You win! That is an exceptionally good price. Mine was a special order, and possibly one of the first ones to come through the dealer network in LA, so there wasn't much discounting going on at that point.
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You win! That is an exceptionally good price. Mine was a special order, and possibly one of the first ones to come through the dealer network in LA, so there wasn't much discounting going on at that point.
I purchased my TRB-6P in Florida that might have had something to do with the lower cost...
Seems to have kept its value over the years...
Quick question. D'Addario doesn't make the EXP170-5SL coated 5-string super-long set anymore. They still make the uncoated EXL170-5SL, as well as their new NYXL series, but I've generally found I really need coated.
The prime candidate for replacement is the DR Dragon Skin DSB5-45. The question is, will it fit a TRB-1005? If not, are the NYXL as good as the hype (and how long will they last)?
The prime candidate for replacement is the DR Dragon Skin DSB5-45. The question is, will it fit a TRB-1005? If not, are the NYXL as good as the hype (and how long will they last)?
Hi guys! I have been reading this thread a lot lately. The reason is that I'm looking for a 35" 5 string bass and I am considering the TRB 1005J as my main option. I already have a BB735 that I love (that's why I go back to Yamaha for my next bass). I am not sure if it's still a good choice given the many options in the market. The pickups seem strange. I'm not sure if they are humbuckers. What do you think about this model compared to the previous TRBs?
Looking at the specs it seems that the BB735 has more features. The passive/active switch or the strings through the body. However it's still Yamaha, and I'm sure it's great. I need to try it before I decide.
Looking at the specs it seems that the BB735 has more features. The passive/active switch or the strings through the body. However it's still Yamaha, and I'm sure it's great. I need to try it before I decide.
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IIRC the pickups are hum cancelling single coils, so it will be a slightly different blended sound from your BB735.
The TRB1005Js are nothing more than the TRB-1005 made in Japan, as opposed to Korea (early runs) or Indonesia (later). Same pattern, same woods, same pickups, same preamp. The one thing that differs is that they are available in a trans blue quilt, which is not found in MIK and MII models. That, and the fact that even used ones trade for about double the price just because they're MIJ.
Build quality, playability, aesthetics, all top-notch. The early 2000s styling - "Nathan East era" - coming from Yamaha in their BB and TRB lines was right up my alley. The TRBs are bigger-bodied than the BBs, which balances a 5-string neck that much better. I've not yet met a Yamaha that didn't play like butter with a knowledgeable setup performed, which is much more than I can say for many other makes. The tone and natural EQ are a little flatter than your average bass, owing to the low-output hum-cancelling pickups. That's something to keep in mind; the bass was voiced for modern jazz and fusion, so you'll get more high-mids and highs out of it than your average passive dual-pickup or even other actives. While you can dial it back to more vintagey pop-rock tones, in my experience it takes more than the onboard treble control to do it. Just keep The Complete Instrument in mind when tone-hunting with this bass, and it will do a lot for you.
Downsides? There are a few. The neck is bolt-on (a through-neck TRB will set you back at least $2500 for a good used TRB5PII), and 6-bolt to boot. Very stable, but access to the higher frets can be trickier. Usually not a problem for me any way you slice it, but I did have an Ibanez BTB that did a better job with high-fret access (unfortunately there were other problems, so I passed it on for something that does what I usually do better). The electronics also have some drawbacks. The low-output coils are individually buffered by the preamp, before their signals are combined with a trimpot to vary the amount of noise cancellation/humbucker tone. The advantage is that if you want an even clearer single-coil tone with more personality, it's available by turning down the trims. The disadvantage is the hum-cancelling is never perfect, and the board is a known power hog owing to the multiple gain and buffer stages in the circuit. My TRB's good for maybe 80 hours plugged-in time off a fresh Duracell, which isn't terrible, however other preamps have been logged at hundreds of hours off one battery. One of the more common mods to these TRBs is an electronics swap for Bartolini P2 soaps and an NTMB preamp to solve both problems. Myself, I lined the pickup wells with copper tape, tweaked the wiring to short the main and phantom coils of each pickup, then turned the trimpots to minimum. That cut the noise considerably (you're basically taking two of the voltage buffers out of the circuit, plus the shielding), of course I don't have variable coil adjustment anymore, but I never really used it anyway, and the mod is easy enough to reverse.
I own an all original '98 TRB-6II and would personally describe mine with a set of stainless steel strings as piano-like. I personally prefer the sound of full humbuckers more, especially with the coils in series, so my other 6 string Tune gets a lot more play. Just personal preference. But I'll never get rid of the TRB-6II because I do still love the bass and what it does, it does phenomenally well.
