Yamaha debut new signature bass for Joy Division and New Order legend Peter Hook
Subscribe
X

Subscribe to Mixdown Magazine

01.12.2020

Yamaha debut new signature bass for Joy Division and New Order legend Peter Hook

Words by Will Brewster

Celebrating one of the most influential bassists of all time.

Yamaha have today unleashed the BBPH bass guitar, a signature instrument for Manchester icon Peter Hook to celebrate his longstanding relationship with the company.

Best known for his stints with Joy Division and New Order, Hook has been a longtime fan of the Yamaha BB bass range for over 40 years, using an array of BB1200 and 1200s basses in the studio and onstage with both groups.

The bass’s punchy tone, combined with Hook’s idiosyncratic upper register playing technique, helped to usher in a new era of bass playing in the ’80s, and would go on to establish Hook as one of the most influential players of all time.

Based on elements of the Yamaha BB1200S and the BB734A bass he currently plays with his own group Peter Hook and The Light, the BBPH signature bass features a three-piece alder/maple/alder body and bolt-on neck with 21 frets, wrapped up in a red finish inspired by Hook’s favourite BB1200s.

The instrument also features a reversed VSP7n split single-coil pickup similar to that of a Precision Bass, and is wired with an active preamp with a three-band EQ and active/passive switch to achieve a wide variety of tones.

To signify Hook’s own personal touch, the BBPH features a scrawled signature and the words ‘Manchester, England!’ from the man himself on the back of the headstock.

Watch Hook talk about the bass in the video below.

Find out more via Yamaha Music Australia.