Yamaha RBX 775 Mod ideas

[Callumjord]

So here I have my trusted Yamaha RBX775, next year I will have had her for 10 years! I have recently been thinking about taking her to get a professional setup and some minor work, new nut and a fret re dress.

I have then had a thought about properly sprucing her up and throwing on a set of hipshot tuners, new pickups and a new preamp to make her a lot more versatile, as I have now started to play a lot more various gigs.

I have been looking into the Seymour Duncan NYC pickups as they have great reviews, great tones and seam rather versatile. However on board pre amps I am not to sure about. I find myself not really using the onboard eq on any of my basses but I love the sound of an active bass. However, I would rather change the pickup selector to a volume blend. Ideally I would like to have a series/single coil switch for each pickup and just a volume and blend. That way there would have to be no drilling/routing done.

Does anybody have any alternative suggestions/advice that would help?

Also, If anybody could recommend any guitar shops/luthiers in the North of Scotland that would be able to do this work that would be great. I have no experience when it comes to this type of work and would rather leave it in the hands of a professional.

Cheers,

[Grangur]

You've had her for 10 years. You must like her?
If you have a successful bass, why change it?
New tuners won't rock your world. Pups would change the sound, but you might not like it.

Fret-dress and set-up, maybe. But on the set-up side, you can't beat learning to have the skills to be able to make any tweeks yourself as and when they're needed. From a pro-luthier you'll only get the "one-size fits all" approach to a setup.

You're looking for more variety in the sound for the new gigs? OK, what would you like to add to the sound? What function do you want to improve/add? Maybe a plug in pre or compressor might do it?

Edited July 24, 2016 by Grangur

[Callumjord]

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1469356736' post='3097585']
You've had her for 10 years. You must like her?
If you have a successful bass, why change it?
New tuners won't rock your world. Pups would change the sound, but you might not like it.

Fret-dress and set-up, maybe. But on the set-up side, you can't beat learning to have the skills to be able to make any tweeks yourself as and when they're needed. From a pro-luthier you'll only get the "one-size fits all" approach to a setup.

You're looking for more variety in the sound for the new gigs? OK, what would you like to add to the sound? What function do you want to improve/add? Maybe a plug in pre or compressor might do it?
[/quote]

Yea I really do like her, she was my first serious instrument. Got her when I was 15 and decided that I was a bass player.

Well I am doing a lot of celidh music, along with my function band and also some heavier music so having the ability to coil split the pickups individually would be great, I really like the single coil jazz bass sound when doing the celidh and full humbuckers when playing heavier. It is mainly the versatility of the pickups and being able to combine different single coil and humbucker sounds that I am after.

[Grangur]

[quote name='Callumjord' timestamp='1469360473' post='3097649']
Yea I really do like her, she was my first serious instrument. Got her when I was 15 and decided that I was a bass player.

Well I am doing a lot of celidh music, along with my function band and also some heavier music so having the ability to coil split the pickups individually would be great, I really like the single coil jazz bass sound when doing the celidh and full humbuckers when playing heavier. It is mainly the versatility of the pickups and being able to combine different single coil and humbucker sounds that I am after.
[/quote]
To get that sort of variety to one bass you'd probably do well to fit some Simms pups:

http://www.simscustom.com/pickups/5string.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmsaCa2roxY

[geoffbyrne]

Actually, the pickups on Yamaha basses are a bit of an odd size, being a wee bit longer than most - you might not find pups of the exact size you need.

G.

[Grangur]

[quote name='geoffbyrne' timestamp='1469382614' post='3097870']
Actually, the pickups on Yamaha basses are a bit of an odd size, being a wee bit longer than most - you might not find pups of the exact size you need.

G.
[/quote]
You could always rout any extra you need, then fill the ends with a block painted black. It needs to be done well though if its not to look like a dogs dinner.

TBH I wouldn't be doing it if it were mine. I think Yams are what they are. Not really suitable for changes much.

[horrorshowbass]

Zombie thread resurrection!

My RBX 775 preamp just died, could anyone recommend a new pre?

Its a weird preamp, just vol tone three way selector and a mid boost. No blends etc.

Any ideas greatly appreciated 

Thanks

Michael

[pn_day]

If it was me I'd be tempted to rip it out and go passive (you could repurpose the boost switch as an S1 switch for combining the pickups in series. While you are in there check all the shielding and if necessary break out the copper tape to redo it. 

 

Phil

[horrorshowbass]

Thanks Phil that is indeed what I asked my tech to do. I run bass through zoom pedal and pres anyway.