'72-73 Yamaha SB-50

[ilan]

Some of you know I have a thing for late 60s - early 70s Yamaha basses. I've wanted an SB-50 since 1977, I was 15 and a local music retailer had one in bright red (actually the single-pickup SB-30), I'd go there and look at it. The German carve is beautiful. Never played it back then at the store, I actually have no idea how it sounds. So, fast forward 42 years to last week, I bought one off Reverb from Japan, for $440. It's medium scale, 32", also a first for me. Now the wait.

Anyone knows where I can source a bridge cover? It was embossed with the Yamaha name.

[Rob]

That is cool.
Anxious to hear your assessment.

[ilan]

Found this demo on youtube and turns out this is the actual bass that I purchased, same serial number (10009) and everything. Now I'm really excited.

03:44 neck pickup
05:01 bridge pickup
05:54 both
06:49 slap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvG9VU44Ljo&t=05m00s

[Pilgrim]

Looks and sounds good.  I like it!

[Basvarken]

I love red basses. I love Les Paul shaped basses. I love the sound of two humbuckers.
This bass ticks all the boxes and more. The German carve is nice. The 2 x 2 headstock with beautiful tuners is nice.
The block inlays are nice.

And it sounds great.

Now I have GAS!

[ilan]

Some of them had binding and chevron-shaped inlays, but not the bright red ones.

[amptech]

... And now I need an SB7A... Not many 'must have' basses left on my list, but SB7A or SB5A is still on it..

[Chris P.]

A blue offset one, like the one left on the vid, is for sale in Amsterdam. I used to have a sunburst one.

[ilan]

... And now I need an SB7A... Not many 'must have' basses left on my list, but SB7A or SB5A is still on it..

I never quite figured out the difference between the 7A and 5A.

https://reverb.com/news/the-offbeat-appeal-of-yamahas-vintage-flying-samurai-and-banana-basses

[doombass]

Some of them had binding and chevron-shaped inlays, but not the bright red ones.

That one is especially good looking. I don't think I actually have seen any of those before. And congratulations ilan!

[amptech]

I never quite figured out the difference between the 7A and 5A.

https://reverb.com/news/the-offbeat-appeal-of-yamahas-vintage-flying-samurai-and-banana-basses

I always thought the 5A was the one pickup version And the 31 1/5 scale lenght was a surprise too, sort of a near medium?
I kind of lean towards the one pup SB2A, and from that catalogue spread it came in white - love white basses But I have seen
one pickup reds too, maybe all models came in all colours.

Maybe the 7A have active pickups

[ilan]

She's here. A bit heavier than I expected, but nothing serious. It needed some setup work, took me about 40 minutes, mainly loosening the truss rod which was over-tightened to a back-bow, shimming the neck, and adjusting intonation (it was way off) and action at the bridge. Now it's all fine, except maybe for the tuners which are crappy but I'll keep them because they are unique and original. Sound is very good, just like in the video. Very bright and maybe needs some bass boost from the amp, but that's what the knobs are there for, right? 

Four different sellers in Japan still offer that bass on eBay, and for significantly more than what I paid for it. What are they going to do if someone hits the BIN?

[Dave W]

Four different sellers in Japan still offer that bass on eBay, and for significantly more than what I paid for it. What are they going to do if someone hits the BIN?

I don't understand how eBay allows this. Maybe they haven't noticed.

[ilan]

eBay seller japanproduct, who still has my bass listed for almost twice what I paid, replied to my question -

"My listing is authentic listing.
Another items is copied from me by another seller."

He and 3 other sellers still have the bass listed.

I don't understand how eBay allows this. Maybe they haven't noticed.

I reported it and got this answer from Customer Service:

"Ilan, I wonder, is there only one 1972 Yamaha SB-50 serial #10009? If yes, and if you think the item is not authentic, you can report the listing so that we can further investigate on this."

[Dave W]

I guess eBay doesn't understand that the bass is authentic but the listing is for a bass those sellers never had.