Yamaha RBX-170

This is a 4 string bass. It has 2 volume pots and a tone pot. Had it for 2 years. Strongly built, nice solid feel, but quite light.

I play everything from fusion to heavy metal. it suits all these styles and has quite a good range of tone.
Settings can easily be adjusted (on bass and amp), so 1 minute my band are playing melodic death metal, the next im doing a walking bassline over some jazz chords.
Obviously the amp matters too but it has quite a warm tone for a budget bass. It is better for the stage than studio; its pros are in its rugged construction more than in its tone.

I havent adjusted the factory set up and ive had it 2 years.
The body or neck did not have any flaws, everything was a ok.
It has a loose tone pot but that is my fault due to gigging and will soon be adjusted.

This is a very durable bass, and is built to last. Everything about it feels solid, and the finish is bright and glossy.
One warning; keep the body clean with a cloth - fingerprints show on this bass!
I have used it on a gig without backup, i play downtuned (metal!) and mine was the only downtuned bass there.
Its a reliable bass. Full Stop

This is my first bass, but I have played around and I can truly say it is a very good bass for the price I payed for it.
If it was stolen, I would not buy it again as I have been playing it for 2 years and now need an upgrade.
!This is the perfect beginners bass!

this bass was made in 2003 in indonesia....
24 frets-4strings

my style is progressive rock and melodic death metal....the sound is so muddy and vague man....i still love this bass though it was my first one...so i still have a little nostalgia over it...frets buzz(especially after the 12th ones)
on stage you can't even feel it...you just feel something going boom behind you and that's it. it doesn't have a catchy clear sound at all..

well i can't complain about the body finish...the black finish has taken a lot of beating and still not a scratch! poor wood though....
the frets after the 12th ones sound wierd, as if missing a 1/2 tone, you have to bend it a little to get the right note....
pickups aren't noisy...but weak

strap buttons not solid, my bass almost fell during a concert. i had to grab on it for dear life...in the end i grabbed a chair and continued playing....but it's really been durable besides that....

never dealt with the company

i wish it had better wood and pickups and better alignment for the strings...(especially for the frets beyond the 12th ones)

Made in 2003 in Indonesia. 4 strings, P/J bass passive pickup combination. Jazz style neck. Metallic red. Plastic knobs, separate volume and single tone. Intonatable top load vintage style bridge. Designed as a learners instrument and very much pitched at the bottom end of the market. I'm not a fan of the body shape, I prefer less 'modern' styled instruments; however I was attracted by the obvious quality for the asking price.

Very light well balenced body, comfortable for sitting and standing. Body wood unknown.

Rating is based on the price.

P/J bass combination. The neck P-pickup has a nice thump, much better than I expected for the price. Bridge J-pickup is in a word, terrible. Very noisy and weak. It doesn't look like one, but Treat the RBX170 as a cheap P-bass and you can't go wrong.

Played through a little T-15 Vox amp it has a nice classic rock sound, warms up a bit when fed through my Behringer valve pre amp. Noise doesn't increase when fed through a PA, again very impressive for the price.

Don't bother with the bridge pickup.

Rating is based on the price category.

Unbelievable for the price. Flawless paint job. Tuners are solid and stable. Neck is smooth and frets are dressed nicely. No fret buzz and no weak spots. I changed to very light strings (40-90) which caused a buzz in the G string. I raised the bridge adjustor and all was well. Neck is very stable, I didn't bother adjusting it when changing the string gauge.

Rating is very much based on the price.....

I have my doubts that the bridge would survive a heavy handed player as it is light gauge pressed metal. Not a problem for me as I only play with my thumb. The rest of the bass is solid enough. I doubt anyone would want to use this as their primary stage instrument. Without a usable bridge pickup it's tones are limited. It sounds like a cheap P bass but looks like a modern style instrument, so who would want to be seen playing it?

No experience. Yamahas are very well made for their price category so I wouldn't expect any problems. Dealer is very helpful. Unable to rate.

