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Yamaha RBX765A


BASainty
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I noticed one of these for sale close to me for a decent price and I am very tempted to buy it as a companion for my RBX374 but before I do I would like to get some of your opinions.

As some of you guys know I am a big Yamaha nut and own/owned a number of different models but as I dont know much about the 765A I thought I better ask.

I will be playing a lot of heavy rock, metal, funk and blues which my 374 handles beautifully.

How do these compare in terms of sound, build and feel to the more modern RBXs?

Cheers.

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I had a lovely green one many years ago (about 10 years actually! Ouch!) and it was a great bit of kit. I was happy with it in most respects, it did what it said on the tin.

My only real criticism would be that I felt it lacked a little bit of character and I appreciate that 'character' is hard to define but I felt it lacked identity for want of a better phrase.

Would I have another? Yes, probably if it came up on the cheap. I'd just use it for taking to the local jam night or such similar, somewhere where I don't want mucky mits on my Warwick!

I can't compare to the newer RBX as I haven't played them so don't know what they're about.

Hope that helps! B)

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I also had a green one of these but probably more like 15 years ago now. It was my first 5 string and as a result of playing that bass I've not played a 4 string since unless its having a quick go on someone else's bass!
If memory serves it was translucent green with an alder body / ash top, 1 piece maple neck and rosewood fingerboard - all pretty standard stuff but to my eyes these looked that bit classier than the later ones with their opaque laquer.
The TRB that shortly after took over as my main gigging bass did feel more refined to be fair but still loved that old RBX!

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I picked up a translucent blue 765A cheap about 5 years ago and the only other RBX I could compare it to is the newer 35" scale RBX775 that I owned a couple of years before that. I felt that the 765 was by far the better of the two as the 2-band EQ allowed for more tone shaping over the simple bass boost switch on the 775.

The 765A felt better quality, even though the gold hardware had started to tarnish a little and the low B was decent, given that it's a 34" scale. I don't remember it being floppy. The EQ made enough of a difference when adjusting to taste. The neck pickup had a nice presence and the bridge pickup wasn't too nasal, so you could cover a wide range of styles.

If it's cheap enough, I'd definitely give it a go - you'll easily make your money back if you don't like it.

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I've got one of the red ones, can't really compare it to the newer ones but they're very good for the money, the hardware does tarnish but it hasn't bothered me enough to replace it.

The pickups are rather good split coil p_types and the preamp has plenty of variation to set your tone.

If it's nice and cheap then I'd say go for it.

Matt

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IIRC the 765 is the five string version that the RBXJM1 was based on? If so, having owned the RBXJM, it's a cracking bass. One came up on eBay a while back and ended up selling for £160. Was gutted I didn't go for it :(

May be quite heavy though?

Truckstop

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Weight isn't a big issue for me I have a good supportive strap so that will help, the one I'm going for is in excellent condition no scratches or marks, strings are a bit old but I have spares so no issue for me, I'm currently the winning bidder at £104 I will be stoked if I can get it for that price :-)

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If you can pick up that 765A for that sort of money, it'll be the performance bargain of the decade. My 765A was my main gigging and recording bass for quite a number of years, the sound was always superb and the neck was so good that I had Jon Shuker base my custom bass's neck profile on it. It's since been defretted and i've changed the 2 band eq for a 3 band with sweep mid, and it's even better than when it was fretted. I love it to bits. I've long been a huge fan of Yam basses, and instruments like this are why. To my mind they offer near unbeatable VFM.

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So I won the auction, picked it up for £143, I got to say its in perfect condition not a scratch on it, sounds wonderful and feel great to play i am very happy with it, could be one of the best deals I've had so far. Pic below.

[attachment=135745:IMAG1010.jpg] [attachment=135748:IMAG1014.jpg]
[attachment=135746:IMAG1011.jpg] [attachment=135747:IMAG1012.jpg]

So what do we think? Good deal?

Does anyone know when these were made?

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  • 6 years later...

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