Yamaha trbx 305, good 5 string?

I've had mine for several months, and I've been pretty happy with it. No complaints with the B, and the build quality is quite good. The strings that come with it aren't the greatest, but they're not awful either. In general, it's a really nice, low cost 5-string. The only criticism I have is that my playing position often results in my fingers touching the pole pieces, which gives a slight pop when it happens, so I may end up putting some clear nail polish on them to try to minimize that.

 

I had one. I didn't find much use for the selector switch but it had a solid tone and the B string was decent. Here's an old clip of me using mine.

 

Yamaha basses are great. I almost bought a couple at various times because of the high value to cost ratio. But they are wide spaced and in the end that ended up a deal-breaker for me. I can play wide spaced. It's not like I can't, but all my other basses are narrow spaced and I like them best. If you like wide spacing they are a great buy.

 

Yamaha provides incredible value at all levels. However, don't overlook the BB425X, as demo'd quite nicely here:

 

The yamaha trbx305 is a great sounding bass. I own one in a black finish and it has a nice beefy sound. this bass has a unique feature. and that is the 5-way tone switch. it's a tone selector switch that has pre-eq settings for certain types of playing. from top to bottom, there's slap, pick, flat, finger, and solo. for the price, it's quite versatile. and the low b string is pretty good. not to mention it has pretty good sustain. I would recommend it if you want a beefy punchy sounding bass.

 

Hi guys. I know this is an ancient thread. But I am going to try to revive it anyway. I just bought a TRBX 305 for gigs. Versatile to say the least. I write jazz and find this baby to be a great live performer. My only beef was the frets were quite scratchy so I filed them down to nice and round. So I have a question for the ones in the know.... When you use the 5 position selector switch the volume changes dramatically. Is that how you have the thing working too? Or is it just mine that does that trick? Thanks in advance.

 

I haven't noticed it to be a problem with mine. Got a fresh battery in it?

 

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I just put a new 9V in there. The top and the very bottom position is almost 25% louder than the ones in between. I wonder if the previous owner (I bought it used) has done something with the electronics. I think he was from Belize and didn't habla much English but he said his friend made the pickup sound 120%..... or something..... I have a feeling I am looking at some mess in there.

 

Not sure how helpful this will be, but I had the 4-string version for a few years. Can't comment on the B string, but the selector switch didn't give me any issues or significant volume changes. I found the bass to be incredibly versatile, and for the price, hard to beat.
Maybe a soldering issue somewhere near the switch? Or, as previously mentioned, the battery?

 

Thank you. I will pull it apart tomorrow and look into the electronics. I know it has modules that could come loose. And again if the previous owner butchered something....who knows?

 

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I play an old BBN5A and a TRBX-305 and love them both. Both perform as advertised and the builds are great.