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Yamaha RBX4 A2 Arrives
- Thread starter Bongolation
- Start date
My Dear Friend,
My bass should be here Tuesday - I'll know then. I always LOVED them on any other bass I tried them on. The brightest strings I have ever played - they sound almost exactly like a grand piano.
Warmest regards,
Kurt
My bass should be here Tuesday - I'll know then. I always LOVED them on any other bass I tried them on. The brightest strings I have ever played - they sound almost exactly like a grand piano.
Warmest regards,
Kurt
If they're any brighter than what come on it, your ears will probably bleed.
These stainless roundwounds have to go if for no other reason than what they do to these nice frets. It's not that they are especially bad examples, they're not, it's just that stainless roundwounds are especially tough on frets.
These stainless roundwounds have to go if for no other reason than what they do to these nice frets. It's not that they are especially bad examples, they're not, it's just that stainless roundwounds are especially tough on frets.
Got that right. I kept the stock ones on it for a little while. I changed out to some DR Nickel Lo-Riders today. Like the sound of it much better now.
My Dear Friends,
My Yamaha RBX4 A2 arrived today and I am much impressed.
The strings were all a couple of steps detuned, though whether or not it happened in expectation of being shipped or as a result of same I know not.
Upon arrival the neck screws needed tightened and the truss rod, as expected, also needed adjustment. I had to tighten it to get the proper relief on the fretboard, and the loud and disconcerting "pop" I obtained immediately upon first twist leads me to believe that it had been jammed up a bit. After that initial issue passed (and after reassuring myself that the noise was entirely expected, possibly normal, for a new instrument) it adjusted without further incident.
The action needed lowering after the truss rod was nearer where it needed to be - I'll give everything a few days to settle in and check it again. The intonation was close enough for it not to annoy me, but I'll get more uptight about it after the aforementioned settling time.
A few observations about this bass.
First, you are all quite right about the strings - they're obnoxious and I love them.
They are likely Yamaha factory strings, and if memory serves Lee Sklar purchases them directly from Yamaha and keeps them on his Yamaha basses, as he likes the tone they provide.
The LEDs are a cute cosmetic touch, though I wish they would have added a different color for the tone knob so it wouldn't be the odd man out. The pinstriping is a nice touch, at least to my eyes. Lots of nice, pleasing lines on this instrument and the contours are quiet comfortable.
The tone is very similar to my old BB300 - bright and brassy with lots of depth - in fact, much to my surprise, this bass has a great deal more depth of tone than a lot of the newer basses I have played recently.
I haven't had a chance to accurately weigh it, but it is worlds lighter than my old BB300. I can actually ratchet the strap high enough to get the bass where I prefer to play it, up just far enough to cause armpit callouses a la Mark King, and it doesn't kill my neck in a short playing session.
One issue I noted with a previous Schecter 5-string bass - the upper horn was too short, and I often felt as though I was straining to reach out for the end of the neck. The horn on this bass is quite long, balancing the bass very nicely on its strap, and keeping everything in easy reach. I know it is a little thing, but after twenty-plus years with the same instrument some things are hard to overcome.
Speaking of which, the truss rod cover is large and annoying, occasionally getting in the way of my fingers during fast popping lines. I'll adjust to this, I expect. If not, the cover will certainly come off and go into the case quite easily for safekeeping, or I'll manufacture a replacement of some sort.
I still need to try some Swing Bass Funkmasters on it, as I think the gauge will just fit my playing style better, but that will have to wait until I return home. Tonight I type this from a hotel a hundred miles for home while I am awaiting bedtime, off on another business trip.
I'll keep everyone posted...
Warmest regards,
Kurt
My Yamaha RBX4 A2 arrived today and I am much impressed.
The strings were all a couple of steps detuned, though whether or not it happened in expectation of being shipped or as a result of same I know not.
Upon arrival the neck screws needed tightened and the truss rod, as expected, also needed adjustment. I had to tighten it to get the proper relief on the fretboard, and the loud and disconcerting "pop" I obtained immediately upon first twist leads me to believe that it had been jammed up a bit. After that initial issue passed (and after reassuring myself that the noise was entirely expected, possibly normal, for a new instrument) it adjusted without further incident.
The action needed lowering after the truss rod was nearer where it needed to be - I'll give everything a few days to settle in and check it again. The intonation was close enough for it not to annoy me, but I'll get more uptight about it after the aforementioned settling time.
A few observations about this bass.
First, you are all quite right about the strings - they're obnoxious and I love them.
They are likely Yamaha factory strings, and if memory serves Lee Sklar purchases them directly from Yamaha and keeps them on his Yamaha basses, as he likes the tone they provide.The LEDs are a cute cosmetic touch, though I wish they would have added a different color for the tone knob so it wouldn't be the odd man out. The pinstriping is a nice touch, at least to my eyes. Lots of nice, pleasing lines on this instrument and the contours are quiet comfortable.
The tone is very similar to my old BB300 - bright and brassy with lots of depth - in fact, much to my surprise, this bass has a great deal more depth of tone than a lot of the newer basses I have played recently.
I haven't had a chance to accurately weigh it, but it is worlds lighter than my old BB300. I can actually ratchet the strap high enough to get the bass where I prefer to play it, up just far enough to cause armpit callouses a la Mark King, and it doesn't kill my neck in a short playing session.
One issue I noted with a previous Schecter 5-string bass - the upper horn was too short, and I often felt as though I was straining to reach out for the end of the neck. The horn on this bass is quite long, balancing the bass very nicely on its strap, and keeping everything in easy reach. I know it is a little thing, but after twenty-plus years with the same instrument some things are hard to overcome.
Speaking of which, the truss rod cover is large and annoying, occasionally getting in the way of my fingers during fast popping lines. I'll adjust to this, I expect. If not, the cover will certainly come off and go into the case quite easily for safekeeping, or I'll manufacture a replacement of some sort.
