Yamaha RBX170 Owners

[scottder]

I placed an order for one of these last week, I hear they are an excellent value for a beginner like myself.

What color do you have (dark metallic blue here)?

Mods? (which ones, ad how difficult?)?

General impressions of this beginner bass.

Give me something to think about besides the fact that Musicians Friend is very slow on orders right now (I was told they are moving to a new warehouse).

Scott

 

[fryBASS]

This was my first bass, and it's great! I have mine in black, and I defretted it. Sounds just fine with just about any strings of your choosing.

 

[JoshC]

I had a blue one like you. It was an awesome first bass. I never modded it but it sounded fine for 5 years. For the price you can't go wrong. The only problems I ever had were with the tuners, after about 4 years I had problems with 2 of them buzzing but I got one replaced for free then the other one replaced a few months later for like $20, didn't have any problems after that. All in all a sweet bass.

 

[scottder]

This was my first bass, and it's great! I have mine in black, and I defretted it. Sounds just fine with just about any strings of your choosing.

I have much to learn, is there a way to tell by packaging which strings will work with this bass? I have a dream of Steve Harris flatwounds

 

[scottder]

I guess the reason for the slowness is they are moving warehouses. I can't win

 

[ROGI]

i would be interesting to know if anyone tried to put some "high end" pickups in RBX170, like nordstrand, barts, Delano's or EMG's. since yamaha's construction quality is great, and it's a very well made bass, it would be kick ass to install some DiMarzio in it (or above mentioned), since P style pickups are "the standard" along J's and they are relative cheap...

 

[scottder]

i would be interesting to know if anyone tried to put some "high end" pickups in RBX170, like nordstrand, barts, Delano's or EMG's. since yamaha's construction quality is great, and it's a very well made bass, it would be kick ass to install some DiMarzio in it (or above mentioned), since P style pickups are "the standard" along J's and they are relative cheap...

That would be interesting to know, a bass that can grow with you. Very nice indeed

 

[scottder]

My RBX170 arrived today, feels comfy and easy to play (just did some simple exercises from the book I have), not too heavy and has great tone. I am a happy camper. Now I just need the gig-bag and strap to arrive

Pictures soon...

 

[choo5]

my girlfriend is a drummer and the bassist from her old band gave her a rbx 170 when he bought a new bass.

I own a rbx350 (along with various other basses) and realy like the 170's un-amped tone; sounds sweet especialy for what it is!

 

[scottder]

No one dropped new pickups for this, curious which would be "drop in" replacements.

Scott

 

[Callum27]

i have it in black, no mods, very nice quality and sound but am saving for a fender jazz atm . One of my friends also has it in blue. But you can tell theyre better made as time goes buy as mine is nicer XD

 

[evilgingergoat]

My RBX 170 is in metalic red, I havent modded it yet, I'm getting a new bass this year though, not because I've gone off the RBX just want a five string lol.

 

[Callum27]

it would be intresting to see if this could be converted to a p-bass, even though im no fan of the p, its always nice to have one around XD

 

[Anscari]

I've fitted some Seymour Duncan Basslines on it (the Vintage Precision model, not the QP's), and it makes a world of difference, now it's a reliable gigging bass (BTW, I had a pup custom made for it by a local luthier for the bridge position which is actually very very nice).

I've also bypassed all volume and tone controls, so it's the two pickups straight into the jack. Just to experiment... I think I'm going to return to the original config, but it sounded a little better without the tone control IMHO.

 

[nuno.ka]

My first bass was this '91 RBX200F and it grew up with me.

It has a Gotoh 201 bridge, Basslines APB-1 pickup and chrome Schaller knobs. Seventeen years have passed and it is still my only fretless. That's how good Yamaha's build quality is. Nice woods + good workmanship = bass for a lifetime.

 

[scottder]

I've fitted some Seymour Duncan Basslines on it (the Vintage Precision model, not the QP's), and it makes a world of difference, now it's a reliable gigging bass (BTW, I had a pup custom made for it by a local luthier for the bridge position which is actually very very nice).

I've also bypassed all volume and tone controls, so it's the two pickups straight into the jack. Just to experiment... I think I'm going to return to the original config, but it sounded a little better without the tone control IMHO.

Do you mean these? http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/basslines/vintage-1/spb1_vintage_fo/

 

[scottder]

Has anyone swapped out the knobs on this bass? I'm not too keen on the plastic ones.

If so, what did you do for replacements.

 

[nuno.ka]

Has anyone swapped out the knobs on this bass? I'm not too keen on the plastic ones.

If so, what did you do for replacements.

Look above ^^

 

[scottder]

Look above ^^

Ah missed that part, now to figure out how to get the current ones off!

 

[Pbassred]

Since this seems to be the RBX170 thread:- I just took delivery of a used one yesterday. Very playable and I'm not knocking it, but I usually play TRB5s so I might be spoiled. However I played a Precision for years so I'm ok with pasivs

There doesn't seem to be much difference in tone between the P and the J pickup. Also the tone control doesn't seem to do anything. That might just be a loose connection on the pot though.

Thoughts?