Thank goodness!
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@StinsonAlliance84 I have been where you are. You are not an idiot. You are, however, in a difficult position where you feel the need to spend hundreds of dollars and you donât want to get it wrong.
Whatâs really hard to explain to someone who is new to all this is that no one can tell you what you like. Okay, then whatâs the next step? Trying to pick something that is generally considered âgoodâ seems like a good option. But when you get into talking about a $600 instrument that gets really subjective. When most people start talking about spending that much money itâs because they already have some experience.
Most of the time folks end up choosing something really inexpensive to get them started. More than one person has gone to their local guitar shop and said, âGive me the least expensive Bass you have.â Most people spend a hell of a lot less than youâre considering for the 604. There is a good reason for this. It gives you a starting point from which you can judge all other instruments.
For example, I thought I would love the TRBX 304 and then I discovered the active/passive switch on the 504/604 and that became what I thought would be best for me. After searching around I finally found a place that had them. I played them all and didnât like any of them. There wasnât anything inherently wrong with them but I didnât find the body comfortable and I didnât like how thin the neck was. I went through this process quite a few times, thinking I knew what I wanted and then finally getting my hands on it and realizing there were things I never even knew were factors to not like.
If you are dead set on getting either the 504 or 604 then you should buy the one that when you look at it you canât help but want to touch it and pick it up and rub your hands all over it. As a beginning player that is far more important than what wood the body is made out of.
On the other hand, buying a cheap used instrument from a reputable dealer gives you a smaller initial outlay and buys you time to find out what youâre really looking for.
Lastly, donât forget, whatever Bass you get you will need to get a setup done on it. That costs around $50.
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Thank you!
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Yeah, Eric just have some really solid advice. Basically the distinction between the tonewoods and 504 vs 604 and so on are very subtle, small differences that really pale in comparison to simple questions like âdo you like how this bass feels in your hands.â
The reason I have been encouraging you to go try them out is it really is the only way to know if youâll like an instrument. Now, I know not everyone can go do that. But if you can, like Eric, you may learn that what you had initially thought was the best plan wasnât the best option in the first place. Thereâs a lot of great, inexpensive basses out there to start with. Buying used is a good option too, and trading up later.
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Shall we recap a bit, @StinsonAlliance84?
- you are not an idiot
(we have all been there) - in here, people really want to help you - no other agenda!
- you can read yourself into blindness looking at too many reviews
- we have pretty much established you canât go wrong with either the 504 or the 604
- if you have a chance to play them before buying, do that!
- if you find either of them used for a good price (good condition), go for it!
- people sell/re-sell used Yamahas not because they are bad instruments, but because they feel they need or want to try something else (often, more expensive)
- so, unless you bought a bad P-bass knock-off from Uzbekistan, you can ALWAYS re-sell your Yamaha/Ibanez/Sire/Squire/⌠again
- get yourself that bass and start enjoying making music with it!!
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Yeah - flip a coin.
Whichever one you get, youâll wish youâd got the other one.
What happened to the pic of your bike?
I was just gonna comment - âwow Pam that thing is fukin hugeâ.
Itâs still there, in Introductions.
@StinsonAlliance84, I seem to recall an article or a video where they said that Yamaha tuned the 600 seriesâ electronics to compensate the different wood, so that they sounded exactly like the 500 series.
You canât go wrong with any of them, anyway.
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Indeed. They are both excellent choices. And welcome, @sgpyvar!
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Because I recently got a 504, this thread gets the honour of being resurrected.
I wasnât enamoured with the sound - too âmodernâ for my taste, and perhaps I shouldâve bought something else, but the quality, feel, reputation and price were too good to pass. I did what Iâve done to my Peavey (and had intended to do with the T-bird) and put on flat wound strings. What a difference! Highly recommended if you find it a little metallic/punchy/bright.
https://www.mboxdrive.com/TRBX504%20flatwound%20passive%20then%20active.mp3
(I know Iâve written this elsewhere but I wanted to add the info to some relevant threads for anybody coming in from a search)
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Nice! Hereâs the 604 for comparison with similar settings to what you did there (passive mode, neck pickup only, tone rolled waaaaay off):
super bright roundwounds on it though. Plus soundcloud doesnât have a volume control 
Examples of a more natural sound for the 604 are up in this reply above:
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One of the dimensions that I canât find on the Yamaha website is the thickness of the necks across the TRBX range.
Could we get some gauges/callipers out and check our 304, 504 and 604 basses? Perhaps just behind the 1st, 5th, 12th frets (arbitrary points).
I had a niggling feeling that there was something a bit different about the neck so I grabbed my Peavey and Epiphone, Sony right enough it does feel thinner than them, and theyâre not chunky. But then I read that the 504 (possibly whole range) have an asymmetrical neck profile and I wondered if thatâs what Iâm feeling.
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Yep as a 504 owner I second the 504 has an active/passive switch. I mainly play mine in passive unless Im trying to dial in a specific sound that my amp cannot (Ampeg BA-112).
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Yep PetePâŚthe neck is very thin and slim at the nut and slowly tapers to a little thicker/wider. From what I have seen (and felt compared to my Ibanez) it is a very fast neck. Not chunky at all when compared to say a Fender according to my bass buddy that has owned 20 basses at one timeâŚlol
Cant tell you the specific thickness âŚbut I bet @howard can 
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The 304, 504 and 604 share the same neck and the specs are here:
The 504 and 604 share the same fretboard too. The 304 is slightly different.
Basically, the 504 and 604 are the same bass, except the 604 is lighter and sounds a little brighter (and has the flame maple top look).
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Yeah, sorry @howard, Iâve perused the Yamaha site plenty over the last week or so, but I hadnât seen the neck thickness. I have no idea how I missed that, especially as I even used the spec table to do a comparison.
Thickness @ 1st Fret / 12th Fret:
304/504/604 = 19.5mm / 21.5 mm
174/204 = 21.0mm / 24.4 mm
So there we have it; the 304 doesnât have any more in the neck. Now I just have to get the vernier calliper out and check my other basses.
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Help! @howard, @faamecanic,
I picked up the bass after a few days not playing, plugged it into the UMC22 with headphones on as usual, and flicked the switch from off to active - nothing! Not a crackle or click, let alone twanging strings. I put it into passive mode and itâs fine. There is no red light on the back and I always leave it in the off/neutral position anyway. I do leave it plugged in. I donât have a spare battery and wonât be able to get one until tomorrow - if only it was AA or AAA.
Am I missing something obvious?
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Iâm almost sure your battery is dead. if the bass remains plugged, the preamp very probably drains the battery even if the bass is in passive mode. thatâs not 100% sure but not far.
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Well itâs the obvious answer, but I thought that a) passive mode bypassed the active circuit completely, and b) why have a neutral/off switch if it doesnât turn it off. I leave my bass on the rack plugged in so I may have to change that routine.
Annoyingly itâs the only battery type that we donât have a spare of, and Iâm not sure we even have a device that takes one. To get one now would mean a 40 minute drive. Just as well it has passive mode eh?
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