Yamaha TRBX604FM Electric Bass - Natural

The Yamaha TRBX604FM Electric Bass - Natural is for the bassist who plays in more than one band and wants one instrument that covers all of them. An active/passive switch lets you run a 3-band EQ when the mix needs shaping, or go passive and let the Alnico V pickups speak for themselves. The Natural finish shows off the flamed maple top over an alder body.

Flamed maple over alder, five-piece neck

The body pairs a flamed maple top with alder underneath, on a bolt-on five-piece maple and mahogany neck at a standard 34-inch (863.6 mm) scale. Laminated necks like this hold their shape better as the seasons change, which matters in Queensland humidity. A rosewood fingerboard carries 24 medium frets over a 10-inch (250 mm) radius, so the top octave is there when a line calls for it.

Alnico V double-coil pickups

Both pickups are double coils built on Alnico V magnets with a quad pole-piece layout. That combination gives enough output to drive the active circuit hard, and enough sensitivity in passive mode that fingerstyle dynamics and ghost notes come through. Gold-plated contacts sit at the key points in the signal path for reliable conductivity.

Active/passive preamp with 3-band EQ

Controls are a master volume, a pickup balancer to blend neck and bridge, and a 3-band EQ with bass, middle and treble. Flick the switch to passive and the EQ steps out of the way, which is handy for recording or for a straight old-school sound. A battery alert LED warns you before the preamp goes flat mid-set.

High-mass bridge, die-cast tuners, straight pull

A high-mass die-cast bridge anchors the strings for solid sustain, and the covered die-cast tuning machines line up for a straight string pull from nut to post, which keeps tuning steady. The output jack is mounted on a metal plate rather than straight into the wood. The neck is 38 mm across the urea nut and 19.5 mm deep at the first fret, a comfortable size for long sets.

Set up and ready

Set up in-store by Guitar World Australia's techs before it ships to you. Action, relief and intonation are dialled in so the TRBX604FM arrives playing the way a bass at this level should, and you can spend the first night learning it rather than adjusting it.

Specifications