Yamaha TRB history

[Pinball]

Hi, there seems quite a few types of TRB in the Yammy line. I was impressed by my own TRB1005, which is about to leave but that is the only one I have played and I'm curious about the others. I wonder if someone could give me a quick run down of the TRB linage, with info on changes in stats and sounds? It would be much appreciated.

[Dingus]

I can remember when they first came out in around 1990 and they were all 34 inch scale, and were quite a sleek-looking and futuristic departure from the BBs that had been the staple of Yamahas range for so long. They were a bIt controversial in as much as they weren't cheap , were made in Tiawan, and had a fairly noisy preamp . Much was made of the fact that John Pattitucci played one, and I seem to remember that Mike Rutherford of Genesis was also sporting one for their live shows around that time. Later in the nineties they were revamped with humbuckers instead of pj pickups , simplified somewhat in construction with a bolt -on neck , made in Japan and also went over to 35inch scale exclusively. I always preferred the earlier ones. The later ones always sounded colourless and relentlessly dreary to me. I haven't played any of the more recent incarnations after that and so couldn't comment on them.

Edited October 4, 2012 by Dingus

[ikay]

The TRB series was introduced in 1989. Details of all the discontinued models can be found here:

http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/guitars-basses/el-basses/trb/?mode=series#list=within&mode=paging&tab=product_lineup

This includes the original series TRBs as well as some of the more recent models which have also been discontinued. The first series of 'made in Japan' 5-string TRBs was 34" scale, they changed to 35" scale with the series II.

I've got a first series Japan TRB5 which is a great bass and IMO much better than the series II, The oriiginal TRBs may have been even better still. Personally I'm not that keen on the current crop of TRBs. The ones I've tried have felt a bit sterile but I'm sure there are some good ones out there.

[Dingus]

I 'm pretty sure I remember playing one or two of these in the early nineties and that they were made in Taiwan ( specifically the Pattucci model ) at that time, as were most of the BBs by then , I think . I could be wrong , of course, but I can remember people commenting that it was a lot of money for a bass made in Taiwan. If they were in fact made in Japan, let me acknowledge my mistake in advance now, and ask your collective forgiveness. People told me that these kind of memory lapses start to happen in middle age, and I am starting to realise they might be right.

Edited October 4, 2012 by Dingus

[ikay]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1349362171' post='1825316']
I 'm pretty sure I remember playing one or two of these in the early nineties and that they were made in Taiwan
[/quote]

Yes I think you're right about the original series being made in Taiwan. My TRB5 is one of the first series of bolt on ones made in Japan (mid/late 90s). Sorry for any confusion!

[Pinball]

Thanks for the feedback!

[BigRedX]

[url=http://www.yamaha.co.jp/product/guitar/archive/list/trb.html]TRB page[/url] from the Yamaha Guitar archive.

[Kongo]

This would be most interesting. Not enough info on Japanese instruments of this ilk, I find.
I have a series II TRB 6-string, dated 1998. I figured these would be made for Jazz and Fusion musicians...But the tone is so damn aggressive it's perfect for my play style and despite being a behemoth in size, it easier to play than a 4-string.
I'm starting to tire of the orange finish it has, however...It's not neutral enough.

[bzmnt]

This indeed is the most interesting thread...! Hopefully we get a lot posts!

To my knowledge (which is purely acquired through numerous websites and forum discussions, I was a toddler when the series was created) is that the TRB line was created to be a modern six string bass, the first one was the TRB6P with piezos. I guess that was made in Japan. At the time there were also 4 and 5 string models too. all with piezos. I have seen pictures of Taiwanese TRB6P's too, so at least at some point they were made in Taiwan.

Then John Patitucci had his signature series made, the TRBJP, and the TRB6, TRB5 and TRB4 were derived from that. They didn't have piezos. The piezo series was discontinued. I have the TRBJP and it is an amazingly well made bass, made in Japan. It has ultimate comfort to play for a six string, 19mm spacing and 34" scale. The TRB4/5/6 series was discontinued in 1998 and replaced with II-series (TRB6II etc). Those were made in Japan too. I have personally had a TRB6II, and the build quality was top notch, it was impeccably made, like the TRBJP. The scale had grown to 35" and string spacing reduced to 18mm from 19mm. Also the pickups were larger, humbuckers or singles with dummies, I am not sure, mine had EMG's.

At some point, I think when the II-series was introduced, the piezo II -series was introduced too. They are still in production, made in Japan and they seem to get a lot of love in the net. I've never played one personally.

Then, for some reason, the II-series was discontinued in 2003 or 2004 and replaced with the TRB100x line. It was originally made in Korea, but nowadays, I am not sure. Korea or Indonesia maybe? String spacing is 17mm, and the parts and the construction are in my opinion a bit lesser quality than the previous TRBII-series, let alone the original TRB series.

