Yamaha RBX-170

Ok this is just an update to the review I gave last time it's been awhile so I've learned what I like and don't like. What I think it's good at and what it's bad at (but can be fixed too make it better).

Okay first let's start with the positives the pickups (Or pickup)
Well the P pickup sorta lost it's high output maybe it just needs some tweaking on the action or just a new bridge or something I don't know I just know I uset to love the sound of it with a new set of Dean Markelys now even with a new set the P pickup just sorta sucks.
I'm proably gonna replace it with a Seymour duncan Quarter Pounder.

The next pickup the Jazz pickup really gets a good bell like sound. You know that's good for Ska and some punk and mainly for country and pop. I don't do country but, I guess those damn single coil strats and teles whould need a bell tone chime I guess.

Anyways the tone/volume knob(s) are great they really alter the sound not just lower the volume like in Squiers and cheapie no name brands.
So the sound is great it's still versatile and great sounding.

Well I've only had the action set up twice since owning it when I bought it in '07 and a year later in '08 don't really worry to much about the action I play mainly punk and metal if it ain't broke don't fix it right?

Kidding kids always get your guitar or bass set up by a pro atleast yearly if not you can destroy your invesment.

My excuse for not doing it is I've been lazy and for a excuse that's a crappy one!

I'd say it is built for years of playing it still hasn't even got a scratch and I play pick almost exclusively. I gave up on my fingers as the callouses would really grow right and well Dunlop Tortex does sound really good.
So anyways the finish is still dark black I can still see my face in it the frets are all shiny and nicely set and my fretboard is well soaked in sweat and blood (Don't ask) and yet it still plays like it's a Jazz bass neck (I think it is anyways).

I registered my bass a long time ago for a Lifetime Warranty so if it dies (I don't think it will) Yamaha will send me another one.

Recently though the bridge was popping strings like crazy so I had to get a saddle replaced as it was cutting into the string making them pop everytime I tuned them. So I might get a BadAss II soon also along with a new P Pickup from Seymour Duncan.

All in all I find it the perfect starter and the perfect choice for studio sessions and live gigs at the local pub or bar. Basically there isn't anything that it can't do ATLEAST descently that I've seen. I saw a photo of the Shiny Toy Guns (Former) Bassist Carah Faye Charnow using this bass (it was black) live. So it can more than take what ever you throw at it.

Overall I'm happy I bought it and am really finding no reason to trade up just yet even after all this time I find I haven't outgrown it and really I'm just planning to get a new bass cause I want to have another bass to play around with I don't really need it.
Hell, once i learn how to work my dumb Tascam DP-01 I'll upload material for my bands first cd. Sure this bass isn't a Fender or a Ibanez or even a Attitude model Yamaha but, this thing can beat your ass!

Made in Indonesia, 4 strings, 24 frets, 2 tone controls + volume, nice shape, looks solid. My first bass and it has everything I need. It's perfect for begginers and surely for intermediates too. Tune very easily. Body could have benn more decorated but it's OK.

Good sound, even on a crappy PG-10 10 watts amp. Perfect for my style: heavy metal (Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden), hard rock (Scorpions, Deep Purple) and Nu metal (Slipknot, Nirvana). Very good pickup quality, nice tone. Could be better, but would require a 1000$ bass...

Bought used. Good condition, little bit scratched

Everything looks very solid. I'm almost sure I could throw it on the ground and it would still play.

I'm playing since 2 months. If this bass was stolen I would buy it again. I like it a lot. It's my first musical instrument and I feel it's made for me. For the price I think this bass is perfect.

made in indonesia 2003 I think 4 strings 24 frets
2 volumes 1 tone
passive pickups
cheap cable, it broke after a wile

the sound is descent, but it has a really passive sound, its sound its not too hard unless you use a pick (and I don't use them) so sometimes I end up playing it really hard to make the strings sound a little more, but thats just me I think.
Its a perfect biginer bass, specialy if you are going to play jazz or reggae. But I play from reggea, to ska, to punk, funk and slap. and there is something missing when using it to funk and slap because it has sound its more of a deep style than a treble slap and plug funk style.
Nothing special with the tone, I think its almost the same anyway you tune it.

other than that is a good sound

this is the first bass I got so when I got it, I didn't knew much about how it was supposed to be setted-up. But it actually has to be setted up a lot when you get it, The strings where too hight, the pickups where different and it was badly equalized, but as soon as I setted up in the music store, I liked it very much.
The Finish is well made.

