Yamaha TRBX not cutting it for me

Yeah. J is noisy. I also might swap it in the future. Where you able to compare both colors side by side?

But this bass has an awesome growl!!

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See, now you guys are understanding what I feel I’m missing from my 604! :wink:

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Yeah I saw a bunch of both side by side. Still almost went with the black :slight_smile:

Swapping out the J with a hum-canceling one might be a good option. I don’t think it’s a bad pickup at all, just needs another reverse-wound J to balance it. It has really good characteristics otherwise, nice growl that’s not thin like some J’s get.

I would say the basses are very very different in tone, sure. Still happy with the 604 though; it’s a nice, bright, modern humbucking bass sound.

The BB is a bigger, boomier sound, like you would expect from a larger, heavier bass with a P. It’s a great tone for sure.

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Sound comparison!

TRBX:

BB:

Straight in to the DAI, passive mode, tone rolled half off, no amp or cab sims or anything. They both sound awesome to me (modulo my playing, lol :slight_smile:

You can definitely hear the difference. I normalized these for level as well because the BB’s pickups are hotter (at least on mine). Maybe that’s the biggest difference you are hearing, @soundman1402?

The TRBX sounds brighter and the BB deeper for sure though.

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The BB definitely has hotter pickups… Which confuses me, because I thought humbucker pickups were supposed to be high output. But, whatever… In any case, yes, when I switch out basses I adjust the input gain accordingly.

In your samples, the BB has more bass and treble, and less mid. The TRBX is a bit “midrangey”, which may sound cool for metal. :man_shrugging:

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Yep, they are very different tones.

One other thing I have notices is the preamp is way more subtly voiced on the BB. It’s kind of interesting. The TRBX preamp will dramatically affect the tone. On the BB it’s still there and effective but much more subtle.

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If you are looking for a well made bass with a hell of punch, try a Sandberg California VM

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This topic is funny, as just last night I was reflecting about how my TRBX604 is still easily my favorite bass I have owned, out of six.

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I’ve been looking at the Sandbergs! Saw a couple YouTube vids of them and noticed how particularly articulate the top end is on those basses. Just gotta convince the Mrs that I should spend $1500+ on a bass. :wink:

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Want a second one? :grin:

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Ha, don’t want to jinx it, this one is perfect :rofl:

I took my TRBX and turned it into my BEAD tuned bass. Works great!

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I’ve been using Stringjoy nickel-wound bass strings; they’ve become my favorite! They give me the best combo of articulation and also thundering lows. The Curt Mangan strings feel rough when new, but the Stringjoy strings are nice and smooth. I also used a set of stainless steel strings from Fodera, which had great high frequency response, but lacked a bit in the lows. The Elixirs I mentioned were a bit muddy-sounding. Stringjoy, I think, is my new baseline!

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Nice!

I’m totally in love with D’Addario NYXL’s at this point. Bright, feel great, and hold tune for weeks. It’s uncanny how well they stay in tune.

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Totally agree with this @howard…. When I play rounds, the NYXL’s are my go to with DR Pure Blues being my other option for rounds.

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The TRBX604 has more of modern sound, similar to other HH basses like a stingray so you’re never really going to get that thumpy bass sound of a P pickup. Ive got a Sire M7 which is pretty similar to the 604 and although I love it, it just doesn’t beat my player precision bass for that great thumpy low end. I’ve got 5 basses, I play the pbass most of the time. There’s a reason pbasses are so popular… if you don’t want a fender, there are lots of other good options for one from other manufacturers; I think there’s a pretty good, recent thread on that.

I love Yamaha, I think I have 4 guitars/basses from them but they just don’t have many options outside of a PJ. Have you checked out the Yamaha BBPH?

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:heart:

HH is my favorite pickup combo, both bass and guitar.

Really hard to find but the best color they produce for sure :slight_smile:

I wanted one before I got my 734A. I’d have probably kept it if it were that color. He is my bass idol, after all.

Rolling the BB734A all the way to the P works well though. And its J pickup isn’t bad, it’s just… a J :rofl:

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I wanted a BBPH and I thought it over for a while but I just couldn’t spend that much money after the other basses I’d already bought this year lol I came really close to getting a BB1024X as I mentioned before but never heard back from the person and I found a good deal on a player pbass which is what I really wanted anyway. Although it was still more money than I wanted to spend, I gave in and bought it and I love it!

So now all I “need” is a semi-hollow bass :smiley: I was thinking of getting a Harley Benton this Christmas but I’m enjoying the basses I have so I’ll hold off on that. I got out my GWB35 that I haven’t played in a while and had fun going through some Christmas songs with it. It’s been a while since I played it, I forgot it was a 5 string :joy:

I’m thinking of building a single cut mini bass next summer, like a Mayones Cali 4 so I’ll probably work on designing that this winter. I’m considering giving it a violin shaped body but that’ll make it much more complicated to construct… I might make it neck through and 3D print the rest of the body.

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I’ve considered picking up an Ibanez Artcore. @terb seems to like his. Nice bass for that price point.

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A buddy from work has an Artcore guitar and loves it! I also like the Epiphone Jack Cassidy bass. I’ve only been playing bass for just over a year, I need to save something for later… especially since I never sell anything and im running out of space :joy:

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