SoVeryTired

I had the same strap, different fault - it lasted all of 6 months. I looked down when rehearsing and noticed the stitching on the leather had unravelled and the bass was effectively hanging by a couple of threads. Fortunately I saw it in time before the headstock went floorwards. The leather was way too thin and flexible as well. Strings Direct sorted me out with an alternative as a replacement so all was well in the end but I'd avoid these comfort straps like the plague.

[quote name='TRBboy' post='1305328' date='Jul 15 2011, 11:12 PM']Sounds great dude, what a steal! I really think they're WAY better than most other low priced instruments, and even some considerably more expensive ones! Mine gets played more than any of my others, mainly because I leave it on a stand in the living room as my practice bass because I don't care if my 20 month old son gets his sticky fingers all over it![/quote] Yep, the low 'value' means these basses will get a lot more playing time than the ones that you're to scared to take out of the case!

I've not got the best £200 bass ever, but it's possibly the best £80 bass ever (okay, £98 if we're including strings). Yamaha RBX360 (which I think is the older equivalent of the 270 - all the specs seem the same apart from having a master volume and blend rather than two individual volumes) - £50 from eBay Full professional set-up (including repairs to cracks in headstock) by Andy Viccars - £30 My plan, funnily enough, was to see if I liked it and then to upgrade it with cream Dimarzio P/Js (sound familiar?!). However, on plugging it in to a proper PA system, the anticipated buzz and thin sound never materialised. Just pure thunder, instantly controllable and shapeable. It produces internal-injury-inducing levels without ever sounding anything like a cheap instrument. I can't quite believe I've got guita pedals that cost more than it. The only upgrade I plan on now is straplocks (although, having said that, it's not the heaviest instrument ever). Yamaha deliver fantastic instruments at low prices, and somehow they don't hold any value second hand. Which is good for those of us in the know. Shhhhh...

[quote name='Blademan_98' post='1289676' date='Jul 1 2011, 10:37 PM']Ah, you must be after a 5 string. That low B is just for resting the thumb [/quote] There's a 5-string just poking out of the 'too scary' box - I'll have to try some over the next couple of years to see whether it stays there.

[quote name='Blademan_98' post='1289570' date='Jul 1 2011, 09:15 PM']Welcome! Either will do as long as it doesn't have any frets [/quote] One step at a time - fretless is definitely in the box marked 'too scary'! It's funny, I've survived on one acoustic and one electric 6-string for ages, but I'm already thinking not of replacing my Yamaha in the future but supplementing it. This bass lark is dangerous. (I've got a mild hankering after something MMish, especially after I learnt today how to play without needing a pickup to anchor my thumb...)

[quote name='Hobbayne' post='1288216' date='Jun 30 2011, 09:08 PM']A precision with a jazz bridge pickup [/quote] I do like having the combination at the moment. The P has the thump, the J has the growl, and I guess the 50-50 blend is the sound of someone punching an angry tiger...

[quote name='paul_5' post='1288143' date='Jun 30 2011, 08:01 PM']Welcome on board. In reply to your OP, I like P basses, but I also like J basses, but which is better? There's only one way to find out.....[/quote] Buy both? (Not being entirely serious - I know it's the sort of question that gets asked all the time.)

New bassist here. Well, newish. I've been playing guitar since 1994 but I suppose I started playing bass last year sometime when our bass player didn't turn up for rehearsal (and I was one of two guitarists). I said that I could play bass instead - and it turned out that I could. Since then I've thoroughly enjoyed every chance I've had to play on a borrowed US Jazz and I've finally got round to getting my own bass so I can practice more consistently. I managed to pick up a Yamaha RBX360 off eBay for £50. There were a couple of cracks in the back of the headstock which weren't advertised, so I got my postage cost back. Following a crack repair, clean up, restring and set up at a ridiculously good price from [url="http://www.andyviccarscustom.co.uk/"]Andy Viccars[/url], it's fully operational, playing great and waiting for its first live action. I play in a church band and when playing bass I go via a DI box into the desk, and out again via some sizeable subs into a 650-seater auditorium - it's going to be interesting to see how the electrics on the Yamaha cope with the PA (it's a P-J configuration so I'm expecting some noise from the J at least). My plan is to save up for a couple of years and get something around the £600 mark, either a good Far East model (e.g. G&L Tribute L2000 or Sterling SB14, both of which I've played and enjoyed) or maybe a second-hand US Fender. For now though, I'm just enjoying the Yamaha and having fun with the two very different but equally classic pickup sounds (and blending them together). That's me - I'll be hanging around, soaking up information and trying not to ask too many stupid questions. By the way, which is better - Precision or Jazz?

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1288092' date='Jun 30 2011, 06:51 PM']According to the [url="http://www.yamaha.co.jp/product/guitar/archive/rbx360/index.html"]Yamaha Guitar Archive[/url] production of the RBX360 ran from October 1997 to 2000.[/quote] Ah, so maybe the website I used is not to be trusted, but at least I know to within four years -thanks.

[quote name='GBass' post='1287171' date='Jun 29 2011, 11:51 PM']Production of the RBX 360 began in 1996 and ended in 2003. [/quote] Thanks - I think I know which of the three options it is! You never know, the '96 models might be highly prized one day...

I've just got my first bass, a Yamaha RBX360 (second hand, obviously). I was trying to date it and an online database suggested August 1986, 1996 or 2006. I'm pretty sure it was discontinued before 2006, and isn't as old as 1986, but can't be sure. Does anyone know when Yamaha started and stopped making these basses? (Apologies if this is the wrong place, or a stupid question - I'm new and I did try Google and the forum search first!)