Yamaha introduces the TRBX505 5-String Bass, featuring a solid mahogany body with active/passive preamp switching.
This bass is designed to be comfortable and at the same time provide a wide spectra of tones via the availability of both passive and active circuitry.
The TRBX505 comes with a 3D sculpted solid mahogany body that provides a balance between tone, looks and equal weight distribution. You will notice that the cutaway extends up to the end of the neck, this should make it easier to reach the higher frets.
The 5-pc maple/mahogany neck provides the stability required to handle the stress of five bass strings. It is bolted into the body with a scale length of 34″ and is topped with a Rosewood fingerboard.
What makes the TRBX505 interesting is its active/passive preamp design. With just a flick of a switch, the two HHB5 Alnico V pickups can work as a conventional passive pickup or as an active pickup for more aggressive lows. The multi-polepiece pickups are designed to drive the active circuit in active mode, or to capture the nuances of your playing style when in passive mode.
The technology behind this preamp switching automatically matches the output level as you switch between active and passive, resulting in seamless transitions that wont distract you or your audience.
This bass guitar also provides tone shaping options both in passive and active mode, including a passive tone knob, and an active 3-band EQ. Other controls include a master volume, a pickup balancer and a LED battery indicator.
Rounding up the features of this bass include a die-cast bridge with 18mm string spacing, tuners that are aligned to the strings for reduced lateral tension and a metal plate mounted jack socket.
The Yamaha TRBX505 is currently retailing online for £482.00. It also comes in a standard four-string model labeled TRBX504. More affordable versions with passive ceramic magnet pickups are also available – TRBX304 and TRBX305. For more information, you can head over to Yamaha.
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Now that is one gorgeous piece of musical equipment! Have you played on anything like that before?
I think that these days Yamaha care a lot more about the aesthetics of their basses than they once did.