I Played both, for practice and live, for practice, is really good, and in live, well.. it serve just fine, and never had a mayor complain about it.
The hardware has worked fine for the 9 moths Id have had it, and never got a complain.
Its really solid and its seems to last long years.
once, the bag opend and the bass fell in the street, and it only made a scratch.

Ive been playing for 9 months now, and I have played a few basses rather than this one, but it was actually a good choice. I use is with a Fender Rumble bass Amp 25 watts, and it sounds nice.
After buyindg this bass I investigated a little and this was the best option for its low price. Yamaha its actually a garantee of quality on things they do.
right now im tryng to sell it, but only because I want to try new things, and that I want a bass that has a harder sound than this one, for playing funk, and ska. I Recomend it for any beginer

Made in Indonesia, passive, 4 strings, black. After a year I made it fretless!
Got it with tools and short cable.

P-pickup no noise at all and deliver very low freq. J-pickup produce a little hum. Yamaha original pickups have 30 procent more volume and definition than Squier Jazz Bass Standard. I found no reason at all to change pickups. Or maybe for couriosity I will with Duncan.

I use Fender flatwounds. It is just amazing sound with combination of strings and no frets.

Set up was good. But I think you must do it your self.

BUT the neck had a little curve out in the midle of the fingerboard. No visible with your eyes, but fret buzz always there.
That was the reason to made it fretless and repair that curve.
Cost me 50 eur.

NOW is perfect! Now I would give it 9!

One year and very reliable for me. Very nice finish. No sharp edges of the frets! I put it completely apart and back together.

I only change the strap button screws with longer.

In Slovenia I was treated nice in Yamaha official store.

I will keep this fretless and buy a Yamaha BB-414 in a close future.

I only wish to have chrome knobs!

Here's a good passive. P + J pickup'd, four string, 24 fret, black metalic, MONSTER! It is my first bass and no I don't know where it was made but, it is very light. Due to the fact it has a alder body which also helps it resonate. The good part of 24 frets is more color for your canvas. The Neck is bolted on maple. Very good looking in my opinion. With a nice rosewood fretboard to set it off.
It is a nice finish too it gets dirty quickly though. The body style is hard for me to describe. So you need to see pics. WORDS CAN'T DO IT JUSTICE! Now the headstock I can it sort of looks like a 'Shark fin' when it sticks out the water. It has chrome tuning keys sealed with a ratio of 20:1. It's bridge is also chrome. But I think it should be black since the Volume knobs are. It's scale is 34". Suprisignly even a short person like me can reach both high and low siting or standing!

It sound can get me from a Rock Ballad, to Punk, to Hard Rock, to Metal, to Nu-Metal, to Death Metal on the fly. It is good for when I want to sound like Fieldy (KoRn), and for that it's just icing on the cake for me. I set it to where the P pickup is louder than the Jazz in the Bridge. It is a great bass. Even on open notes you can tell it's Metal I'm playing. That is also due to the fact my Fender Rumble 15 amp's EQ's is turned off. My basses sound is futher backed by it's fader knob that can control the sustain on both the P and J pickups.

Well this is were it suffered. It was set up wrong. It needed to be set up by a nice Guitarcenter clerk where I bought it. He adjusted the neck, raised the pickups, and even had to adjust the action. So for that it was disapointing. But, DON'T PASS THIS BASS UP!!!!
With the right ammount of TLC you can have a very versatile, durable, great sounding, Monster. As a matter of fact I named mine 'Sinister'.

