yamaha TRB fretless w/ active EQs - what do you guys think?

[supertrooper]

I played fretted bass for 9 years and now after playing schecter stiletto fretless (my friend's) finally have my mind set to migrate to the fretless universe!

what would be a great instrument to start with? They are suggesting yamaha TRB at steve digiorgio's forum - is it good? does it come in a 5 string version?

[RichmanRush]

Well, you could ask 20 different people and get 20 different answers. The best thing to do is to find a store and just start playing.

Me, however, I had been playing a schecter guitar for years, and when I was ready for my first (real*) bass, it was a Schecter Stiletto 5-string fretless.

*my first bass was a cheapo $170 Carlo Robelli fretless

I can't say there's anything wrong with Schecter basses, but there is also nothing that would really stand out. I just went with brand loyalty and since have 2 guitars and 2 basses from Schecter. I love them for what they are. Decent instruments at decent prices.

I don't think I've ever played a Yamaha, and you mention Digiorgio, and I think that's what he plays or has played. Fan of his work? Good to see another Digiorgio fan.

Again, you'll just have to try out some basses and see what feels 'right' in your hands. Fender, Yamaha, Schecter, Ibanez, Warwick, etc, the list goes on, but you really can't go wrong with any of them. It's just a matter of preference. Body style, neck shape/size, color and finish etc.

[FretLessSince68]

Yes, the Yamaha TRB line can be obtained with 4, 5, or 6 strings.

I have a Yamaha TRB 6II Fretless and it is a very nice axe. I bought it on ebay for less than $500.

I thought that the pre-amp was a bit lifeless so replaced it with a John East U-Retro Deluxe ($350), huge improvement in tone, and tone control. Worth the price.

The Yamaha humbucking P/Us are surprisingly good but noise cancelling is not as good as some others. I may put a set of Bartolini Humbuckers in it but have not found a set that will fit the rather large P/U routes, so staying with the originals for now. They sound fine, just getting some AC reception when one P/U solo. AC noise cancels out very well when both P/Us are on.

I plan to experiment with some other wiring alternatives later and will post here if any improvement.

EDIT:
The solution for these Yamaha 3 wire humbuckers when used with a John East U-RETRO preamp is to tie the red and white wires together connecting them to the hot terminal of the P/U input. The braided ground connects to the cold terminal or to other ground. No noise problem now, the stock P/Us sound great and are very quiet.

The TRB neck is nice and wide with a large radius (fairly flat) just the way I like it. Lots of wood in a neck equates to solid tone. The Rosewood fingerboard is coated with a hard surface, I don't know what it is, works well though, good mwah, no ruts.

The nut appears to be plastic and I would prefer better quality but it does not detract from the tone so it stays.

I was able to adjust the dual truss-rod neck to almost straight and it plays very well and like I mentioned, has mwah.

The bridge is good enough, not a liability but not exotic either.

Machine heads (tuners) are good, work well and don't slip.

19mm (3/4 in.) string spacing at the bridge is important for me and 6ers with this measument are hard to find. I presume the 5 is similar.

B string is very good (35 in. scale), better than most, not flabby at all.

The body is Ash and has a nice thwonk tone. Instrument sounds good unamplified. Finish is very nice and the instrument looks good.

One thing that bothers me is the recessed barrel type output connector. Because of the angle and recess a right angle plug will partially disconnect if rotated so a straight 1/4" phone plug is necessary. I'm thinking about changing to a plate and jack output connector so I can use the preferred right angle connector. This will involve some minor wood work.

EDIT
I removed the original barrel type jack, routed out enough wood to clear a switchcraft jack, installed using a standard jack plate. Now I can use the instrument with a 90 degree plug without it popping out. Big Improvement.

Over all I would say that this used bass is a superb value and I like it a lot. I prefer it over my 6 string fretless Alembic, or Conklin SideWinder 7 fretless. Both of these basses cost very much more money than the Yamaha.

EDIT:
I like this TRB so much that I am reducing my bass family. It makes several of my instruments redundant.

With the exception of the OEM pre-amp and bothersome output jack, it is a very good axe. Keep in mind that I am spoiled by previous experience with the U-Retro pre-amp.