The Watering Hole

I love my Variax Bass 705, but this was too good a deal to pass up, and I was looking for something a little lighter and "different"...with more of a traditional Jazz Bass tone.

It's a Yamaha RBX5 A2. I played a white one at Best Buy and loved the way it played and sounded, but it was too expensive ($499) and a little fruity-looking (like I should join the band Orgy or something). I got this from AMS for $299. I like the black a LOT better.
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-YAM-RBX5A2-BK-LIST

Here's a clip of Ed Friedland taking a four-string through its paces:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB-E9_b3FYI

Mine arrives Thursday, presumably. When I get it, I'll post clips.
Tripper

P.S. There's a guitar one, too...I'm very tempted, because that thing actually sounds really nice.

looks like a nice score too me.  

thats a sharp looking bass and what a deal.

Nice ax.

I need a bass myself, maybe I will look into the 4 string model, which is all I want. my kiddo sent me a 5 string bass and I did not think it was all that usable for my purposes except for 4 or 5 notes.

desertbluesman — Jan 06, 2009Nice ax.

I need a bass myself, maybe I will look into the 4 string model, which is all I want. my kiddo sent me a 5 string bass and I did not think it was all that usable for my purposes except for 4 or 5 notes.

Don't discount playing around the 5th fret Dave. ( :D )

It works pretty good.  :)

that sounds like the bass for me.  I only know 4-5 notes.  

CraigBert — Jan 06, 2009 Don't discount playing around the 5th fret Dave. ( :D )
It works pretty good.  :)

Well my kiddo who is a bassist swears by his 5 and 6 string basses. I prefer a 4 because I have been playing guitar for 40 years, the fingerings are the same.

It was pretty hilarious when I started playing a 5 on a regular basis, because the guitarists would get lost trying to figure out what I was playing. I told them to just ignore the B string, pretend it wasn't there, but it was too hard for them.

Then when we swapped instruments, it was even funnier watching them try to play a 5-string. I started bringing a 4 just for those songs.

Tripper

I have no real idea how to play bass myself so a 4 is more than enough for me to handle.

desertbluesman — Jan 06, 2009I have no real idea how to play bass myself so a 4 is more than enough for me to handle.

my sentiments exactly!   :)

Nice lookin bass Trip! When I played bass in Dallas, I had a Hohner 6-string. Folks thought I was good because I played a 6 string bass guitar.
Truth be told....I was kinda lost without 6 strings. A six string bass is very easy to learn, and the spacings are much more like a guitar's. Just easier once you get it down.
Threw my guitarist off a LOT tho  ;D

And with this Hohner 6-stringer, I was nominated as 'country bass player of the year' in the 'Terry Awards' for the Dallas area. This was around '02. Didn't win....but was very honered to grab a nomination. I believe the drummer of the year a year or two before I came along was the drummer for Lone Star.
Sum pretty talented folks in the field.
I checked out the Terry Awards website to see if I still existed....but the website only goes back to '04. Go figure :(

http://www.terryawards.com/default.asp?page=1

If I go back to bass, I'm gonna grab another 6-string Hohner. That was the most playable bass guitar I have ever played. And the active EQ was insane  :)

Johnny — Jan 09, 2009And with this Hohner 6-stringer, I was nominated as 'country bass player of the year' in the 'Terry Awards' for the Dallas area. This was around '02. Didn't win....but was very honered to grab a nomination. I believe the drummer of the year a year or two before I came along was the drummer for Lone Star.
Sum pretty talented folks in the field.
I checked out the Terry Awards website to see if I still existed....but the website only goes back to '04. Go figure :(

http://www.terryawards.com/default.asp?page=1

If I go back to bass, I'm gonna grab another 6-string Hohner. That was the most playable bass guitar I have ever played. And the active EQ was insane  :)

JoJo Garza from Los Lonely Boys swears by Hohner basses - particularly the 6-string he plays - and he's pretty dang good.

Got the bass last night, gigging with it tonight. I'll have clips sometime over the weekend. It sounds like a really pissed-off Jazz Bass. Which I like, because I don't like a mellow bass tone most of the time - some of my primary bass heroes are Jaco, Geddy Lee, Doug Pinnick, Les Claypool, Matt Freeman, and John Paul Jones, and none of them had/have mellow tones.

It looks cooler in person. I'll have to adjust to playing a finished neck again, though (I HATE PAINTED NECKS). If it's too annoying, I'll have it stripped, sanded, and oiled. I might do that to all my instruments that have painted necks.

What can I say...I like the feel of wood in my hand.

Wait...that sounded a little gay right there... ;)
Tripper

Tripper — Jan 09, 2009 What can I say...I like the feel of wood in my hand.

Wait...that sounded a little gay right there... ;)
Tripper

It's not gay unless it's not your wood.  ;)

I don't like finished necks either, sometimes it feels like your hand just stuck moving from position to position.

Tripper — Jan 09, 2009[quote author=Johnny link=1231127456/0#11 date=1231473816]And with this Hohner 6-stringer, I was nominated as 'country bass player of the year' in the 'Terry Awards' for the Dallas area. This was around '02. Didn't win....but was very honered to grab a nomination. I believe the drummer of the year a year or two before I came along was the drummer for Lone Star.
Sum pretty talented folks in the field.
I checked out the Terry Awards website to see if I still existed....but the website only goes back to '04. Go figure :(

http://www.terryawards.com/default.asp?page=1

If I go back to bass, I'm gonna grab another 6-string Hohner. That was the most playable bass guitar I have ever played. And the active EQ was insane  :)

JoJo Garza from Los Lonely Boys swears by Hohner basses - particularly the 6-string he plays - and he's pretty dang good.

Got the bass last night, gigging with it tonight. I'll have clips sometime over the weekend. It sounds like a really pissed-off Jazz Bass. Which I like, because I don't like a mellow bass tone most of the time - some of my primary bass heroes are Jaco, Geddy Lee, Doug Pinnick, Les Claypool, Matt Freeman, and John Paul Jones, and none of them had/have mellow tones.

It looks cooler in person. I'll have to adjust to playing a finished neck again, though (I HATE PAINTED NECKS). If it's too annoying, I'll have it stripped, sanded, and oiled. I might do that to all my instruments that have painted necks.

What can I say...I like the feel of wood in my hand.

Wait...that sounded a little gay right there... ;)
Tripper

You got a problem with gay folk? :o

(Hooky took that a bit personally, didn't he?  :o  ;) :D )

Hookbender — Jan 10, 2009You got a problem with gay folk? :o

I know you're just secretly hoping someone's a bigot like you. ;)  :)

I love gays. They're fabulous!

Tripper