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Questions about Yamaha TRBX Series

D

DSBass

Nov 14, 2008
223
35
Stockholm, Sweden
#1
Hello! I am curious about Yamaha TRBX 304/305 and 504/505 series basses.

I have owned a Yamaha BB 414 which I liked exept the look of it. I have also owned a TRB5P and a TRB1005j and I didn´t like the sound of those two at all.

Are the TRBX sounding more like the BB series or the TRB series?

Also, if you own and have gigged a lot with one of the TRBX basses, how do like it? How does it seem to hold up?

Thanks for answers.
Best regards/Daniel
 
#2
I have the flat black TRBX 504. Its a solid sturdy gigworthy bass. Ergonomically my favorite bass. Even more so than my Spector and fenders. The pickup config is great. Active or Passive Fantastic price. I absolutely love it. I Use it Live for all of our Eb tuning songs/ set. Great tone. I like the mids. Treble is a tad weak from the eq. Minor issue. Tough yet light. A wonderful instrument
 
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#3
Ive got a 505 and echo all the above.

It feels very sturdy and hangs very well. Its narrow nut is really nice, and although i cant get the action to be quite as low as my other basses its very easy to play.
I quite like the passive tone from it. It seem to be warmer and more "fender" than active mode. I must admit to finding the active tone to be a bit bland on its own, but its not a bad tone.

The great thing for me is that it will run in passive mode even without a battery in it. I never have to worry about the battery going flat during a gig (and a LED comes on when its close to dying).
 
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#4
I've got both and really enjoy them. I've been gigging my 305 nonstop for the last 4 months and it has done great. Out of all the basses I've played the band guys like that one the best.
Just got the 505 and will put it to the test soon. To me the 505 has a more transparent, open sound to it. I will eventually put a set of D'Addario flex steels on it as I have grown to really like those strings.
 

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#5
Thanks a lot for the answers. I was at 3 musicstores today but none of them had the bass so I couldn't try it out. Seems I have to order it online without the ability to test it first.

I also have the opportunity to buy a BB1600 from 1986. Japan made. I know these are good basses. Hard to decide.
 
#7
The standard/classic BB tone (which is that of an Alnico P and Ceramic Blade J, both high output and passive) is pretty different from the TRBX, which is active (though the 500 series runs passive too) and uses thinner dual coil pickups. Both sound good, but are a bit different in tone.

I'm sorry to hear you did not like your BB's looks. I actually think they are a quite handsome bass in their various configurations. I have two of them myself.
 
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#8
I had the TRBX304 and to be honest with you, I didn't like the sound on it. I thought with that tone switch, I could get a more defined sound out of the bass but it just didn't suit me- found the tone a little on the thin side. I love the look, the feel but the tone was just a little bit lacking- That being said, I actually like some Yamaha basses- I like the sound of the BB basses (even bought an older version RBX170 recently).
Maybe the 504 sounds better than what I had but I was pretty disappointed and ended up trading it- I could have switched out the pickups but I had a trade offer that was too hard to resist.
 
#9
Question for you 5 string owners . . . Sweetwater has the neck radius listed at 23.6", although the photos don't seem to show it as that flat a neck, is this correct? I'm hoping to get out and try one for myself, and I love a flat and thin/shallow neck. Thinking these may be a good budget backup option for me. Thanks in advance for any help!
 
#12
I've recently owned a yamaha trbx174 in a dark metallic blue finish and it sounded pretty cool. it's got decent sound quality, good playability, and also I like the color on this bass. I'm thinking about purchase a yamaha trbx305 sometime later on. but I would like to try out first at a guitar center or a sam ash. If I get a chance to go there, I'll definitely try it out. and If I happen to see a trbx505, I would try that out too.
 
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#13
jjk2007 said:
I've got both and really enjoy them. I've been gigging my 305 nonstop for the last 4 months and it has done great. Out of all the basses I've played the band guys like that one the best.
Just got the 505 and will put it to the test soon. To me the 505 has a more transparent, open sound to it. I will eventually put a set of D'Addario flex steels on it as I have grown to really like those strings.
Click to expand...

So do have an update on the 505? Which do you like better?
 
#15
Paladin54 said:
So do have an update on the 505? Which do you like better?
Click to expand...
I prefer the 505. It weighs less and I prefer the tone over the 305. It's interesting though....I can use the 305 with everything flat (switch in flat position too) and it has a nice, solid sound to it. There seems to be differences in the 505 from one bass to the other though. Mine has a solid passive sound but when switched to active it gets a little thin and trebly. I have found myself leaving the treble flat, diming the mids and then rolling up the bass anywhere from about 60 to 75% depending on song etc and that gives me a tone that the 305 just can't match for me. I feel the 505's electronics package just lets more harmonic content through than the 305 if that makes any sense. Not that the 305 doesn't sound good, but the 505 has a growl to it that works for me. I'm actually kicking around the idea of putting a Glockenklang 3 band pre in the 505 and see how that works out. If I get some time I'll try to put together a video of the two basses.
 
#17
Update: I made it into the N Austin GC today and they have a white TRBX505 hanging on the wall just like mine. I decided to do a little test to confirm my suspicions. There is definitely some kind of minor issue with the eq on my bass. The store bass when switched between passive and active (set flat) had a very similar tone with the active just being the smallest bit louder. When boosting and cutting on the EQ it was a huge difference. On mine, the passive setting is louder and fuller than flat active. I have to boost the bass to about 70% to reach the passive sounds low end output. All that said, I have emails into Yamaha and Sweetwater to get this EQ issue corrected and we'll see what happens.
 

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