Yamaha TRB-PII 6-strings??

Nope but I have the older version (TRB6P) which is
definitely great 6er.

 

Yes - I tried 2 or 3 in shops in London - great basses - I used to own an older (original) TRB6P and these new ones are every bit as good - I've seen a few pros in the UK using the 5 string version.

Very wide and flat necks - exotic woods which give great tone and a very good bridge and nice elctronics.

But the price is pretty high - I think the RRP for the US is over $4,000!!

 

Easily the best bass I have ever played. Have you ever walked into a music store and played a bass, and knew it was "the one"? That's the one for me. I have never played another six string bass that I have even liked or considered buying. Everything about the bass fit me- the sound, the feel, the neck. It was a beautiful thing. If I wasn't so poor, I would own one right now.

 

www.intermusic.com has a review. They said it was heavy.

 

i played the TRB 6 P fretless. not the II i loved it. i wanted one and was going to trade some stuff in for it at a music store, but it was on consignment, so they wouldnt do a trade
the PII is a lot different, but if the P is any indication, i would say that these are killer basses.

 

My local Sam Ash had one on the floor. It was used, and the hardware was started to tarnish, but it played like a dream. A dream, I tells ya.

 

i am currently considering getting one of these babies =]

on a side note i saw a yamaha trb jp signiture model (which is a trb on beauty steriods) used for 999 on musciansfriend.com. seemed like a good deal...

 

These are nowhere near as highly spec'd as a TRB6P - so the JPs have bolt-on neck as opposed to the PII's through-neck and nicer woods. The JP doesn't have the piezos or the new bridge etc. etc.

 

oh really?
i really havent looked into either too much (as ive been to busy drooling at the trb6II) but i really want to try to find a trb6IIp used if i can, that and the jp model fit my visual tastes like a dream, not to mention they're sound and playability are apparently top notch too

 

Ive also played one in a london shop and I must say tht they are one hell of bass to play. I recommend that you buy it, that is if you have the money of afford one of these.

 

That link is dead - but your summary is a bit "economical with the truth"!

Here's the complete review, that was in UK Guitarist magazine :

For over a decade, and not without success, Yamaha have sought to bring five- and six-string basses out of the realms of esoterica and into the hands of real players. The TRB range has been hugely successful world-wide, and is one of the most significant contributions to the development of the six-string bass, not least of all due to the design input of John Patitucci who, unsurprisingly, has his own signature model, the TRB JP.

Following a recent overhaul of the whole line, Yamaha have introduced new basses at either end of the spectrum, dropping the price of the cheaper TRBs and adding these exotic-looking, piezo-loaded beauties to the top of the range.

TRB 6PII
Anyone already familiar with the TRB range will be instantly at home in the presence of the 6PII. A major deviation from previous designs is the use of high-grade exotic hardwoods that add a 'boutique' sheen to the visual side of the instrument, and judging by the unplugged tone, have contributed to the overall sound as well.

The basis of the TRB design lies roughly in Fender Jazz bass territory. Certainly, the twin pickups and offset body shape break no new ground, but work perfectly both visually and ergonomically. The classic six-string 'neck-dive' problem seems to have been dealt with, with only a slight dip when playing seated, but none evident with a strap. This improved balance is largely due to the huge increase in body weight.

But labelling the body wood 'light ash' is surely some sort of joke: both these basses rank among the heaviest we've ever evaluated and just thinking about playing a two-hour set with this thing round my neck sends shivers down a bending spine.
Mind you, weight aside, this is one attractive looking geetar. The gold hardware looks spectacular against the natural wood finish - if you ever get bored playing this one, you could always hang it on the wall as a work of art!

At first glance, the neck looks wide enough to land a Harrier jump-jet on. This width has been a feature of Yamaha's six-string designs for some time and it does facilitate certain techniques that narrower necks renders near-impossible. For example, slapping this bass is easier than on just about any other six-stringer we've played, though the trade-off is that fast runs, with wide leaps, are a little harder. Indeed, string spacing is a taste issue, not a design fault, though don't be surprised if you're a little daunted, initially at least, by the enormity of the TRB 6PII - six-string virgins bear this in mind.

A few bass builders have recently begun introducing separate bridge saddles; here they certainly do the job, allowing for maximum flexibility in adjustment and enhanced coupling with the body, as they're actually inset into the surface. And besides, they look so cool!

Sound
Plug it in and that 'Yamaha sound' is fully prevalent. The natural tone of the instrument is a bright, transparent voice, with a definite 'thru neck' character. As a fairly hard-core bolt-on player, I thought I wouldn't like these, but the revamped electronics have given the bass a really classy sound, and the heavier body seems to have benefited the tone as well. Darker, more dubby sounds take a bit of work, as you're fighting against the tone of the wood, but the three-band EQ does allow a serious amount of shaping - and a few ridiculous sounds at the extremes of the controls - but you can see, or rather hear, why so many session players like Abraham Laboriel and David Santos (Billy Joel) are using these most versatile instruments.

The TRB's natural brightness is even further enhanced by the presence of the piezo pickups built into the bridge design. For normal 'rock bass' stuff, the piezo is more of a hindrance than a help, but for chordal, melody and solo playing it brings a lovely presence to the sound that you just can't get from a magnetic pickup. The piezo blend control means that you can't have the piezo sound on its own without the magnetic pickups - it's a mix control that when max-ed out still sounds like a 50:50 split with the other pickups. That's fine, but it would be nice to have a separate piezo output for recording.



The TRB range was already well worth investigating before this revamp. But now, anyone with this kind of dough to lay out on a five- or six -string bass would be silly not to check these out. Personal taste is a variable thing, but quality is unmistakable; if the design is to your liking, you're sure to be smitten by this new TRB PII range. We certainly were.

 

Very interesting

 

There is a TRB6-PII at the same place where I bought my TRB5-PII. It's beautiful. Also, I think you could get a killer price on it. They have it on their site for $2,200, but you might get it for less in person.

Yamaha TRB6-PII

By the way, that review Bruce posted above is pretty much on the money. It is a superb bass in playability, workmanship, looks and, of course, sound. But the mofo is indeed heavy.

 

Is this bass 34" or 35"?, different sites have different specs on the same bass.

 

I believe it's a 35" scale. My 5-string is.

 

the TRB PII is 34", TRB II is 35"... I really don't know why, both that's how Yamaha lists them.

PL

 

Well, they list the TRB5-PII as a 34" scale. I just measured mine ... it's 35".

 

TRB6PII--------------35" scale (neck-through)
TRB6II---------------35" scale (bolt-on)
TRB6(I)--------------34" scale (bolt-on)
TRBJP----------------34" scale (bolt-on)
TRBJPII--------------35" scale (bolt-on,26 frets)
TRB6P(I)-------------33-7/8" scale (neck-through)

(same specs for the five string versions)