I’m brand new to Bass. I do pretty much all the work on my guitars, but this is my first attempt at working on a bass. I have a Yamaha TRBX504 bass and it has an intermittent popping sound. This is most notable when I’m using headphones. I did some troubleshooting, and thought I’d price a replacement preamp, since everything else seemed ok. I am having a lot of trouble sourcing a new replacement part. Would someone please suggest where I might find one of these? Thanks!
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What are you looking to replace it with? I’m assuming not OEM parts cause I doubt you will find these but @howard can confirm that assumption.
Here do you live?
This will help with options.
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I know ESP is not providing replacement parts to NA; supply chain woes. I had a couple basses last year with EQ problems and never could get a resolution, that was ESP and Ibanez.
If this isn’t warranty, there’s some really fine 3rd party gear out there.
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www.bestbassgear.com has tons of bass-specific stuff. I don’t think you will find an OEM preamp, though. Amazon has preamps, too, but your mileage may vary greatly XD
Popping could also be the input jack, which is a lot easier to find. I assume you checked that as you said you did some troubleshooting, but felt it was at least worth mentioning anyway, just in case.
Also, are you using a Mono TS (“instrument/guitar cable”) or for some reason using a TRS cable? ie “stereo” or a “balanced” cable.
Mono/TS:
Stereo/TRS:
I ask because it could work or it could not work, depending if the plug is making good contact with the jack or not. Active instruments have a TRS output jack, but wired for mono as the other contact just completes the power circuit. This is why you should always unplug an instrument with active electronics when not in use.
I just feel like it’s unlikely the preamp is causing your problems, but I could be wrong, of course.
It’s possible that someone on Talk Bass might have upgraded their bass and have a preamp sitting around they’d be willing to sell you, too.
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@chris.c apparently, Yamaha USA have a parts webshop that you can order from directly: https://www.yamaha24x7.com/
Full credits to @howard, he posted this link before.
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I’m in New Jersey. All I’ve seen so far is 3rd party stuff. I’m not opposed. I replace most of my guitar electronics with 3rd party stuff. I’m using a guitar cable when I’m plugged in to an amp, and the VOX plug when I’m using headphones. I also plug in with Boss Waza Air. I started out just looking to see what the pricing was like on the preamp to get an idea what the cost would be, then ran down the rabbit hole trying to find a source. lol. The jack feels tight and the soldering looks good. I’m not going to buy anything just yet. The few parts I’ve seen so far are in the $185 - $250 price range. Too much for just a shot in the dark really. Still in the early tinkering stage. I’ll check out the yamaha 24x7 site. I might just take it to a bass tech if I can find a good one. That’s the next research task I think. Appreciate the quick response!!
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I asked Best Bass Gear a couple weeks for an EQ recommendation, and they suggested a Noll TCM3 for $137.
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Yep, that’s the Yamaha parts site. They have everything.
Thanks!
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I’ll check this out.
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Yamaha Canada also sells direct to end users.
I purchased several replacement TRBX504 nuts and they were only a couple of dollars each.
Very friendly to deal with.
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