RBX375 Review

The Yamaha RBX375 provides bassists with a powerful sound a great look. It's built to take the abuse of the road with its Alder body and bolt-on 24-fret, 34" scale maple neck. It's also equipped with two newly designed, high-output ceramic hum-canceling pickups that can beef up any rig, a 2-band active EQ, a master volume control, and a pickup blending control to dial in massive tone!

Features:	9
Sound:	10
Action:	9
Reliability:	9
Impression:	9.3
Overall rating:	9.3
Users rating:	8.5
Comments:	16

Featured review by: unregistered, on august 07, 2006

Purchased from: Guitarampkeyboard.com

Features: The Yamaha RBX375 provide bassists with a powerful sound a great look. These basses are built to take the abuse of the road with their Alder bodies and bolt-on 24-fret, 34" scale maple necks. They are also equipped with two newly designed, high-output ceramic hum-canceling pickups that can beef up any rig, a 2-band active EQ, a master volume control, and a pickup blending control to dial in massive tone! // 9

Sound: Great sound, can be altered to suit most styles of music, but predominantly shines when playing rock and metal. My favourite sound is a deep, refined sound, and this bass gives it brilliantly. Also great sound when slapping and popping, as well as when tapping. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The action needed adjusting slightly to accomodate the low B string, however once adjusted this bass is a pleasure to play. Very fast neck, I picked up an Ibanez in the shop before trying the 4-string variant of this bass, and there was no comparison. Great finish, tough and modern, though not overly resistant to scratching. Good strings, I kept the ones that it came with and they sound great. // 9

Reliability & Durability: Very solid bass, I have used it live and it stood up very well, even with me literally dripping sweat all over it (hot summer night and very hot stage lights). All the knobs and straps are strong, and take a few bashes around from time to time. Definetly going to be using this bass as my main axe for a while yet. The only problem I have with the bass is having to carry round spare batteries all the time for the active electronics, the bass starts to lose volume as the batteries lose power, more than once I've thought I've blown my amp. // 8

Impression: A great bass to own, and a real pleasure to play. I am very pleased with the way Yamaha have made this bass, and I am much more likely to buy a Yamaha bass as a second bass than I was before I bought this. Also really great value for money, cheap for a five string, and on a par with a £500/600 bass. As I said, the only nag is the battery, the only real solution is to always replace it before playing live. The only thing I may replace this with would be a 6 or 7 string bass. // 9

overall: 9.6

Reviewed by: metallicaddict, on august 29, 2006

Purchased from: Hooters Music

Features: I bought mine in a shop so I didn't get anything with it but from my experience with Yamaha you should get two allen keys (for the truss rod and bridge saddles) and a cable (not particularly great but still useful). Could do with a 3 band EQ perhaps? // 9

Sound: I got this as an upgrade to an RBX170. The difference in tone is amazing. This beast has huge sustain, and a great tone (although not extremely versatile, best for rock and metal (what I play anyway) but slaps well). Sounds great with Boss Overdrive. One thing I love about this bass is the lows are beefy but the highs are still full and bright. Playing through a Dean 30 watt practise amp, yet to play through a big amp but sounds great so far. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: Bought bass from shop in mint condition, perfect except the saddle for the low B string needed adjusting (easily done with allen key) and one of the control knobs was slightly loose (also easily fixed). The tuning pegs, bridge and pickups were all fine, and there were no flaws on the bass. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I haven't had it for very long but even so I've hit it a few times and it holds out like a Fortress. Everything looks built to last. I don't really know about the strap buttons as I fitted a Dunlop Straplok before I even played it (highly recommended by me). I would definitely use it as my only bass during a gig as it is versatile within certain styles and because it's a 5 string you can forget about drop tuning. The finish is quite scratch resistant but they don't show much on the black finish, the guy at the shop told me that the silver ones show scratches a lot. // 10

Impression: This is perfect for any style of rock but really shines out in metal. If it was stolen I'd be depressed for abouta year and then go out and buy another one as the 775 is too similar to this for the price difference. The thing I love most about this is it's looks. The headstock looks awesome as it has a cutaway part (if you look at it on the internet you can only see it properly on the silver one bit it is noticeable in real life for the black) and the whole of the body is black (even the neck, which looks really good I have to say) and the fat pickups make the body look much smaller an dreally sleek. The cutaway design add to this as well, making this one a real looker. // 10

overall: 9.2

Reviewed by: nesveikuolis, on september 23, 2008

Price paid: € 400

Purchased from: Muzikos Faktorius

Features: Yamaha RBX-375. 2007 made. 34" scale 5-stringer, black glossy finish on alder RBX-style body, rosewood bolt-on neck, 2 big badass active humbuckers, volume, balance, bass and high EQ. The bass came in a very basic cardboard box, had two Allen wrenches - one for the truss rod and one for the bridge saddle adjustment, and a cable (Really bad cables, the cheap ones - lots of noise. My Klotz cables sound a lot better). I'm giving a 9 just because of the 34" scale for a 5-stringer. // 9