I have yet to put it to the test live. I can't drive, and my band isn't really a band yet so. Yeah. But, the hardware is very good. It gives the bass great intonation. I am starting to learn how to slap and even without a tuner I can still tell that their in tune. I may be wrong cause I never tested 'em but, they don't sound or look out of tune. The strap buttons are great! I don't have strap locks and the only time the strap came off is when I was messing around. I think that is also due to my fast reactions though. Anyways even without pluging it in I can hear every note. So it's really great for late night practice. I can see me using this when my band gets together with no back up. But, I plan on getting an RBX 370 Yamaha.

I recently registered my instrument. Haven't needed them yet. So I can't tell you anything.

I am a beginner a real beginner. Less than a month of experience. I am not gonna compare it to basses cause I never really have. YET. So wait. I love everything about this Bass. It is my baby. If anyone ever stole it I'd be pissed. Really pissed. I only wish I bought a tuner but, that's another story. Now to any beginners thinking of Squier DON'T belive me. My parents wanted me to get that Squier Affinity P Bass pack instead of this. No Way! I suggest this bass. Why Pros: Good hardware, great play ability, and Versatile pickups
Cons: Not backed by a popular Company like Fender, Ibanez, or Squier.

But, all that aside beginners don't even know what they want in a bass I know I didn't. So get one that you want is in your price range and will be able to let you play comfortably. If your short chances are you don't need that long, heavy, Fender Jazz with the $800 price tag. So get this. It's light, cool, and affordable. I belive it's the easiest choice any beginner can make. Plus it's only $180!!!!!!

Its a fairly simple passive system with one j pickup and one offset
I mainly use the offset, but the J is great for jazz abd treble
the knobs are Pickup 1 volume, Pickup 2 volume and Master Tone

It sounds OK
Going from a more expensive Godin, the sound is not as good, naturally, but it is still a lot better than many guitars in this price bracket.

the E string twangs metallically slightly, but i am used to it now

Its a really nice gloss black, and it has a rosewood fingerboard which is matte at the back

It looks really nice, but the gloss does get dirty

Well, its been really great, its reliable, but the gloss does get scratches quite easily

Nothing major though

Havent needed any yet
although I would imagine taht a huge company like Yamaha would have good customer support

Its just about the best learner on the market in my opinion
I would recommend it to any ammuateur who wants something good but budget.
I am very happy with it.

Already all covered but might as well...
24 frets, 4 string bass with passive precision and jazz pickups
2 volume and one tone controls, made in japan
fairly thin neck, small tuning knobs (compared with fenders)
beginnner bass, not for the experienced and those wanting something different. Nothing out of the ordinary here, but what it does have, it has with decent quality.

My playing style varies greatly, from funk to classic rock to punk to indie. I was tempted to go for a more expensive active p-up version of this (rbx270?) but it cost #100 more.
To be honest, the sound it gives is pretty generic; it definitely doesn't have that 'full' sound. But I did try other basses in the shop, including a mexican fender jazz; I only just chose the yamaha.

But I did experience the bass out of a decent high-powered fender bass amp that a friend owned, and it does sound like a force to be reckoned with! As long as you have a good tone and pickup balance, it will give a very good sound. The sound being 'generic' can also be an advantage, as it doesn't fall on its face when you experiment with different styles of music. Even though it won't give you what you want, it will deliver decent sounds no matter what. No noise problems to mention.

The action is very low to start with (a little too low for my liking) but there isnt any buzzing, so no complaints. The pickups needed raising a bit to get a better sound, but otherwise everything came ok. No loose parts or anything else.

See, here's something I like about cheaper basses by good companies like yamaha. They give you the decent sound, but because of the lower price, you aren't scared of breaking one ever.
It has had a fair bit of natural wear on it sicne i bought it 1 and a half years ago, but completely superficial. The bass plays just as good as it did the day I bought it. Hard shiny lacquer finish which will withstand anything you throw at it. Neck is less resiliant, but just as good as most basses in similar price range.
Gig without a backup, no question.

Haven't had to deal with them and I doubt I will for this bass

I will admit this was my first bass. I hadn't had much playing experience prior to buying it, but I still feel I chose the right bass and that's important.
If stolen or lost, after having the experience with this for a while, like anyone else I would go for a better bass for a bit more money.