I still need to try some Swing Bass Funkmasters on it, as I think the gauge will just fit my playing style better, but that will have to wait until I return home. Tonight I type this from a hotel a hundred miles for home while I am awaiting bedtime, off on another business trip.
I'll keep everyone posted...
Warmest regards,
Kurt
My Dear Friend,
Actually, fairly well. Pots are smooth with no noise.
Warmest regards,
Kurt
Actually, fairly well. Pots are smooth with no noise.
Warmest regards,
Kurt
No, I meant the effect. Some of us noticed that the tone control doesn't do much.
Here's a funny story. My rich guitarist friend bought a new Hartke AK-4 bass on clearance for about the same clearance price vs list price as the A2. Same situation; a respected company tries something new and no one buys it, so it gets liquidated and discontinued. He tried to sell it to me for $200 practically brand new but being the inexperienced fool that I was and a wuss about how heavy it was compared to my Toby, I turned him. down. Looking back, that thing was built like I rock, and when it wanted to be heard believe me, it was heard. While deciding on my next bass I stumbled upon several Ebay listings of just AK-4 bodies selling for $500 and fully beat complete models going for $1200. I'm not in musical instruments for the money, but sometimes great guitars fly under the radar, especially if they're unconventional. I try to check the clearance section Musiciansfriend once a week. You'd be suprised what you can find if you can live without a fender headstock. All I know is that I've got a discontinued black Yamaha RBX A2 arriving on friday. In a year, I'll look these up on Ebay and laugh. They're still selling these for 680 euros in the UK and I'm pretty sure the Euro is still worth more than the dollar. Did I mention this thing actually plays well too. Can't lose. The only downside is now I need a new fender mexi to beat up. They're pretty cool too, but the world won't cry if another Fender falls in the line of battle. I think they grow them on trees now anyways. Don't get me started. Hehe. No flames.
My Dear Friend,
Sorry - the tone control admittedly doesn't do much, but I think my assessment concerning it stems from playing with the tone controls on active basses recently. Changing the capacitor would probably help, but as I don't often use the tone control on the instrument I don't have any issues with it not having much of an effect.
Warmest regards,
Kurt
Sorry - the tone control admittedly doesn't do much, but I think my assessment concerning it stems from playing with the tone controls on active basses recently. Changing the capacitor would probably help, but as I don't often use the tone control on the instrument I don't have any issues with it not having much of an effect.
Warmest regards,
Kurt
Cool, Britfunk. I see what you're saying. My take on it is, as a passive instrument, what can't you really expect much from the tone knob? Once you get to mid to higher range instruments a lot of the controls become redundant. If you're running thru a preamp, to a power amp, to an amp cab or cabs, not to mention whatever pedals you use, the actual tone knob on a guitar becomes the least effective tool in affecting the sound you produce. A clean signal from the guitar is all you really need. Bassguitar mag has a really good review of this piece on youtube. That's what sold me. If you wanna see what this thing can do the look it up. God knows what monster rig they were running it thru (a Genz Benz), but you can hear several usable tones (p-bass anynone? neck pickup only with tone turned down). I don't even like jazz basses, but as long as I can get my p-bass thump, then whatever jazz tones that I can experiment with will just be a pleasant surprise. It's hard to say what a bass's limits are until you it play thru an amp we (I'm assuming) can't even afford. It'll be a while before I can buy an amp setup that'll make me say, "Wow, this bass can't do this or that." My A2 should be arriving tommorow/today technically. I played a display model before buying it of course. Did you notice any hum while singling out one pick up? Anyways, this will be my new "studio" baby. I might have to buy a Fender to beat around and absorb club smoke to keep this one pristine, hehe. Let me know how it works out. A2s need a club of their own. They'll be rare soon.
Used mine last night @ practice with the Blue Steels on it and oooh I like it. I like the bright tone I can get from it to cut through the mix plus the lows are really bulky and strong. I will say that it does have a hum when using the neck pickup, as is expected since they're single-coil units.
I found the source of the "problem."
This thing is so twangy with the stock strings that it played an interesting trick on me.
My Dear Friend,
I'll have a look at the circuit tomorrow morning and see what it would entail. I have an LED or two lying around anyway...
BTW - Rotosound Funkmaster FM66 strings scream on this bass... Unreal!
Warmest regards,
Kurt
I'll have a look at the circuit tomorrow morning and see what it would entail. I have an LED or two lying around anyway...
BTW - Rotosound Funkmaster FM66 strings scream on this bass... Unreal!
Warmest regards,
Kurt
I'm glad that you got the tone control issue figured out. I thought maybe I was just lucky because the tone works well on my 4 and 5.
The led's don't really move me one way or the other, but it really seems to bother my 3 year old that the tone control doesn't have an led!
I've changed the strings on my 4 to GHS NPS roundcores. I like the way they sound on the bass. I still have the original set on the 5 string.
The led's don't really move me one way or the other, but it really seems to bother my 3 year old that the tone control doesn't have an led!
I've changed the strings on my 4 to GHS NPS roundcores. I like the way they sound on the bass. I still have the original set on the 5 string.
It was an unusual situation, the most extreme case of off-axis attenuation of highs I've ever encountered. Really fooled me!
The child finds the illogic of the situation upsetting. I find it merely unnerving.
It'd be trivial to add the LEDs in parallel with those of one of the other pots, but I have more pressing projects at the moment.
I haven't changed out the strings to something more fret-friendly yet, but I'm considering leaving it as-is and having the bass as a secondary recording instrument for when I might need that really cutting sound it has stock.
What is the best way to prevent this from happening again? Do I dare try to remove the rod and put wax on it somewhere?