Sound: Just don`t know how to say it. Incredible. For a bass at this price range, the sound is top notch. The 2-way EQ really allows me to change between my styles (I play heavy metal, death metal, rock, a little bit of jazzy stuff). I'm currently using a Zoom B2 effects pedal thru an Hiwatt Maxwatt series amp. This bass makes my crappy amp sound reasonably well. No matter how you adjust the EQ, the bass has almost no noise what's so ever. Giving it a 10 for the perfect rock/metal sound. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: Got it straight outta the box. I only needed to adjust the things, that I prefer my way (Lower B string action, stronger string tension, lower pickups), but tahts just my way, so for some it might be straight-outta-the-box perfect. other than that, nothing bad. 9. // 9

Reliability & Durability: This bass IS intended to be played Live, that`s what the body and sound says about the bass. The hardware/body/straps look like a tank, which is built to last. Like I said, this tank can go solo, without any backup. 9. // 9

Impression: This is a good bass for anything that ends with the word METAL, although it wouldn't sound bad for something else. I've been playing for a year now. I play it through a Hiwatt Maxwatt combo and a Zoom B2. When I bought it, I got everything I thought I would get for that price. If it were stolen I would stomp the f--k out of the bastard and take my bass home. Maybe the only thing that I would trade it for is a custom Spector Legend. Overall, 9. // 9

Comments

[LoW]

I have used this bass for 2 years andd it's great in band job! of course some people don't want to use yamaha guitars bcuz they does also very much different thingsbut this is just great!

[<Q>]

What would be the average cost for one of these?

[aleop]

i have one of theese and ive got to say it is amazing and i love it mine is like industructable i have dented scratched it and yet it plays amazingly i love it and its sound quality is the best even tho my amp is a peavy *cough* sux but the bass is great


complements aleop

love aleop =)

[aleop]

wrote:

What would be the average cost for one of these?

AND ALSO IT DEPENDS ON WHERE YOU SHOP I WENT TO SOUTHEND TO PMT AND GOT MINE FOR £300 BUT THAY CAN BE CHEAPER OR MORE EXSPENSIVE

[Aziraphale]

I have the 4-string version of this. It's great, no complaints whatsoever.

^Woah watch the caps.

Checked.

[ZootCst]

The headstock angle does not create enough tension
on the low B string for a 34" scale 5 string bass.
make it 35" or increase the headstock angle to about
18 degrees and I'll try again. the electronics are
acceptable for a bass in this price range, though.

[Weybl Himself]

Bass player in my band uses the 4 string version of this, absolute monster for what you pay for it, and tough as hell too.

[Eagle86]

A real fine bass. One of the best i have played! It looks better in reality than on the pictures. And sound great.

[slash6464]

i got the black one of these, and its simply amazing, i love everything about it, it looks good, its pretty versatile, as its an active, you can eq it perfectly to what you want, and simply cuts straight through everything and everyone in the band. i love it, zootCst is right though the angle of the headstock isn't sharp enough, but it plays pretty good so no complaints, it cost me 100 aussie dollar, mint condition, but second hand, 6 months

[Grizzly_Ciaran]

i got the silver one and they r excellent! i wouldnt replace it for any bass

[Clinton133]

I have this Bass guitar in Red.
one of the best things i have ever bought.
These things can handle anything, ive bumped it on heaps of things by accident, and still works perfectly.
My Prized Posession

[musenath]

I have the rbx170 in red (the 4 string one) and it's a great bass but I think im ready to move on soon so I think I may get this one
I'd have it in a different colour though!
Although the yamaha TRB1005 looks very nice

[rejected1]

I almost traded mine for this, until I heard a few complaints about the RBX Series suck and everything. But I guess it depends though.

[BoomDaBass]

this bass makes me feel like John myung

[osborowitch]

great bass ! i bought it 3 years ago and recently i got the worwick corvette $$ and i still enjoy playing the YAMAHA