"Yam-"mofo" tone machine RBX 374"
Feature:
dead quiet,active electronics,massive dual humbuckers,with built in thumbrests, but only a 2 band EQ ( otherwise it would have scored a 10 ).Blend pot, volume and a shockingly versatile 2 band eq, mine came with a fingerprint/smudge proof flat silver finish, the eliminates the need for polish cloths and ceaseless wiping,quick release bridge ala Aria in their heyday, a 3d headstock just adds so much class.
Quality:
pretty much perfect from the showroom to home. I did have it restrung with extra lights as opposed to the mediums from the factory. No loose partsand there was a nick on the edge of the headstock, that must have been caused in the showroom, by some overzealous primer 55 lovin' kid who knocked it into something, but they gave me a discount on the bass, so i'm not bitching. finish is flawless, not a scratch or run , no uneven spots,the all black hardware looks so striking against the silver paint. alder body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard.pretty much a classic tone machine from the ground up.great fret work, nice crowns and well filed, no sharp edges,I'll be changing the factory nut to a graphite nut, but... thats for less friction, I'm anal that way,not a damn thing wrong with the stock nut on it.
Value:
best bag for your buck, period, good enough to rock onstage, jazz it up in a club, or lay down hum free fat ass tracks in the studio, you can dial up a variety of tones quickly without a ton of fuss, make any amp sound like a million bucks, from headbanging on your sofa, to playing a large club ,you can't get better value for less than $500, NO WAY!
Desirability:
gorgeous,recording is a dream, the tracks "go down" like my prom date..this thing looks mean, the pickups are absolute monsters, and are sensitive, not just a rock bass, it will go from warm to skank at the turn of a dial. sex appeal? this bass will get you laid.
Sound:
i have been playing bass for 19 years and playmany styles from funk, rock,jazz, blues, reggea,motown and metal.I have owned many many basses, including a 1968 fender jazz,a 1978 music man stingray,94 les paul special, various P-basses from 71-76 a 1973 fender jazz etc, but NEVER have i heard the sheer punch and balls this bass pumps out. This thing has the fattest punch this side of a stingray with the sustain of a neckthrough and can match the growl of any vintage jazz bass. Sure , say what what you will, but i've owned them baby, and this beauty will lay em' out like 20 dollar suit. versatile axe.
Support:
yamaha has good warranties, i have dealt with them in the past with an old amp i had and they were easy to deal with, helpful and quick to respond. the bass comes with a limited lifetime warranty, which means if you back over it with your car, tough luck, but should the neck just warp all by itself for no reason, they'll give you a new one.
Overall:
pry it from my cold dead hands !!!!!
Submitted: 1/25/2005
Style of Music: rock, funk, soul, r&b, worship, punk.blues,jazz,and metal
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13 of 13 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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 10 out of 10
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"My Yamaha Review ."
Feature:
Not as heavy as my Ibanez BTB bass but heavier than the SR505 , and thats a good thing . I've always played with the floating right hand , but one day I hooked the thumb on the pickup where the dent is and found it to be a great feature . The bridge is beefie , nice and solid . The battery is easy to get to .
Quality:
The finish is flawless . No sharp frets here . I had to file down the frets on my SR505 ! Everything on this bass is top quality ! I really like this bass . I did tho have to tighten the allen head screws on the nobs . Even the strings it came with were good , I liked the way they sounded so I've left them on .
Value:
This is a great bass for not very much money . Tho there are some basses out there with a 3 band eq for less money . But it is my opinion that this bass dose not suffer from that . The other two basses I own , Ibanez BTB and SR505 , are great basses but I payed much more for them . If I lost all the basses I own and could only afford to buy one I would get the Yamaha . If I knew this when I first started out I would have never bought the other basses and I would own a much bigger house now !
Sound:
I also play a Ibanez SR505 with the Bartolini pickups and 3 band eq . The Yamaha gives me more of the growl that I like . And tho the scale on both is 34" the Yamaha seems to have a tighter low B , it dose'nt feel as floppy as the SR bass , and so it sounds fatter , deeper , bigger...at least to me . Blending the two pickups I get a good variety of sounds , all the standards . A good jazz sound and the P-Bass sound that you'll need to cover most gigs . For my sound tho I like the midrange growl . Most basses can give you that but on this bass it seems to just jump out at you . Its not thin , you still get a deep low tone . It was easy to get on this bass . Some people may not think its all that big a deal . But to me it is . And most of the people that come to hear me play like the sound I get . They dont care if it comes from the bass . I know it comes from this bass . So thats why I play this bass all the time now .
Ease of Use:
Right out of the box string hight was set up just right for me . Intonation was dead on except for the D string wich I adjusted myself . On every bass I've ever played , 'till now , the volume nob has always been the first one in the line up , followed by the pickup blend then the tone nobs . On this bass the first two are reversed . So I switched them myself . I use the pickup blend nob more than the volume nob on the bass , I use a volume pedal . The way the nobs are setup I can reach the nob with my pinkie finger and not have to take the whole hand off the strings to reach it . Kind of like the way guitar players do with there volume nobs .
Support:
I read that some of these basses were wired wrong from the factory and would eat up the batteies . Yamaha e-mailed me the fix the next day . Turns out that mine was wired right .
Overall:
Like I stated before , if I could only have one bass it would be this one . And I say this after playing and owning many basses . If you're new to bass you too will own many basses as time gose by . As musicians we are always looking for that sound that we hear in our head . With so many GREAT bass players out there sometimes it comes down to the sound that YOU have that determines if you get the gig or not . For me this one is it . Buy it . And if you dont think its for you after a week or two you can return it . Thats what I have to say about this bass . Good luck to you on your musical journey .
Submitted: 4/2/2006
Style of Music: Jazz , Pop , Christian , whatever the gig calls for .
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10 of 10 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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