90s Yamaha RBX Series

[Supernaut]

Does anyone have recent experience with these basses? Are they gig ready? 
 

Cheers. 

[HeadlessBassist]

Very reasonably priced and might just need a setup. Where are you buying it from?

 

The RBX series is very similar in price and quality to the Ibanez SR300. Great starter basses.

[ead]

I had an RBX270FL and it was a great bass.  I had it for years and only sold it when I fell into the ACG rabbit hole and bought a fretless bass from Alan (that I still have).

[Matt P]

I had a RBX765a as my only bass when i was starting out about 20 years ago, It was certainly gig suitable and I played many gigs and a huge number of church services with it before i moved on to other instruments, i believe its still being played in church by the friend i traded it to. I even did a recording session with it and was complimented on it's tone by the engineer.

 

The RBX range is a bit overlooked in my opinion, they're good instruments, well made with decent pickups and hardware and they sell for very low prices secondhand ( i think mine was £120 from a friend). people seem to gravitate to the Ibanez SR range instead which seems to have better availability.

 

I would happily gig with one again.

 

Matt

[Supernaut]

Thanks everyone. 

[Misdee]

My experience is that when it comes to basses, at whatever price point, Yamaha don't make rubbish. They're always  well-designed and as good or better than anything else for that money, be it a budget bass or a high-end one.

 

I remember those RBX basses as fairly decent budget PJ basses. What I also remember is that they were nice and light, which is never a bad thing.

Edited December 5 by Misdee

[pn_day]

I had an RBX. It was good. 

The only thing it really needed (apart from me to improve my technique) was shielding - the factory default shielding paint wasn't up to much. Copper tape made it all better.

 

Lightweight, flexible, and easy to play. What's not to like?!

[bassbora]

I know this is a very late reply but incase anyone reads this and is thinking about one.  

 

I had in the early 90s (got it in 93 I think and traded it around 2000) RBX1000 which was the top of the RBX range.  It was a very good bass, very light and I thought the range of sounds I got out of it was great.  Only thing I would say that let it down was the electronics and I used very early outboard Sadowsky preamp with it which made it sound fantastic.  I have often thought about tracking one of these down for the sake of it but I only play 5 strings last 25 years so I would probably never touch it.

[40hz]

I had an RBX270 20 odd years ago. It was brilliant.

 

The lightest, most comfy instrument I've ever played. Hands down - even compared to a lot of 'boutique' stuff I've had.

 

Sounded quite snappy and punchy with the PJ setup too.