Bought strictly for home use. Had a cheap Yamaha classical guitar for 20 years (probably only used it for about 5). Thought I might try a bass so I went looking for a cheap starters instrument. Have just sold it after 18 months. I wouldn't bother replacing it as I now have the bass bug and have moved on. I now own a Japanese 51 P bass and Epiphone Viola short scale.

The price has actually come down about $50 since I bought the instrument. Very good quality for the price. Highly recommended for a beginner.

see below for the specs

i play metal, definately suits me. i was actually looking to spend about $300-$400, tried this as a "why not" kind of thing and was blown away. in my opinion, this bass destroys everything in its price range and competes nicely with higher priced stuff. great sounds, gets that "wet" cannibal corpse bass sound with my hartke when i want it to. pretty good variety. have recorded with it and played rehearsals, great for both.

the pickups werent set up well at all, had to do that myself. when i got it, one of the Ps was way deep, the other almost touching a string without it vibrating. i had to kind of make the P pickups crooked, both pups having the higher side in the center. i was getting some unwanted clicking otherwise, and also the G string was louder than the others for whatever reason. the overall set up was good enough though. no flaws, but could have been way better.

seems very durable, friends have dropped it, i accidently banged the head into a wall somehow, everythings perfect. everything looks like it will last. id gig without a backup, no problem.

never had to deal

ive been playing about 3 years, into a hartke. great sounding. before this i had a no-name starter bass that i'd been "starting" on for about two and half years. when i decided to play bass with a band, i knew i'd need something much better. was looking for something more expensive than this, no need to buy it. a guy i knew played it after playing his $6-700 fender, said he wanted one! haha. love just about everything about it except its set up. nice bass.

Indonesian
24 frets
Passive
Black
Agathis body
1 single 1 split coil
Rosewood scale
Came with a cable, tools and manual

The agathis body is very light, wich is good but it looks and feels somewhot "toyish", tuners seem very plastic also, but it never gets out of tuning, even playing violently and slapping. The 24 frets are a good add-on altough not that usefull.

I don't have an amp myself, I use mainly a Marshall and a Hartke in reahersals, it sound much better in the Hartke, and could sound better if I had the time to deal with the equalization. It is not noisy, but it can be if played in a smaller amp, with a higher tone. It is very versatile, but wouldn't fit a style in need for a deeper, heavier sound. It has gone thru studio and stage with no problems.

In fact the neck was warped and would not adjust, for laziness I never took it too be repaired, then I set the strings fairly high and now I can't think of myself playing with low set strings. Its ok because of the price, but I think it could be tighter, the knobs are a bit loose, and it seems there's too much space in the wood for the pick-ups, so they look like they're loose (but are not).

It seems fragile, but in 6 years and 4 months it went thru almost a year in a studio where punk bands played (no offence, I play punk myself), constant bangs near the plug and some playing near the beach, and it is still like it was. This bass sometimes seems temperamental, sometimes sound great other just ok.The strap button became loose, but I think it was thru misusing. The finishing is really solid made. I think it could be used without a backup if you are optismistic, but to me the agathis body always seem it can break-up out of nothing, if you really love this bass its affordable to buy two and use one as backup. Besides the bad impressions on the body, solid for the price.

Never dealt with them.

It was my first bass, I wish I had picked another of the same model, because mine had problem, but in the end the problems helped me creating a self style. If stolen I would buy something better, but when i got enough money I would buy one again. Just my teacher at the time didn't like this bass, he said I should had bought a Precision like as cheap bass, at the time I was quite ashamed, but now I like it. My favorite feature is the pick-up configuration, and I don't like the body wood. I think that in this price category is a very good choice, its much more versatile than the others, and longer lasting.

The only thing I absolutely hate about this is the knobs. As soon as I can, I want to put chrome knobs on--the black looks just so tacky.
I like the rest of it--vastly nicer neck than either the Squier I've played, or the Washburn that my youth band's bass player uses. For a passive bass, it's really nice.

I love the P/J sound. I tend to use with the J at around 70% and the P at about 40% on, and it sounds terrific. I can go from a deep full P to the nice light J bass sound.

