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This is the TRB I, the TRB II has wide pickups, very hard to find replacement, very unusual shape...
It's listed as the Yamaha TRB6 Invalid Link Removed
There was a link on a Yamaha site - but for the life of me I can't find it anywhere.
The original TRB6P was the piezo equipped line that John Patitucci used before getting his own signature model. The one I have has the (gosh awful) 3-way mid selector knob and the thin pickups.
The Pickups in the later models became the wider - and uglier I think - ones. They can be replaced by a few manaufacturers - EMG springs to mind
The original piezo equipped was 2 band only, and (I think) quite noisy piezo. I was not particularly enamored with the tone - although the playability was insanely smooth. I played two different basses (a 5 and a 6) so the buzzing noise (RF interference) wasn't an isolated insodent.
Then again, both were used in a church with lots of lights of quite possibly not the most isolated power supplies either...
I was daft - I owned the 5 and had been after it for years - I should've just replaced the pups with humbucker types - sigh, the mistakes we make!
Then again, both were used in a church with lots of lights of quite possibly not the most isolated power supplies either...
I was daft - I owned the 5 and had been after it for years - I should've just replaced the pups with humbucker types - sigh, the mistakes we make!
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I'm having a weird fret buzz on my TRB6II high C string, I started a thread here :
Yamaha TRB6II, C String buzz and String gauge (puzzling, advice needed !)
Thanks for any input you can provide !
Yamaha TRB6II, C String buzz and String gauge (puzzling, advice needed !)
Thanks for any input you can provide !
I recently acquired a TRB-6p in lovely condition. Unfortunately, I am not loving the lack of mids on this bass, and I find the volume drops considerably when the balance pot is centered (is that normal?)... Besides boosting the mids on my amp (not a bad solution, actually), does anyone have any advice on a preamp replacement WITH piezo blend (keeping the original pickups)?
Specifically, will the Demeter BEQP-1 work if we can get it to balance TWO pickups and one piezo?
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Or is a Bartolini preamp and Piezo buffer my best option?
Thanks for your input, folks.
Specifically, will the Demeter BEQP-1 work if we can get it to balance TWO pickups and one piezo?
Invalid Link Removed
Or is a Bartolini preamp and Piezo buffer my best option?
Thanks for your input, folks.
I don’t think the volume drop, is normal....
On yamaha basses, if you change the preamp, but keep the pickups, you get single coil noise, since the phantom coil (or what) is on the preamp.....
I’m not familiar with piezo version of the preamp but the TRB6 preamp has internal pots for frequency settings plus a 3 way selector between unmodified and two EQ presets dialed using internal pots settings.
You won’t be able to use noiseless phantom coils with a third party preamp. You have to change both PUs as well.
Volume drop is not normal.
My advice is to get the preamp to work normally and explore available tones before considering a preamp swap that is far from trivial.
You won’t be able to use noiseless phantom coils with a third party preamp. You have to change both PUs as well.
Volume drop is not normal.
My advice is to get the preamp to work normally and explore available tones before considering a preamp swap that is far from trivial.
Just checked the service manual. Is it the model with the P neck pickup ? If yes then the bridge pickup does not seem to have a phantom coil and you can use a 3rd party preamp. No on-board preamp pot to set frequency either like on the non piezo TRBs.
I wonder if I could remove the switch from the circuit and install a variable mid knob (EMG and East make something). Any idea if that can be done? Or tuck the switch inside and still add the variable mid pot in its place? That might be better than replacing the entire preamp...
Could either of these be mated with the Yamaha circuit?
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John East - Mid Sweep - Best Bass Gear
Could either of these be mated with the Yamaha circuit?
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John East - Mid Sweep - Best Bass Gear
That's the 6 string version (5 string TRB5P's had p/j/piezo pickup configuration) with two slim soapbar "side by side" split coil pickups (+piezo bridge) and I think Yamaha used the same pickups later on the first bolt on TRB6 basses and Patitucci's signature model back in '94/'95 ('til end of '07), both with the internal trim pots in the back cavity so I'm not sure about the phantom coil thing but definitely the old two band/piezo preamp was totally different than later models. I had a '91 one (from the first trb6P single truss rod model basses) and it was absolutely the best Yamaha bass I've ever played. Also had a bunch of the first bolt on TRB5's (fretted and fretless) and a TRB6II that I bought new in '98 and sold it in 2012. Excellent basses indeed. So two years after I sold my '98 TRB6II I bought a used '99 blue TRB5IIF (5 string fretless, from some guy in upstate NY) and last october I bought a used TRB6II in excellent condition (the same color as my old '98) but long story short, I'll never sell these beautiful basses! Yup. Here they are:
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Congrats, killer Yamahas there!
I’ve been through lots of high end basses- Ken Smith, Brubaker, Fibenare, Curbow Petite, Roscoe, Modulus, etc & still like them, but there’s something unique I absolutely love about Yamaha basses, & how they record & settle into a mix (live too)- they just sit upfront & cut so well...
Out of all my basses, my Yamaha TrbJP2 is my favorite tonally.
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Hello, Just bought a Yamaha TRB 6P. I'm thinking to replace the pickups and the preamp. Is it a big improvement sound wise? The preamp will be Glockenklang and for pickups I'm leaning towards Bartolini G6 Classic Bass
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You don’t like the original pickups and pre? When I got my TRB 6 II a year ago, I also though I will change the Pickup and the pre (you have to change both, you can’t keep just the PU or the pre on that bass...), but now I’m so happy with the originals. The bass has a very special character, very original TRB modern sound...
ON the original 6P you can change the pickups and not the preamp. Mine has the Bartolini G6 with the factory preamp. I has a great sound.
@yamahutz - you will lose the piezo pickup unless you go with a preamp that also has piezo functionality. IMO, there is nothing wrong with the factory preamp in the original TRB-6P. YMMV.
Well, as much as I like the sound and playability of this bass, I don't feel comfortable with a 100% active preamp.