The Patitucci model was discontinued in 2002 (?) and in 2003 the TRBJP2 was introduced. It is the only six string TRB with 19mm spacing today, but it has 35" scale too. Made in Japan, as the high end TRB5/6PII -series too. I've never played one but it is regarded as a very high quality bass in the internet.

The older TRB's, the Japanese made ones, are very solid, high quality basses with great construction. Too bad the only ones made in Japan today are the 3000€ + models. The 17mm, 35" scale TRB100x don't make me very excited, they just seem to lack the quality and sound the older ones had. They are good basses, that is for sure, but not something that is celebrated 20 years after their introduction as are the older TRB's.

I've tried to put the historical facts as correct as I can, but if there are some mistakes, I apologize. Comments about sound and comfort and quality are, naturally, subjective and my personal opinions

Edited October 27, 2012 by bzmnt

[noelk27]

[quote name='ikay' timestamp='1349362667' post='1825325']Yes I think you're right about the original series being made in Taiwan.[/quote]
No, the original TRB models were all made in Japan. The first to appear was the TRBS. Officially first manufactured in '89, pre-production examples from '88 exist. The first TRB5 was developed in '90. This used the pickup design (P/J configuration) from the RBX series, paired with the original TRB circuit. The rest of the TRB story is pretty much covered elsewhere.

[BASainty]

Is there a way of dating your TRB? I have a TRB-5 II made in japan and I would like to know when it was made.

Edited October 27, 2012 by 4StringFortress

[bzmnt]

I have used this serial number chart:


http://www.yamaha.com/yamahaguitars/ElectricandBassGuitarSerialNumberSystems.pdf

[BASainty]

[quote name='bzmnt' timestamp='1351350421' post='1850444']
I have used this serial number chart:


[url="http://www.yamaha.com/yamahaguitars/ElectricandBassGuitarSerialNumberSystems.pdf"]http://www.yamaha.co...mberSystems.pdf[/url]
[/quote]

Thanks for that, ive had a look at it and i cant make any sense of it lol, never been good at this kind of thing. If I give someone the serial number could they find out for me? Or explain to me how this chart works?

[LeftyJ]

Cool thread!
I've owned two Japanese lefty TRB5II's, one in amberburst and one in transparent blue, and they were great instruments. Very comfortable, very tough, incredibly versatile and they sounded great. The only thing was the trimpots in the control cavity had me puzzled for a long time before I finally found out what they did: the humbuckers operate as singlecoils with a humcancelling phantom coil, and with the trimpots you could control the output level of the phantom coils. Turning them up fully, the pickups would operate as full humbuckers. Turning them all the way down, they would just operate as phantom coils. Cool feature! Its effect on the tone of the instrument was subtle, yet definitely audible.

Really cool basses! I should have kept the amberburst one. It was my first serious bass, after playing on an old plywood Condor Jazzbass-copy for a short while to find out if bass was my cup of tea at all and I absolutely loved every bit of it.

Edited October 28, 2012 by LeftyJ

[Kongo]

I still love my TRB6II. No matter what it's still my main bass for progressive styles. Built like a tank! But it's jack repair from previous owner has a flaw as it spins which, if left without being tightened (which requires the back plate to come off :-/) it pulls it's output or ground wire out...5th time now!
So I'm gonna order a new jack and re-solder from scratch and make sure it doesn't move.

Where these designed with any particular sound in mind? Mine is bloody aggressive as hell! Even through bland sounding amps it still pushes it's personal tone through. This is another reason it stuck with me.
I thought it was 19mm not 18mm but either way, it's nice and broad. :-)
I guess the only thing I get bored of is the Orange finish. It's not exactly a neutral colour. I wish to re-finish it someday but I can't bring myself to do it.
Oh and the lacquer on the back of the neck was sanded off and finished with oil by previous owner. The raw wood feeling is so much better than sticky lacquer.

I guess if I ever got another one of these (would make a great fretless) it'd feel off due to the minor mods this had to the neck etc.

[bzmnt]

[quote name='Kongo' timestamp='1351469067' post='1851621']
I still love my TRB6II. No matter what it's still my main bass for progressive styles. Built like a tank! But it's jack repair from previous owner has a flaw as it spins which, if left without being tightened (which requires the back plate to come off :-/) it pulls it's output or ground wire out...5th time now!
So I'm gonna order a new jack and re-solder from scratch and make sure it doesn't move.

Where these designed with any particular sound in mind? Mine is bloody aggressive as hell! Even through bland sounding amps it still pushes it's personal tone through. This is another reason it stuck with me.
I thought it was 19mm not 18mm but either way, it's nice and broad. :-)
I guess the only thing I get bored of is the Orange finish. It's not exactly a neutral colour. I wish to re-finish it someday but I can't bring myself to do it.
Oh and the lacquer on the back of the neck was sanded off and finished with oil by previous owner. The raw wood feeling is so much better than sticky lacquer.