The action was okay from factory, a little buzz from the low E--quickly fixed by tightening the tuner screws by about half a mil. More potential for slap-bass as well with more room--they were too high to begin with.

This bass is rock-solid. I haven't used it very much live, but I gig without a backup--mainly since I can't afford one, but it's just such a nice bass that I wouldn't consider anything else.

n/a

Love the bass. Would recommend it to anyone--I'm not a great bass player, but really enjoy it. Compare this to a cheap squier, cheap anything, and it rocks, just because it has two pickups over the one, so such a huge ammount of tonal control, let alone the nicer wood, nicer neck, etc.

Firstly the bass looks brilliant so top marks there. and the agathis body is also great!! to see the features go to a search engine. the ones you will find are gr8 like the three controls thats give good quality.

the sound is good obviously u pay for what you get so it isnt goin to be the best in the world but still the bass is superb for an advanced player not just for bigginers because of the good quality!truly sick sound! the only falt i think is that i get vibrations from the strings hitting the frett board but it isnt that noticable unless your playin extremly hard!

i dont think the bass has a thing wrong with it. it was put together perfectly and because i own one i fell its the best i could get! thats why i picked it.

the rbx 170 is great for live gigs so controled and made to perfection.the finish is hard wearing. if my dog srathched it the dogs nailes would look in a worse state.the strap buttons are in the right place so you dont have to worry if your jumping around like a prat as i do the bass will stay where you put it. this bass is truly reliable and will play at gigs with no problem. the only thing that ia where the imput is tighten it before playing so you dont get static.

the company where great and where quick to deliver and it came in good codishion. it was protected well for the journey.

its amazin baicly and yamaha should get a real pat on the back for there efforts its the best value for money you can buy!!

Alder body, Maple neck, Rosewood fingerboard, 24 frets, P/J type pickups, Volume control for each pickup and tone control.
I only give it an 9 because it can be a bit of a pain having to turn 2 volume controls up and down! appart from that, what more could you want from a passive bass?

This is probably the best sounding bass i've ever played, in this price range of course! To me it just sounds natural, which in my opinion is ideal. I've played many basses with pickups that color the sound too much, or don't reproduce what the bass sounds like acousticaly. It's great! Almost no noticable unwanted noise.

Yet again, In this price range I have yet to find a bass that's built/made as well as this!
To me this rating doesn't include things like action/setup as I always set up all my own instruments.

When I got this bass, I sanded off the finish (by hand!) to re-shape and re-finish the body (not because there was anything wrong with the shape in the first place, I just like modding guitars!) and let me tell you that this is one sturdy paint job! Since then it has suffered all manner of abuse and still plays like a dream!

Never dealt with them, although Yamaha make very good instruments so i'd be suprised if they let themselves down by having bad customer support.

I've been playing drums for nearly 7 years, bass for nearly 6 years and guitar for nearly 4 years. I've played many styles of music in many bands and I have to say that for the 2 years I have owned this bass, I have yet to find a musical situation that it won't sound good in! I've owned and played several expensive basses and this bass is as good as, if not better than some of them. I have changed the shape of the body, but thats just me being a modder at heart! I also re-wired it so it has no tone control (because i never use it) and 1 volume control to adjust the volume of both pickups at the same time. I find this works better for me, but only because I personaly don't use the other controls! Would I buy it again? Well, I'm about to buy another one for songs in a lower tunning, so, Yes! I should also mention that I have a minor spinal disorder and this is the lightest bass i've ever played! truly a godsend! and at this price, I don't ever have to worry at gigs about weather it's going to get nicked/broken/heavily abused in transit! You should at least try one of these out, I strongly recomend it!

