Yamaha TRBX174 DBM Agathis Body, Electric Bass Guitar, 4-String, Dark Blue Metallic

You can stop looking. If you're ready to graduate from the $150-250 beginner range but don't think you're yet ready to drop a grand on a bass, this is the one. Hell, you don't even really need to drop more on one, this is flexible enough for anything you need.Looked and felt great right out of the box. Only a very minor truss adjustment to correct a little fret buzz and I was off to the races. From this price point on up, you'd be wise to take it to a luthier (most guitar shops will have one on staff) to get it adjusted just to make sure it's in top shape, if you haven't done it yourself. You can learn to adjust (it isn't difficult) but it isn't very expensive to have it done for you, either.The active/passive pickup is a great addition and worth the step up from the 304. Once I started using it, I'm not sure how I was able to do without it for so long. The back of the body has an LED battery warning indicator so you won't be caught flat-footed with a dead battery when you're in active mode. It does automatically switch over to passive when it loses power, though.Don't take the missing fifth star as criticism. I only use five stars for above and beyond. Take the fours as ringing endorsements. To address the categories Amazon asked about:As far as for beginners, you can find less expensive basses in the $150-200 range, this might be a little pricey for someone's first instrument. The TRBX174 at about $229 (they're still widely available as of April 2021) might suit the absolute beginner a little better at a much lower price point. That said, you definitely can't go wrong with this one if the money isn't a concern.Craftsmanship is top notch. This bass is made in Indonesia. I was a little squirrelly, but the construction is top notch and I found nothing to complain about. I couldn't find any obvious flaws, and it looks, feels, and plays great. No cheap construction materials here. It was perfectly tuned and had only minor fret buzz out of the box, something common with any bass. One quick adjustment and we're off.Versatility is the best I've experienced so far. It works great in the basement, studio or stage. I mostly use it for practice and home use, but it's stood up to everything I've thrown at it. I've tried to find limitations but haven't found any. The active/passive option is something I didn't think about when I ordered; I'd never played with it before. But now that I have it it's like adding a fifth gear, I notice its absence when I'm playing any of my other basses.In short: this is your sign that this is the bass for you.

This bass was set up very well and was ready to play right out of the box. It's light and well-balanced, looks every bit as good as the pictures. The neck is just a bit wider than my 70's Precision (4 string), but it's thinner so is actually much easier to get around. The overall sound is good -- and may be great once I find the best strings for it. The active/passive switch and the LED battery indicator are both really handy and not often found in this price range.I re-strung it for a high C tuning and changed to a lighter gauge of strings with a 0.040" G string. Though the nut slots are much wider than I need for this setup, I haven't experienced any problems with playability or tuning. I've been able to set the action fairly low, just above 2mm at the 24th fret except for the E string which needed 3mm.The total length and the body are both somewhat smaller than a Precision, and it feels really comfortable. The flip side is that finding a hard case that fits snugly is a challenge since Yamaha doesn't sell one, and it moves around far too much in the cases I already have. But it's totally fine in my gigbag.If there's a weak spot for this instrument it's the onboard EQ. I find it useful for making minor tweaks to the sound but not for any kind of radical sculpting. In particular the mid control seems to have a fairly low center frequency so I've not been able to use it to get a good scooped slap sound or to dial in a satisfying mid-forward sound for soloing. But I can use the amp or an outboard processor for that.I expected high quality from Yamaha, and I feel they delivered.

A quality Yamaha Bass guitar instrument. It has a thin neck suitable for smaller fingers and hands as compared to wider necks with some bass guitars. A set of flat wound strings will make this Bass instrument a favorite. Round wound strings make undesirable noise when fingers go up and down the strings while playing. (It's a thing with some Bass players.)A great quality-made guitar with an excellent powder-coated finish for the price.