jamiethecat Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Hi everyone I'm thinking about ordering one of these I've seen for £400 I've tried a 305 and thought it was pretty good. Does anybody have an opinion on the 504. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fionn Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I've never played nor heard one, although on paper it looks to be a superb instrument for the money. One thing is for certain ... you know what you're getting with a Yamaha. In terms of quality relative to price they have an excellent reputation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annoying Twit Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 (edited) [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/214045-nbd-yamaha-trbx504/"]You need to speak to Hamfist[/url] Edited February 20, 2014 by Annoying Twit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiethecat Posted February 20, 2014 Author Share Posted February 20, 2014 Very close to ordering one just niggling that ibanez sr300 could be a good buy as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamfist Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 [quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1392884192' post='2373720'] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/214045-nbd-yamaha-trbx504/"]You need to speak to Hamfist[/url] [/quote] Great basses. Lovely slim, playable necks, Build quality is excellent. I loved the neck pickup particularly, but I know that Mornats, who bought it from me and has had it a lot longer than me, likes the bridge pickup particularly. I loved the bass, it just didn't quite have what I was looking for at the time. I would consider buying another one at some time though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Yep, I bought Hamfist's 504 and love it. Playability is pretty much second to none. My practice routine these days is to practice on one of my Tanglewood-made Overwaters then swap to my Yammy and instantly everything's so much easier to play. That neck is just super slim and it's very nice and light too. The bridge pickup has a nice lovely deep jazz sound. I like rolling fully onto that pickup, putting it in passive mode and rolling off the tone for a lovely deep burpy groover. I know Hamfist loves the neck pickup and yep it does have a lovely almost P-but-with-something-special sound to it. It's very much like the neck pickup in my active Overwater in terms of sound. My preference is to put the pickup blend dead on halfway for some nicely scooped mids. I can also pop it in active mode, put bass and treble on full, scoop the mids out completely and I get a massively powerful tone. When I compare it to my passive Overwater classic (P/J single coils) the Yammy loses that single-coil zing that I'd love to get back somehow. Maybe I just need to pop my usual Overwater/GHS Bass Boomers strings on it. Perhaps fit a brass nut? Maybe chuck and EMG or other pickup in there? I need to tweak something for it to be perfect but that's just my preference. Or I could be trying to get a single coil sound out of a humbucker. I'd say try it against that Ibanez. Pinball on here has a lovely pair of ibbys (that sounds wrong!) that are just as nice to play and have that mid-range zingy growl that I like. Build quality is flawless. Where are you based? I'm in Bristol if you're nearby. You could pop over and try mine out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiethecat Posted February 20, 2014 Author Share Posted February 20, 2014 Thanks for the offer unfortunately I live in hull. I had a go on a 305 and liked the neck I tried it against an original rockbass the neck on that felt massive compared to the yam. The rockbass had a bit more growl to it though. I really like the idea of being able to switch active off I have a couple of cort curbows and sometimes the sound feels a little fake. No ibbys around here I'm afraid. I'm all but sold on the 504 just got decide what colour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I've got a rockbass corvette and agree with the differences. Chunky neck but more of a growl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiethecat Posted February 20, 2014 Author Share Posted February 20, 2014 The growl was really what I was looking for but I'm in a rock covers band and a rock and pop covers band so I'm wanting an all rounder. Is it possible to get a growl from the yam? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 It has a nice rocky tone when you use a pick. I think my strings are a bit dead, I'm gonna change them soon and they should growl. But the rockbass growls nicely and I haven't heard that from my dull strings yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Sorry I wrote that in a rush. I meant the yammy doesn't growl like the rockbass but it could be because my strings are a bit dead and dull. Sounds rocky with a pick though, very aggressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiethecat Posted February 20, 2014 Author Share Posted February 20, 2014 Almost bought the rockbass but it was an early one and reviews I read said they weren't great and the price was more or less the same as the 504. I think I'll get more bass with the yam although the corvette was nice but the neck did feel a bit thick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jellyfish Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I've had a go on the 504 as I purchased one (through the shop I used to work at) for a friend who needed a new bass. I'm a fan of easy-to-play basses over the sound but the 504 delivers in both areas to be honest. A nice solid body that has cutaways in the right places and a really nicely shaped neck. The finish on the back of the neck was great too and the out-of-box setup was pretty much spot on, although the intonation did need adjusting. Other than that, as others have said, it sounds really good for the money. Yamaha's pickups are renowned for punching above their weight, or at least that's my point of view , and the new ones they developed for their TRBX range sound a lot better than most other basses in that price range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I tried a 504 in my local shop and was gonna order one in black then I bought the one off Hamfist. They setup on both was identical - nice and low but no buzz whatsoever. Intonation is fine on mine (not sure of Hamfist adjusted it at all) but it seems to me that they're just really well set up from the factory. I just remembered, Hamfist did some sound clips of the 504: https://soundcloud.com/alanbridges/yamaha-trbx504-bass-clip-clean (more chat about them over here too: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/214045-nbd-yamaha-trbx504 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiethecat Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 Thanks for the input guys I'm going to order one from dv247 almost £100 cheaper than everywhere else. Good to hear from other users I haven't heard anything negative which is always a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomBass Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Just checked the DV247 site - blimey that's a seriously good price, and with free delivery. Crikey...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annoying Twit Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 (edited) 505 not 504, but nice playing here IMHO. (Though perhaps he needs to work on his bass face a bit ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMkF6fwQUm0 Edited March 24, 2014 by icastle Link fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiethecat Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 Done it pulled the trigger. I'll let you know when I get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamfist Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 [quote name='jamiethecat' timestamp='1392985272' post='2374915'] Done it pulled the trigger. I'll let you know when I get it. [/quote] Nice one ! Enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 [quote name='jamiethecat' timestamp='1392985272' post='2374915'] Done it pulled the trigger. I'll let you know when I get it. [/quote] Which colour did you go for? (Obviously the most important question!) Mine came in a box labelled black (that's right isn't it?) yet looks very very dark brown. In one of the videos demoing the bass online, the black one looks much more like the nirvana black finish that Warwick use than the one that's on mine. I'd have said mine was the brown but it's hard to tell. In some lights it looks black-ish. It's still lovely though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiethecat Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 (edited) Gone for translucent black? Was that or translucent brown or white. They only have white in stock but I'm not into white (looks a bit glam to me). They claim despatch between 1 - 10 days. We shall see. Got a hard case as well still came to less than the bass price anywhere else. Edited February 21, 2014 by jamiethecat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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