Very good looking guitar nice finish bought it in August of 2004 24 frets, good range of sounds available with a volume control and two other knobs i cant remember what they do but they do produce a wide range of sounds for a guitar in this price range. The fret board is rosewood which is very nice and the neck is the smoothest you ever will find, i would buy it just to run my hand along the neck :) Makes it a joy to play. It has quite a nice shape but lack maybe abit of imagination but still looks good. The neck is nice and slim for you with small hands. I didnt get any freebies when i bought this guitar but for the price o well :)

For the price range i think youl find it hard to get a better sounding guitar than this. I do play it with a Fender bass amp which may help but even still it is a very crisp sound and makes you want to play it. Although i did find it did vibrate alot unless you got your fingers pritty much in the middle of the fret but that comes with practise. I would not tend to use it for gigging but i spose you could it would definately do the job, but sounds great for home pratising. One other thign i loved about this base is that it stays in tune forever put it in and itl never leave, great for begginers :)

The base is easy to set up plug it in a your away. No fault with it when i bought it which was nice to see, although when i bought my fender amp the power lead had a bloody continental plug on and if any of you have tried to find a continental to english adaptor its not that easy. But any way thats nothing to do with the guitar :) It has a lovely shined finish and that neck ;D smOOOOOth

Ive had no problems with this baby yet shes seems like she will last a long time although i havent had her long but it seems durable enough. I think for live playing you could use her but i would tend to say she is best for home use and studio work. The strap buttons are solid i was pleased to find which isnt always the case as when i bought my electric guitar it was falling off after spending #350 i took it back and they told me to just tie abit of string around it, buggers. But this guitar is solid enough but i would have a back up guitar while gigging but thats just me the pesimist :)

Never had ne problems with this baby but if i do ill let u know :)

As you can guess im english i am 17 and been playing the bass for only a month now, but i have been playing my George Harrison style guitar ( the beatles rock : )for many years so i do know what im talking about and for begginer or some1 who just doesnt wanna spend to much on a bass guitar this is the one :) If i lost mine i would probably cry but also go stright out the door any buy another. Hope u found this help full BYeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Made 2003 in Indonesia
Fretted with a 2 octave neck 24 frets
2 Volume and 1 Tone
1 Split-Single and 1 Single
Passive elecs
Full scale Agathis body, Bolt-on Maple neck
Mines Black (blue and red too)
Bridge is a vintage type with standard yammy tuners
Got a gig bag thrown in after a haggle.

My style is rock so its suits it well.
Currently use a Peavy guitar amp(arghh) at home but a Warwick Sweet 15 for practice rooms. It has a great range of sounds blending the 2 pickup and tone too. Dont know if its better for studio or gigs cause I've only used it studio so far, but there its is great for the money.
Even though it has a low action it has a lovely tone and yet can get very growly as well. Overall a damm fine sound, no dislikes at all.

Action was a bit high. Tech lowered it. Before it was lowered it was nice now it like a guitar almost. So easy to play. Pickups were fine that I could comment on. I noticed when I got it home that one of the tuning pegs was rattley. Took it back to Sound Control in Newcastle and they replaced it quickly. About a month later the jack socket became crackly and got steadily worse. I took it back again and the tech replaced it with a american socket, which is much better quality.
Otherwise no other probs, but these were annoying at the time cause the socket ruined a rehearsal.

Not sure how well it wil stand up to gigging as I'm not up to that stage yet. Fingers crossed though. But I has a tough finish and hasn't dented yet, and I throw it around a bit.
The shiny bits seem solid enough too. At least as good as bass twice the price and more. It hardly ever goes out of tune. I had to check my tuner was working once, cause it stayed in tune so long.
My teacher says I would be daft to gig without a backup so no i wouldnt, but I risk it and would feel comfortable. The change from my Yammy to my Squire backup would kill me I feel. What a rubbish bass.

Never had to deal with Yamaha direct. The repairs to tuner and socket were carried out under warranty, without question. I recommend the shop fully.

A years warranty

Been playing about 2 years. Have used a Squire P-Bass before. Not nice. I think if I was stolen I would maybe go for one of the higher end RBX or the Nathan East signature. Quite like the Tribute G&Ls. I love the way the bass looks;very mean and moody but its a swine to keep clean. I was warned about it. Compared to the Peavey Dynass and the Ibanez GSR, it is far better. The tone range on the Peavey was non-existance! This is a great beginner bass and i would thorough recommend it to anyone. I showed it to a mate who owns a studio, and he really rated it. Can't say fairer than that.