If you have no experience with basses, add a point ot the score
If you are now moving onto a more advanced level, take one off.

Either way, I can't deny that it is a brilliant bass in the lower price range. This would also do for a cheap backup for someone's more expensive bass. But yeah, no regrets over buying it at all and it does the job very well indeed!

Built in '05 (I presume, just bought it in march of '06 new)24 fret. It's about the size of a P-bass with Fender Jazz look-alike pickups. Mine is misty red (not my color of choice, but I had to have it that day for a show where I was going to be standing in on bass, I'm a guitarist by trade with some expirence on bass)

The only other bass I ever played on a regular basis was a Fender Jazz, having been spoiled by the incredible range of tone and dynamics of the Fender Jazz I was rather pleased with the tone this bass produces. It doesn't get quite as warm as a Jazz, but it gets every bit as bright as a P-bass if not more. Wether that's good or bad is subjective. I am still in the process of tweaking it, pulled the truss rod back some. The intonation is good at the 12th fret, but off some at the 24th fret, so I will need to tweak the bridge a hair. However the factory adjustment is pretty good all in all. I swear by most things Yamaha, I used to seel their motorcycles and will not own any other brand receiver amplifier. Their electronics are top notch for the most part. I was not entirely happy with the pots they use in this bass though. When you reach the full volume position on the pots it makes a funny subtle little noise, but really that is the only thing I could possibly complain about in that department.

Like I said befor, the factory adjustment is pretty good. Everyone has their own tastes though, and any new instrument should be super tuned. I had mentioned that the 24th fret intonation is a little off, but that may be due to my adjusting the truss rod, I still need to fool with the saddles. The pickups were set a little weird, or at least so I thought. I repositioned them, but now I get a tiny bit of distortion at full blast, maybe I will set them back some. Other wise this is a top not setup.

It seems to be a fairly solid built instrument. I have not had it long enough to give you an honest opinion, but everyone else who has posted a reveiew had had pretty good things to say...

Never had to deal with Yamaha customer support with anything they built, bikes, guitars, home electronics...

I have been playing bass off and on for about 10 years. I would definatly buy this bass again if I had to replace it. I made my purchase decition almost entirely on price, and I was not expecting to get something as nice as I did. I would recomend this bass to beginers, mediocres and even for pros it's a good bass to have laying around in your room to practice on even if you are a studio or touring musician.

Basic passive P/J features. Although, I installed a series mod in mine...a pull of the 2nd volume knob and both the P and J pups are in series...

the pickups sound clean, the finish is great, the bridge is OK (works for me)...the tuners aren't the best, but I haven't had any problems with keeping it in tune.

the neck is thin and fast and quite good for ANY axe this price.

I play it in church ... it sounds GREAT!... I can get just the right tones out of it...nice and round and warm, all the way to bright and cutting.

what's not to like?

the fretwork was very good as delivered, so a tweak of the trussrod, some adjustment on the bridge and I have the action as low as I ever want...

neck is solid in the pocket...finish is flawless...

I dig it...and for this price... are you kidding me???

It's solid...it stays in tune even in high humidity...everything is solid on this puppy...

great construction for the price...

Nothing wrong with it...so who needs customer support? :)

I've been playing bass for over 15 years, and this is THE BEST bargain bass I've owned. I really dig quality bargain basses...

24 frets and a deep cut so you can hit those really high ones, nicely sized
the Head is very odd looking but thats an asthetic thing
great finish
very lightweight

the sound is a bit bright for my tastes, i like a deeper/warmer sound to my basses. if you want you can make it really treble-ly, but i'm not a fan of that kind of sound.

taken a lot of abuse, i've had it for 4 years and its lasted. the pick ups are a bit close to the strings, causing a lot of "farting" sounds - easy to fix. the output electronics are bit sketchy, fell out once and gets a bit "noisy" everyonce and a while

never dealt with the company

probably the best low end bass you can get. better than a squire. best bet for the low cost, if i had more money i would go up to a fender jazz bass or maybe higher end yamaha (bb414+). its had its problems with the output electronics and pick ups but its been a pretty sturdy lady other than that.