I guess if I ever got another one of these (would make a great fretless) it'd feel off due to the minor mods this had to the neck etc.
[/quote]

The only thing I would like to have different in the TRBJP (and which has been done better in JP2) is that the barrel jack. It is not as reliable as a normal open jack and when I got my bass (second hand) it had to be replaced immediately. And I've had to do it with a couple of other my basses too with similar output jack.

[Kongo]

[quote name='bzmnt' timestamp='1351514675' post='1851959']
The only thing I would like to have different in the TRBJP (and which has been done better in JP2) is that the barrel jack. It is not as reliable as a normal open jack and when I got my bass (second hand) it had to be replaced immediately. And I've had to do it with a couple of other my basses too with similar output jack.
[/quote]

I did look at it today, after yet another re-solder of the bloody connecting wires, and pondered if a standard jack would be best.
But I have no idea on how it would be. Either way I've got some ideas to stop it spinning, although I'm starting with a fresh jack from scratch, solder it properly etc. :-)

[LeftyJ]

I had to replace the jack on my first TRB once as well. At some point it just wouldn't properly make contact anymore and I would briefly lose my signal once in a while. I'm not a fan of those enclosed jack buses. If it keeps spinning, check if the original rubber ring on the outside and the toothed bushing on the inside of the cavity are still in place. Those should squeeze the jack in place when tightened.

[bzmnt]

Does anyone have any information about the TRBS and TRB Custom models? Those were pretty early ones I think, they look a lot like TRB6P with subtle differences. I'm just curious, pictures can be found most easily using Japanese Google

[Kongo]

[quote name='LeftyJ' timestamp='1351853057' post='1856117']
I had to replace the jack on my first TRB once as well. At some point it just wouldn't properly make contact anymore and I would briefly lose my signal once in a while. I'm not a fan of those enclosed jack buses. If it keeps spinning, check if the original rubber ring on the outside and the toothed bushing on the inside of the cavity are still in place. Those should squeeze the jack in place when tightened.
[/quote]

I de-soldered, removed, cleaned and re-soldered it (properly, unlike previous repair someone did)...I did not notice a rubber ring! 8-O
Should it have an o-ring on it? Hmmm. Toothed bushing was there.
I stuffed a load of jiffy bag behind it and put Loctite on the thread, tightened it shut.
I noticed that the inside spins separate from the sleeve, the input and output wires spin and the earth, which is attached to the sleeve, remains still.
I set it so they can't move much due to hitting the earth but I'll be damned that that may too rip it's wires out.

I put up a post in the repairs side. I need help if this doesn't work because I'm running out of wire! :-(
Then I'll be needing to find one of those 4 wire pin things as they aren't separate.

I'd prefer to just use a standard jack but I see no way of mounting it.

[BigRedX]

Then there's also the TRB that isn't a TRB - the BJ5B.

Essentially an SBV body with TRB pickups electronics and bridge and a neck that starts off as a TRB style neck at the body and ends up with a very narrow SBV nut and headstock:

Edited November 3, 2012 by BigRedX

[Candybassed]

I remember trying a 6P because I'm a massive John Patitucci fan and remember being disappointed with the tone. In fact John's tone on the 'Sketchbook' album sounded weak to my ears and it was a 6P. The Signature model and particularly the TRB6II impressed me immensely. BIG tone, louder than Music man by quite some way. My only gripe/personal bug bear is that Yamaha basses have a particular sound and never sound neutral. I can recognise a yamaha bass a mile off like I can a fender. That might be a good thing for some, but I like a bass that can sound neutral and have the tone come from me. The latest TRBs are not the same build quality as the last models and it really shows.

[fendurt]

Hi,I'm pretty new up here and bought a second hand TRB5 (serie 1).
how does the preamp actually work?

Besides that there is a problem with the bass boost. an I'm thinking of installing a different preamp.
but doeas any of you know that de pickups are dual-coil. does that mean I can install a switch and split the coil?
And are the pick-ups en preamp available as an official replacement product?
Questions..questions...questions
Hope you guys can help.

[ikay]

[quote name='fendurt' timestamp='1361531970' post='1986988']
doeas any of you know that de pickups are dual-coil. does that mean I can install a switch and split the coil?
[/quote]

TRB soapbar pickups are dual coil but configured as a single coil plus a phantom coil (to eliminate the hum). You can't split the coil as in a regular humbucker.

[fendurt]

Ok, so I assume that when I install a new pre amp I can solder the two 'hot' wires from one pickup together to a volumepot. Is that correct?
And what does the boost in the orinal preamp do?
Does any of you know where to find more technical info like freg.ranges, schematics and such?