3YO3 Bassline 2
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads
June 30, 2014

Introduction

3YO3 is one of those companies that fly under the radar quite a bit. They don’t do flashy marketing or have a huge presence at competitions. What they have is a crazy owner who made his name by hand carving some of the most gorgeous acrylic yo-yos on the planet. Landon Balk does some incredible things with acrylic from yo-yos to pens, to custom gear shift knobs. Since his first release, the Cosmo, he has branched out into metal yo-yos working with both aluminum and titanium. I reviewed his first metal a little over 4 years ago and it just happened to be the original Bassline. I was extremely impressed with the play at the time and still consider it to be one of the most underrated yo-yos ever put out. Today I am looking at the follow up, which looks almost identical in everyway except for one key difference. Lets check it out.

Specs

• Diameter: 55.92mm
• Width: 40.85mm
• Gap: 3.85mm
• Weight: 65.6 grams
• Bearing: Size C bearing
• Response: One Drop Flow Groove Pads

Construction

As I said, this looks almost exactly like the original Bassline. It has the same great bubbly organic shape that just feels amazing in the hand. The catch zone walls are high so there is some string contact but the blast is smooth enough that there is no wearing to worry about. The gap is a tad on the small side. This is not an issue, more something to be aware of when you install new pads; it will be a tiny bit bity for a few days. Turning to the face of the yo-yo you will notice the cavernous cup from the original with the ever so slightly elevated floor. Anyone who has an original will immediately notice the huge change in the hub design of the Bassline 2. Instead of a static hub, it has been replaced with One Drop’s Side Effect system and a custom set of Side Effects that mimic the tiny spike hub of the original. Over all the Bassline 2 has an amazing, classic feel to it, one that I am a huge fan of.

Weight

One less visible change is the weight shift between the original and Bassline 2. This newer run is almost a gram lighter while staying about the same size. What I noticed is that it retained the stability of the original while being a little more nimble on the string.

Response and Bearing

The response is One Drop’s excellent Flow Groove pads that last forever. The only issue I had was the one mentioned above. New pads can be cause unintentional knuckle dusters during play. Once they break in the Bassline 2 is smooth as silk during play.

The bearing seems to be a generic C-Size bearing, I am not sure of the brand. All I know is that it is flat and spins for quite a long time. It isn’t the quietest bearing on the planet but it gets the job done. What more can you ask for?

Playability

While it is a little zippy on the string this yo-yo is one chilled out and relaxing yo-yo to play. It feels like an old school slice of heaven. It is a large chunk of aluminum flying through the air that retains the floaty feel of the original. Since this is an update of the original I decided to revisit the Pac-Man picture trick that I used to test the original and surprise, surprise it is still able to pull off the string passes required to pull of the trick even though it has a substantial size. Grinds are an absolute breeze with this Bassline 2. It has been updated with a blast finish that grinds like a champ. I had complete control of the yo-yo as it crept up my arm during a grind.

Final Thoughts

In my original review I said that the Bassline was the standard that Landon has to meet with any future metal release… does that still stand? In a word, yes. It is an incredibly smooth, relaxed, and just plain fun yo-yo to play. It is welcome change from all the “competition spec” yo-yos out on the market and does exactly what I want a yo-yo to do, bring a smile to my face. I would gladly recommend this yo-yo to anyone looking for a new throw. I am going to have to pick one up eventually; I miss the original Bassline I had in my collection.