The TRB1004/5/6 were MIK and the 1004/5/6J basses were made in indonesia. The last MIJ TRBs were the TRB4/5/6II basses (2nd version of the first bolt on TRBs from '94-'97). That said, I had a '91 TRB6P (MIJ), 3 TRB5s (fisrst gen. bolt on's, also MIJ) '98TRB6II (MIJ) and '04 MIK TRB1006. The korean bass was was very good and had a quite strong output signal from the preamp that was totally different than MIJ TRB's preamps (they also had different preamps by each model mentioned above) but honestly the MIJ basses were better (and more expensive) IMO. My favorite was the neckthrough body 6 with the piezo bridge. Pics of my old MIJ TRB 6 string basses:'91 TRB6P:
'98 TRB6II
Sold the 6p back in '05 and the 6II in 2012. long story short, later in 2014 I bougt this beautiful japnese '09 TRB5IIF fretless bass:
and i bought this '98 TRB6II in 2018 (looks pretty similar to the old one):
Believe it or not, I'll never get rid of this fantastic couple.
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But is it also true that if you shield the bass then you can run any preamp with the stock pickups??
Delamitri, glad you posted - I was just wondering where things landed with your bass. Did you ever get the mud issue sorted out?
Hey.
I've kinda got it sorted. It's a mixture of pickup height and eq'ing. Basically I roll the bass off a fraction and then boost the highs by the same amount. I am considering putting a Delano sonar 3 preamp into it and then shield the bass so as to cancel out the hum I'll get due to not being able to connect the hum cancelling coil part of the pickup. At least that's what I'm thinking. The theory makes sense in my head but we shall see
On the TRBiis the hum canceling winding is opposite to the pickup, so it should 'hum cancel' if you connect the hum canceling winding to the pickup. It won't be as balanced as the TRBii preamp allows (trim pot), but maybe it will be enough. Also keep in mind that the Yamaha PU are said to be low output so you'll have to amplify the signal and that means amplifying noise as well.
So that mean that whatever preamp I install won't have the same power to amplify the pickups as the stock preamp??
I'm not 100% sure but look at this thread :
HELP! OBP-3 in a Yamaha BB5NA
esp. this post :
There is indeed an amplification "buffer" after each coil (the PU one and the phantom coil) before they're connected so as to cancel noise. So I'm not sure these pickups work with anything else than the Yamaha preamp. At a time I was considering replacing the preamp by a John East UNIPRE. I sent them a diagram of the preamp and asked if it would do the job, never got a reply. Then I estimated the cost of changing PUs and preamp and that killed the project. Actually I like the original preamp tone and I fear I may regret 'upgrading' the TRB, which is also now somewhat iconic.
To my knowledge, the pickup's phantom coil is balanced to the main coil, so the trimpot at minimum resistance should give you full hum-canceling. Having the phantom coil pick up more noise so you can tune to a balance point would be nice, but it's not how it works; the trimpot is there to allow you a hybrid of noise-cancellation and single-coil tone, you tune to the amount of noise you can live with to get the clearer tone from the main coil without the cancellation of various harmonics by the phantom coil (which, despite the name, does get some signal induction from the vibrating string, just not as strong).
The buffer stages are necessary because the pickups are so low-impedance that the tone would change significantly if you plugged them directly into an op-amp due to the extra load on the coils. Why each coil is individually buffered instead of combining the coils first is beyond me.
This is actually a reply I got from John East the other day about installing the uni pre 5.
A number of UNI-PREs have been fitted to TRB 5s inc. IIs so fit isn't an issue with the standard route.
The Yamahas do have a dummy coil for hum cancelling but our circuit doesn't have inputs for the dummy coils.
Having said that the Yamahas are screened very well and I've not had anyone come back to me about interference. That doesn't mean the issue doesn't exist, it would be worth researching experience of TRBs fitted with UNI-PREs, ie does not using the dummy coil cause any issues.
Please come back to me as and when we can help further?
Thanks & best wishes, John
I had a look at that thread and yeah it seems that unless you're prepared to install a buffer to match new pre to old pickups then you have to upgrade the whole lot.
I did see one guy that just ran the pickups to volume/volume/tone. That's interesting
Maybe they really wanted to fine tune hum canceling with a trim pot and then you would need to amplify the signal first ?
I guess connecting the dummy coil wire to the PU coil before entering the preamp would do, at least it is better than nothing.
