickups lays at least 4 separate sounding basses. Each situation calls for its own pickup pan selection, and this guitar will fulfill whatever that need is. As for the tone, I would sum it up with one word: professional. This bass was built for someone who has possibly played bass on more records than anyone living, save for a literal handful of older souls. If we're being honest, playing bass in a professional studio-centered sense still calls for certain "classic" sounds, which this guitar is built for. It's designed, primarily, to meld with the other instruments in the song and support them. Some people say that this results in a uninspired tone, which I can see where they're coming from, but I still disagree with. Yes, this bass doesn't have that unmistakable sound of, say, my Stingray, but it can step out into its own with the right EQ and right approach. The tone is a little "dry", if I was gripe at all. It's not up and in your face on it's own, but do not think for a second that you can't find an aggressive or signature sound within the instrument. I've grown to love the overall character of the instrument, though. Again, it really does so much that it's hard to put into a written review. I know it's infuriating, but you have to go and try this on your own if you want to know what I'm talking about. Overall, if you are debating about whether you should spend this level of money on a guitar, just do it. You're getting into the price-range where you would be hard-pressed to find something that doesn't deliver in every regard. I personally took the plunge on this one, and I haven't regretted it for one second. This guitar will be with me for a lifetime, and I look forward to what it will look and sound like when I've put the years into it. And this guitar has turned me into a lifetime Yamaha fan, as well. I think I'd have a hard time playing outside the company again... Anyways, it's a magnificent instrument. I would encourage you to get one.

---

Cancel Comment