Of course, it could be reasonable to fly to Tokyo for a little Gear Acquisition adventure? 
Totally reasonable…
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Only by making a 150 mile round trip. 
That’s why I’m asking the guys who know Yamahas well and have been on the same learning journey as myself. I’m tempted by the older models because they’re cheaper, but then I figure “surely the newer models have better kit/design”. I know it doesn’t always work that way.
There are a couple of much older models available for much the same money, but I get even more lost once I try figuring out country of manufacture and all the little quirks that can make a specific model a gem or a dog.
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Looks like a really nice bass to me. Check out some review vids?
Mostly the question is will you like a Yamaha neck and 35” scale? Hard to tell without actually trying them.
Looks like new ones run about 800GBP.
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I totally understand the dilemma. So, will they be shipping the bass then? What is the return policy? Does the platform offer some guarantees? Does the seller have a “reputation” etc?
I think Yamaha basses are excellent instruments and they tend to keep their value - so, even re-selling this bass after you play if for a while might be an option. Try to quiz the guy some more on why he wants to sell, where the bass was made (Japan? or elsewhere?) and see how far he might be willing to go down in asking price! As @howard said, the guy is asking about 50% of a new instrument. That seems Ok to me, but depending on the age and wear/tear, you might get it down a bit more.
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Kinda what it’s like for me here in Middle Georgia USA @PeteP - All country here, and unless I want to make a 2-1/2 hour trip north to Atlanta, I’m kinda at the mercy of what’s available within about 50 miles from where I live…
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@PeteP That’s a tough spot.
The first thing I would recommend would be planning a day trip to go someplace that has a large selection so you can spend a couple of hours trying out as much equipment as possible. Without doing that, everything feels like taking a chance. For example, I thought the Squire VM Jazz looked like a great option till I tried one and I hated the feel of the neck. The same ended up being true about a bunch of different instruments that I thought I would like untill I tracked them down to try them. I learned far more by going to music stores and trying different basses than I ever learned by just going online.
Good luck, Pete.
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+1 on this… Probably why I have 2 Yamaha’s and 1 Ibanez… The necks on these fit my hand and style of playing, and the necks are FAST which is what I like for my style… I only purchased 1 Yamaha locally (Macon, GA - 40 miles away - nearest GC). The other two were purchased when I took trips up north to Atlanta to visit kids and grandkids. Now my wife double-thinks when I say something like “Hey, lets go up north and visit the kids!” What she hears me saying is, “I wanna go to the music store and play with all the toys there (and maybe buy a new one)!”…
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yeah that’s very personnal and I’d like to add that a brand not always have only one neck shape ! for example my Yamaha (which is 20 yr old) does not have a modern fast neck , it’s some kind of very round JB style neck. it feels much more like a classic Fender than like a modern bass.
speaking about Fender (and Squier), a PB and a JB neck will feel very different, the PB neck being some kind of exception in all the bass world. but it’s a big part of what a PB is.
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@Lanny, what are your two Yammies?
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I have a TRBX174EW in mango (my first that I learned on) and a TRBX304EW (Big Red). Both are strung different, and the 174 is passive while the 304 is active. The 174 is a single piece neck, and the 304 is a five piece neck. I replaced the bridges on both and the 174 has a Babitz bridge and the 304 has a Badass bridge. Both play very well, and I use each one for different songs.
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I’m thinking the 504 would do me for longer, but I know the 304 is well regarded.
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The 504 would be a great choice - at least from what I hear and read. The only reason I didn’t go with it when I purchased my 500 Ibanez is that there wasn’t one in the music store that I could try out and compare the Ibanez that I bought to… If I could ever have a chance to play a 504 or 604 in the future, I might have to figure a way to convince my wife that she needs to buy one for me…
I love the Yamaha and Ibanez bass’s…
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I think my Peavey and T-bird are probably worth a 504 so if I do buy one I’ll then have to sell those privately to get the best price.
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Yeah I would strongly recommend any of the TRBX 304, 504 or 604. I have a 604 now and the 504 is very similar. It’s a fantastic bass IMO.
I also loved my 304 (I had the same one as Lanny, even color) and only upgraded because the 5/604 had two specific features I wanted.
The TRB1004J you are looking at is very similar to my 604 in certain ways. It’s active only (like the 304) and has a longer scale but otherwise there are a lot of similarities. It’s actually probably even a “nicer” bass, though in this range it’s kind of subjective as (like I said) the two are very similar.
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I dig this 35" scale, must be very cool (and very efficient) for down-tunings. some ESP also have this feature.
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yeah the thing is made for BEAD 
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Hello, my name is Rick and I’ve recently been diagnosed with Stage 5 GAS. I’ve been doing some intensive research and it seems the only way it proves fatal is if the patients support system (a.k.a. wife) finds the credit card receipts you hide at the bottom of your glove box or in the bird feeder. So far it looks like I may be (temporarily) cured but only time will tell as my Reverb notifications continue to taunt me.
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@rickpalacios1973 That’s really unfortunate to hear. When you said Stage 5, I wasn’t surprised by the Reverb notifications. Stage 5 is usually fatal. Cause of death: Spouse.
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yeah and Stage 5 often ends up at least with a all-tube full stack 
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I’m convinced that JHS Pedals exists simply so its owner can fund his own pedal habit.
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