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Hi Guys, long time TB lurker, not much of a poster. Felt like I had to share this with my bass brothers. This is originally a 1997 MIJ TRB-4 (J), but has morphed into this. Lots of wonderful work done by myself and Mark at Rocket Music Co. in Perth, Western Australia. All brass hardware swapped out for Gotoh gear. Stock pickups replaced (and body routed out) with EMG DE set. Onboard preamp swapped out for a Darkglass Tone Capsule. Old jack removed & hole plugged, new jack installed. Fretboard stained darker & new Yamaha style oval decals installed over old fret markers. New custom 2 piece pick guard made & the cherry on the cake is the laser engraved original Yamaha Music Instrument Co. logo of the Ho-Oh (or Phoenix). Felt this was so appropriate due to this basses rebirth into its new life. She’s a stunner & plays/sounds beautifully! Love to know what you guys out there think. Member status worthy? Thanks everyone, waide77 
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I'd say you win the prize for most unique TRB! Makes me think BB and TRB morphed. Maybe Yamaha will see this and release something new ;-)Hi Guys, long time TB lurker, not much of a poster. Felt like I had to share this with my bass brothers. This is originally a 1997 MIJ TRB-4 (J), but has morphed into this. Lots of wonderful work done by myself and Mark at Rocket Music Co. in Perth, Western Australia. All brass hardware swapped out for Gotoh gear. Stock pickups replaced (and body routed out) with EMG DE set. Onboard preamp swapped out for a Darkglass Tone Capsule. Old jack removed & hole plugged, new jack installed. Fretboard stained darker & new Yamaha style oval decals installed over old fret markers. New custom 2 piece pick guard made & the cherry on the cake is the laser engraved original Yamaha Music Instrument Co. logo of the Ho-Oh (or Phoenix). Felt this was so appropriate due to this basses rebirth into its new life. She’s a stunner & plays/sounds beautifully! Love to know what you guys out there think. Member status worthy? Thanks everyone, waide77
Thanks dude, appreciate the feedback. Always loved the feel of the neck & the bass generally and the look, but never seemed ballsy enough for the style I play (more rock/alt & metal stuff). I figured I’d probably never be able to afford an expensive, entirely custom bass, so instead I decided to make this my own customised, unique instrument. Had a vision, and it worked out beautifully. I’ve owned it since new, it’s my oldest bass & I feel like I have a new bass all rolled into one. Still wanted to honour the history/legacy of these awesome Japanese made instruments.
I'm in the middle of rehearsals of the pit band for Les Miz at my daughter's high school. After trying out some of my 5-strings (including a couple of my Yamaha BB's, specifically my BB1025X and BBP35), I've fallen in love with the sound of my BBN5S for the show. If that model isn't ringing a bell, a picture is below. One interesting feature of this bass is that the "soapbar" pickups are *not* the usual humbuckers, but split coil P-type pickups under each soapbar cover. The result is a really interesting sounding instrument which is working great for me in the show. Here's my question for this forum, though. I thought I read somewhere recently some some or other of the TRB series basses (maybe a TRB1005J) had similar pickups: that is, dual split coil P-types under soapbar covers. Can anyone confirm this or suggest some TRB models where this is the case?
Nice bass! IIRC the earlier TRB6s has split coils with a dummy/phantom coil to provide humbucking. That said I’ve never heard a TRB-6P (still own) or the TRBJP that sounded Pish. Not sure at all about the TRB6ii config though, which I think has similar looking pickups to your bass above.
soooo i have my 96 TRB non slap cut BUT i want them and am willing to pay a luthier should i?
i have my TRB 4 i have a custom 51 Semi hollow P bass 5 string now i just need a 6 to round out everything might get the squier or one of theses I DONT NEED THE GAS but you making me look
Here's a beautiful birthday gift from my beautiful wife and friends. It's a 2004 MiK 6 string. Looks, plays and sounds really great! I am not sure I can get around to play it on this Christmas service but adjusting to a super long scale six from a Jazz is easier than what I thought!
I purchased a TRB5-II as my first 5 string around 2000. I played this until I purchased a Dingwall in 2011. The Yamaha became my exclusive home practice bass after that.
For a variety of reasons I've had a 10 year period of retirement until recently receiving a couple of phone calls to jam with 2 separate groups I've jammed with before.
Fast forward to today and one of these groups has a couple of tunes in C-G-C-F tuning. I'm not interested in re-tuning between songs so the Yamaha now has a new purpose and getting some love & playing time again.
Welcome back my old friend.
For a variety of reasons I've had a 10 year period of retirement until recently receiving a couple of phone calls to jam with 2 separate groups I've jammed with before.
Fast forward to today and one of these groups has a couple of tunes in C-G-C-F tuning. I'm not interested in re-tuning between songs so the Yamaha now has a new purpose and getting some love & playing time again.
Welcome back my old friend.
How often do you guys change your batteries? (especially the last generation Korean/Indonesian TRBs)
Not yet, it's only been a month. I just heard TRBs are power hungry and now I wonder how much.
Quadzilla
Supporting Member
Picked up this old gem today! MIJ, first generation TRB. Super light too (haven't weighed her yet, but probably in the 7.5 lbs range). Have tp give her a setup, but it came reasonably close to how I like my basses setup. Super comfy neck and the tone is awesome. First generation TRB's arguably have the best tone (so I've read of the years). Can't wait to gig her!
For those on the lookout for one of these unicorns, here's a first-gen single truss rod TRB6P for sale on reverb that looks like a good deal. Unfortunately not original preamp, but otherwise all there. If I don't have my TRB6PII I would have jumped on this.
https://reverb.com/item/87541165-yamaha-trb-6p-mij
https://reverb.com/item/87541165-yamaha-trb-6p-mij
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I wonder if it’s an Emg BQS looks like it has a sweepable mid maybe?
No piezo?
I mean I have my old preamp from my RBX JM6 which looks identical to the trb preamp I think
Single PCB volume balance bass middle treble
I just need to get new pcb mount pots with a screw able shaft or somthing as I can’t feel the detente at all
Someone must have used de oxit and stripped
And I wanted to change the caps out and see and op amps to newer gen ones
The Emg BQS is an amazing preamp with adjustable treble frequencies and the active blend
you can make the treble control more airy, more like a tone control
Affect the upper mids more or just sparkle/ snap
For you who want to replace the original preamp on Yamaha TRB 1005 Korea, check this video and let us know which one you love most. The OBP 3 SK with the mid switch gives you more control on the mid section. For me I put back the original preamp and I love it more than the OBP. The pick up is original.
What the difference can you hear here?
What the difference can you hear here?
