7string Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 (edited) I had one of these basses years ago and had to sell it when I didn’t have any money. It wasn’t just this bass that had to go but all my music gear. It wasn’t a good day. The nut on the bass had broken as well and I had to make an emergency repair to make sure the store would buy it from me. Luckily they didn’t spot the piece of chewed-up paper under the G string….. I always kept an eye out for a 550M and came across this one on eBay a couple of weeks ago. I bought it for the bargain price of £62! So after many years, I again have a Yamaha RBX500M. This was the model that Yamaha gave to Billy Sheehan when he first went to Yamaha and he’s pictured with a double-necked version on the cover of his “On Bass” video (not sure if it’s available on DVD yet!). Unfortunately, Billy didn’t like the bass at all and instead played a modified BB series before designing the Attitude bass with Rich Lasner. However, I really liked my RBX and it was my main bass before I had to sell everything. The RBX550M is a pretty basic bass. Alder body, maple neck and fingerboard with a 3D headstock which is a mixture of black and maple. Electronics-wise it’s PJ pickup configuration with a master tone, master volume and a blend pot. The neck attaches with 4 asymmetrical bolts. The 2 separate bolt plates are flush to the body which is nice touch. The whole bass is pretty light with a slim neck and it’s so easy to play. It sounds great too with a really solid, punchy sound which doesn’t loose it’s roundness even up high. All in all, I’m so pleased to have found one of these basses again. When I told my Father-in Law about it I said it’s a nice end to the story. He disagreed saying it’s a new start. I think he might be right!! Edited November 9, 2010 by 7string Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Great looking bass. Never heard of those before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofthestuntmen Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 £62..! RESULT...!! Hope this turns into a setup thread, be interesting to see you go to work on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Nice bass. Very 80's... I mean that in a good way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatback Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Cool I bet it's built beautifully. Love those 80s yammies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tut Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 Picked up an RBX800 a while ago from Crack Converters for £129. Bit bashed cosmetically but awesome bass. My mate had one just like yours - it was lovely. Love maple fretboards! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 I really like those basses when they came out, especially the blue with maple! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted November 10, 2010 Author Share Posted November 10, 2010 Thanks for the kind words @D [quote name='King Tut' post='1018290' date='Nov 10 2010, 12:26 AM']Picked up an RBX800 a while ago from Crack Converters for £129. Bit bashed cosmetically but awesome bass. My mate had one just like yours - it was lovely. Love maple fretboards![/quote] That's a bargain you picked up there. Great spot!! [quote name='kingofthestuntmen' post='1018078' date='Nov 9 2010, 08:28 PM']£62..! RESULT...!! Hope this turns into a setup thread, be interesting to see you go to work on this one.[/quote] Could do! I've already removed, cleaned, lubed the truss rod nut and adjusted the neck. I took the action down a bit as well and just enjoyed playing it for the last couple of days. I plan to give it a good clean including the electrics and think about whether to replace the plastic nut with a bone one. Might even get it in the neck jig and give it a fret dress as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassmurf Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Coooooooooooooooool! I had this one as my first "proper" bass in exactly the same colour, always regretted selling it especially as I found out via a mutual friend that the guy I had sold it to had bought another bass and decided to leave the Yammy in his shed for a few years.... Definitely a bargain you got there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted November 12, 2010 Author Share Posted November 12, 2010 Yeah, it's one of the 2 basses I regret selling (the other being a Fender 51 P RI). It's amazing how good this bass sounds especially as I don't have anything approaching a decent rig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 My first bass was a £50 "Satellite" jazz copy, it was awful. My second bass was a Yamaha RBX-550M in black and it was lovely. I think I paid £120 for mine, new, in 1991. I sold it a couple of years later (to fund a totally lush Godin Acoustibass fretless) to another bassist I knew at 6th form and he still has it - I asked him about it on Facebook a few months back. Nice bass man, you got a massive bargain there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynepunkdude Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 Congrates mate, at least this one has the right amount of strings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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